This Is Shogi! I Will Forge My Own Path!—Futari No Taisei (Double Taisei) Vol. 1

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“I’ll Make the First Move That Comes to Mind!”

• Mangaka : Fukuda, Kentaro
• Publisher : Viz Media
• Genre : Game, Shounen, Psychological
• Published : August 2020 - Completed

Futari No Taisei (Double Taisei) Introduction (No Spoilers)

A genius shogi player, Taisei Tendo has made a name of himself in the shogi world at the young age of 14. However, there is a secret that only his childhood friend and his mother aware of it; Tendo has a split personality. A well-behaved “Tai” during the day and a happy- go-lucky “Sei” during the night. After winning a match with an opponent in a Shogi tournament, Tai got himself into an accident, resulting in switching places between Tai and Sei. Now how would Sei adapt to Tai’s lifestyle and vice versa?

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Discussion Time

Yes, you saw the illustration of the cover page. We’re talking about split personalities thrown into a blender with a set of Shogi, and we have Double Taisei. Both characters, as most of us pretty much grasp the general trope in the entertainment world or storytelling, they are naturally bipolar, which can sometimes produce difficulty to a certain extent to solve issues. If you have seen the character designs from Death Note, you probably have some nostalgia from this manga. Shall we begin the review?

Why You Should Read Futari No Taisei (Double Taisei)?

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1. Growth

You knew how Tendo went through their lives. Tai is a model student during day time, and Sei explores everything life has to offer during the night, searching for a calling of his own. The manga made use of Shogi as a medium to bring both personalities together. Now you may be wondering, do they share the same memory of their other self whenever they are asleep? Unfortunately, no. They carry the same concept as Toko Fukawa from Danganronpa. That is why the only way for them to communicate with each other is by writing to each other in the same notebook. That still leads to an issue. Tai and Sei were naturally born genius when it comes to Shogi. Tai continues to pursue to the professional level of Shogi, while Sei gives up way too quickly. No matter how far Tai progress, he will never be able to beat Sei due to his confusing yet somehow galaxy brain level of plays. Due to Sei’s nature, Tai and Kanade, who is their childhood friend, try to think of a way to encourage Sei to play the pro league on behalf of Tai and let him experience the competition. He soon realized that he shouldn’t be playing for Tai, which brings back the love he has toward Shogi.

2. Brotherhood

Can we get a shout out for Taisei’s mother, who seemed to be chill about their split personality? She didn’t see their condition as an issue but instead accepts them as a blessing and think that she has two sons instead of one. The brotherly love of Tai and Sei is beautiful. Despite the differences they carried, they still respect each other’s bodies. Sei usually got himself in trouble during the night and avoids damaging their right hand; the main hand of playing Shogi. There is a point where both personalities switched places, and Sei tried his best to bring everything back in order, but the story seemed to indicate that Tai is purposely not awake so that Sei could experience the life he missed.

3. Artwork

As mentioned from the discussion, the artwork reminded us of Death Note. The character designs felt so right and fitting based on their personalities. Tai looks clean and dull as what we would be expecting for a model student. Sei has a cocky and confident look that suggests some people feel hostile toward him. But between both characters, Sei is more of a people person as his open-mindedness allows him to become friends with strangers very quickly.

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Why You Should Skip Futari No Taisei (Double Taisei)?

1. Shogi

We know the story focuses on the character development of the duo, but we were hoping for more shogi battle. The level of presentation of Shogi in this volume is mild, and there wasn’t much explanation of what the characters did to their pieces. There is a scene where Tai explains what Sei did to his latest match to Kanade in a Ferris Wheel. That is where it gets confusing for people who are not familiar with Shogi because some of us don’t understand what he just explained as most of them are pieces then positions. So get ready for your brain getting fried from this scene.

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Final Thoughts

Double Taisei’s main shine is when Sei decides to take Shogi seriously for himself instead of Tai. Kanade may look like a side character in this manga, but we feel that she may be the key to open a path for Taisei to work together as one. The story focuses a lot more of character development which is good. Still, we are hoping that Fukuda would introduce more shogi scenes and details of their matches to future readers who don’t have experience in Shogi so that they could understand them. So if you don’t mind the details of Shogi matches and focuses on how Tai and Sei overcome their internal problems and grow, you can give this manga series a try. Also, leave a comment below of who do you think should date Kanade? Tai or Sei? We know you’re going to type in that they share the same body, that doesn’t count. We’re talking about personality here because personality is essential when it comes to relationships. Hope everyone has a great day when you’re reading this and stay safe.

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