Original subtitles

The research is perfect. It's the fruit of our labor.

Meijin! That's right... The Meijin's watching this match.

It truly is perfect. Turning the tables is pretty much impossible.

However, I can't give up here!

The only way to make the impossible possible is...

To challenge the impossible!

I found it.

The Ryuo's Work Is Never Done!

Game 7: Dear 10-Year-Old Me

Kuzuryu-sensei, you've used up all of your allocated time.

From now on, you only have one minute per turn.

Right...

Hm?

Oh, are you touching up?

You have nothing to regret.

Next time, I'd love to see your Tempo Loss Bishop Exchange.

He countered it with Silver?

Silver again?

Wait... wait... what?

What, what, what, what?!

My ego must have inflated during the match.

I assumed that if it's the conclusion Meijin and I came to,

then there's no way that anyone can turn the tables.

I thought I could win by putting the research conclusion out there.

Truly the most important weapon lies elsewhere.

I lost.

Thank you.

What happened?

Yaichi read through everything.

At move 57, he saw a checkmate that was 30 moves ahead.

No way... that's impossible.

Do you think it's possible to create a three-way checkmate interception

through pure luck and coincidence?

But... even if you use a computer,

it takes days to analyze all the possible moves.

There are more than a trillion branches!

Yaichi managed to skip all that.

And he reached the right answer.

We couldn't get there, even if we spent a thousand years.

These past three weeks, I've been struggling.

I kept losing, and at this rate,

I won't be able to become a female professional player and will have to leave the training group.

While Yaichi-kun and Ai-chan learned from Oishi-san at his dojo,

I was also trying to overcome my wall.

Tell me, Ginko-chan.

Tell me the truth.

You're definitely weaker.

Your shogi doesn't have a core, Keika-san.

It just follows the standard moves and recent trends.

It's like a dress-up doll.

You just memorize other people's research,

so once it deviates from the standard moves, you don't know what to do.

Even though you didn't have knowledge then,

you were a lot stronger when you were twenty and played freely.

So that means all the things I've studied are meaningless.

Ginko-chan, no, Sora-sensei.

I have a favor to ask.

Please do research with me.

Please give me one month of your time.

If so, I'll owe the rest of my life to you.

Please stop it. Why are you saying it like that?

I'll do anything for you, Keika-san.

Surely if I ask like this, she won't be able to turn me down.

It was a dirty, calculated performance.

Why did I become like this?

Never had I ever dreamed I'd be like this...

On the day I started grade school,

my father started teaching me the basics of shogi.

During training, you are to call me "Master".

He must've tried to teach me a way to live,

after losing my mother at a young age.

For my father, shogi was the only way he knew.

I was 18 when I got serious about becoming a female professional player.

Though it was clear that I had a late start, I wasn't in a rush.

Desired Career Survey Female professional shogi player

My father is a professional player, so I must have some talent.

I thought I'd be a female pro player by the time I was twenty. I thought it'd be easy.

However, I couldn't seize the opportunities that showed up,

and to this day, I still cannot become a female professional player.

While I was stalling, Yaichi-kun became Ryuo, and Ginko-chan gained two titles.

Ryuo

Female League Queen

On top of that, two new geniuses named Hinatsuru Ai-chan

and Yashajin Ai-chan appeared before me.

Shogi alien?

Yes. Yaichi is a shogi alien.

We're earthlings.

We can only see, then think.

But some young male professionals or promotional league members

have this ability to read the moves without actually reading.

That's why they're shogi aliens?

The things that we and the shogi aliens are born with are different.

Aren't you being too modest? You also have two titles, Ginko-chan.

Yaichi's talent is definitely among the top five in the history of shogi.

Among females, I may be the strongest,

but if you consider men too, I won't even reach the top thousand.

The planet where shogi aliens live is very far away,

and the air on that planet is poisonous to earthlings.

We'll surely die if we go there.

But...

I also want to go to that planet.

Even though you know the difference between you and Yaichi-kun?

You still want to go to the same place?

Yeah.

Even if you know you'll never be able to reach Yaichi-kun?

Even then.

But how...

By using the things I've gained...

You have them, too, don't you? Things you've gained.

But these...

are just copies of what others have researched... like a dress up doll...

That's not meaningless.

If you learn to think for yourself, they become your weapons.

Weapons? These notes?

Keika-san, you're actually very strong.

But you think you're weak, so you can't play the moves you want to.

You're denying your own talent.

That's why... that's why, Keika-san,

have some more confidence when you play!

When it comes to matches, the most important thing is confidence!

I can even say that that's the most important thing!

This is my weapon?

This shogi... is me?

What was written in there was a record of my match from years ago.

It's poorly executed, but it was filled with happiness and imagination.

The Ryuo's Work Is Never Done!

On days when I attend the training group, my father never looks me in the eye.

Both of us avoid talking about my grades.

Lunch is in the fridge, so heat it up before you eat it.

Okay.

Also...

If I can't get a consecutive win and nullify my demotion, I'll quit the training group.

Keika.

Well, I'm off.

Shogi Association Hall

Keika-san seems a little different than usual.

Kiyotaki Keika-kun and Yashajin Ai-kun, no handicap.

Kiyotaki Keika-kun and Hinatsuru Ai-kun, no handicap.

