| Shino Shiratsuki | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Personal info | |
| Japanese name: | 白築 慕 |
| Birthday: | January 31 |
| Family: | Nana Shiratsuki (mother)
Kousuke Shiratsuki (uncle) |
| Location: | Shimane Prefecture |
| School: | Chiyozaki Elementary School Yumachi Elementary |
| Grade: | 1st year middle school (Shinohayu) |
| Media | |
| Debut: | Shinohayu the Dawn of Age ch 0 |
| Mahjong | |
Shino Shiratsuki is an alumna of Asakumi Girls' High School and the main protagonist of the Shinohayu the Dawn of Age series. Shino is ambidextrous. She ranks the 3rd in the Japanese national professional mahjong players ranking.
Appearance
As a child Shino has medium length black hair and brown eyes. In middle school she starts growing her hair out and usually wears the Yumachi Middle School uniform with a knee-lenght skirt. In high school her hair is longer and she wears the standard Asakumi Girls' uniform.
Personality
She appears to be a very excitable and enthusiastic girl. However, her mother's disappearance seems to have left a strain on her. She has a love for mahjong that runs so deep it has positively affected the others in her life. When she was younger, in an effort to help her calm down, her uncle would let her headbutt him if she were anxious or upset.
Due to her mother's disappearance, Shino's goal is to participate in as many National Tournaments as possible, in the hopes that her mom will see her and come back. Because of this, she is fixated on obtaining 1st place, and won't settle for less. While this served her well in the elementary school national tournament, it hindered her team during her first Middle School tourney.
Playing Style / Abilities
Shino says that while playing, she never holds back and tries to get the most fun she can out of the game. According to Kanna, Shino builds her hand "horizontally". She gets many pinfu and Shanshoko and rarely ever calls tiles; she is willing to look over cheaper waits (as far as going into furiten while having called Riichi) in order to win with her larger wait. During the last round of the 12th annual Matsue Children's Mahjong Tournament, she focused on speed but admitted Hayari is still the fastest. As shown in the National tourney as well as the Middle School City Tournament, she is willing to call tiles in order to speed up and progress her hand.
Harue Akado noted that Shino has a tendency to win with the 1-sou tile, and has a tendency to be inconsistent in her play-style (Shino retorts that it's consistent for her so that's good enough); this 1-sou tendency lends itself nicely to chanta and junchan hands. In the last two hands of a hanchan, Shino's abilities greatly increase and she is often the dealer for one of those hands as well. While in these last two hands, depending on the point difference, Shino either gets very powerful closed hands or tries to call in order to gather more points quickly. Twice now, Shino has called a kan to help further her hand: once for a rishan kaihou and once to get into tenpai.
Plot
Introduction Arc
Shino is first introduced as a baby playing with mahjong tiles and gripping her uncle's hand. She is then shown as a fourth year elementary student at Chiyozaki Elementary School winning a game of mahjong with her friends Miyuka Ishiwatari, Rui Suzuki, and Sanae Tsuyuki. After the win, Shino immediately rushes to the grocery store to buy food for her uncles visit. When he arrives, Shino sets up the mahjong table before her mom and uncle join. Shino is then shown winning a hand and having fun playing three player mahjong with her family.
A year after her mom disappeared, it is revealed that she has moved in with her uncle to Shimane Prefecture and cooks for him every night. Later when Shino lays down for bed, she reminisces about the day she had to say goodbye to her friends and then her mother and begins to cry. The next day she notices the multipurpose room in her new school Yumachi Elementary and enters. There she sees a group playing mahjong and wishes to play with them but they refuse. Kanna Ishitobi then says that she doesn't like mahjong but plays it for the challenge. Kanna then tells her that she is entering a tournament to beat Hayari Mizuhara and is preparing for it. Shino then thinks to herself that if she were to enter this tournament, that her mother might come and find her. However when she gets home, she notices that her mahjong set is missing and that her uncle sold them. She then slams the door in his face and begins to cry. While crying, she notices the 1 bamboo tile and carries it with her. In class she notices two boys playing chess with paper and rushes home to create her own mahjong set made from paper.
On the day of the Matsue Children's Mahjong Tournament, she wakes up early and is set to go until her uncle reminds her that they agreed to go to the Izumo Grand Shrine and pray that day. When her uncle stops for something to drink, she notices a mama bird and her offspring and remembers that her mother said she loved the look on Shino's face when she was playing mahjong. Shino then rushes from the car to try and get to the tournament; not wanting to spend money because she needs it for dinner that night.
