Hikaru no Go

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Hikaru no Go
ヒカルの碁
(Hikaru's Go)
Genre Games, Psychological
Manga
Author Yumi Hotta (story)
Takeshi Obata (art)
Publisher Flag of Japan Shueisha
Demographic Shōnen
Magazine Flag of Japan Weekly Shōnen Jump
Flag of Canada Flag of the United States Shōnen JUMP
Flag of Germany BANZAI!
Original run 1998 – September 2003
Volumes 23
TV anime
Director Tetsuya Endo
Jun Kamiya
Shin Nishizawa
Studio Studio Pierrot
Network Flag of Japan TV Tokyo
Flag of South Korea Tooniverse
Flag of the United States ImaginAsian and Toonami Jetstream
Flag of the Philippines QTV 11
Flag of Israel 80 HOT or 40 YES
Original run 10 October 2001 – 26 March 2003
Episodes 75
Related works
  • Hikaru No Go: New Year Special (sequel)
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Hikaru no Go (ヒカルの碁? lit. "Hikaru's Go") is a popular Japanese manga and anime coming of age story based on the board game Go written by Yumi Hotta and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. The production of the series' Go games was supervised by Go professional Yukari Umezawa (5-dan). The manga is largely responsible for popularizing Go among the youth of Japan since its debut, and in other areas such as mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and South Korea. More recently it has gained much popularity in the United States. The title is sometimes abbreviated 'HnG'.

First released in Japan in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump in 1998, Hikaru no Go achieved tremendous success, spawning a popular Go fad of almost unprecedented proportions; it received the Shogakukan Manga Award in 2000[1] and creators received Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in 2003 for the series. Twenty-three volumes of manga were published in Japan, comprising 189 chapters plus 11 "omake" (extra chapters). The anime series, which was created by Studio Pierrot, ran for 75 half hour episodes from 2001 to 2003 on TV Tokyo, along with the 77-minute extra New Year's Special that aired in January 2004.

In January 2004, the manga series debuted in the United States in the English language periodical Shōnen Jump published by VIZ, now VIZ Media. In 2005 it was announced that VIZ Media also has the license to the anime. Hikaru no Go Volume 1 DVD was released on December 27, 2005. A Hikaru no Go "Sneak Preview" DVD (first episode) was released in the January 2006 issue of Shōnen Jump (Volume 4, Issue 1) to subscribers. Hikaru no Go airs on ImaginAsian TV in the United States. It premiered on the online streaming service Toonami Jetstream on July 14, 2006. In the April 2008 issue of Shōnen Jump, it was revealed that this was the last chapter to be published in the Shōnen Jump magazine. However, the series was not dropped, it is just going to be finished out in Shōnen Jump graphic novels. Shōnen Jump has mentioned that since Hikaru No Go will not be featured in the magazine anymore, the manga volumes will be arriving faster in bookstores.

Contents

[edit] Storyline

The same basic storyline is followed by the manga and anime, with a few small changes between the versions. While exploring his grandfather's shed, Hikaru stumbles across a Go board haunted by the spirit of Fujiwara-no-Sai, a fictional Go player from the Heian era. Sai wishes to play Go again, having not been able to since the late Edo period, when he possessed the body of Hon'inbō Shūsaku, an actual Go player of that period. Sai's greatest desire is to attain the Kami-no-Itte – "Divine Move", or the "Hand of God" – a perfect game. Because Hikaru is apparently the only person who can perceive him, Sai inhabits a part of Hikaru's mind as a separate personality, coexisting, although not always comfortably, with the child.

Urged by Sai, Hikaru begins playing Go despite a lack of interest in the game. He begins by mimicking the moves Sai dictates to him, but Sai tells him to try to understand each move. In a Go salon, Hikaru defeats Akira Toya, a boy his age who plays Go at professional level, by following Sai's instruction. Akira subsequently begins a quest to discover the source of Hikaru's strength, an obsession which will come to dominate his life.

Hikaru becomes intrigued by the great dedication of Akira and Sai to the game and decides to start playing solely on his own. He is a complete novice at first, but has some unique abilities to his advantage; for instance, once he has a basic understanding of Go, he can reconstruct a game play by play from memory. Through training at Go clubs, study groups, and practice games with Sai, he manages to become an insei and later a pro, meeting various dedicated Go players of different ages and styles along the way. While Hikaru is at this point not yet up to the level of Akira, he demonstrates a natural talent for the game and remains determined to prove his own abilities to Akira, Sai, and himself.

