What would you do if you were an 11-year-old boy who uncovered an old
Go board while poking around in his grandfather's attic? Since Go is an
old person's game that requires all sorts of strategy and way too much
thought, you'd probably act like Shindo Hikaru and plan to sell the
board to buy video games. But what if you saw blood stains on the board
and heard a voice when you touched it? You'd probably act like Hikaru
again . . . and promptly faint.
So begins the first volume of one of my favorite manga series, Hikaru no Go.
The manga centers around the difficult game of Go--a popular Japanese
board game that involves a wooden board marked off with 19 lines
horizontally and 19 lines vertically. Stones are placed on the
intersections of the lines to claim "territory" and to capture your
opponent's stones. Each side has advantages: black always goes first,
but white receives 5.5 points at the end of the game to compensate.
Although Go is a complicated game with hard strategies involved, it can
be a fun pastime for anyone. It is upon this premise that Hikaru no Go builds its storyline.
Now, you're probably sitting there, skimming past the useless explanation of how to play, because you really want
to know what's going on with the blood and the voices with this
particular Go board. When Hikaru announces that he can see the blood
stains on the Go board, he awakens the spirit of Fujiwara-no-Sai, a
legendary Go master who was an instructor to the Emperor of Japan
centuries before. In one split second Sai enters Hikaru's mind and
resides within his "consciousness." Since Sai's only desire is to play
Go, he makes life difficult for the active Hikaru. Like any
sixth-grader, Hikaru is not too keen on sitting down to let Sai play a
long, boring game of Go. However, when Sai demonstrates his ability to
make Hikaru sick if he doesn't play, Hikaru decides he might as well
try. When he goes to a local Go salon and Sai plays a masterful game
against a child prodigy, he finds himself suddenly catapulted into the
world of professional Go.
Even though the manga's main characters are a sixth-grade slacker and a centuries-old ghost, Hikaru no Go
still presents an engaging story for teenagers and even adults to read.
Because of the young age of the characters the manga is thankfully
without language or inappropriate situations. The most objectionable
content would appear to be the extreme competitiveness of some players
and certain selfish attitudes, all of which appear only rarely. The
story follows an interesting protagonist, as Hikaru is sucked into a
world he claims to hate. As time goes on, his character develops and he
begins to take an interest in Go for himself rather than just to
appease Sai. As the other main character, Sai plays an extremely
important role in the story, serving as an alternating mentor and
student to Hikaru. While Sai tries to teach Hikaru to properly play Go,
Hikaru teaches Sai about the modern world (resulting in some hilarious
scenes in which Sai gets extremely excited over trivial things like
soda machines). Sai's customary seriousness vanishes every now and
again to reveal a childlike quality about him, making him a very
enjoyable character to follow. Hikaru's happy energy and frequent
cluelessness also contribute a great deal to the manga's charm. The
supporting characters are equally interesting and include a Go prodigy
whose father is the reigning world champion, a girl who knows nothing
about Go but wants to learn, and a smart geek who plays a Go endgame
superbly.
All in all, the manga captures your attention from the
first page and carries you with it throughout the subsequent chapters.
The characters are well-written and funny, and the inclusion of Go
techniques and styles start to make the reader itch to try them
himself. The story of Hikaru and Sai is a great introduction to Go and
to manga in general. I highly recommend this series for everyone.
Manga Rating: 10/10
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