3-gatsu no Lion 74

And we're off on the adventure that is volume 8! The one with Yanagihara on the cover! It's a pretty good one. Also volume 11 is out now, so I've got 4 volumes left to do to catch up. I'm gonna continue trying to get one chapter a week done for now.

[3-Gatsu no Lion 74 Translation by Kewl0210]
Author Flap:
Top: 'Recent Photo of the Author('s cat)'
Text: 'Ding-dong. Is Bun-chan the~~re?'
'Yes. She's here. It's me.'
Recently, Mama has been inquiring like this a lot.
I am worried she is a parent that will never be able to let go of her child.
But I am an adult, so I will always care about my Mama.
After all, I only have one Mama in this whole wide world.

Page 6:
Chapter.74 White Storm (2)
Chapter.75 White Storm (3)
Chapter.76 White Storm (4)
Chapter.77 White Storm (5)
Chapter.78 Restart
Chapter.79 Burnt Field (1)
Chapter.80 Burnt Field (2)
Chapter.81 Burnt Field (3)
Chapter.82 Burnt Field (4)
Chapter.83 Being Here
Bottom: This is a work of fiction. There is no connection to actual people, groups, or events whatsoever.

Page 7:
Title: Chapter.74
White Storm (2)

Page 8:
[Spacer Page]

Page 8:
Rei: I wonder why.
----Suddenly, I remembered

Page 9:
Shima: Souya?
Black Bar: ---a time when I was a child
Shima: ...Yeah.
Rei: In my garden

Page 10:
Black Bars: there was a white crane
with big wings that had wandered in.
Shima: He's kind of like
a bird.

Page 11:
Someone: Souya Meijin is in Japanese-style clothes!!
I thought it was customary for both of them to wear suits at commemorative matches.
I'll bet that'll make Kiriyama nervous.
Japanese-style clothes give him a step more intimidating.
And Souya Meijin is an oddball at the best of times.
Pres: WHEW!
You're a live saver, Toono Meiyo 9-dan!!
Toono: It was nothing. I'm glad it happened during an exhibition in my hometown.
Looks like my kimono hobby finally paid off.

Page 12:
Toono: Hacing Souya Meijin wear one of them
is a real honor.
He's turned it into a family heirloom.
Pres: ----Whew, we're saved!!
Toono Meiyo 9-dan lent us a kimono!!
He went to get it from his house in the city last night after the incident!
We couldn't get that wine stain out of his suit, ya see.
Handwritten: WAAA
Somebody: Ah, I suppose it really would have been rather uncouth to play like that.
Handwritten: With a red wine stain...
It was a bit of a splatter, wasn't it?
Rei: It's strange...
it's like
he's been a character in a story this whole time
but now he's sitting right in front of me.

Page 13:
Re: And he's
playing me...
SFX: PACHI...
Rei: ----Get a it together.
Remember what you said yesterday?
Ah
......
I'm going to focus so
it doesn't end in in an instant.
Starting now,
I have to
compete with this person.
I'm fully aware of the enormous difference between us
----but
if I go into this with anything other than the goal of 'winning'

Page 14:
Rei: my head will
go flying in an instant.
Let's have a good game.
Someone: Mutual Yagura, huh?
I suppose that because this is their first game.
Well, perhaps they're trying to get a feel for each other?
Or maybe their play flowed this way naturally?
Hm? Souya played 2-8 Gin...
2-8 Gin?

Page 15:
Guy: Hohho.
This is a written questionnaire
from Souya-kun
asking 'Hello, who are you?'
more or less.
Rei: -----2-8 Gin.
I've never sen that move before... Is this research?
---So that means
[Black]3-8 Hi
[White]1-9 Gin Promote
[Black]5-7 Gin Right
[White]8-3 Kou...
then...?
It's certainly a threat, but it's too direct...
If I just let only him attack directly, then there's no problem.
Rather, the direction I should be going in is toward having more tightly-packed pieces.
That......

Page 16:
Rei: kaku head is it.
SFX: PASHIH
Guys: Hm, actually,
at this stage
Kiriyama is favored, isn't he?
No, but
Kiriyama is playing well.
----Makes sense as the second middle school pro after Souya.
No, no.
This is a mid-game between a newcomer 5-dan and the current Meijin.
If at the point we're saying 'The newcomer is actually in superior position?!'
----it's already
dramatic, then
then that's just the flag of defeat.