[edit] Hokuto Cup

The players of the Hokuto Cup
The players of the Hokuto Cup

Although the anime generally followed the manga's plotline, faithful readers of the manga were disappointed that the last arc was not aired. Where the anime ended, the manga continued with Hikaru planning to enter the Hokuto Cup, a tournament for under-18 Go pros. As the highest-ranking under-18 pro, Akira qualifies for the tournament but Hikaru has to play a series of games to become one of the three Japanese competitors. His friends Waya and Ochi also enter the qualifying matches. He meets Kiyoharu Yashiro, a player from the Kansai (Western Institute), whose style is as strange and offbeat as his own.

Hikaru, along with Akira and Kiyoharu Yashiro, are selected to represent Japan, while Hong Su-Young (a Korean Go player who was beaten by Hikaru earlier in the series) and two others represent Korea and three of Shinichiro Isumi's Chinese friends represent their country.

The captain of the Korean Go team, Ko Yongha, is interviewed and his remarks translated for Japanese viewers. The translator makes an error which causes it to appear that he is disparaging the skill of Honinbo Shusaku, who, like Hikaru, was possessed by Sai. Although Yongha later finds out, he refuses to correct the error and instead emphasizes it when he realizes that it enrages Hikaru, who takes it as a direct affront to Sai. This leads to Hikaru eventually challenging the captain, and he loses by only half a moku (point). Japan eventually comes in last, behind Korea (1st) and China (2nd).

In the end, Yongha asks Hikaru for his reason in playing Go. With tears in his eyes, he answers with the line "To link the far past, with the far future".

[edit] Effect on the popularity of Go

Hikaru no Go dramatically increased the popularity of Go in Japan and elsewhere, particularly among young children.[2] Go professional Yukari Umezawa served as the technical advisor for the manga and promoted it on behalf of the Nihon Ki-in.[3] She had a short 5 minute special at the end of every episode instructing kids how to play Go. One of the reasons that she helped make Go so popular was because she was called "best looking Go professional". The manga also spread Go throughout the United States. As a result, many high school and middle school Go clubs were started by students influenced by the manga.

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[edit] Titles

The plot of the manga "Hikaru no Go" revolves around the Japanese Go world. Several of the manga's prominent characters hold Go titles. The title holder is then called by a combination of their name and the title they hold. In the case of a multiple title holder the most prestigious title they hold is used. The 7 major titles mentioned in the manga are Kisei, Meijin, Hon'inbō, Jūdan, Tengen, Ōza, and Gosei.

[edit] English-language adaptations

Hikaru no Go is published in English in the United States Shōnen Jump magazine, and in individual graphic novels. The anime is now being shown in English on ImaginAsian TV to USA residents and on streaming video one episode at a time on Toonami Jetstream, although there have been no announcements that it will be shown on their television block on Cartoon Network.

The manga is unedited in the Shōnen Jump version and the manga chapters that can be read on the Shōnen Jump website. Unlike the earlier Shōnen Jump versions, instances of cigarettes are removed from the Hikaru no Go graphic novels so that they can be labelled as appropriate for everyone. For instance, the cigarette that Tetsuo Kaga puts on a Go board is changed to a wad of chewing gum in the graphic novel. Other changes include removal of clothing designs (e.g. vol. 5) and actual trademarks. The cigarette habits were edited in 2005 Shōnen Jump editions along with the graphic novels, though not all were caught before translation. In Volume 2, Sai communicates his outrage about Tetsuo's "dirty cigarette" (graphic novel vol. 2, p. 9), and in another edition Sai says "He put his gum out on the bord!" and in another panel Tetsuo is shown in the background smoking. As of September 2006, references to cigarettes and smoking are prevalent in the version seen in Shōnen Jump.

Similar changes were made when it was adapted as an anime, inside Japan.

[edit] Characters

Names are in Western order (first name before surname) except for Fujiwara no Sai's.

