Rei Kiriyama is a 17-years-old shogi (Japanese chess) player. He debuted as a professional shogi player when he was in middle school. He lives by himself in Tokyo, because his parents and younger sister died in an traffic accident when he was little. One day, Rei Kiriyama meets three sisters who are his neighbors. The three sisters are Akari Kawamoto, Hinata Kawamoto and Momo Kawamoto. This is his first meeting with someone outside of the shogi world in many years. Having meals with the Kawamoto family brings warm feelings to Rei Kiriyama. As Rei Kiriyama continues his shogi career, his interactions with his neighbors allows him to grow as a shogi player and as a person.
Acting
Kamiki's restrained performance—every silence screams.
Direction
Otomo visualizes shogi's psychological warfare as visceral combat.
Cinematography
Tokyo's lonely blues vs. Kawamoto home's golden warmth.
Director
Keishi Otomo
Ryunosuke Kamiki
Rei Kiriyama
Kasumi Arimura
Kyoko Koda
Kana Kurashina
Akari Kawamoto
Shota Sometani
Harunobu Nikaido
Kaya Kiyohara
Hinata Kawamoto
Kuranosuke Sasaki
Kai Shimada
Ryo Kase
Toji Soya
Gin Maeda
Someji Kawamoto
Issey Takahashi
Takashi Hayashida
Hideaki Ito
Masamune Goto
Etsushi Toyokawa
Sachika Koda
Ryo Iwamatsu
Takanori Jinguji
Shigeru Saiki
Sakutaro Yanagihara
Tomoya Nakamura
Tatsuyuki Misumi
Hiroyuki Onoue
Issa Matsumoto
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Shogi apprentices traditionally live with masters; Rei's isolation subverts this, making his loneliness literally unprofessional in his world.
The film compresses 22 manga chapters but keeps the anime's iconic water imagery—Rei drowning in his own mind until the Kawamoto sisters become his life raft.
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