Mar 07, 2026
Author's Commentary #24:
Time to talk about Chapter 24: Lagoon Pathways Hotel.
First up, the hotel itself. It actually draws inspiration from a hotel I once went to that featured an intricate waterfall and waterways running throughout the main room. Of course, the waterways weren't big enough to ride boats in them and were more for looking at. Thus, I decided to make Lagoon Pathways far more ambient to that of a nighttime lagoon, and also have it so that the canals could be ridden in by boat.
Now onto the new chess club members, Rodeo Gorou and Yuzuha Zenihara. Both of these characters aren't going to have much of an impact on this arc. The only reason I introduced them here was so that they could get ratings upon completing the tournament.
As stated in the chapter, Rodeo likes rooks while Yuzuha likes knights. Rodeo likes rooks due to his belief that they're strong and tough like him. Yuzuha likes knights simply because they are horses and horses are her favorite animal.
伍楼 路出男 (Gorou Rodeo) is how Rodeo's name is spelled in kanji. 路出男 can translate to "large", "exit", and "man". His last name, 伍楼, translates to "five" and "tower", which is fitting considering Rodeo's a large young man and has an affinity for rooks. Though ironically, rooks are actually one of the shortest pieces on the board.
銭原 友珠羽 (Zenihara Yuzuha) is how Yuzuha's name is spelled in kanji. 友珠羽 can translate to "friend", "pearl", and "wing". 銭原 translates to "money" and "origin".
Rodeo's birthday is February 23rd. The reason for that is that it's the day Rodeo Day was on in 2024, the year the series began publication. Rodeo Day is always the last Friday in February.
Yuzuha's birthday is September 9th. The reason for this is because September 9th is apparently the most common birthday in the world.
マンフレート・フォン・スカベルガースト教授 (Prof. Manfred von Skaberghast) is how Skaberghast's name would be spelled in Japanese.
His birthday is November 9th which he shares with Soviet-Latvian grandmaster and 8th World Chess Champion, Mikhail Tal.
His favorite piece is the pawn, mainly because they can defend things with ease and make the game easier for him.
レッド・リーパー・フォン・リヒトホーフェン (Red Reaper von Richthofen) is how Red Reaper's full name is spelled in katakana. He's often referred to simply as "Red Reaper". His original name was Frederick von Richthofen, however, he adopted the name, Red Reaper upon becoming an undead lich. フレデリック・フォン・リヒトホーフェン (Frederick von Richthofen) is how his old name would be spelled in katakana. Originally, he was referred to simply as 赤い死神 (Akai shinegami) which is the Japanese translation of "Red Reaper". However, I felt that since "Red Reaper" is Red Reaper's real name, it makes sense to refer to him literally as "Red Reaper".
(If I made any mistakes with the translations, feel free to correct me).
His birthday is May 2nd which he shares with the Red Baron himself, German fighter pilot, Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen. Obviously, Red Reaper is literally based off him, and is his secret son in this universe. His rating of 2780 is also a nice reference to the fact that the Red Baron shot down 80 planes during his career.
His favorite piece is the bishop, mainly because he believes they are the most fighter-plane-like piece on the board. Though the king is a close second since he views himself as king of the skies.
One other thing I'll mention is that this chapter was revised numerous times, mainly to include antagonists such as Red Reaper and Skaberghast who will become more relevant later. As such, I'll be holding off on going more in depth on them until they become more relevant in the story. Though they won't have much of a role to play in this volume, I can guarantee they will be major players in later ones.
That's all for this commentary. I hope you enjoyed it.