Two in-family matches in a row...

I'm glad my first match is with you.

Do you just want to get the worst over with?

I wanted to warm up before my match with Ai-chan.

You're just a nobody that's been rotting in the training group for seven years!

How scary.

Then please start.

Let's have a good match.

Tempo Loss Bishop Exchange?!

Keika-san used the strategy Ai specializes in?!

You!

Keika-san's calm.

Yes. If she solidifies her defense,

she doesn't have to read the opponent's defensive moves.

She only needs to read half.

She's a fighter who knows herself well.

Yashajin-kun, on the other hand, isn't as calm as she usually is.

Yes. She's completely swayed by Keika-san's off-board tactics.

How about this!

What?!

Okay, it's set.

This is Keika-san's redemption match.

Amazing... not a single unnecessary move.

She's very studious.

She already had plenty of potential to begin with.

She already had the skill to become a female professional player.

Say it!

It's... my... defeat...

Thank you for the match.

Keika-san won against Yashajin-san!

Let's have a good match.

What? Are you still crying?

Don't touch me!

Third File Rook?!

They're both using Ranging Rook!

Ai's using Anaguma?

That idiot. Why is she losing in spirit?

I guess they're about equal for now?

No, Keika-san still has the advantage.

Ai's Horse is in a bad spot. Her Rook is also being held down.

Keika-san's overwhelming Ai!

She's strong!

Ai still seems to be lost.

She must not have fully recovered from last time...

Okay!

Is this it?

I'm sorry, Keika-san...

I... I... I don't know what to do.

I really like you, Keika-san, so I keep thinking...

Because my heart is such a mess,

my shogi is also a mess.

But right now, right here...

I don't want to lose!

Take, move, take, move...

Here, here, here, here!

She threw away her Horse!

Here, here, here, here...

Here!

Even her Rook?!

Who's winning?

I don't know. There's too much going on!

Such fierce exchanges.

Every time Ai makes a move, the board changes drastically!

Suddenly, Keika-san's defenses have fallen apart!

To think such absurd attacks are working.

It's like watching magic.

That's right. This is the magic Ai learned from Oishi-san...

How to deal!

Dealing

She's strong.

Seven years I've dreamt of becoming a female professional player.

My peers are now gone, and I am still here at the training group.

But have I ever faced the board this seriously?

This genuinely? This single-mindedly?

This girl is the me who loved shogi.

I've been in this world since before she could even walk or talk.

I've endured more pain than bleeding.

Do I want to throw it away?

This dream of mine?

That's not it.

Even in a situation like this, I can't bring myself to simply let go.

That's right. I won't let go.

Not to brag, but I'm confident that no one else is more stubborn than I am.

Right!

Come at me!

Keika-san's lost it?!

Dear 20-year-old me,

to celebrate my 10th birthday, I am writing a letter to myself in 10 years.

What kind of person am I at twenty?

Have I become a female professional player?

Perhaps you've already gotten a title?

Studying shogi is very hard, and 10-year-old me is having a hard time.

Master is very strict and I'm always being scolded.

I sometimes think I want to quit shogi.

But I love shogi. That's why I want to become a female professional player.

My dream is to become

a female professional player and work with master in the shogi industry.

Dear 20-year-old me.

Did my dream come true?

If I lose here, the chances of me becoming a female pro player will become even smaller.

But by playing against Ai-chan, I remembered something important.

My love for shogi.

My heart that's been frozen has now...

Lit up!

It's my loss.

K-Keika-san...

Ai-chan, thank you for playing with all you've got.

Keika-san!

I'm sorry I made you feel uncomfortable.

I'm not a good senpai.

U-Um, Ai-chan!

I'm sorry!

What?

I also cried after I lost.

What? Th-That's my fault.

I was playing shogi lightheartedly without preparing myself...

Sis...

Ginko-chan.

That was good shogi.

What?

It wasn't a dress-up doll.

It was great shogi that only you can play, Keika-san.

Ginko-chan, thank you.

I'm home.

Yeah...

Father... No, Master.

I couldn't nullify my demotion at the training group today.

I remember that I said if I couldn't nullify it, I'd quit the training group.

I also remember you opposing when I joined.

As well as the fact that you let me be free after I joined,

and you were always watching over me...

I still really want to continue playing shogi.

I found this letter in an old research notebook.

I might not be able to become a female professional player,

but I still want to work in this industry.

Promotional League staff, match recorder, even saleswoman...

I just want to continue shogi.

Although I'm a disciple with no talent or guts...

Will you continue being my master?

Th-That goes without saying!

Why are you crying, too?!

Yaichi-kun, I actually planned on quitting the training group.

But I decided not to.

Don't scare me like that.

It's become really hard to get promoted in the training group,

but there might be more chances to become a female professional player,

so I plan to keep trying.

You can do it, Keika-san.

Really? If you're wrong, will you take responsibility for that?

Responsibility?

If I can't become a female pro player, can I be the Ryuo's wife, or something?

Of course, I'll happily take responsibility! I love you, Keika-san!

Thank you. I like you too, Yaichi-kun.

Really?!

But I'm sorry. You're second in my heart.

What?! Then number one is...

Of course, that's...

Shogi!

Dear 10-year-old me.

The 25-year-old me is still chasing her dreams...