  • Hikaru Shindo (進藤 ヒカル Shindō Hikaru?) - Protagonist who is assisted by Sai. At the beginning of the series, Hikaru is a sixth grader in elementary school. An important factor in the development of Hikaru's passion for Go was an encounter early on where Hikaru becomes the rival of Akira Toya. At first, he thinks that Go is just for oldsters and he is annoyed at Sai's demand to play, but little by little his passion for Go increases as he plays more and more. From being a member of a school Go club to being an insei and finally becoming a professional Go player (at 14 years old) a year after Akira, Hikaru matures throughout the course of the series. Throughout the series, Hikaru gradually gets taller because the manga volumes are around when he is getting older and playing Go at the same time. Hikaru is often portrayed wearing clothing having the numeral "5". This is a pun on the Japanese common name for five: go. His birthday is September 20th. Part of his strength is his ability to read far into the game very fast, and to make seemingly stupid moves. These moves in fact lure the opponent to doing stupid moves, which Hikaru then traps them by.
  • Fujiwara-no-Sai (藤原佐為?) - A spirit from the Heian era of Japan and mentor of Hikaru Shindo. Sai continually plays Go in attempt to one day play the divine move (also known as the Hand of God). In the manga and anime, Sai had possessed the real-life figure Hon'inbo Shusaku and through his body, became a renowned Go player. Sai holds a rivalry towards Koyo Toya (a.k.a. Toya Meijin) and through Hikaru persuades Toya to have a game with him. His wish is realized when Toya accepts the challenge and plays a game through the Internet. After a legendary match that ends up with Sai's triumph, Hikaru discovers another move which would have turned the game around. Witnessing the maturity of Hikaru, Sai finds out that his one-thousand-year time in the world is going to finish and can't fulfill the wish of obtaining the divine move. A few days after the game with Toya Meijin, Sai suddenly disappears, neither terminating his last match with Hikaru nor saying goodbye to him. Sai leaves Hikaru forever, leaving Hikaru depressed and wanting to quit go. Hikaru then realizes that he will continue to play go for Sai since Sai influnenced him to play go. Extremely effeminate by today's standards (as is appropriate for a high-born Heian man), Sai is often drawn with traditionally feminine features and mannerisms. Yumi Hotta has joked about fans mistakenly calling him a "she" in the "intermission" pages of the manga. Sai's extremely emotional behavior is also proper for a Heian male; he sometimes cries copiously, soaking his long sleeves with tears, which in his own time would be respected as a sign of intelligence and sensitivity. His name Fujiwara indicates that he is related to a noble family of extremely high prestige in the Heian period, the Fujiwara clan.
  • Akari Fujisaki (藤崎 あかり Fujisaki Akari?) - Hikaru's childhood friend. She begins to learn Go as well when Hikaru becomes interested and later joins the Haze Middle School Go club, serving as vice captain of the girls' team, despite her being a weak player. She also seems to have feelings for Hikaru, as noted by her two friends in the carnival, though the two remain friends throughout the course of the series. Her birthday is May 17th.
  • Akira Toya (塔矢 アキラ Tōya Akira?) - Hikaru's biggest rival and Kaio Middle School student. The son of Koyo Toya, Akira is already a very strong go player when Hikaru first begins playing and is amazed by Hikaru's seemingly impossible strength. Since his first game with Hikaru, Akira has been obsessed with discovering the secret behind Hikaru's strength. Akira has faced Hikaru again and won, but still can still see a lot of strength in Hikaru. As the series go by, they still play each other, but it always ends in an argument. Akira also get taller throughout the series. His birthday is December 14th.
  • Yuki Mitani (三谷 祐輝 Mitani Yūki?) - A player at the Go Club at Haze Middle School who overcomes his cheating habit. He is angry at Hikaru for choosing to be an Insei than stay at the school Go club which they had a tournament around the corner. Yuki and Hikaru are no longer seen as friends. Yuki still remains in the Go club, but at first he didn't want to stay. His birthday is October 15th.
  • Tetsuo Kaga (加賀 鉄男 Kaga Tetsuo?) - President of Haze Middle School's Shogi club. Kaga hates Go and prefers Shogi better because his father forbade Shogi and forced him to play Go from an extremely early age, and he could never please the old man no matter how well he did, because he always loses to Akira. He also says he hates Go because Akira is better than he is, while keeping a completely detached attitude towards the game. He still plays Go from time to time to keep his skills limber. He along with Kimihiro has graduated from Haze Middle School. Tetsuo smokes cigarettes, which were kept in the earlier U.S. Shōnen Jump versions of Hikaru no Go, but were removed from the U.S. graphic novels and the later (as of 2005) Shōnen Jump versions. His birthday is January 8th.
  • Kimihiro Tsutsui (筒井 公宏 Tsutsui Kimihiro?) - Captain of the Haze Middle School Go Club who relies on a strategy book but has excellent Yose (end game) skills. Kimihiro is the founder of Haze Middle School's Go club. Kimihiro has graduated from Haze Middle School along with Kaga, which makes his dream of seeing his go club at Haze Middle School a failure. His birthday is April 23rd.
  • Toya Meijin (塔矢 名人 Tōya Meijin?) - Akira Toya's father. His real name is Koyo Toya (塔矢 行洋 Tōya Kōyō?); Meijin is one of the titles he earned. He rivals Sai. Later he retires from playing go because Sai beats him. He has an interest in Hikaru.
