Mario Nakano 64

Mario Nakano 64

It's a me. I'm an aspiring light novel writer hoping to one day see my works in anime form. I hope that my works at least brighten up your day and give you something to look forward to.

registered at: Jun 30, 2023
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    Participant - MAL x Honeyfeed Writing Contest 2023





    Mar 11, 2025

    The tone is shifting back into romantic slice of life nonsense again. I feel that to better understand why I'm so upset about this direction of the story, I need to talk about Season 1 of the Spy Kyoushitsu anime. Spy Kyoushitsu is one of my favorite series, so naturally I was excited when it's anime began airing. However, the production committee made the odd decision to put a flashback arc that occurred before episode 3 AFTER episode 3. Watching it weekly was infuriating and one of the biggest reasons the season got such negative reception. Episode 3 had been the finale of the 1st mission, but for the next 4 episodes, we were in flashback hell with each episode starting out with the captions, ""X amount of" days before the impossible mission". It was infuriating to watch as it felt like the series was instead shifting to goofy slice of life rather than moving on to the next volume. Sure, 90% of these flashback episodes were canon, but the problem is that they were flashbacks. We had already seen the impossible mission to it's entirety, so to be thrust into an arc where it hasn't happened yet and the characters are all talking about how they hope it will go well, was hard to watch.

    Your story is starting to show signs of suffering from a similar problem. We already know shit went down at Helios 9, but instead we're being thrust into flashbacks centering around the perspectives of characters we haven't even met until said arcs begin. Worse, the arcs tend to have a tonal shift from the action and tension, and even worse, when the arcs begin to pick up the tension and excitement, in comes another perspective change and new character we don't care about. My apologies if this is a harsh critique, but as a reader, I'm frustrated by how what started off as a high-stakes thriller has now morphed into a flashback featurette theater. Dare I use the term, "the story is constantly blue balling us". I really did enjoy the first act of the story, and even feel that Shachiku's arc could work well as a followup to it. But Shujinko's tonal shift arc and now this arc are really dragging the overall story down, in my opinion.

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    1
    cover for novel
    Concrete Coffin
    Chapter:20



    Mar 10, 2025

    Author's Commentary #370:

    Time to talk about Chapter 370: Chaturaji cheat.
    Chaturaji is back, and it's more infuriating than ever. But before we dive into the game, let's introduce all the new characters.

    ネラ・ボシュコヴィッチ (Nela Bošković) is now Nela's name would be spelled in katakana.

    Her birthday is August 17th, which she shares wth Croatian grandmaster, Ivan Šarić.

    Her favorite piece is the knight, since it can jump over everything.

    Nela is a basketball player as well as the DSPCM of Zagreb. She's frequently at odds with Vlatka as she views her as a petty tyrant.

    スネジャナ・ゼビッチ (Snežana Zebić) is how Snežana's name would be spelled in katakana.

    Her birthday is March 8th, which she shares with Croatian grandmaster, Bogdan Lalić.

    Her favorite piece is the bishop.

    ディヤナ・サボリッチ (Dijana Sabolić) is how Dijana's name would be spelled in katakana.

    Her birthday is May 26th, which she shares with Croatian women's grandmaster, Lara Stock.

    Her favorite piece is the queen.

    ドゥニャ・サボリッチ (Dunja Sabolić) is how Dunja's name would be spelled in katakana.

    Her birthday is May 27th, which is the day after her alleged twin sister, Dijana, was born.

    Her favorite piece is the king.

    クイニー・ローゾン (Queenie Lauzon) is how Queenie's name would be spelled in katakana.

    Her birthday is June 3rd. 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.

    ルズヴィミンダ・アンガラ (Luzviminda Angara) is how Luzviminda's name would be spelled in katakana.

    Her birthday is August 3rd. I chose this date at random, so there's no greater significance behind why this date is her birthday.

    Her favorite piece is the rook.

    インダイ・マングバット (Inday Mangubat) is how Inday's name would be spelled in katakana. Her surname translates to "To wage war" in Cebuano language.

    Her birthday is June 1st, whish she shares with Filipino grandmaster, Darwin Laylo.

    Her favorite piece is the queen.

    クリステル・ラピッド (Kristel Lapid) is how Kristel's name would be spelled in katakana.

    Her birthday is May 19th, which she shares with Filipina women's grandmaster, Janelle Mae Frayna.

    Her favorite piece is the queen.

    ジヴィレ・ラズヴィラス (Živilė Radžvilas) is how Živilė's name would be spelled in katakana.

    Her birthday is May 18th 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.

    イングリダ・シェペティス (Ingrida Šepetys) is how Ingrida's name would be spelled in katakana.

    Her birthday is September 2nd, which is name day for Ingrida.

