Behind the Avatar - Obanai_Hashira

Interview conducted on August 23-24, 2025.

Me: This is our 12th interview and @Obanai_Hashira is the interviewee! How are you today?

Obanai: I'm doing great, thanks for asking! Thanks for having me.

Me: No problem! Tell us a bit about yourself, please (:

Obanai: Sure. My name is Andrew, I'm thirteen and in the eighth grade. I live in Chicago, USA, and go by Obanai which comes from an anime that I love, Demon Slayer!

Me: Interesting. Could you tell us a bit more about the history of your username?

Obanai: So, I had a few other usernames before, but not for long. The first two were Pokemon related since I was really young and loved Pokemon, but the more recent ones were Obanai_Rizzler_Serpent, and the one I have currently. I changed it because I wanted to have a shorter username and have it more centered towards the "Obanai" part. Since Obanai  is a "hashira" (the highest you can be in the demon slayer corps, the demon hunting organization in the anime, compare this to a SA), I decided to put that in the username since others were taken.

Me: Thank you for actually explaining for those of us who don't watch Demon Slayer lol. I was thinking "Hashira" was part of your name or something. I'm going to guess that your pfp is Obanai, but I'll let you confirm that for us.

Obanai: Actually, my pfp isn't Obanai. It's someone from another anime, which a lot of us probably know. It's Monkey D. Luffy, the main character from an anime called One Piece. It's not Obanai because for 2 reasons. 1, Obanai is a darker character, and that didn't really reflect me. I love Obanai, but he isn't like me. 2, One piece is my favorite anime alongside Demon Slayer, and I love Luffy almost as much as I love Obanai, so I decided to pick Luffy as my pfp since I am currently finishing up one piece. (I'm on episode 1099!!)

Me: *coughs* 1,099...That's a lot of episodes-

Me: Do you have a staff position in or own any clubs?

Obanai: I own one club, which revolves around Demon Slayer, but other than that I do not have a staff position in any clubs. (although I did ask for one in cvc... *cough*) Other than that, I try not to have too many positions in clubs because I don't want to think of chess.com as a burden rather than a place to go and have fun. I don't want to get stuck in chess.com social and never be able to leave since have so many responsibilities.

Me: My strategy is "I don't wanna be on CC anymore. I'm owner in CVC? Too bad. They'll figure it out." but yours works too. Good job not drowning in the social side! How did you find Chess.com social and what is your opinion on it?

Obanai: So, back in 2023 or so, I found the clubs section by looking at all the buttons on the side. The first club that showed up was Chess School, and I saw how many members it had, so I just joined. I'm still in it, but I barely touch it anymore. The second club I found was POC (Paladins of Chess). Unfortunately, it's rather inactive now since @GMchessminator left and Elliot kind of abandoned it. For a while, it was the place i'd go whenever I logged onto chess.com. That's where I met @GMchessminator, @Scemer, and others! Even @Jared wasn't there at the time. It was really fun back then. I was a bit immature then so I would get into quarrels with @Scemer and @Lilyana, but nothing that would ruin me. After that, I just started joining the clubs my friends were in. Chess.com Social has been great so far, and I really like all the friends I've met a long the way!

Me: Interesting story! I remember POC being active back in 2023 and I'll have to take your word for it since I was gone for GM's ban. Staying on the topic of social, do you prefer clubs or OTF, and why?

Obanai: Honestly, I've only been on OTF for the major forums, and I barely go on there. I'm more of a club person, OTF is too freaky and has too many weird people ngl.

Me: Agreed. But not everyone is bad (like Dove, I think she's on OTF fairly often). What would you say is your greatest achievement on Chess.com?

Obanai: Yes, a lot of people on OTF are nice, but some that I've met just don't mix well with me. I'm fairly new on chess.com, I've only been here for 2-3 years, but if I were to pick an achievement it would probably be getting my club to 100 members.

Me: I wouldn't consider that new but good job with the 100 members! Are there any blogs/clubs/people you would like to shoutout, and if so what/who are they?

Obanai: I would like to shout out @Kavarin 's blog, https://www.chess.com/blog/kavarinblog/think-twice-before-entering-chess-coms-social-side Which I recommend everyone to read as many others do as well.

Obanai: I would like to shout out Chess.com vs ChessKid for providing me with a place to chat, play chess, and improve. I would finally like to shout out all the active members of CVC and my friends, @F1-24, @TheAuthorOfChickens, @Qoiuoiuoiuoiu, @Carlsen, @Forsaken, @NoahDeAlwis, @Jared (ik he's not active but he's a great guy), @ToastBread_1, @ToastBread_2, @TheCosmic_Horizon, @ChessBeteigeuze, @Deflecting, @AgentNoggin, @FreeFriendlyDove, @keshavasr, @Fr0sty_Katz, @Xbox_Guy, @BermudanPM, @ChanMan4, @The-Blue-Spy, @RwandaChessMaster, @Deflection, @GMchessminator, @Lilyana, @Scemer, @Caleb341, @Asiatic_Lion, @AmericanSpursFan, @Car-Geek, and everyone on chess.com. (If I missed anyone I am very sorry, I was just focusing on friends and active CVC members sorry!)

Me: Excellent shoutout. Do you have anything else you'd like to say?

Obanai: Only one thing: Watch One Piece. Fr, it changed my life. It may seem long, but it's worth it. Other than that, have a good day ya'll!!

Me: Thank you for time! (Ik I always say but I'm serious) Cya!

Obanai: Bye!