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Awesome episode. I'm so glad it didn't take another month or two to get subbed. Shion kicking Meijin's ass was great, especially when he was losing his cool to the point of looking absolutely psycho. I loved how his brother also punched him in the face. But man, can't believe shougi made the Meijin so obsessed with winning. He's crazy. Shion talking in the end was the best and now that has made me want another season. Great series.
cyruz said: I really enjoyed the whole series, I was highly anticipating every new episode so this gets an easy 9/10 for me. :D
And that's the true test of the worth of this series. We were still tied into it, even with the interuppted subbing releases. It would be a month between releases, and when one came out, the story line and story excitment was still with me.
I just watched the final episode of the series and it was a good episode for the ending – it wrapped up the series rather nicely. Although, I wrote that I didn't want Shion to win the match a couple of episodes ago, because I found it won't realistic if she did – I'm glad she did. The behaviour of Hani Meijin was deplorable and had me rooting for Shion all the way. The motive was rather farfetched, but sadly, I have heard that people have been murdered for less. Shion speaking at the end was rather great and the epilogue showing what happened to the main three protagonists was great too, albeit a tad rushed.
In the end, I think I gave the overall series an eight – had the animation been more consistent the score might have been higher. All in all, I think this was one of the better anime of the season it aired in. =)
a bit exaggerated like the last episode, but still quite enjoyable none the less. I wonder how far the manga is compared to the anime. Easily a 9 from me.
Weird to think that I was looking for a show similiar to Higurashi when I looked through the Fall07 anime 9 months ago, and found a show that delivered 100%, when Shion no Ou has no real similarities, other than the Studio DEEN twisted face syndrome, which I love by the way. xD
Masterpiece, 5th anime to get a 10/10 from me, and I'm being really generous about it. May go back down to a 9 in the future, cause the animation and overall added tension from the last two episodes might have just spoilt it from keeping that 10 forever.
This really hit the spot with me. My second ten for the year. <3 Shion was great, and the series was concluded well. Though to get nitpicky, if she hadn't talked for eight years, her vocal cords wouldn't have allowed the outburst at the end. =p But it was still awesome.
datsunvic said: We were still tied into it, even with the interuppted subbing releases. It would be a month between releases, and when one came out, the story line and story excitment was still with me.
Studio Deen killed it....the animation was beyond horrible....the last two episodes' mood was completely destroyed by the inconsistency of the animation....
I would have given it a 10 except that the last two episode made me change ideas....
but now I would give a 9/10 instead...
bla bla bla
The endless debate between fans and haters. At one point, after spending a lot of time on MAL, you just realize it's totally pointless.
Niko-kun said: On MAL, everyone who has used the lame rating system becomes a critic and an intellectual by default, haven't you heard?
Loved the series, would give it a 10 for story, characters, execution, but the animation was inconsistent, the end made me cringe at that a bit. Liked the way they produced it, made me think who, how and why to the end and was intense to the end. Plus you don't even need to know shougi to understand what's going. Hani is one effed up mofo and Shion was cute through out. 9/10
8! Good anime but bad animation and a tad slow at the beginning. Hani is such a freak. The ending left me wanting more tho but it's pretty obvious Shion, Ayumi, and Saori will continue to do well. Poor Hisatani, lol.
Great series! Of course, like many people, I started to suspect at some point in the last few episodes, but when he was first shown he seemed a rather wholesome character.
The only thing I didn't like is that nothing was done anymore with the Saori-Hani subplot. Quite a bit of effort was put in showing how well she liked him and that he was looking out for her. Weird that it wasn't referred to at all.
wow. this was very interesting. i like how they hid the culprit till near the end. at some point, i thought his adopted father might have done it since he didn't have any kids of their own, but that quickly went away. i wish there were a couple more episodes.
Loved this from begin to end. I don't usually marathon shows but I made an exception for this one. Before I knew it I was completely immersed and couldn't stop watching it.
8/10 for this show.
"Thousands have lived without love, not one without water." -Wystan Hugh
Finally got around to the last ep, I lost track of this series at first and couldn't get to the last ep for whatever reason. But I finally got the last ep it was great, Shion pulled out the best moves and showed him who's boss, I knew she could speak by now she just didn't want to yet. I wish there was a sequal or movie after this part, I would like to see her play more beyond this.
such an intense anime i should give it a 9/10 but since i dont understand shougi i couldnt fully comprehend the games so it prob only gets a 7 but not do to any lacking on the anime's part lol
"I am the bone of my sword,
Steel is my body and Fire is my blood,
I have created over a thousand blades,
Unknown to Death,
Nor known to Life,
Have withstood pain to create many weapons,
Yet, those hands will never hold anything,
So as I pray, unlimited blade works"
Decent series, but lacked intensity at times, and the only character that was interesting was Shion. I'm giving it 6/10... Completed 22 eps in 9 hours exactly.
spudnick2010 said: such an intense anime i should give it a 9/10 but since i dont understand shougi i couldnt fully comprehend the games so it prob only gets a 7 but not do to any lacking on the anime's part lol
All you really needed to do was spend around 20, 15 if you already know the basics of chess, minutes looking on wikipedia and you'd understand pretty much everything you needed to for this anime. It's kind of ridiculous to waste 8 hours watching an anime and not spend the 20 minutes it would take to make that 8 hours enjoyable.
Anyway, I thought it was great. I knew that I'd enjoy the dark drama/mystery but the fact that even the Shoji could be made that suspenseful completely caught me off-guard. Might drop it down to 9/10 later, but, for now, it's a solid 10/10.