  • Yoshitaka Waya (和谷 義高 Waya Yoshitaka?) - Hikaru's "big brother" insei. Like Kaga, he has a dislike for Akira Toya because he can never defeat him and because of Akira's detached attitude towards the game. He has once faced Sai in Internet Go as Zelda for his nickname. He becomes a pro (at age 15) in the same year as Hikaru. He is also known to be very reckless and short-tempered, even punching former insei Mashiba in the face because the latter rattled Isumi. Waya's birthday is August 12th.
  • Shinichiro Isumi (伊角 慎一郎 Isumi Shin'ichirō?) - Another insei friendly with Hikaru, he appears to be doing very well in the first pro exam shown in the manga, going undefeated, until his match with Hikaru. During that match, rumors about Hikaru's incredible strength add to the pressure of time constraints, and as a result, he misplaces a stone; his attempt to move the stone after letting go of it ends up with his resignation before Hikaru can accuse him of cheating. As a result, he is defeated in his next two games and loses his chance to become a pro. He later learns to control his emotions and passes the next year's pro exam without a single loss. Isumi also unknowingly helps Hikaru get over his loss of Sai when their practice game makes Hikaru realize that by playing, he can find Sai within his moves, the Go that Sai passed on to Hikaru. Isumi's birthday is April 18th.
  • Kosuke Ochi (越智 康介 Ochi Kōsuke?) - Yet another insei in the same group as Hikaru, Akira tutors him so Akira can test Hikaru's strength. Ochi then passes the pro exam along with Hikaru and Waya with only 2 losses, and is also the youngest of them at only 13 years old. He also dislikes Akira, especially since he lost an opportunity to be acknowledged as Akira's rival when he failed to defeat Hikaru during the pro exam. He comes from a wealthy family, as evidenced by the number of pros that come to his household. His birthday is November 2nd.
  • Kaoru Kishimoto (岸本 薫 Kishimoto Kaoru?) - Kaio Middle School Go club president and former insei who did not become a professional. His birthday is March 5th.
  • Yun, also known as Yun Sensei (尹先生?) - Yun is Akira's Middle School teacher who is in charge of the school Go club. He is originally from Korea.
  • Yuri Hidaka (日高 由梨 Hidaka Yuri?) - A 3rd year Kaio Middle School student who stands up for Akira when he gets bullied by three other kids who dislike his presence. She hates bullying of all kinds. Her birthday is February 11th.
  • Ito (伊藤 Itō?), Kojima (小島?), and *Okumura (奥村?) - three students who dislike Akira Toya's presence in the Kaio Middle School Go club, and bully him by making him play "blind go" (i.e. calling out the moves without looking at the go board). Yuri Hidaka catches them in the act and puts a stop to the bullying.
  • Shu (修 Shū?)- The owner of a Go salon where Hikaru finds Yuki. Shu knows a cheater when he sees one. He hires Dake-san to teach Mitani a lesson about cheating.
  • Dake (だけ Dake?) - A person hired by Shu to teach Yuki Mitani not to cheat. He poses as a regular at the Go salon and hides his strength. He bets money on the game, reveals his strength, and wins 10,000 yen (about $90 U.S.) from Yuki. Hikaru and Sai later win the money back. Dake sings romantic songs while playing Go.
  • Heihachi Shindo (進藤 平八 Shindō Heihachi?) - Hikaru's grandfather, a regional go champion, who owns the board where Hikaru first discovered Sai.
  • Kuwabara Hon'inbo (桑原本因坊 Kuwabara Hon'inbō?) - The current holder of the Hon'inbo title in Hikaru no Go. Kuwabara is friends with Toya Meijin, but rivals Ogata.
  • Harumi Ichikawa (市河 晴美 Ichikawa Harumi?) - Ms. Ichikawa is the cashier of the Go salon where Akira Toya teaches. She feels saddened when Akira frequents the club less often because of his pro schedule, primarily because she is a fan of the go prodigy.
  • Shigeo Morishita (森下 茂男 Morishita Shigeo?), also known as Morishita Sensei or Mr. Morishita - A 9-dan pro who is Waya's go teacher and leader of the study group which Hikaru also frequents on Waya's invitation. He considers Toya Meijin a rival, since the two of them became pros at the same time. Morishita also mentors Michio Shirakawa (7-dan), the community Go leader.
  • Yuta Fukui (福井 雄太 Fukui Yūta?), nicknamed "Fuku" (フク?) - An insei and classmate of Waya who is known for his extremely fast-paced style of play.
  • Mitani's sister (三谷の姉 Mitani no Ane?) / Yuki's Older Sister - A girl who works at an internet cafe and lets Hikaru go on the computers for free during her shifts. Helps Hikaru with his English. The name used to describe Yuki's sister is different in the English version since Yuki Mitani is usually called by his given name, "Yuki", in the English versions. In the Japanese versions Yuki is referred to by his family name, "Mitani" - therefore his sister is called "Mitani's sister" in the Japanese versions. She lets Hikaru use the internet for free in a local internet cafe, because Hikaru was a friend of her brother Yuki.
  • Hong Su-Young ({{{2}}}?) - A Korean Go professional, about the same age as Hikaru. Hikaru beats Su-Young in an incredible match while he was still an insei and Su-Young was still a Kenkyuusei (the Korean equivalent of an insei.) The game they played encouraged Su-Young to work harder to become a pro.
  • Seiji Ogata (緒方 精次 Ogata Seiji,?, 10-dan) - A Go professional who sees Hikaru's talent when he explains a go move that would baffle professional Go players. He is also a student of Koyo Toya and soon takes the Judan and Gosei titles when Koyo Toya retires. His birthday is January 17th. He is obsessed with fishes.