    Her favorite piece is the pawn.

    ユラテ・ヴィスニアウスカス (Jūratė Vyšniauskas) is how Jūratė's name would be spelled in katakana.

    Her birthday is May 27th, which she shares with Lithuanian grandmaster, Eduardas Rozentalis.

    Her favorite piece is the pawn.

    バルブロ・ザメンホフォ (Barbro Zamenhofo) is how Barbro's name would be spelled in katakana.

    Her birthday is December 15th, which she shares with Esperanto creator, L. L. Zamenhof.

    Her favorite piece is the queen.

    Barbro is the leader of the New Republic of Paeonia and an Esperanto fanatic. She truly is descended from L. L. Zamenhof, the creator of Esperanto, which is part of the reason she's so obsessed with the language.

    オフィーリオ・カンジョウ (Ofelio Kanjo) is how Ofelio's name would be spelled in katakana.

    Her birthday is August 21st, which is the day the game of Reversi was first reliably mentioned in the 1886 edition of The Saturday Review.

    Her favorite piece is the queen.

    While researching Esperanto names and surnames, Ofelio's name and surname caught my eye due to how similar they sounded to "Othello" and "kanojo". While she has yet to interact properly with any from the main cast, you can bet that when she does, or at the very least encounter a character like Ichiko, someone will note how similar her surname, Kanjo, sounds to "kanojo", the Japanese word for "girlfriend", which will naturally lead to hilarity ensuring.

    ラエロ・ジャンジョ (Raĥelo Janjo) is how Raĥelo's name would be spelled in katakana.

    Her birthday is July 26th, which is the day Dr. Esperanto's International Language, aka Unua Libro, was first published.

    Her favorite piece is the queen.

    Like Ofelio, Raĥelo's name also jumped out at me when I was researching Esperanto names, but mainly due to the presence of the letter, ĥ, within it. It terns out that this letter known as ĥo, pronounced xo, is primarily used in Esperanto, first debuting alongside the publication of Unua Libro in 1887. I represents a voiceless velar fricative or voiceless uvular fricative. "Ĥ" is apparently the least frequently used letter in Esperanto, often times at risk of being completely replaced because of the fact. However, it still exists in words to this day, notably within Raĥelo's name. This also makes her name one of the most unique ones in the series, and naturally, her character will be centered around the letter, ĥ, and revitalizing it's presence within Esperanto.

    ビルヤナ・イリエフスカ (Biljana Ilievska) is how Biljana's name would be spelled in katakana. Билјана Илиевска v is how her name would be spelled in Macedonian.

    Her birthday is January 6th, which she share with Macedonian grandmaster, Aleksandar Čoloviḱ.

    Her favorite piece is the bishop.

    ネヴェナ・ゾグラフ (Nevena Zograf) is how Nevena's name would be spelled in katakana. Невена Зограф (Nevena Zograf) is how her name would be spelled in Macedonian.
    (If I made any mistakes with the translations, feel free to correct me).

    Her birthday is January 10th, which she shares with Macedonian grandmaster, Dragoljub Jacimović.

    Her favorite piece is the knight.

    Nevena is Barbro's mother and while also descended from L. L. Zamenhof, she's not obsessed with Esperanto like her daughter. She's actually the sole DSPCM of Paeonia, hailing from it's capitol, Skopje. Along with a minority of Paeonians, she believes Paeonia used to be called something else and that it's true origins aren't centered mainly around Esperanto, however, Barbro vehemently denies this, insisting Paeonia has always been Paeonia and the Esperanto capitol of the world.

    As for the game, there's a lot to talk about. Turns out that on Chess.com, the rules allow you to resign and win the game if you're at least 4 points ahead of the second-place opponent. The reason for this is that resigning means whoever is left gets three points, which is the value of kings in this game. When I first discovered this, I thought it felt kind of cheap as it allowed a winning player an out without them having to play until everyone is mated and risk their opponent gaining more points. Though as a story element, it was perfect.

    Now a rivalry has been setup between Croatia and Paeonia, which I can guarantee will be a thing possibly as soon as the next round of the tournament. In fact, there's quite a few matchups being built up in this arc. See if you can guess them all before they're officially revealed in the story.

    That's all for this commentary. I hope you enjoyed it.

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    En Passant Grandmaster cover
    En Passant Grandmaster
    Chapter:370


    Mar 09, 2025

    Author's Commentary #369:

    Time to talk about Chapter 369: Toxic ego.
    More characters are being introduced, but this time it includes some characters who were previously mentioned many chapters ago. I'm of course referring to the Ethiopian players. Now without further ado, let's discuss them.

    トゥファ・ケベデ (Tufa Kebede) is how Tufa's name would be spelled in katakana. ቱፋ ከበደ (Tufa Kebede) is how it would be spelled in Amharic.

