Feb 22, 2026
Author's Commentary #2:
Time to talk about Chapter 2: Mimoko's friend group.
In the original, it took me over 500 chapters to finally reveal Mimoko's friends that aren't part of the chess club. Here, I felt like the start of Volume 4 was the best place to introduce them.
芳田 忠依 (Yoshida Tadae) is how Tadae's name would be spelled in kanji. 忠依 means "loyalty" and "dependent", while 芳田 means "aromatic" and "rice paddy".
Her birthday is November 18th. I chose this date at random, so there's no greater significance behind why this date is her birthday.
Her favorite piece would likely be the pawn.
岳田 葵美子 (Okada Kimiko) is how Kimiko's name would be spelled in kanji. 葵美子 means "hollyhock", "beauty", and "child", while 岳田 means "mountain peak" and "rice paddy".
Her birthday is November 16th. I chose this date at random, so there's no greater significance behind why this date is her birthday.
Her favorite piece is the queen.
岳田 紗麻 (Okada Syama) is how Syama's name would be spelled in kanji. 紗麻 means "gauze" and "hemp".
Her birthday is April 20th, which is ironic given the meaning of her name.
Her favorite piece would likely be the queen.
早志 康代 (Hayashi Yasuyo) is how Yasuyo's name would be spelled in kanji. 康代 means "healthy" and "generation", while 早志 means "fast" and "aspiration".
Her birthday is July 4th, which is Independence Day in America.
Her favorite piece would likely be the rook.
枩本 山女 (Matsumoto Yamanae) is how Yamane's name would be spelled in kanji. 山女 means "mountain" and "woman", while 枩本 means "evergreen" and "book".
Her birthday is September 9th, which is International Beauty Day.
Her favorite piece would likely be the queen.
妃伽梨 (Ginkawa Shirako) is how Shirako's name would be spelled in kanji. 妃伽梨 means "princess", "companion", and "pear", while 銀川 means "silver river".
(If I made any mistakes with the translations, feel free to correct me).
Her birthday is March 8th, which is International Women's Day.
Her favorite piece would likely be the queen.
Shirako hails from the Ginkawa family that is prevalent in many of my other novels. For those that are familiar with them, I'll reveal that she is Harumi's niece, making her Madoka's cousin.
Believe it or not, all these characters came about thanks to me fiddling around in paint. None of these characters were actually planned for the story, but since I liked their designs so much, I slotted them in.
That's all for this commentary. I hope you enjoyed it.