Children's Tournament Arc
After rushing to get there, she finally arrives at the playing hall. There she is spotted by Kanna who thinks she is there to cheer her on. When Shino tells her that she intends on playing, Kanna declares her an enemy. Shino then says that she is a friend but suddenly feels faint from running to the tournament and bumps into Hayari. They are soon rushed by adoring fans and then Kanna quicky pulls Shino away. Kanna then begins to worry about her but Shino tells her that she is just tired because of the running. She then says that she wants to play Hayari and that when she plays she goes full force to have as much fun as possible. She then ignores Kanna and signs up for the tournament.
Upon learning her placement, she wishes Kanna luck and departs for her matches. In the playing hall, Shino is stunned to see an automatic table and then greets everyone. While playing she then says that this is the first time she's had opponents in months before remembering her mother. Shino then tsumos everyone for the win. After her win, she thanks everyone for the game and agrees to play the second place girl again, Sakura Kawasugi. She is then suprised out of nowhere by Kanna coming to congratulate her. Shino then says that mahjong is fun and that she looks forward to playing Kanna. In another game, Shino tsumos everyone for another win. Shino then makes it to the finals. Upon arriving at the match, she greets Kanna as says that she got lucky. She then says that if she wins this final match, she will get into the papers and maybe her mother will look for her.
At the start of the match, Shino was getting very good hands but Hayari rons her for 12,000 pts. She then says that Hayari's hand was so fast and pretty that next time she'll do the same. When Kanna wins, Shino notes that Kanna is dynamic and that all the players were interesting. Later in the game Shino is in fourth place. Kanna, whom is in first, tells her that it isn't fun lose. However Shino tells her that she is having a lot of fun even while being last. Shino then thinks of her mom and continues playing her best. While analyzing her opponents discards, she notices that she can no longer get an ittsuu but draws the bird tile and smiles. After giving up her tenpai, Shino regains it and wins a big hand to take the lead. When the match ends, Shino places third. While talking to Kanna, she says that even though the girl lost she sounds like she had fun. She also tells Hayari that the match they had was a lot of fun.
After the match, Shino says that now she will be back to paper tiles again and that third place won't get her into the news. She then runs into her uncle and apologizes. He then tells her that he is sorry and that he is going to support her from now on and gives back her mahjong set. At school Kanna call out for her in the halls and invites her to the multipurpose room. While walking to the multipurpose room, Kanna apologizes for being mean to her. She also tells her that she is now part of the team. Shino then again thinks of her mother and says that if she shines in the national tournament she might get to see her again. While walking home with Kanna, Shino tells her "lets go to the nationals".
She is later seen walking with the others to go play at Kanna's house.
Idol Arc
Before the festival, she tells everyone that she grew out of her yukata and is then lent one by Kyouka. She is then seen ejoying the festival with everyone and then meets Hayari. After Kanna yells at Hayari, Shino tells her that they will visit her concert later. She is seen making a cameo in Hayari's flashback along with her mother. On the way back from the concert she stops by her house to give her uncle some food and tells her uncle about the yukata. She then explains to the girls that her uncle is a writer and a former musician. While heading to the beach with everyone Shino remembers playing at the beach with her mother and says that she forgot how nice it was.
Yue's Arc
She and the others are walking on a road when they meet Yue Hondou. After the time skip, she once again enters the children's tournament and makes it to the finals along with Kanna, Kyouka, and Hayari.
The match goes back and forth until Shino became the last dealer. She then proceeds to focus on winning quickly and finishes the match with a tsumo after a kan to win. After the match she explains to Kanna that if she played like herself, everyone would've kept winning and this time she wanted to win no matter what.
Girls of Yumachi Arc
The next day Kanna appears and shows Shino the enlarged article from her win and is going to hang it up in the multi-purpose room. While embarrassed, she asks Kanna not to draw a mustache on her picture. In the room she tells Kanna that she is spending the night with Kyouka while her uncle is out of town causing the girl to want to stay as well. After spending the night, she greets her uncle before they get to their house and then cooks for him. Shino then tells her uncle that she is trying to get into Askumi Girls' because she doesn't want to burden him and if that can't happen she'll look for live-in employment. Later she informs her uncle of the class visit and says she didn't tell him about it because she felt like if he went then she would be resigning to the fact her mom is gone. However he goes anyhow, making Shino happy. Afterwards, Kanna tells her that Harue Akado will be participating in the nationals as well.
