Nov 26, 2025
Author's Commentary #13:
Time to talk about Chapter 13: Skewer.
First off, let's explain the title. In chess, a skewer occurs when two pieces in a line are under attack, however, unlike a pin in which a lower valued piece is under attack and the higher valued piece is behind it, the higher valued piece is under attack while the lower valued piece is behind it. This means that many will choose to move the higher valued piece to safety, and forsake the lower valued piece.
Now let's talk about the trio of bullies. First up is the leader of the group, Shion Segawa. She takes heavy inspiration from Shiho Manabe from Classroom of the elite, but draws her name from Sion of My Instant Death Ability Is So Overpowered and Hiro Segawa of A couple of cuckoos. The kanji for her name is 背川 姫媛 (Segawa Shion). Her first name, 姫媛, means "noblewoman", which is certainly what she is considering she's the prefectural governor's daughter. Speaking of which, her mother's name, 志歩, means "ambition" and "walk". As for their last name, 背川, it means "betray" and "river".
Both also share the same birthday of February 21st. I initially wanted them to have the same birthday as Shiho Manabe, but since she doesn't have one listed, I instead went with the day that Season 3 episode 8 of the Classroom of the Elite anime aired.
Both hers and her mother's favorite piece would be the queen.
Originally, I had bigger plans for Shion, but for now, she'll just be more of a minor antagonist.
Speaking of Shiho Manabe, the blue-haired girl, is named Mami Manabe in reference to both her and Mami Nanami from Rent-a-Girlfriend. 曲直部 万美 (Manabe Mami) is how her name is spelled in kanji. Her first name, 万美, means "ten thousand" and "beautiful". Her last name, 曲直部, can translate to "wrong or unjust", "honest", and "group".
Her birthday is May 2nd, which is the same as Hiro Sewaga's from A Couple of Cuckoos.
Her favorite piece is the queen.
She is actually one of the school's top shogi players and is also the daughter of an influential politician.
The final bully, Kigyoku Gyakui, doesn't actually draw her name from anime characters I hate. 逆井 嬉玉 (Gyakui Kigyoku) is how her name is spelled in kanji. Her first name, 嬉玉, can translate to "happiness" and "ball", which is a nod to her status as the top striker of the soccer team. Her last name, 逆井, can mean "to oppose" and "water hole".
(If I made any mistake with the translations, feel free to correct me).
Her birthday is January 23rd, which is the same as Kikyō Kushida's from Classroom of the elite.
Her favorite piece is the queen.
Like the other members of the trio, she'll likely just be a minor antagonist for now.
That's all for this commentary. I hope you enjoyed it.
