Shion no Ou – 04

This episode was quite an interesting experience. After watching it, I really have to say that Shion no Ou is going to be one of the best series this season, especially the 12-episoded ones, even though it was quite hard to understand this episode. It’s basically one huge Shougi-match, and for the first time in the series we actually see some strategy, and we’re allowed to see how the game develops. Even though the only I know about Shougi is the things I remembered from wikipedia (the difference between the king, bishop and rooks and pawns), and I did get a vague idea of how the game developed, and how Shion again got defeated by Ayumi, but still providing a huge challenge for him. I like how the match just took up one episode, and that’s a benefit for the short length of this series: often board-game anime like this tend to drag on for ages but Shion no Ou can’t waste such time because it’s only got twelve episodes. One thing I also loved about this game was the huge role that was given to the spectators, and how they were commenting on the game. Hanimeji (that was his name, right?) was especially interesting, due to his realistic and expert-view of the game. Obviously, everyone wants Shion to win, but things don’t always go that easy. And I love Shion even more after this episode. While this isn’t the first time where you see a character pass out after an intense game, the way this series presents it is refreshingly detailed. Shion was basically both sick and she had her period, and the only thing that kept her awake was her desire to win over Ayumi (yeah… the anime explains this better).]]>