Page 17:
People: Yes, that's right. It can't go that well.
-----But,
he really is doing well, isn't he?
No, I
really think Souya has the upper hand.
Toono: Hohhohho.
It's quite impressive that there's even a discussion about it.
It just goes to show
what that boy has in him.
Rei: That's right.
[White]5-5 Fu
[Black]Same Gin Left
[White]7-5 Fu
His kaku head is set for setup for this...
7-4 Fu.
SFX: PASHIH
SFX: PIRI
Rei: Why is it
that the moment I let go of the piece
I felt a slight jolt of pain in my fingertips...?
7-4 Fu...
No...
What am I doing...?!!
Why didn't I realize?! I've got 8-6 Fu, don't I?!

Page 18:
Rei: If he threatens with 8-6 Fu now, then...
I've got nothing left!!
SFX: SUH
Rei: 8-6 Fu...

Page 19:
[And here's a page with Rei drinking water]

Page 20:
Rei: ----Same Fu...
SFX: PASHIH
Rei: [White]9-5 Kaku
[Black]7-7 Kin Side
Someone: Souya goes with 8-5 Fu.
Kiriyama, that's going to be tough to deal with!
How will you respond?
Take with same fu?

Page 21:
SFX: SUH...
Guy: 9-6 Fu!
That's Same Fu, isn't it?!
----Oh!! If he takes 8-5 Fu with Same Fu
and then collides with 9-3 Kei, then he can't fully support the gyoku head......
----I see.
...But
I think this might be the end.
That 7-4 Fu before really hurt.
----But
he avoided Souya's 8-5, didn't he?
SFX: PACHIH

Page 22:
Guy: Well now,
6-8 Promoted Kyou...
Souya-kun has played another troubling more.
Let's see...
Kiriyama 5-dan.
Will you take this promoted kyou with your hisha,
or won't you?
-----The correct answer is......
SFX: FUH...

Page 23:
Someone: Ooh.
He didn't touch the bait
and restrainedly played 7-3 Fu Promote!!
He's playing the optimal moves in a matter-of-fact way.
Pres: Geez.
That's why I'm interested in this guy.
Rei: After that, I was in a trance.
In my head sounds of the pieces
seemed to make a flash with each clack.
I realized
that in my head
something was gradually becoming connected.

Page 24:
Rei: It was almost as if
water that sparkled a dazzling silver
was flowing
into every corner.
Bottom: Chapter.74 E N D

Page 25:
Top Right Small: An article by Senzaki Manabu
Top Right Big: Senzaki Manabu's Lion Shogi Column
Big Right: Why... do People Play Bad Moves...?! The Reason is...
Article: The game of Shogi is truly difficult, so even pro players will quite often play bad moves. People who have been playing shogi constantly since childhood can play bad moves quite easily. Or one way of putting it, even if there is some decisive best move from the perspective of some kind of shogi god, a human is swimming in an endlessly changing ocean. First, while there is usually only around one or two good moves, there are mountains of bad moves.
There are two major groups of bad moves. The first is the type that, on a difficult board, you end up playing after slowly pondering it. To a certain degree, you could say mistakes like these are inevitable. On a board with many possible moves, it's not easy to find a move that can't be wrong.
The other kind is a simple careless bad move made on a very simple board. Commonly, this is called a blunder. The kind that, when looked at in hindsight, was a stupid move that lost you the game. I have experience with them myself and there is nothing more frustrating. You start seething with anger, "How many years have I been playing shogi?" And for a while after that board won't leave your head and it can be hard to sleep.
Bad moves frequently show up in the end game. Perhaps because they players are tired, or simply because there's only one good move. For example, the opponent's gyoku could be mated, but you play another move, anyone would call that a bad move. But by that logic, it's much harder to tell what is a bad move in the opening. But moving along that line of thought, there are few moves that can be specifically said are bad moves. Surely from a god's perspective, all human moves are bad ones, but they only can't tell.
There are conditions which make bad moves happen much more easily. The first is when seconds are being read off. I think the reason here goes without saying. You don't have enough time to think the move through. The next is after lengthy considerations. This seems like a contradiction to the seconds being read off, but because the sorts of boards that need lengthy considerations are so difficult, bad moves happen there frequently, too.
Also, something that seems very human-like to me, is the moment where you think you're going to win. The moment you think you can win a shogi game that's stretched on for a long time, you stop paying careful attention and make bad moves. And this sometimes connects to losses. Blunders frequently happen at these moments. Pro players are well aware of this, so even if they're certain they'll win, they pay careful attention to not osoto relax.
Bad moves are moves that call more bad moves. The moment you realize you've made a bad move you can get flustered and end up making a bad move on the next move as well. And that is really an awful situation. That's a sure way to lose a game. Even if you take these examples, if you don't want to play bad moves, strengthening your mental fortitude is vital.