Forum - View topic

INTEREST: Japan Shogi Association Column Endorses The Ryuo's Work is Never Done!

It's really an amazing series, and while I'm glad it's been so well-received in Japan, I wish it had more love among English fans too...

I would recommend it to if it was not ruined by the pedophilia that oozes from its plot. It could have been an amazing series but the creator and editor had to ruin it with that trash. The fact that it seems to be leaning hard into the MC and the child is holding it back like most series that take the same route.

(T)here are two main factions (of light novel readers' female preferences): younger girls versus older girls, or little sisters versus big sisters. Childhood friends aren't really that popular when they're around the same age as the protagonist. So when faced with the prospect of choosing between one of the main factions, I decided that I may as well go with little girls this time. I wanted to try something new.

I didn't set out to write Ryuo in a perverted way. It's more like I wanted the readers to think of the characters as cute, in a little sister kind of way. I don't know how the readers will take it, though.

I would give this a chance but March Comes In Like A Lion exists so no

Sekaro wrote:

I would give this a chance but March Comes In Like A Lion exists so no

Why does March Comes In Like A Lion existing make it hard for you to read this? There is allowed to be more than one story about shogi.

switchgear1131 wrote:

I would recommend it to if it was not ruined by the pedophilia that oozes from its plot. It could have been an amazing series but the creator and editor had to ruin it with that trash. The fact that it seems to be leaning hard into the MC and the child is holding it back like most series that take the same route.

The author was questioned about the loli aspect; his defence was that he wanted to try something different in writing female characters for male readers.

Quote:

(T)here are two main factions (of light novel readers' female preferences): younger girls versus older girls, or little sisters versus big sisters. Childhood friends aren't really that popular when they're around the same age as the protagonist. So when faced with the prospect of choosing between one of the main factions, I decided that I may as well go with little girls this time. I wanted to try something new. I didn't set out to write Ryuo in a perverted way. It's more like I wanted the readers to think of the characters as cute, in a little sister kind of way. I don't know how the readers will take it, though.

animenewsnetwork.com/interview/2018-02-08/shirow-shiratori-author-of-the-ryuo-work-is-never-done/.126909

It may simply be socio-cultural differences in mindsets, one country's acceptability is another's poison, at least for the author.

zztop wrote:

switchgear1131 wrote: I would recommend it to if it was not ruined by the pedophilia that oozes from its plot. It could have been an amazing series but the creator and editor had to ruin it with that trash. The fact that it seems to be leaning hard into the MC and the child is holding it back like most series that take the same route. The author was questioned about the loli aspect; his defence was that he wanted to try something different in writing female characters for male readers. Quote: (T)here are two main factions (of light novel readers' female preferences): younger girls versus older girls, or little sisters versus big sisters. Childhood friends aren't really that popular when they're around the same age as the protagonist. So when faced with the prospect of choosing between one of the main factions, I decided that I may as well go with little girls this time. I wanted to try something new. I didn't set out to write Ryuo in a perverted way. It's more like I wanted the readers to think of the characters as cute, in a little sister kind of way. I don't know how the readers will take it, though. animenewsnetwork.com/interview/2018-02-08/shirow-shiratori-author-of-the-ryuo-work-is-never-done/.126909 It may simply be socio-cultural differences in mindsets, one country's acceptability is another's poison, at least for the author.

He saying that he "didn't set out to write Ryuo in a perverted way" doesn't really mean that the final product didn't end up being exactly that, just that it wasn't his intention when he started writing it.

In Japan this isn't nearly as acceptable socially nor culturally as you think it is, it's niche even otaku culture-wise. In fact, most of the prejudice with otaku culture to this day in Japan came back in the late 80s with a murderer pedo otaku case.

(The Korean government's implementation of the 1997 Juvenile Protection Act led to)...many Korean mangaka and editors...being prosecuted. The Korean PAT (Parent-Teacher Association) and prosecutors claimed that our manga were harmful for children and teens. They treated us like criminals. At times, they even called us to court...(Also) Korea's (4 major seinen manga) magazines were forced to cease publication by law... and bookstores no longer welcome or display adult and young adult manga magazine and titles. They even look down on kids manga.

I thought this was completely unfair to mangaka and the Korean manga industry. I had started to draw manga, write articles, and protest on the street about the freedom of speech and expression offered through manga. I wanted to prove to them that nobody, no amount of power, could win against a mangaka’s right hand and passion for creation..

A show about girls playing shogi could (maybe even should) be perceived as encouraging young girls to break gender stereotypes, although, except for Ai #2 and Keika, I didn't really buy their motivation. Ai #2 and Keika learned by playing with their fathers. I buy that for those two, but only for those two. The central conceit is that Ai #1 was overcome by a powerful desire to play shogi after seeing seeing Yaichi play once, because she thought it was super cool. Then it turns out she's a shogi genius who can solve 60-move puzzles in 10 seconds. That's a lot of disbelief to have to suspend.

The book elaborates on how exactly Ai is such a genius, and it's more than just talent, she also has an incredibly strong memory. It's explained that she had spent a few weeks going through and solving a famous book of over a hundred increasingly difficult puzzles, memorized the solutions, and whenever she sees a specific combination of pieces that remind her of any of those puzzles, she acts based on the solution she had come up with prior. This is why it's mentioned she's much stronger the closer a match gets to its conclusion than near the beginning when hardly any moves have been made. The longer a match goes on, the more likely it is that just the right arrangement will show itself and give Ai a strong opportunity to go for the win. Which is a believably immature method of victory for someone her age without proper training. But overall it's a mix of raw talent, instinct, and memory.