Heh, and I thought that Satoru would be out of the picture now that he lost. Heh, it’s far from that. Basically in this episode, he confirms the suspicions that were raised in the previous episode, and it’s now pretty clear who the murderer is. Really, only now that this information is revealed, I realize how much sense it makes.
Why did I never question why Shion and Satoru had the same kind of necklace? I just assumed that it was chance, but that was FAR FROM THE CASE. In fact, these two necklaces belonged to Satoru and Hani’s mother! Each of them took one of the necklaces, and I think that this is the first thing that raised Satoru’s suspicions. It must’ve been quite a shock when he first saw it. I also now realize why he was toying with Shion so much: he was trying to figure out how she got the necklace, and because of that, she reminded him of Kasumi. Still, why was Hani-Meijin stupid enough to leave his necklace at such a place?
Also, Shion’s style of playing shougi turns out to be the same style as that of Hani-meijin, according to Satoru. Of course that’s the case! From what I gathered, Shion and Hani spent quite a bit of time together between the time of the murder and the arrival of the police. We already know that he was the reason why she continued to play shougi, so he might as well have given her a few pointers on how to improve her game. The interesting thing is that ever since, Shion did try to change from her usual tactics. I wonder whether the creators will use that in the final episodes.
And thank god Ayumi didn’t turn into a helpless pawn of Hani-meijin. He really shines when he does something for Shion and yet again there are so many possibilities at how the creators can use him against Hani-meijin for the final episodes. Three episodes is just enough to give Hani-meijin some more development (now that we finally know that he did it, it’s time to delve into the reasons as to why he did it). Satoru has already proved to be an extremely versatile character, and it would be a shame to see this series end without Hani-meijin getting the same treatment.
So what you’re saying is that Makoto killed Shion’s parents? Will she speak again?
Yup, Hani Makoto is the real murderer. Whether Shion will speak again… I have no idea yet.
now i’m suffering a heavy withdrawal from Shion no ou, just wish the subs come out sooner! thank you that you blog this series, othervise i probably would have overlooked them.
some random thoughts:
after spoiling myself completely on the murderer subject, i still wish it was not the case. even if he’s not the nicest person i still like Hani-meijin!
moreso, i cant’s just put together that he did all those creepy things- like sending threat, calling Shion etc. why would he!? i mean, if he’s plan was to make perfect circumstances for Shion to become great shogi player (and obviously he succeeded, even if the means to reach it was horrible)than what’s the point of making her realise who was the person that murdered her parents? and given that he must be very smart person i just can’t get that he left all those traces (necklace, fingerprints, etc!)
i just finished episode 18 of shion no ou. and yes, it is very clear who did it now. i feel sad that it is him, but ah well…it had to be someone. throughout most of the series, i thought he was a likeable character. i actually despised satoru but am now changing my mind. but yes, why would makoto do that – it does not make much sense. is it that he was also in love with kazumi? and leaving one’s necklace, quite foolish to do as well (not that he would have done that on purpose, unless…). when satoru had grabbed shion’s cheek (maybe episode 17) and told her something, she told herself, his hand and voice were similar to those of the murderer. it made so much sense then and i just didn’t figure it out. anyway, thank you for the post, i googled makoto or hani-meijin and murderer, and found your post.
where can i find episodes 19 & 20 with english subs?
With the real murderer revealed, I can’t wait to see some Satoru and Shion bonding! The girl could do so much good for the guy’s psyche…
Otherwise, I’m curious: when do the subbed episodes come out? Is it regular, like every three weeks, or really random?
In this case, they’re random. Fansubbers do have their own schedule, and not all of them can churn out an episode every week.
The main translator for Shion was moving, so that is why subs for Ep 19 took so bloody long. But the wait was worth it. I’m glad that Saito knows the truth and won’t become a pawn in whatever Makoto is planning next.
I have been DYING to know when the rest of the episodes will come out subbed. I feel like I am going through serious withdrawl!!!
moi aussi je trouve que le blond est bizarre et je suis sur qu’il est le meurtrier des parent de Shion et qu’il a l’intention de la tuer, mais elle est maligne, elle l’aura à son propre jeu, j’en suis sur.
So it really was Hani-meijin…
But now I’m a little bit afraid of what’s going to happen to Satoru. I mean, his brother should know by now that Satoru will discover the whole truth pretty soon, so I really hope he didn’t plan any “counter measures”…
I really liked the revelation about that magatama by the way. Now it makes even more sense that Satoru was so shocked when seeing it. I had thought that it was some kind of friendship pendant betweent Shion’s mother and Kazumi but this was even better.
Yet, I somehow think that Hani-meijin planned for this and left it at the crime scene on purpose.
It somehow seems as if he sees all of this as a big game, too.
As for Satoru’s cruel acts before.. I guess he wanted to add pressure on Shion in hopes that those would lead her to re-live those events again and maybe even make her remember some things.
As for Kazumi’s death… I think Hani-meijin wanted to retrieve that videotape and thus went there. Kazumi had somehow already been suspecting her and when she came home and he was in the apartment (or maybe she was at home and he suddenly came in?) she suffered a shock, leading to her death (she had a week heart afterall).
Well, I#m sure the next episodes will let us know what exactly happens.
I just really really hope that there won’t be any more casualties!