Ryuuou no Oshigoto! (LN)
96/100
(This was written after volume 14, the latest that has been translated at this time.)
I might edit this in the future; there's obvious missing parts, after all.

#Introduction
I don't know how people normally find this novel, but the first time I heard of it was from screenshots from someone watching the anime. Just knowing that the work contains a lot of lolis is one of the biggest selling points, after all.

Ryuuou no Oshigoto! is a story about the game of Shogi, and the difficulty of being motivated when faced with one much more talented than you are. Due to the nature of Shogi forcing you to fight others in a clear win/lose manner, it's a natural theme. But there's so much more as well - the pro Shogi world isn't very large, so characters go through the pain of "killing"² a friend. And pro Shogi is really all about popularity, so the association focuses a lot on the up and coming young characters that star the story.
And it also talks about things that are unique to the game. Software (the use of computers that can analyze boards) is a common fixture in the story because it shows the pinnacle, something that people can't actually meet - except when they do anyway, because martians don't care what humans think is impossible¹.

As with many good LNs, this story is also about growth. Almost every named character changes in some significant way between the start and end of the story - through some revelation made through Shogi, of course. I think seeing how characters change over time is the main reason to read a drama story in the first place, so a story that's actually good at it like this one makes for a really good read.

Also, it's a harem. With all the usual stuff that entails. Many female characters' motivations have to do with love (in light novels, when does it not?). And features lolis, but just in a way that makes them there having fun ~~while Yaichi gets to suffer from being called a lolicon all the time~~.

#Characters
If the ellipses in the quotes seem weird, all the single ellipses are used in the way they usually are in quotes and the double ellipses are shown as they are in the text.

"If a story were ever to be written from his point of view, surely ....... it would be an uplifting tale about how effort can break through any barrier. But the writer himself would never notice that he is actually the highest barrier of all. It would be the ultimate comedy and insanely cruel." -Yo Okito (vol12)

Yaichi Kuzuryu, the main character, is very talented at the game. While he's not particularly hailed as the best player until after a while (instead suffering because he had a long losing streak), he manages to take in an apprentice and gains the motivation to start winning, where he then rides that momentum to beat the Meijin who's been previously treated as the best in the Shogi world. Of course, he's also a dense harem protaganist... which is probably my least favorite part of the whole story.

(I couldn't think of a good quote that's not spoilery and also works without context, so I'm not including one.)

Ginko Sora is Yaichi's sister apprentice (apprentices of the same master are like family, especially since this master decided to take them into his home), who is so much is a tsundere that she's annoying. Deciding to skip out on joining the Women's League, she decides to forge a path to become a proper pro... all so that she'll be able to catch up to Yaichi's level someday. (Well, she's exaggeratedly famous. I don't think a TV broadcaster would buy rights for hundreds of millions (¥) for a shogi match, because it's just too niche of a sport for that to sell.) But I'd like to put her head on a pike... even being super bashful can't bring on the protecting urge after they've been that aggressive. Her transformation into becoming one of the "Shogi Martians"¹ she thought she would never is pretty good, though it's more... extreme effort than it is talent. Also she was near the top of Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi!, which is surprising to me but I guess there's a reason so many characters like her are written in other stories.

It was worse because they'd have a momentary lapse and forget how certain pieces worked or pick up the wrong piece from their piece stand ...... Losing in ways that only elderly Shogi veterans could. (vol7)

Kyosuke Kiyotaki is Yaichi's master who took him in to teach Shogi. He's an old buffoon now, though, so he's not that good at it anymore. Jealous of his apprentice being so much more talented than him, his story talks about retirement and how painful it can be to lose your touch.

(There's a lot of different good quotes I could probably find, but I'm getting lazy.)

Keika Kiyotaki is Kyosuke's daughter, who also decided to do training to join the Women's League. The girl that Yaichi has a crush on; she meddles a lot to try to get Yaichi and Ginko together and handle all the things people normally don't care about. Her story involves figuring out what she really cares about and why she plays Shogi in the first place, as is with many of the other characters in the story (like Ginko and both Ai's)

(Coming up with quotes for the major characters is hard.)⁵

Ai Hinatsuru is Yaichi's first apprentice. Having grown up in an inn, she makes for a really good bride (if you can get past the slightly yandere-ish tendacies). Because she's in elementary school she's not really seen as a love interest, but she is really good at Shogi puzzles, and learned how to play from those (this makes her really good at comebacks). But she feels fairly aimless; aside from wanting to get good to make her master love her more, she doesn't really have any motivations to do well (which is her main downfall). Well, until Mio comes along.

"I'd always thought that I could be the best in whatever I tried the hardest to do. I thought there wasn't a point if I couldn't be number one, ... Joining the Women's League also sounded like fun ...... At least it did until you came, Ai." (vol13)⁴

Mio Mizukoshi is Ai H.'s elementary school friend who's really sporty but also wants to be a pro Shogi player. Despite not being very talented (well she can still win tournaments, because top tournament matches are the most intense place to have a battle), she still tries her best in training, and really loves Shogi. In the end, her main purpose in the narrative is to support Ai's development (you can tell because Ai is in every scene Mio's in), but she gets a lot of development and is the main subject of the best volume. (Is it because it's actually not about a harem for once?)

