That being said, this series is a character study first and foremost, and it most definitely excels. That unfortunately makes it difficult to connect with the activity itself and to feel the hype of its bigger moments. It largely skims over it, with a couple of notable exceptions. I'm unused to a series that focuses on a single sport spending so little time exploring the specifics of that sport. The shogi experience is rather unique for a series like this. While not all of these are fleshed out (the school feels mostly empty despite a handful of important characters, and his prior home life is largely focused on his experiences there), the characters they include really make these locations work, particularly the Kawamoto home which is nothing but character. This largely focuses on Rei's experiences, specifically those with his high school, the young Kawamoto family raised by their elder sister, his own apartment and prior home life, and, of course, the more dynamic world of shogi. try to keep this broader before getting back to the characters, saving him for last. So, while I am tempted to just make this a review of his character, I'll I've never played shogi and I'm only passable at chess, but the kind of social isolation and hunger for inclusion that he feels is something I very strongly associate with, as they characterized a number of my formative years. And yes, Rei Kiriyama is rather similar to me in a number of ways, mainly in his personality. Depending on how that character is represented, those feelings can skew far in either direction. Rating a series or movie where I feel a strong connection to the lead character is unusually difficult. As he struggles to maintain himself physically and mentally through his shogi career, Rei must learn how to interact with others and understand his own complex emotions. The Kawamoto sisters, coping with past tragedies, also share with Rei a unique familial bond that he has lacked for most of his life. Akari, the oldest of the three girls, is determined to combat Rei's loneliness and poorly sustained lifestyle with motherly hospitality. However, not long after his arrival in Tokyo, Rei meets Akari, Hinata, and Momo Kawamoto, a trio of sisters living with their grandfather who owns a traditional wagashi shop. As a 17-year-old living on his own, Rei tends to take poor care of himself, and his reclusive personality ostracizes him from his peers in school and at the shogi hall. Seeking independence from his tense home life, he moves into an apartment in Tokyo. Due to this, he faces an enormous amount of pressure, both from the shogi community and his adoptive family. Having reached professional status in middle school, Rei Kiriyama is one of the few elite in the world of shogi.
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