I'm extremely glad I picked the anime up - it was one hell of an entertaining ride even though it's hard to understand the games they played. Still, it wasn't really about shougi - and you don't really need to know much about it for the show to be great.
It was a good ending to a good series, but I honestly thought they could've made a better ending - I would've loved if it was more dramatic by the end of the episode. He left a bit too quietly if you ask me - I wish the police had stormed right after the match ended. Still, it was really enjoyable.
I don't think this is a masterpiece, but it really isn't that far away - it definitely deserves a rating of 9 out of 10. One of the best main characters I've seen so far in anime series - how can you not love her? The rest of them were not too bad either, but she definitely is the pearl of the characters in the series.
To cut the story short - Shion no Ou is a superb anime that definitely deserves to be watched, and should be watched.
Like hell she haven't spoken a word for more than 8 years and now she can scream like that...that's one think that really pissed me in this episode, and..... yeah is there gonna be a sequel :D
Well, I can't say the plot was really original. It was pretty clear that Shion will go to the finals, though she might have lost there. About the mystery, I started suspecting Hani Makoto around episode 15, and became sure he was the killer after Shion's second match against Hani Saori (not sure that was the name, I'm refering to the Mejin's brother). It wasn't realistic at all, neither the murder motive, nor Shion's play.
Nevertheless, I was kept in suspense, although I knew who the murderer is, and I cheered for Shion pretty much all the time, although (most matches) I knew beforehand she would win (and I don't understand Shougi)...
So, despite it's shortcomings, it was a very interesting series for me - 8/10. The finale could have been stronger.
PS> It was surely happy end, however, I was left the impression that after Shion told Hani Makoto she wasn't like him and he responded something like "We'll see.." he had a good point there...
Weird that after not speaking for more or less 8 years, she easily shouted like it was nothing. Kind of ridiculous if you ask me. The ending could've been much stronger.
Also, it was kind of predictable halfway through. It doesn't really take a rocket scientist to figure out who's the real killer; and killing for Shion's sake to become stronger than him? Doesn't really make any sense.
Had some dull moments. IMO, it would've been better if it was shortened to about half a season for a more fast-paced heart-pounding thriller. Still had me interested with what's going on though.
The ART. It was terrible at times. It definitely needs polishing.
Anyway, it still had its good points. A 6/10 for me. =)
This show made me learn the rules of Shougi, pulled a few surprises along the way, and gave one hell of an experience. There were definitely a few things off about the art and story, but I only figured those out after getting over the last episode. Who knew Shougi could be so interesting?
this anime seriously had me hooked, but the last episode was a sort of let-down. there are some loose ends. like gbrandelero, i didn't like hani-meijin's motive for murdering shion's parents. i don't see why hani-meijin had to kill his brother's lover. i was hoping for an explanation more sophisticated than "hani is mad" for this point. and how is shion able to talk in the end? how did hani manage to keep shion's mouth shut for 8 whole years to begin with?
that said, this anime had me rooted to my seat in a way no anime has in quite some time, which is why i have given it a score of 8.
I honestly didn't expect much of this series, but boy did it get me hooked. Marathoned the whole series since I have free time today, and I'm left with wanting more! I loved the tension, and only realised Hani-meijin was the murderer the last 5 eps more or less. I didn't really like his motive though, kinda farfetched that he'd murder the family just so that Shion would get better, which would in turn make Hani-meijin better. I don't really get why he wanted to kill Satoru's fiance (forgot her name), and why she was scared of him when he appeared at her door, since they were close enough for her to call him onii-san. If he intended for her to die so that Shion would have nobody left, just like him, why didn't he kill the Yasuoka family as well? :/
The thing with Nikkaido didn't really end that well too. Cause it seemed like she really liked Hani-meijin and all, yet her reaction was normal when they arrested him. There was that one episode also that some other players pointed out that Hani-meijin must love/care for her in a special way, so what happened to that?
Either way, 10/10 for me cause it's been awhile since I've really gotten this into an anime. Will probs drop down to 8 or 9 soon though haha. Good series, loveddd it.
Man this is one of the best animes i ever saw in my life. Its definitely a top 10. Im not an animation freak but damn this story was brilliant. Shion is one of the few how to do a strong female character with emotion perfectly.
10/10
I wish we can get more female leads in anime that acts like Shion strong, not weak willed, but has emotion.
sports/detective/tranny is an unusual combination of genre and yet it blends well together. did not expect that he was the culprit. the series did a great job on leading us to other characters that was a false culprit. the golden moment when she spoke again was very rewarding. kinda wish there is a 2nd season to her journey of being the (first?) female meijin. I dont know anything about shougi i wish they at least explain some of the things they were doing than just having these "reactions." Its very niche appealed. I could have enjoyed the series more if I knew what was going on.
So glad Shion won that match. And yay, she's talking again! Anyways, rating this a 6/10. I was more into the mystery rather than the games itself from this series. Also, seems like the other supporting characters from the beginning began to lose roles as this series progressed :/
It was a good show. But I honestly don't like the meijin's shallow reason/motive to kill Shion's parents. It was so stupid...but he's not right in the head so I guess that's to be expected.
"May those who accept their fate be granted happiness."
Great show, even though i dont know a thing about Shougi, it was still fun and tense to watch. Script was good so they explained most of the stuff they do so us without any knowledge can enjoy it. Plus good sub group made "notes" explaining stuff. The motive of murder is retarded, but it usualy is so i went past it.