    トラ・ケベデ (Tola Kebede) is how Tola's name would be spelled in katakana. ቶላ ከበደ (Tola Kebede) is how it would be spelled in Amharic.

    Their birthday is April 8th. I chose this date at random, so there's no greater significance behind why this day is their birthday.

    Tola's favorite piece is the pawn, while Tufa's favorite piece is the queen. Tola tends to like pawns because they look cute, while Tufa likes the queen because it wields the most power.

    Originally, Tufa was actually the only character with the strainer on her head, and had a very generic personality, but after settling on what Lea's role in the story would be, I also decided on what Tufa's role would be, and tweaked her personality to match said vision. Now she's easily one of the series' more complex characters.

    Tola on the other hand, is the DSPCM of Addis Ababa. She's the more photogenic of the two, but also not as smart as her sister. Nonetheless, she is steadily improving her chess game.

    カミラ・バサラブ (Camilla Basarab) is how Camilla's name would be spelled in katakana.

    Her birthday is October 31st, which is Halloween.

    Her favorite piece is the queen.

    One thing I'll mention about Camilla is her surname, Basarab, is actually that of the parent family to the Drăculești family. Perhaps that will offer some clues as to what her character arc might entail.

    ジャレ・クズ (Jale Kuzu) is how Jale's name would be spelled in katakana.

    Her birthday is November 28th, which is the day the first World Snooker Championship first began.

    Her favorite piece is the pawn since they remind her the most of billiard balls.

    Jale is a pool player as well as a grandmaster. As for why that is, the reason is simply that I looked at her design and thought she'd look great shooting pool, and that's how she became a pool player. She also plays snooker and billiards as well.

    クリスティーナ・コスティルヴァ (Kristina Kostyleva) is how Kristina's name would be spelled in katakana.

    Her birthday is April 23rd, which she shares with Russian-Swiss grandmaster, Alexandra Kosteniuk.

    Her favorite piece is the queen.

    Kristina is an obvious homage and parody of Alexandra Kosteniuk. This was actually one of the reasons I wanted to introduce her as soon as I got the chance to. While I'm unsure if she'll play a major role this arc, she's sure to play a role in future arcs.

    レア・イェドゥア (Lea Yedua) is how Lea's name would be spelled in katakana. Her name is actually a pun on the Hebrew word, לֹא יְדוּעַ, which means "unknown". In fact, this served as the basis for her name in-universe as well.

    Her birthday is unknown, but for administrative purposes, her birthday is listed as January 1st, which is New Year's Day.

    Her favorite piece is the pawn.

    Lea has a very interesting history. Originally, she was part of the Simien team, however, I felt Golda fit the team dynamic much better, so I had her replace her on said team. I also didn't really know what to do with Lea's character, who then went by a different name, which may or may not come back in some form in the story. But now, I have a very clear vision on what Lea's role in the story will be as well as Tola and Tufa's. I don't want to spoil things, but if you want to theory craft, I've left plenty of hints regarding Lea in this chapter alone.

    ツェハイ・ロバ (Tsehay Roba) is how Tsehay's name would be spelled in katakana. ፀሃይ ሮባ (Tsehay Roba) is how it would be spelled in Amharic, while צחי רובה (Tsehay Roba) is how it would be spelled in Hebrew.
    (If I made any mistakes with the translations, feel free to correct me).

    Her birthday is December 21st. The reason for that is because this date can be one of two possible days the December solstice, the shortest day of the year, can fall on. This fits Tsehay since she is primarily a sprinter.

    Her favorite piece is the knight since horses are good runners.

    Tsehay is Golda's lifelong rival. Originally when Golda was initially part of the Ethiopian team, her rivalry with Tsehay was meant to be the main theme of the Ethiopian team's story arc. Naturally, when I shifted Golda over to the Simien team and Lea to the Ethiopian team, the theme of the Ethiopian team changed, but despite that, Golda's rivalry with Tsehay remains intact. While Tsehay currently is representing Ethiopia, she will end up changing federations to that of the New Kingdom of Simien once she officially accepts the DSPCM position in Gondar, which is now part of Simien in this universe. She's currently a novice at chess, but rapidly improving her game, much to Golda's annoyance.

    As for the game, it's main purpose was to turn more cute girls sticky and blue. This time it was Camilla and Venera. As such, I went for a short and simple atomic chess match as I simply wanted to get things over and done with quickly. However, I'm glad I finally got around to properly introducing the rest of the Ethiopian players as they will most certainly have major roles to play in future arcs of the series.

    That's all for this commentary. I hope you enjoyed it.

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    En Passant Grandmaster cover
    En Passant Grandmaster
    Chapter:369