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| Overall | Art | Animation | Character Design | Music | Series Story | Episode Story | Reviewer | |
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| Watch | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 |
 Ggultra2764
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[series:1708#1552] |
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One has to wonder what the makers of Shion no Ou were thinking in mixing aspects of mystery and board game developments into a title that quite often goes overboard with its plot and characters. The series covers Shion's rise in the game of shogi and slowly unveiling facts that reveal the killer of her parents from years earlier. The series does do fairly good at setting up reasonable character depth with a number of its major characters and they have enough personality where they don't feel tacked on with a random character archetype, with Ayumi's character having the best development of the characters in this series with his personal issues and the conflicts he has for his reasons of playing shogi. On a basic level, it also does well at setting up suspense with its mystery as the series drops hints to keep one guessing over who may be threatening Shion and had killed her parents. Also expect a good number of cliffhangers at the end of many episodes of the series that make for effective hooks to suck you into seeing the next episode. However beyond all this, a good amount of Shion no Ou got quite a bit ridiculous with its developments thanks to its board game/ mystery mix. While Shion makes for somewhat of a likeable character with her strong determination and resolve to avoid intimidation in heated shogi matches, the levels in which she is committed, despite issues affecting her like harassment and health problems, gets quite ridiculous in attempts of forced drama. Elements to the plot also get their absurd moments with the amateur/ pros tournament organized later in the series with the heavy amount of media coverage and how the games are promoted, as well as the reasons for why its lead sponsor even organized it considering the likelihood of how the whole thing would go. The mystery element also runs into its flaws thanks to the depictions of Shion's killer. When they are in cognito during early episodes to threaten Shion, the killer's attire sticks out so much that it makes them look more silly than threatening. Then when you come to learn who it is and why they pulled off the murders, their personality takes a sudden change that wasn't consistent with their personality in earlier episodes and their reason for killing makes no sense at all. This series also might alienate Western viewers not familiar with shogi as Shion no Ou is made in mind for Eastern viewers familiar with the game as characters frequently toss out different terms and scenarios of the game. Unless you are either familiar with the game or are watching a fansub with notes on the various terms discussed, you could get lost following what is being discussed or understanding what is going on in current competitions. Also with the series being a game based one focused on Shion's efforts, the outcomes to games can get quite predictable at many points which kills much of the suspense one has from anticipating who they think could win them. On the visual end, Shion no Ou does get a bit inconsistent with its animation quality. The first few episodes and scenes throughout the show at points feature character designs and scenery with clean details and lush color that make the series look like an above-average work. However, later episodes have a number of scenes where the quality of design details take a hit either looking rough or being simplified and the color applied within scenes look washed up. I wouldn't recommend watching this series if you are looking for a worthwhile game-focused title. While Shion no Ou is fairly engaging with its character developments and having some surprises with seemingly hostile characters, the blurring of its mystery and gaming genres creates enough of a mess with creating believable situations and developments facing its major characters and plot. You'd be better off checking out Hikaru no Go as the series retains believable developments with its exploration of Go without attempting a mish-mash of different genres. Last updated Thursday, April 05 2012. Created Thursday, April 05 2012. | ||||||||
| Rent | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 8 |
 chibi
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[series:1708#2380] |
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The description of this series sounded uninteresting to me, but I downloaded the first episode more-or-less by mistake, gave it a try, and got hooked on it. No comedy at all, this is pure drama. Shogi isn't really a 'sport' but it feels a lot like a sports series, with a lot of the strategy of Shogi and the psychology of playing becoming part of the story. Good characters, with the main focus on three 'girl' Shogi players. At the end of the series, when the killer had confessed, I could only think: I wonder if his motive makes sense to a Japanese, 'cause it sure didn't make sense to me. Other than that, this was a good series that always kept me interested with strong characters that developed throughout the series, twists and turns in the subplots, and enticing glimpses into the world of Shogi. This is one I'll want to go back and watch again someday. Last updated Saturday, July 12 2008. Created Monday, November 26 2007. | ||||||||
Other Sites
| Name | URL |
|---|---|
| Official series web site | http://www.shion-oh.com/ |
| Wikipedia entry for Shogi | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shogi |
| Wikipedia entry for - Shion no Ou | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shion_no_Ou |