While playing a game in the multi-purpose room, Shino wins a hand and overtakes Kanna. However Kanna fell asleep, so the others decide to also take a nap. At home she looks at her winning medal from the tournament and laments that she still hasn't heard from her mother yet. She then says that she is naïve but she wants to try everything she can and that if winning the regionals aren't enough then she'll win the nationals. However the next day she is disappointed because there isn't enough players. She then tries to peak at Kanna's online game but gets yelled at in the process. Kanna then agrees to let her watch but only if she is completely silent. When Kyouka arrives and says she couldn't find anyone to play, Shino suggest calling Hayari. Hayari then shows and they begin playing. Shino notices that Hayari has gotten a lot stronger since the finals and that her breasts have grown. After being defeated and seeing Hayari off, Kanna tells her that more regional winners have been announced and shows her the news. Shino looks through it and is shocked to find her old friend Rui Suzuki is one of the representatives. She then calls Rui.
Kyouka, Kanna, and Shino all head to Hayari's house to play. After the games she helps Hayari with cooking for the group. A little while afterwards Kanna picks Shino up while it was raining prompting her uncle to buy her a bike. Later at the multipurpose, the girls discuss Tanabata and it shows that Shino's wish is to have her mother come back home. After some time, summer holidays role around and the girls decide to head to the beach. While playing they meet Yue once again and go to Aina Moriwaki's house to play some mahjong. The matches aren't shown but Rena says that with the final totals Aina wins. Shino then asks if they are welcome back and Aina tells her that she'll be her sparring partner anytime. At the house, Shino is worried about the typhoon hitting and tells her uncle that she wants to play as much mahjong as she can before the national tournament. As soon as the storm ends, Shino and Kousuke go to the Izumo Grand Shrine and pray. She prays for her mother.
Children's National Tournament Arc
As they prepare to leave for the tournament, Kousuke asks if anyone will see her off. Shino tells him they already gave her a send off but Kana asked about her flight time. When they arrive in Tokyo, Kana and Kyouka are there to greet them. Kana then says that they are there to support Shino and they are staying at Kyouka's grandparents house and wants Shino to stay there as well. Shino then departs with her friends and Kousuke goes to a work related meeting. The next day opening ceremonies begin and Shino meets Rui. She tells Rui that she is in the last group and can't wait to play her. After Rui's defeat, Shino listens to her friend until her match starts.
Shino's first match isn't shown, but she wins the match. Immediately after, she meets her uncle and asks if her match was on television. He tells her that it wasn't and they head to lunch. Her second match is against the person that defeated Rui, Wakana Yonamine. Shino tells herself that she probably won't get fired up about it because she just wants to win. This changes when the last girl shows up and Wakana throws a tile at her. As the match starts, Shino observes Wakana and notices that she uses fear to gain the advantage over her opponents. Shino tells her that she isn't afraid and hits her for a big win. She ends up winning the match and tells herself that she must win as much as she can for her mother to notice her.
In the third round of the tournament she plays against Kokoro Oroku, Naoko Tanba, and Chiyoko Takahashi. Before the match Kokoro insults Chiyoko and proposes that the losers have to perform dogeza. Shino then tells her that she cannot go all out if she has to worry about that so they decide that the losers have to buy the winners juice. At the beginning of the match, Shino wins with a riichi tsumo and tries it again but Naoko was able to ron her. When Naoko wins again, Shino says that she is strong but won't lose to her and wins with another tsumo. Later Kokoro ended the match by busting Chiyoko. Shino and Kokoro advance to the next round.
Afterwards she meets up with Kousuke but then sees a vending machine. She then delivers juice to Naoko and Chiyoko and thanks them for playing with her.
In the fourth round of the tournament she plays again against Kokoro as well as Harue Akado and Sayuna Hoshino. When she walks into the playing room, she tells herself that the odds of her mother watching her are even higher than previous round and she should continue to give it her all. While walking towards Kokoro, the girl asks her if she comes off a bit strong. Shino has no answer but then tells Kokoro that she doesn't give her a bad feeling.
For much of the match Shino isn't able to do anything. In the South's third round she hits Sayuna for 12,000 pts and the dealership moves to her for the final round. She then rons Harue and surprises everyone when she continues the match despite being in second place. Her reasoning is that if her mother is watching the match, she'll be disappointed if Shino doesn't take a chance to get first place. In the bonus round, Harue tries to end it with a swift attack but is ronned by Shino. With this Shino ends in first place and Kokoro in second. Harue and Sayuna were thus eliminated.
