Hikaru no Go is a gem. Pure and wonderful, from start to finish, the series is one of the most fantastic stories ever, deep and heart-warming, with incredible artwork to match. The premise is simple: in modern japan, a bored school-age brat stumbles upon a Go board (not unlike western civilization's Chess, in terms of complexity and dullness to the uninitiated) and becomes possessed by a master of the game from centuries past. Crazy stuff — like life — happens.
Highlights
Simple? Perhaps. But from this simple premise the author, Hotta-san, creates a world rich with complex characters of all ages, who interact and change with the passage of time. The main character grows (sometimes painfully) from brainless boy to almost-man, making extremely hard choices about his life, schooling, friends and enemies, not in the least helped by the silly, obsessed ghost on his back. All of this incredible cast of characters is tirelessly supported by the stunning artwork of Obata-san. Over the course of the years these volumes encompass, the reader watches the characters literally grow and change, in the complex ways that real people grow — you see the main characters' faces lengthen as the bones beneath subtly change size during puberty — no small feat for an artist over the course of hundreds, if not thousands of pages of art. Throughout there is love, pain, truth and comedy. There is real life breathed into Hikaru and his world.
This volume continues Hikaru's story as he advances upon the professional world of Go players, using his own strength against players old and new — battling finally the boy Akira, who was the one who introduced Hikaru to the love of the game and its competitions.
Spoiler Alert for Volumes 15 and beyond!
Overcome with grief after the disappearance of Sai, Hikaru is amazed to rediscover the Go master's spirit in the one place he did not search — his own skills. Sai was his mentor and his moves and logic are now in Hikaru, and they can never be truly apart. Armed with new determination, Hikaru completes his recovery and goes on to openly challenge Akira to a true battle of wills. Happily this is good news to the Go world at large and both fans and masters speculate anew both about their rivalry and the future of the Go game — will these new master-level geniuses come any closer to the Divine Move? The highest ranking master speculates that it takes two genius-level players to play the truly divine moves, as one must have an equally strong opponent, and for Hikaru, that one can only be Akira.
Overall
They play, they fight, one wins and one looses, and a revelation is made. Akira senses the presence of someone else inside of Hikaru, but he does not know precisely which is playing with him. And Hikaru… is not telling, exactly. Their crazy lives continue, and one wonders where the line between friendship, enmity and love is drawn. It seems a trifle hazy to me. Akira and Hikaru, their friends, family, schoolmates and colleagues are so real that there can be no living without them. I will read this series as long as it lasts, and when it is over, I will be heartbroken. And then I will have to learn to play Go for myself.
ComicsOnline gives Hikaru no Go, Volume 17, 5 out of 5 Go pieces.
