A 9-dan professional shogi player, ranked A for the past 8 years, Tsujii Takeshi is a lover of wordplay and craves public attention. Other people within the shogi world call him 'a waste of good looks' due to his propensity for dad jokes and terrible puns. He is usually the only one to laugh at his own gags. Tsujii played against protagonist Kiriyama Rei during the quarterfinals of the 20th Lion King Tournament.