| | Alternate title : Shion's King - The Flowers of Hard Blood
Studio : Studio DEEN
Length : 22 Episodes
Year : 2007
Genre : Drama - Mystery
Synopsis :
As a young girl, Shion witnessed the murder of her parents. This tragedy left her in such a state of shock; that she has been unable to speak ever since. Adopted by the Yasuoka family, she has become a top player of shougi: a type of strategy board game similar to chess. Where will this lead? Will she find her parents murderer? Will she ever regain the use of her voice?
Added : 2007-10-18
Synopsis by : Molenir
Last update : 2008-07-04
Last update details : Modify info
Score : 9.25
Number of reviews : 4
Link(s) :
Official #1 : Official Shion no Ou Website (Japanese)
A-Source #1 : Spotlight Preview by Alexiel
Song(s) :
Opening #1 : RIZE - LADY LOVE
Ending #1 : Teruma Aoyama - My dear friend
Release(s) :
2008-07-05 -- Episode(s) 22 by Live-eviL. BT Link
2008-07-04 -- Episode(s) 22 by Live-eviL. BT Link
2008-06-29 -- Episode(s) 21 by Live-eviL. BT Link
Found 63 releases. Click here to [ Find them! ]
Hits : 35293
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Posted by : Veld 
Posted on : 2009-02-12  
Put briefly, this anime has a very thick and extremely interesting plot.
The good:
What made this anime truly amazing was the plot. There were many crucial changing moments in the plot that totally caught me off guard and in a good way. These parts just left me thinking "WOW! NO WAY!" and any anime that can do that deserves at least an eight unless it is atrociously bad in other ways.
I liked the characters. Shion was definitely my favorite. She is just so strong hearted that I loved her character more and more with each new episode. The other characters are mostly pretty interesting.
The bad:
One thing that I did not like about this anime was that I figured out the whole plot by about 2/3 of the way through.
Warning: Might be a bit of a spoiler here.
I feel that they may have foreshadowed a little too much. I think they really could have made the revealing of the murderer of Shion's parents a total surprise and it would have made a better ending, though I think the ending was very climactic and well orchestrated anyway.
Overall, this was a very good anime. It took me a while to get into it. Without knowing too much about Japanese chess, you might think that this anime would be boring, but there was some very powerful and gripping plot that kept me watching until the end.
I would give this anime an 8.5 / 10, but I would say that it is closer to a 9 than an 8 though. 9/ 10.
Posted by : Himitsu
Posted on : 2008-08-09
Shion no Ou gave a lot of goodies. I loved every bit of it. The Opening song gave loads of energy and mystery. It questioned every character involved in this murder-mystery. The ending song was also a pleasant touch. I also liked how they presented the teaser for the next episode. It was simply some small video sequences in the sketchbook.
What intrigued me most into Shion no Ou was the story. The storyline gave a solid punch of a young girl's inability to speak and trying to find the murderer of her parents. Also an anime devoted to a board game? SOLD! Why? Well, because I immensely enjoyed Hikaru no Go. Shion no Ou seemed to have the same style of presentation as well.
Shion turned out incredibly cute. Incredibly! This sounds potentially wrong, but when a character is almost mute, I just find it very cute. Perhaps it's the extreme case of bashfulness - which we find cute. I did not, however, feel attached to any other character. They provide a "meh" for me. The next closest person would be Ayumi-kun.
The ending. I found that the ending was too keen. Saying more would spoil things. I found the ending developed some character much too much. The motive behind the murder of Shion's biological parents didn't impress me. Surely it was psychotic, but it didn't bring up the word "intelligent" or "clever" (like in most impressive murder-mysteries). Another keen thing about Shion no Ou was that once you found out the identity of the killer, that person suddenly transforms to a new face. Too keen. Back to talking about the ending, the art turns incredibly bad for the characters (animation included) near the end, it reminded me of the anime Kemonozume. Gah!
Nutshell inclusive, the director knew how to keep you questioning on who the killer is. I, for one, was quite surprised to find out who exactly killed Shion's parents. Shion no Ou was a very enjoyable series, and something I'd recommend looking into.
Posted by : PolyGuru
Posted on : 2008-07-14 
Shion no Ou story admits the backdrop of Japanese Chess. It has a superb story that is told exceedingly well with just the right amount of twists and turns to keep you guessing and flat footed, always pondering in anticipation to what will happen next until they are well and proper ready to checkmate you.
The characters are rich in their individuality, and Shion is adorably cute. She is by far my favorite character of the show.
The soundtrack when watching the anime is, for the most part, relegated to the back of my consciousness and only upon getting a hold of the soundtrack did I realize just how good it was. Listening to the tracks brought a flood of memories, with scene after scene appearing before my mind's eye as the music led on from one moment to the next.
It made me realize how much of a player the soundtrack was without being overbearing. A masterpiece in my opinion, comparable to the soundtrack of Blood+ .
The artwork at times can be a bit weird, not exactly main stream, but it works well to create the right atmosphere in which the characters grow as the story is played out on a chess board.
Not knowing shougi myself, a bit of the tenseness was lost on me as I did not understand the moves made on the board. However, the voice actors / actress, the soundtrack, the animation and artwork ensured that very little of the atmosphere was lost to me and sometimes they even managed to hit me head on with their full effect. I still remember that in episode 21, my sandwich hung midway en route to my mouth as an edge-of-the-seat scene played out before me. I even had to remember to breathe, and it took me awhile to remember my sandwich.
If you pick one anime to watch this month, let it be Shion no Ou. However, if you are looking for an action anime, then this gem is not for you. Shion no Ou comes highly recommended. A perfect score. Checkmate.
Posted by : Molenir
Posted on : 2008-04-26
Shion no Ou, is the story of Shion, and her growing up in the shadow of the unsolved murder of her parents. A murder she was present at, though only 5 years old at the time. Now years later, she has become one of the top players of Shougi, a type of Japanese Chess. Only to learn that the murderer who has yet to be caught is stalking her still.
Shion is a tightly paced, suspenseful masterpiece. Only 22 episodes long, it takes you on a ride and never lets up until the very end. From the very first episode when Shion is attacked on her way home from school, to the last when it reaches its final conclusion the mystery that surrounds Shion, is interwoven around a Shougi board. And yet despite so much of the action being about Shougi, a game which before watching this I had never heard of, it manages to maintain interest.
The OP starts out impressively as well, with a hard rock song playing over some at times scary credits, and this beautiful extremely young girl, as well as the 2 that are her primary competitors in this game. The artwork is consistent throughout, except in moments of levity when it occasionally will change to an almost chibi form, for a second, then back to normal. And also unfortunately in the very last episode, when the style changed, due evidently to a change in directors. It wasn't a good change, but it wasn't enough to take points away for it either.
The plot is very well done. It kept me guessing and unsure up until episode 18 when I knew for certain who done it. With all the red herrings being thrown out, it was impossible to know for certain how things were going to end up until the very end.
Overall, I really enjoyed this series. So much so that rather then wait for Live-Evil to finish subbing it, I went and watched the last 3 episodes in raw format. Assuming they ever finish subbing this, I highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in a good suspenseful murder mystery. Its definitely worth watching.
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