Shino is the first to arrive during the finals and greets Uta Mihirogi as she comes in. She wonders about the cat-belt and is told that it is a good luck charm. Kazumi Zenno then arrives and they start heading towards the seating. However, Shino waits for Kokoro and tells her that she was worried something might have happened since she was late showing up. As play gets started, she remembers Hayari's advice before departing for the nationals. Hayari comments on how Uta has a lot of fire power and may be similar to Shino but isn't as reckless. With this knowledge, Shino wins a cheap quick hand followed by Kazumi and Kokoro winning quick to counter Uta. The next few rounds is Uta and Zenno going back and forth until Shino becomes active. With this, she begins to clash with Uta but neither can build expensive hands. Shino ends up winning a small 2,900 pts from her and then tsumos everyone for 4100 all. Kazumi then wins a small hand and says she was worried that Shino had a major hand coming together. In the last round, Shino tries her best but is beaten by Kokoro and Kazumi.
Chiyoko, Naoko, and Kousuke greet her and congratulate her on getting third in the national tournament. Chiyoko then hands her a note saying it was from a "fan." After reading this note, Shino takes off thinking this was her mother that sent her this.
End of Summer Arc
After returning home Shino felt down so the girls decided to take her to the beach. Shino tells them that she has been feeling down but today was fun. She then tells them how she searched for her mother but found nothing. She says that since her mom watched her play an official match, she'll win as many official matches as possible.
Back at Yue's house the girls play mahjong and Shino says how much she wants to play as a team in middle school. She then calls Hayari and asks about her plans for school. Later, Shino returns to her house and Kousuke tells her that Nana's former boss will cover expenses for the official matches. She discovers he's doing it because he wants Nana to return to work for him. The next day Shino, Kanna, and Kyouka are seen walking in yukata.
While cooking, Kokoro calls Shino. After a few pleasantries they talk about how they want to see one another again and Kokoro being scouted by teams already. They then promise to win their regional tournaments and meet up with one another. Later that night Shino and her uncle play with the fireworks he got from his editor.
When she arrives at school she notices a large banner congratulating her on finishing third place and is greeted by many of her classmates. In the multipurpose room, she confides in Kanna and Kyouka that she is tired. She once again complains about the banner being big. Kanna then tells her that her being so far ahead is vexing to her and she can't take it anymore. Shino tells Kanna that her attitude makes her happy and they decide to play a game of mahjong. During the game she starts to prepare a menu based off of Yue's recommended fish.
During the school trip she hangs out Kanna, Himari, Rena, and Kyouka. At night after the bath, Shino tells her that she wants to grow her hair longer to show that she is grown up. The next day they continue on their trip. When Shino arrives home, her uncle cooks her favorite food and she tells him about the trip. After a few months, her school uniform for Yumachi Middle School comes in and she wants to show it off to Kousuke because she is embarrassed to model it by herself. Kousuke tell her that she reminds him of her mother and takes a photo for her.
Entering Middle School Arc
Shino makes a cake that Hayari taught her for her uncle on valentines day. The following day she accompanies Kanna to buy a lot of the left over chocolate at discount prices. After talking about Kanna buying too many, they begin to talk about graduation.
During the last lunch at school, Shino eats slowly and says that once she finishes it'll feel if something is over for her. She then has her last bit stolen by Kanna. After the lunch she tells Kanna and Kyouka to go on ahead of her and tells them that she's going to thank the cooks for preparing all her meals in school. All three decide to go together and thank the cooks in person. Back at the house we seeing Shino scolding her uncle for not liking tomatoes.
After graduation, all the girls go to Shino's house to celebrate and discuss what they will do for spring break. We then time skip to the middle school entrance ceremonies. When it's over the girls greet Hayari and say how much they look forward to checking out the mahjong club presentation. Later the girls decide to check out the club and meet after classes. Shino says it's a pain being split into two different classes. In front of the club, Shino says that she's nervous but their conversation is interrupted by Shizuku Nozu whom invites them in.
