Shogi Meshi Live-Action Series Casts Taiko Katono, Yū Inaba

The official website for the live-action series adaptation of Nagisa Matsumoto's Shogi Meshi (Shogi Food or Meals shogi player loved) manga revealed more cast members and the theme song artist for the series on Friday. The new cast members include:

• Taiko Katono as Takayoshi Hōzan, Nayuta's rival, a titleholder and seventh dan player
  
  
  
• Yū Inaba as Tokihiko Kurose, a seventh dan shogi player
  

Other cast members include Nao Nekota, Erika Asakura, Hikari Kiyose, Masayuki Itō, and Akio Kaneda.

Crazy Ken Band (O-jii-san no Lamp) is performing the theme song for the series.

The previously announced cast member includes:

• Rio Uchida as Nayuta Tōge

The eight-episode live-action series premiered on the Fuji TV on Demand streaming service on Monday at 12:00 p.m. The series will also air on Fuji TV starting on Wednesday at 2:40 a.m. (effectively Thursday morning).

Gorō Azumi is directing the series, and Yoriko Kodama (Kodoku no Gourmet seasons 2, 3, 5, and 6) is writing the script.

The manga centers on female professional shogi player Nayuta Tōge. On breaks during her matches, Nayuta must choose the perfect meal to eat that will give her the edge to win her match. Nayuta analyzes her food options and the food decisions of her opponents just like she analyzes every move on the shogi board.

Matsumoto launched the manga in Kadokawa's Monthly Comic Flappermagazine last year, and the manga also runs on the ComicWalkerwebsite. Pro shogi player Akihito Hirose (eighth dan) serves as a supervisor on the series. Kadokawa published the manga's first volume on January 23.