Oct 04, 2024
Author's Commentary #217:
Time to talk about Chapter 217: Cutthroat philosophy.
This chapter's purpose is to introduce the powerful head of the Japanese chess federation, Sodeshirou Azami. It also reveals what Daria's surname was before she married Ichimitsu. Let's talk about that first.
扇能 堕美闇 (Ogino Daria) is how Daria's original name was spelled in kanji. 扇能 means "fan" and "talent".
This does also confirm that Daria was well known before becoming a maestro, however, upon surpassing the 3000 rating mark, all public records of her were hidden due to the effects of the maestro project. Since Sodeshirou was not only head of the Japanese chess federation back then, but also knew Daria personally before she became a maestro, he was well aware of Daria's maestro status. He was actually against the maestro project as it meant Daria essentially had to end her competitive career due to being too powerful. Now let's talk more about Sodeshirou.
執見 袖四郎 (Azami Sodeshirou) is how Sodeshirou's name is spelled in kanji. 袖四郎 means "sleeve", "four", and "young man".
(If I made any mistakes with the translations, feel free to correct me).
His birthday is November 29th. I chose the date at random, so there's no greater significance behind why this date is his birthday.
His favorite piece is the queen, since the queen has the most potential on the chessboard.
Sodeshirou's character could be considered a left-over concept I originally had for Raymond. While Raymond does seek to find talent and make the field as strong as possible, he doesn't discard anyone when they either pass their prime or start to get surpassed by the younger generations. Sure he'll naturally praise the latter more than the former, but he believes that even the old guard can still show why they're considered the best of the best.
Sodeshirou on the other hand just wants the best of the best, and it can be said his philosophy was part of the reason Michiko ended up the way she did. Though I will confirm that even if he was loving and caring, Michiko still would have ended up the way she is now, simply due to her being jealous of Daria being better than her and for becoming a maestro while she couldn't.
Now Kuon is the next victim of Sodeshirou's philosophy, and as a result, it's implied she'll change federations and represent a different country. She seems to want to represent a country with good winning chances though, and the reason for that will be revealed in a future season.
That's all for this commentary. I hope you enjoyed it.
