Title:
Hikaru no Go, Book OnePublisher’s rating:
A for All AgesGenre:
Publisher's Website:
Anime:
Sound bite:
A slacker kid is haunted by the ghost of a master of the ancient game of Go. Kid starts learning the game and faces obstacles along the way.My rating:
A very good manga, fine for everyone. Clean, fresh, and very readable. This is one of those rare books that is a good read for kids and for adults.Kid Reviews:
More details:
Plot Summary:
It’s hard to imagine that a comic about a board game could be exciting, but writer Yumi Hotta and artist Takeshi Obata pull it off.
Poking around in his attic for something to sell, underachiever Hikaru comes across an old Go board and liberates the ghost of an ancient Go master, Fujiwara-no-Sai. Sai was the Go instructor to the emperor during the Heian period, but he lost his job due to the treachery of another instructor and threw himself into the river. Sai wants only to play Go, and particularly to make “the divine move,” but Hikaru shrugs this off. Unfortunately for Hikaru, when Sai weeps, Hikaru vomits. Also, being 1,000 years old, Sai can be helpful in history class. Hikaru agrees to play Go.
Hikaru takes a Go class, where he humiliates a man who is bullying another player. Then he goes to a Go studio, where he sees a boy about his own age. Unbeknownst to Hikaru, the boy, Akira, is the son of a high-ranked Go master, Toya Meijin, and a phenomenal player in his own right. Hikaru beats him, to the astonishment of everyone.
Next, Hikaru goes to a Go tournament, where he blurts out advice to a player. The judges are astonished that he can glance at the board and see a complex move, but they throw him out anyway. On his way out, Hikaru bumps into a tall, kimono-clad man; Sai recognizes him as Toya Meijin.
Akira reappears and starts asking Hikaru questions. When he learns that there is money to be made playing Go, Hikaru displays unseemly interest, much to Sai’s distress. Then Akira challenges him to another game. The challenge gets Sai’s juices flowing, and he plays so well that Akira is forced to concede the game. Akira is crushed.
Hikaru meets Toya Meijin and realizes he is Akira’s father. Toya challenges Hikaru to a game, and at Sai’s urging he accepts, realizing he is the odd one out. Impressed with Toya’s style, Hikaru desperately wants to put the stone down like a Go master—and he does it. This freaks him out, and he runs off, terrified that Sai has taken over his body as well as his mind. But Sai reassures him: He can’t control Hikaru’s body, and in fact, Hikaru didn’t even place the stone where he wanted him to. Hikaru is beginning to gain some skill at Go.
At a school festival, Hikaru sees children solving Go puzzles. The prize is a book by Toya Meijin, and Hikaru wants it, but he tells Sai to back off and let him play. Working on his own, Hikaru solves several increasingly harder problems. But the last problem is interrupted by a bully, who claims that Go is for wimps and Shogi (Japanese chess) is better. Hikaru’s eyes bug out when he learns that this lout has beaten Akira as well.
Character and morality:
This is a classic coming-of-age tale: a slacker kid learns that there is something more important in the world than himself, and builds character along the way. What makes it interesting is that the “something” is the ancient Japanese game of Go, which the characters invest with a morality all its own. There are good ways to play and bad ways to play (which can still win the game), and the serious players strive to make “the divine move.”
Hikaru is the student in this, and Sai, who is refined to the point of parody, is the instructor. Hikaru tends to scoff, but as the book goes on, he gains respect for Sai, and he also starts to develop his own innate Go abilities.
Akira is all about hard work and discipline. He can tell by looking at Hikaru’s hands that Hikaru is not an experienced player, and he hates Hikaru’s off-handedness. Sai sees that Akira has an awesome talent and warns Hikaru not to underestimate him.
Violence:
Hikaru grabs the wig off an adult Go player who is bullying another player (this happens twice). Otherwise, the only violence is the clacking of Go stones on Go boards.
Sexuality/body functions:
An excess of emotion causes Hikaru to vomit in school.
Language:
“This sucks!” is as bad as it gets.
Substances:
No smoking or drinking. Go is the only addiction in this book.
