lit. 'Hikaru's Go' (ヒカルの碁) is a Japanese manga series 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. It was serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1998 to 2003, with its chapters collected into 23 volumes. The story follows Hikaru, who discovers a Go board in his grandfather's attic. The object turns out to be haunted by a ghost named Sai, the emperor's former Go teacher in the Heian era. Sai finds himself trapped in Hikaru's mind and tells him which moves to play against opponents, astonishing onlookers with the boy's apparent level of skill at the game.
It was adapted into an anime television series by Studio Pierrot, which ran for 75 episodes from 2001 to 2003 on TV Tokyo, with a New Year's Special aired in January 2004. Viz Media released both the manga and anime in North America; they serialized the manga in Shonen Jump, released its collected volumes in entirety, and the anime aired simultaneously on ImaginAsian.
Hikaru no Go has been well-received. The manga has had over 25 million copies in circulation, making it one of the best-selling manga series. It won the 45th Shogakukan Manga Award in 2000 and the 7th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in 2003. It is largely responsible for popularizing Go among the youth of Japan since its debut and is considered by Go players everywhere to have sparked worldwide interest in the game, noticeably increasing the Go-playing population around the globe.
Plot
While exploring his grandfather's shed, Hikaru Shindo stumbles across a Go board haunted by the spirit of Fujiwara-no-Sai, a Go player from the Heian era. Sai wishes to play Go again, having not been able to since the late Edo period when his ghost appeared to Honinbo Shusaku, a top Go player of that period. Sai's greatest desire is to attain the Kami no Itte (神の一手) – a perfect move. Since Hikaru is the only person who can perceive him, Sai inhabits a part of Hikaru's mind as a separate personality although not always comfortably.
Urged by Sai, Hikaru begins playing Go despite his lack of interest in the game. He begins to execute moves that Sai dictates to him. Hikaru begins his Go career in a Go salon, where he defeats a young boy playing at a professional level, Akira Toya, twice by following Sai's instructions. He subsequently begins a quest to discover the source of Hikaru's strength, an obsession that will 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 becomes an Insei and later a professional, meeting various dedicated Go players of different ages and styles along the way. He also demonstrates a natural talent for the game and remains determined to prove his own abilities to Akira, Sai, and himself.
Hikaru enters the Hokuto Cup, an international tournament for under-18 Japanese, Chinese, and Korean Go professionals. As the highest-ranking under-18 pro, Akira qualifies for the tournament, but Hikaru has to compete in 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
Media
Manga
Written by Yumi Hotta and illustrated by Takeshi Obata, Hikaru no Go was serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine from December 8, 1998, to July 14, 2003.[5] Go professional Yukari Umezawa (5-dan) provided "supervision" for the series. The 189 chapters were collected into 23 volumes by Shueisha; the first published on April 30, 1999, and the last on September 4, 2003.[6][7] A version was published in 20 volumes between February 4, 2009, and April 30, 2010.[8][9]
Reception
Manga
By May 2013, the manga had over 25 million copies in circulation.[28] Hikaru no Go won the 45th Shogakukan Manga Award in 2000;[29] and the seventh Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in 2003.[30] In November 2014, readers of Da Vinci magazine voted Hikaru no Go 14th on a list of Weekly Shōnen Jump's greatest manga series of all time.[31] On TV Asahi's Manga Sōsenkyo 2021 poll, in which 150,000 people voted for their top 100 manga series, Hikaru no Go ranked 82nd.[32]
See also
- Go Player, a Chinese animated series about young Go players
External links
References
- Jason Sondhi. Hikaru no Go GN 1 - Review Anime News Network, October 30, 2004, retrieved June 24, 2018^
- The Official Website for Hikaru no Go Viz Media, retrieved November 4, 2017^
- https://mediaarts-db.bunka.go.jp/id/M543372 Media Arts Database, Agency for Cultural Affairs, retrieved May 8, 2020