Gawd, I love that ending song.

And Shion is so cute!

Really, I love the ending song.

…

Did I mention I love the ending song? Cuz, I do.

That’s all I need to talk about. Who cares what happened in these episodes! I love the ending song.

LOVE IT!

In fact, I’m listening to it now. I have been for the past few minutes. Over and over and over… LOVE IT!

OK OK OK… fine! About these episodes…

Good series so far. I’m a bit confoosed on where the story is headed but it’s a fun watch. I’ll try and figure out how a show about shougi can entertain me later, haha. Well, Shion being so cute helps. It doubly helps that she’s voiced by Kawasumi Ayako. Best. VA. Evar.

I exaggerate but she’s still one of the best.

So, back to how I’m confoosed…

Mainly, I’m trying to figure out where the “Shion is playing shougi to find her parents murderer” part comes in. That was the tag-line I read before this series came out and, like… it’s nonexistent. Shion didn’t remember that sordid day until the 3rd episode which was already six months after the start of the series. It has me boggled.

Then there’s the blond tabloid freak… his appearances and his “master plan” seem so ominous but I have no idea what the hell is going on with him. My only interest in him is that he could be the killler. It’s kinda obvious but he fits the profile. And, well, he’s ominous and stuff. Of course, they made it seem like the stalker kid was the killer too, in quite an obvious fashion, and he turned out to be a careless idiot stalker freak so… hmm…

So this blond tabloid freak, he’s got the same necklace that Shion has. Does that mean he stole it from her back then? If so, since he’s so curious about her, does this mean he’s a super stalker freak who’s been stalking her since she was a child? Or maybe he’s got some ‘take over the world’ or ‘make hella hella monies’ plan that involves Shion winning… or losing… ahh confoosed.

Alright, enough of the confoosed shit. The series is good. At the least, I watch each episode just so I can hear the ending song again. Disregard the fact that I can fast forward or that I have the song in my winamp. Yes, totally disregard those facts.

Also, I’m waiting for Shion to win. She hasn’t won yet! Maybe she’ll beat Saori in the next episode… nah. Shion’s gotta be buffer! She needs to go Kamayamaya on them bitches.

Oh, can’t end this w/o mentioning the cross-dresser, can I? I must have been drunk or something when I watched the first episode cuz I totally didn’t catch that Ayumi was a dude. How the hell did I miss that? As weird as he is, his story is the saddest. Shion’s back story is tragic but she’s doing fine in the present, minus the super stalker blond tabloid freak. Ayumi’s going through some tough shit.

Despite being confusing and weird, this series is still interesting.

And the ending song kicks ass.

Did I mention that?

Another anticipated series for this season and sadly, another one that didn’t quite meet up to my expectations.

It wasn’t bad, though.

First and foremost, I love the ending song. What is it about me and anime songs today? Anyway, the opening song isn’t too shabby and ZOMG, like, there’s English in the lyrics and it’s actually pronounced properly. Now, back to the ending song, I really dig it. It has a poppy R&B sound… two different worlds yet that’s what I get out of it.

On to the actual series… it’s definitely darker and more serious than I thought. I wasn’t expecting another Hikaru no Go since Shion’s shogi playing origin is much darker than Hikaru but I still presumed a lil more light-hearted mood alongside the dark stuff. There was like, zero light-heartedness in this first episode. Saori provided that initially then did a 180 to keep up with the rest of the mood.

Also, Shion is younger than I assumed as. My assumption was purely based on the pictures I saw prior to watching and I totally didn’t peg her to be in elementary school. Hell, she might be as young as 10 years old and I put her at least around 14-15. She’s still a child… is she really doing all this to find her parents killer? She seems too young to really have the drive to play shogi for that reason.

Did I mention how dark this series is?

I think part (if not all) of my minor disappointment is due to what I expected. I suppose I can’t blame the series for that.

If anything, I must keep watching to hear more of Kawasumi Ayako’s kiddie voice.