Touji Souya

Touji Souya holds the title of Meijin, the highest rank in professional shogi, and carries himself like a figure from legend rather than an ordinary person. Other characters in the story describe him as someone who seems to live for nothing but the game, treating shogi almost like his native language rather than a skill he picked up over time.

Like the series' young protagonist, Rei Kiriyama, Souya became a professional shogi player while still in middle school, an unusually young age that marks both of them as rare talents. That shared history is part of why Souya has long hoped for a worthy rival, someone who can push him and match his intensity at the board, and he sees real potential for that in Rei.

Their first meeting comes in the form of a short exhibition match, brief by tournament standards but loaded with meaning for both players. The game itself lasts only a few minutes on screen, yet it hints at a much deeper connection developing between the composed, almost otherworldly champion and the younger player chasing his own place in the professional shogi world. Souya's quiet intensity at the board stands in sharp contrast to his dreamlike calm everywhere else, adding to his reputation as one of shogi's most mysterious champions.