I'll never fall in love with a prince. I only have Shogi. So, my story from here on out will only be about Shogi. No sparkly illustrations like in the picture books. It will be a story of guts and grit, a clash of resillience. (vol9)

Ai Yashajin is Yaichi's second apprentice. A rich girl who's confident in herself more than anything else. Although she cares for people, she tries not to show it... it's really cute. Her apprentice training involved going out to (illegal) gambling (well, if shogi counts as that) dens to face the people who make pocket change from beating people in matches, and so she knows how to use tricks in their strategies. She was originally brought on as an apprentice to give Ai H. a rival. (It's hard to describe people who intentionally avoid attention.)

"The inspiration behind this game was when I was waiting for my lady to return from elementary school, thinking Ahh, I can't wait to see her again ..... I can't wait to tease her again ...... " (vol8)

Akira Ikeda is Ai Y.'s bodyguard. She's nice because she has a personality of her own... even if it is just mostly acting like an annoying kid. Playing (and losing) against the elementary schoolers that play Shogi in the association building while waiting for someone else, she's not that good at it and only started playing because Yaichi decided to tell her about the rules while they were bored during Ai's training.

"I am a woman who lives to serve, ... I have neither Ai's desire for exclusivity nor trying personality traits like Ginko. I'm simply satisfied being close by. A rather convenient woman, if you will." (vol8)

Machi Kugui is a Women's League player who also works as a reporter that is obsessed with Yaichi (due to love from when they were children). This career path was chosen due to the inability to catch up to his level of talent, and in that case they'd might as well find a different excuse to follow them around. She often uses whatever resources she has available to get what she wants. She sorta feels like Ai H. but having already learned what it's like to give up. Or maybe she's just a lot better at not being super clingy. I like her story because it shows that not everyone actually cares about being the best, and that different harem characters have different fighting styles (which is really nice to have in a story because it keeps things fresh).

Big Sister Machi has lent me many comics detailing how friendships between boys suddenly escalate but ...... Can the same happen with girls ...... ? (vol10?)³

Ayano Sadatou is Machi's sister apprentice and one of the people who's part of Ai and Mio's usual Shogi practice group. Being a kid, she really looks up to Machi's exploits and desires to be more like her. Which makes her really funny to read about (though she's pretty good at it, guess it comes with the environment). She's seen paying extreme attention to minor details.

"Behold!! My secret technique---- Right Wing Holy Lance!!" (vol1)

Ayumu Kannabe (also known as God Cauldron) is a chuuni. He's talented enough to also hold his own against top-tier players, and was the usual practice partner with Yaichi. He actually shows up a lot more than I think he needs to... but that's just because I hate chuunis.

(If I can find the line, the one about the women's league only existing to get more people to register to the association. But it's hard to find specific lines like that.)

Rina Shakando is at the top of the Women's League, and is fine with speaking to the media with her position. But she doesn't really believe that the league even should exist, since the Women's Shogi players are so much worse than any of the pros. The topic of Women's Shogi not needing to exist if there's enough women to reach the actual pro leagues is a pretty common topic in this story, probably because most of the characters are female.

"Fwhee? Masta wants Cha to be a pwet?" (vol10?)

Charlette (she has a full name, but who cares about what it is) is a first grader who only exists in the story to be cute. So cute that she becomes Yaichi's apprentice (and bride) despite not being good at Shogi. But she's really cute... and is probably the main reason Yaichi is even seen as a lolicon.

"I normally never allow others to enter my working space ... Allow me to demonstrate board making techniques for you." (vol6)

Shumai Honinbou is a Go title holder who also can make boards. It's pretty cool, though she's always drunk and is obsessed with a certain PG-13 word so she doesn't show up very much. She believes that in order to succeed, you need to put in extreme effort, though what that means is left as an exercise to the reader.⁶

Obviously, there are a lot more significant characters not detailed here, such as a bunch of other pro players and people in training to become pro (Hiuma, Sota, the Meijin, Okito, Chairman, Oga, Ryou, and maybe Ika are probably major enough to include, but this review is already 12k chars so I'm just gonna stop), and other supporting characters like people's parents and daughters.

#Conclusion
I recommend the story only if you like harems. While the lolis are a good selling point, it's not prominent enough to ruin the experience if you're just neutral towards it. But disliking harems will have you drop the story because it is such a major part of the story. If you're fine with those, though (and if you're reading a romcom LN, you'd better be), then this is one of the best out there - it was winning enough in Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi! that they just went ahead and tossed it onto the hall of fame.
(Although it's about Shogi, that can just be treated like the sport in any other sports story; prior knowledge of the sport isn't necessary though it'll help.)

#Footnotes
(Ordered in the order I wrote the notes, not the order they appear in the text.)
¹ "Shogi Martian" shows up as a term a lot in Ginko's PoV to refer to players that have the specific talent that makes one a very good shogi player.
² The person who plays the match that leads to one's retirement is known as being their executioner, according to the story.
³ I was considering an alternate quote about Ayano being obsessed with trains (from vol13). I decided against it because this line was better. (Not quoted here because that would require finding it.)
⁴ Alternate quote I was considering: "I...... Might be a little sad. But, no matter where we are or how much time goes by, I'll always feel closer to Mio than anyone. ... Because...... we have Shogi!" -Ai Hinatsuru (vol10)
⁵ While writing this, I thought of a good quote idea if I could find the scene... but then I realized I was thinking of the wrong show. (Specifically, one of the scenes involving Tsutsukakushi Tsukiko.)
⁶ In volume 13, Shumai tells Ayano (who asks about the meaning of extreme effort) that part of the effort is figuring out what it means.