[edit] Reception

The manga has sold more than 22,000,000 copies in Japan. [4]

Source Reviewer Grade / Score Notes
Anime News Network Zac Bertschy Overall (dub): C-
Overall (sub): B+
Story: B
Animation: B+
Art: A
Music: A		 DVD/Anime Review Vol #01
AnimeOnDVD Reviewer Content: B+
Audio: B+
Video: A-
Packaging: B+
Menus: B+
Extras: B		 DVD/Anime Review Vol #01
Each of the 19 DVDs is reviewed separately
THEM Anime Reviews Jason Bustard 4 out of 5 Prerelease fansub

[edit] Media and release information

Main article: Hikaru no Go media and release information

[edit] Voice actors

[edit] Japanese version (Seiyū)

[edit] English version

[edit] Episodes

Main article: List of Hikaru no Go episodes

[edit] Trivia

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • Hikaru no Go book 1 was released on May 5th.
  • Shuusaku's birthday is on May 5th.[5]
  • Sai disappeared on Boys' Day, May 5th (fish flags outside the window after Sai disappears reveal the date).[5]
  • The 5th day of the 5th month is the day of HikaGo (as stated in the character's section of this article, "five" is also pronounced "go" in Japanese).
  • When Hikaru playes Go on the Internet, he uses an iMac G3 (which is drawn in great detail), while the other customers in the shop use generic PCs.

[edit] References

  1. ^ 小学館漫画賞：歴代受賞者 (Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved on 2007-08-19.
  2. ^ Shimatsuka, Yoko. "Do Not Pass Go", Asiaweek. Retrieved on 2007-03-26. 
  3. ^ Scanlon, Charles. "Young Japanese go for Go", BBC News. Retrieved on 2007-03-26. 
  4. ^ The Rise and Fall of Weekly Shōnen Jump: A Look at the Circulation of Weekly Jump. Retrieved on 2008-02-28.
  5. ^ a b Hikaru no Go: Chapter 125 - "Sai Has Disappeared"

[edit] External links

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Hikaru no Go