Plot

Shion no Ō centers around a young junior-high school girl named Shion Yasuoka who witnesses the murder of her parents as a child. At the time of the murder, the killer takes the king piece from her father’s shogi board. This leads her to believe that the murderer may be a shogi player. The shock of the incident renders Shion unable to speak, forcing her to communicate by writing on a pad. After being adopted by her neighbors, the Yasuoka family, Shion takes up the game herself, both for the love of the game and to possibly learn who killed her parents.

Opinion

I have never watched a board game based anime so this was a first, and I must say it was a lot of fun to watch. The concept is kind of odd I mean who wants to watch an anime about a board game. However, they have to create a great story/drama if they want to keep people engaged in the show. I think that is just what they did. They have a good amount of tension and actually get you interested in shogi enough to feel emotion with moves.

I liked the idea behind the main story where in order to find Shions parents killer she had to become the best Shogi player. I am a huge fan of anime about the main character comeing from behind and kicking some butt. Honestly, if you haven’t watched anime about a board game before I recommend this one. Actually I recommend this one in general.

Images

Shion no Ou images for more visit the flickr set (Shion no Ou flickr set)