Shizuku then yells at them excitedly until Rio Takuwa mentions two years ago. Shizuku then explains that she was at the children's tournament two years ago and how she was a student at Yumachi as well. Ayuko Yamamoto and Mirin Katsube finally show up and the girls begin to play a few rounds of mahjong. Shino is first paired with Hayari, Shizuku, and Ayuko. After a couple of calls, Shino wins with a tsumo, surprising everyone. At the end of all the matches Shino places third. She then asks everyone if they want to play another round but they say it's time to go. Suddenly the advisor Chisa Sakane appears and greets them. Shino asks her to play but Chisa says it's a waste of time and to not expect anything from her because she doesn't want to be their advisor. She then shoos them out of the club room.
On the way home, Shino begins to cry but she doesn't know why.
City Tournament Arc
Shino arrives home and her uncle cooks her some special rice. They then talk about the tournament and Nana. At the club she cooks popcorn with Hayari and then proceeds to eat popcorn with chopsticks while playing mahjong. When asked how she was able to do that with ease, she cites her mother playing various games with her when she was younger.
With the tournament around the corner the girls play mahjong to determine who will play and Shino is put in the lieutenant position. The night before, she asks her uncle if he can make it to the match and he says yes. Before the matches she greets her uncle and notices that Yue's middle school is also participating. At the end of the match, Shino is worried about Kanna after he defeat.
With Hayari's match done, she leaves for her match. Shino then meets Hayari and they give each other a high-five before moving on. She then arrives at the playing hall and is surprised to find that Aina is her opponent. They then greet each other before being interrupted by Sakura Kawasugi whom she played previously in the elementary tournament. She then tells everyone that she has never beaten Aina but to prevent that this time she will try her best. The fourth player is Kano Itou.
As the match begins, Shino begins analyzing her opposition until Sakura mentions that she never thought they'd actually play again to which Shino tells her that she is happy they get to met again. Aina then wins three straight times as dealer but Shino thinks that playing her is fun. She then starts to build her hand but wonders if she should go for speed and later if she should riichi. After Sakura riichis, Shino decides she will do so as well. She then says that in this situation, she normally keeps her tenpai hidden but she wouldn't be able to beat Aina that way. After Kano did call riichi too, the round ends in a draw with only Aina in noten. Shino then says that she will go for swift attacks as much as possible but immediately gets stuck with a slow hand. She then starts to call on tiles until she gets the one bamboo tile and tsumos everyone.
As Shino attempts to win back more points, Aina stops her dealer streak by winning directly off of Shino. The next two hands go by, and Sakura busts out a kokushi musou during Aina's dealership, causing Sakura to skyrocket to the top, and close Yumachi's the distance to second place by 8,000 points. Aina quickly wins the next one, preventing Shino from going on a dealer streak of her own. Shino considers what to do with her hand, wanting to win, but still get enough points; she wants to make use of the haku dora, but if she does she can't make an open tan'yao. Sakura drops the haku tile the turn before Shino draws another haku. Shino declares riichi, thinking it's better not to wait for the last haku, and then she gets her tsumo, closing the distance to the top to 4600 points.
During the last hand, Shino says that her hand looks slow, but doesn't give up on winning. Aina calls a triple dora East, with Shino following up on Aina's calls. Everyone predicts that Shino has a small hand that can't quite get to the top, but will prevent Manbara from taking first. Later, they all realise that Shino's hand is just enough to take first, and Shino confirms their suspicions by calling a kan of the 1-sou, drawing the tile that put her into tenpai. She lets Kano's 9-sou pass by, as she wouldn't have enough to take first (by 100 points). When Sakura discards the 9-sou, Shino thinks she wins before Aina prevents this with the atama hane rule, winning with the same tile that Shino was waiting for, having just drawn it herself.
Shino cries at the end, lamenting her choices. She says that while it was fun to play with Aina, she let Manbara take 1st again, and put the team at a disadvantage. After her match ends, she is greeted by her uncle and his friend, both of whom console and congratulate Shino on her second place. While she admits that she did indeed have fun, she is sad that her choices put her team at a disadvantage and wants to cry because of it; her uncle then says that if she wants to headbutt him to feel better, she may do so. Shino replies that as a Middle Schooler she should show a little more restraint, but her uncle tells her that it's okay and that she'll do anything to help her feel better. She takes a few steps back and then runs at him.
After calming down a bit, Shino greets Shizuku on her way to the playing hall. Shizuku compliments Shino's playing, but Shino apologises for allowing Manbara to take first place again, saying she wanted to play better and obtain more points - she then says that she's counting on Shizuku to make up for her shortcomings, causing Shizuku to burst out happily, as she's never had juniors before, and then says to leave it up to her.