How did I not see that? :(
I really need to work on not always moving my king back all the time. Almost every game of Ito Shogi we've played has ended with a drop behind my other pieces, moving my king to the wrong spot, and a drop that traps my king. It was fair though, and I wouldn't take my move back even if you offered it.
What bugs me though is that I could have checkmated you in two moves had I avoided that. I was just waiting for a chance when I didn't have to worry about your RC so much and my king was more safe.
To be honest, I thought the pieces worked well as they were this game. However, we can try a weaker bishop if you want. I think the game demonstrated that a good, fun game can be played with the set-up and pieces we have now, but that doesn't mean it can't be improved (I think we could be getting close to a finalized version though).
I also noticed that the SC hardly got any use. However, you have to remember that when we played before, the SC was also a GC, so it was able to jump pieces no matter what its value was. Additionally, we were allowing drops with either value facing up. That allowed the silver cannon to be dropped onto the board, but now only the reverse chariot can be dropped. So it isn't just the removed pieces that have made it a less-frequently used piece, but also the altered drop rules and the merger of the L/RC with the GC/SC. I think the piece itself is definitely fine as it is.
As for drops, I kind of liked that only the demoted value could be dropped, but we could try another game with the original rule. If we did so, I'd like to make that the only change, so we can better compare the two. Thus far, we have not played more than one game with the same set-up and I'd like to play the next game without any major changes.
I was surprised at myself this game as well. :) I analyzed the board a bit more and was able to accurately predict many of your moves. I think I've become a lot more conscious of the paratrooping aspect as well and am not as surprised by your drops as I used to be. Now that I'm paying more attention to that aspect, I try to defend my pieces against both your pieces in hand and on the board. That awareness of the drops is probably what allowed me to do so well.
So are you OK with playing another game and only changing the drop rules to allow either value to be dropped face up?