Banjō no alpha: Yakusoku no shōgi

Newspaper journalist Shunsuke Akiba is transferred to the cultural desk and put in charge of shogi. He meets Nobushige Sanada, a 33-year-old aiming to be a professional shogi player by achieving the rank of 4-dan or more. Sanada is over the age limit as he could not achieve 4-dan by the age of 26, and is now trying to take an exam for admission to 3-dan. Akiba supports Sanada's attempt to become a professional shogi player and becomes interested in the game.

Cast

Hiroshi Tamaki

Akiba Shunsuke

Yusuke Kamiji

Sanada Nobushige

Manami Higa

Saito Keiko [Akiba's girlfriend]

Sumika Nono

Junpei Yasui

Natsuko

Yasuhito Hida

Arata Horii

Ryo Kato

Renji Ishibashi