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Fujiwara no Sai was a master go player in the service of the imperial courts of
Heian Japan. Through an act of malice and trickery, Sai was falsely accused of
cheating while playing a game in front of the Emperor. Afterwards, unable to
bear this shame, the illustrious go master committed suicide and existed through
the ages as a ghost. Now, in the present day, a young boy named Shindou Hikaru
stumbles across a goban in which Sai was residing. This fateful meeting once
again turns the cogs of fate as two destinies become intertwined in the quest
for the ultimate move in the game of go: the fabled “kami no itte.”
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Hikaru no Go is one of the single most popular manga titles to date credited
not only with massive merchandise sales and providing the basis for a great
anime series, but also, most profoundly, with the resurrection of the global go
community. In this title, rookie manga writer Hotta Yumi and mangaka savant
Obata Takashi collaborate to transform a game stereotyped to be an activity for
the elderly into a heart-pounding battle of sprits in which the reader can not
help but conclude once started. The work put into transplanting intense matches
into manga format was indeed spectacular and will forever remain the hallmark of
this series. However, in between matches, particularly in the manga’s second
half, certain flaws in the story design become more and more apparent as the
reader closes in on an abrupt ending that will leave fans wanting a just a bit
too much more.
As you flip through the pages of the manga, you should notice the art starts
with more of the familiar, rounder shounen character designs that Weekly Shounen
Jump (the magazine which carried HnG during its serial run) fans are used to
seeing in their favorite publication. While this works fine in the lighter and
more comedic opening segment of HnG, it certainly is a jump away the more
photographic-like seinen style that Obata elected to use later on. Either way,
the art remains high quality and does not intrude with the atmosphere of the
presented plot material. As for the individual character design for each
personality in the HnG universe, Obata once again starts strong and ends strong.
From some reader’s perspectives, each character’s visual appearance can
eventually be considered indicative of the peculiarities that Hotta embedded in
the manga’s numerous personalities. This is definitely a rare feat in manga, or
even anime for that matter.
As for HnG’s story, a split in terms of overall atmosphere and feel can be
marked as the reader progresses into the last third of the manga. In the first
dozen or so volumes the reader is introduced to a great cast of characters, each
rife with his or her own personality. The chemistry between them, as developed
by Hotta, makes for some particularly entertaining sequences. However, over time
we see a few characters eventually get shelved as new faces are brought into
play. This is an unfortunate turn of events as many of the older supporting cast
personalities were developing quite nicely and could have been used again in
later story arcs. As awkward as these departures are, they still don’t measure
up to the disappointment that was penned in the title’s unwieldy and ultimately
graceless finale. The final arc, which is tournament-centric, once again
introduces new characters that ultimately flounder due to their “for the moment”
purpose. On top of that, the series ends on a note that struggles to emphasize
hope and perseverance, but only ends up choking its audience with a mountain of
unanswered questions. Frankly, Hotta would have been better off ending the story
with the key departure of a key character several volumes before where the
emphasis on optimism was still running high.
All in all, Hikaru no Go is definitely a success in many levels. Not only does
it provide its readers with an exceptionally intense and occasionally humorous
experience, but it also manages to open up the world of go to a new generation
of players. Rarely does manga touch such a wide range of readers as it does here
in Hikaru no Go.
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