Shion no Ou

This is a manga and anime about Shogi. It's about a young girl who turns to shogi for solace after witnessing the brutal murder of her parents. Although she has lost the ability to speak, she is adopted by a shogi professional's family and brought up as their daughter. She becomes pro, and enters an exciting world, but some mysterious person has something sinister on their agenda.

It might appeal to fans of Hikaru no Go. It's fun to see how Shogi reflects the Japanese way of organising mind sports from a slightly different angle. It's a little darker than Hikago, and less focussed on the technicalities of the game. You will see that many things seen in Hikago are part of Shogi, too, such as special playing rooms for big matches and intensely fought leagues for promotion.

Perhaps, too, Shion no Ou will show Hikago's longer-ranging influence in Japan. Hikago helped popularise go among younger people here; it remains to be seen what effect Shion will have on shogi