A big round of applause goes to the Japanese police force this episode, proving that even when a man is stalking your child in broad daylight wearing a dark trenchcoat and hat, and stands right outside your house in the rain in that same dark trenchcoat and hat, the brave men and women who strive for justice and who claim to be watching over you will still manage not to figure out where or who the hell this guy is.

And so, Shion’s stalker is still on the loose as she prepares for her first women’s shougi tournament amidst the death threats, memories of her painful past, and the stress of the competition overall. Elementary school girls nowadays sure have it tough.

Impressions:

Just your typical tension build-up episode, yet Shion no Ou is still managing to keep my interest. I’m pretty sure that the highlights of this series, at least for now anyway, will not be featuring any nail-biting, head-bashing, intense Shougi battles. (Introducing a not so obscure Akagi reference here, but maybe it’s time Saori, Shion, and Saito started betting 1000 ccs of blood per match… y’know, to spice things up a bit.)

It’s pretty obvious, to me, at least, who the stalker is, but his motivations other than the need to let his pedo-instinct shine remain unknown. Animation was a bit down from the crispness of the first episode, and I could almost swear that instead of Shion no Ou, I was watching Red Garden, especially during Saori’s screentime. 

Shion’s cuteness (more like oh-so-grabbableness) still continues to drive the show, but for how long will it last?