Pimping Hikaru no Go!
Hikaru no Go seems to be a teeny-weeny fandom of exactly 515 unfinished fics at ff.net.
So I, being the immensely self-serving person that I am, will now pimp the fandom to you and hope that it's catching.
For those of you who, up front, say "Don't bother, I don't like anime," I'll tell you the following: Hikaru no Go has no magical girls, no mecha, no time traveling, no alternate dimensions, no spaceships, no demons, no magic, no completely illogical technology, no armegeddons, no small talking animals, and no people being raped by tentacle monsters (say it with me now: "aww, no tentacle monsters?" *g*).
It does, however, have exactly one ghost. But hey, so does Due South.
It's about a board game that's more complicated than chess. No, don't run away! The characters are well drawn out, the music is good, the art is good, and, for some reason, it's one of the most addictive things ever. And it had to have become one of the more popular series in recent years in Asia for a reason.
It's a classic coming of age story. Boy has no direction. Boy finds haunted goban (go board). Ghost becomes mentor. Boy meets rival. Boy decides to become a professional go player. Boy and rival have lots of sex.
And it's ridiculously addicting. But, I warn you, it may give you the inexplicable desire to learn how to play Go.
(a note - I'll be using anime and manga images interchangeably, as the Hikaru no Go anime follows the manga almost exactly. Right down to clothing and scene staging.)
So.
Shindou Hikaru
Shindou in the first episode
Shindou is a 6th grader at Haze Junior High School at the beginning of our series. He's your typical direction-less boy who hates school and loves manga. He knows nothing of Go, except that it's an "old man's" game. Then, one day he and his friend Fujisaki Akari go into his grandfather's loft (Hikaru's looking for something to sell), and he comes across an old goban (go board).
It turns out to be haunted.
A quick reminder to read the text right to leftt
And that's how he meets Sai, and that's where his life completely changes.
Touya Akira
Touya in the first episode.
Touya is a 6th grader at Kaio Junior High School at the beginning of our series. He's the son of Touya Meijin, one of the greatest Go players in Japan, and has been playing Go since probably before he was born. He's the best Go player his age, and has been expected to become a pro forever.
One day, Shindou walks into the Go Salon owned by Touya's father because Sai desperately wants to play Go. (Shindou places the stones for Sai). Sai basically completely waxes Touya's ass. Touya, of course, thinks it was Shindou that was playing the game, and wants nothing more than to catch up to his strength.
And so the chase begins.
(Touya also has an amazingly horrid dress sense. He enjoys things like sweater vests, wearing mustard yellow ties with peach shirts, and purple suits. And, dude, check out his pants. Horrid.)
Shindou and Touya in the last episode of the series. They grow up! And check out the ugly sweater.
For a fun progression of Shindou growing up, I've uploaded the series's
3rd Opening for you.
Fujiwara no Sai
Sai
Sai was a Go instructor to the Emperor in Heian Era Japan (794-1185). There was one other instructor, who proposed to the Emperor that he and Sai have a game to decide who should remain, as the Emperor really only need one. During the game, the other player cheated, though no one noticed, and promptly accused Sai of cheating. Sai was thrown out of court, and he drowned himself out of shame.
But Sai still wanted to play Go, so eventually his spirit found itself haunting a goban. In the 1800s, he met a child that could hear him, Shuusaku Torajiro (Honinbo Shuusaku). Shuusaku is regarded to be one of (if not the) best Go player in history - but all of his games were him putting down the stones for Sai. (Shuusaku is an actual historical go player, FYI). When Shuusaku died at the age of 34, Sai went back into the goban as he still hadn't found the Kami no Itte (divine move/hand of God... basically the perfect hand and/or game of Go).
The next person he finds is Shindou. And thus our story begins.
Sai is extremely fun-loving, and all he wants to do is play Go.
Other Characters You Might Run Across
I'm keeping the descriptions vague here, and on some of them giving info from around the middle of the series.
Haze Junior High
- Fujisaki Akari, Shindou's friend from childhood - calls him Hikaru. Member of the Go club.
- Mitani Yuuki, a member of the Go club
- Tsutsui Kimihiro, Go club founder
- Kaga Tetsuo, plays Shougi (Japanese chess)
The Go World
- Waya Yoshitaka, a good friend of Shindou's. Was an insei (someone studying to become a go pro) with Shindou.
- Isumi Shinichirou, friend of Shindou's. Was an insei with Shindou.
- Ogata Seiji, 9-dan. Professional go player, knows Touya.
- Ochi Kousuke. Was an insei with Shindou.
- Touya Meijin (go Title)/Touya Kouyo. Professional go player, Touya Akira's father.
- Yashirou Kiyoharu. Go player from the Kansai institute; a member of the team that goes to the North Star Cup (a tournament).
- Kurata Atsushi, 7-dan. Professional Go player.
- Kuwabara Honinbo (Go title). Professional Go player.
- Amano. Works for Weekly Go.
- Ichikawa. Works at the Go salon Touya goes to.
I'd put a story summation here, but it's really quite basically a formulaic coming of age story. About becoming a professional go player.
There aren't even any "bad guys". So, coming of age. Go. That's... pretty much the story. I promise it's more interesting than it sounds.
Go. It's like foreplay. In a way.
So, this is where I get biased. *g*
Shindou and Touya. They will so have sex at some point in their lives. More than once. Uh-huh. It's undeniable.
First, I give you the fact that they have never, not once, used honorifics with each other. They are always simply "Shindou" and "Touya", right from the first time they meet. By the end of the manga, you get the feeling that given names? Not out of the question in a year or two.
Also, they are always thinking about each other. Always. It doesn't matter if they haven't actually met up face to face in 15 episodes, they're still thinking about the other. Constantly.
Next! Pictorial evidence! (Pictorial evidence does contain some spoilers.)
They highly enjoy staring at each other:
They keep track of how long it's been since they played:
They enjoy screaming at each other (and Touya is always, always calm. Except with Shindou.):
They promise to tell each other secrets:
They make lifelong commitments:
These two on screen together just make me happy. Happy happy.
Where to find it:
So you're a little bit curious? Whee!
Hikaru no Go (the anime) has not been licensed in the States (and I doubt it will be). You can find fansubs of the full run of the series, plus the specials, here. There are also some black market Hong Kong DVD sets out there, but why pay for black market region 0 DVDs when you can download free fansubs? Depending on when you go, it will say that they have no seeds - but download and start them going. I usually got seeds fairly quickly (especially if I left them up overnight).
I also have the entire series burnt to VCD, which I'll gladly copy and send out for cost of shipping if anyone doesn't want to deal with the torrents.
Hikaru no Go (the manga) has been licensed and is currently running in Shonen Jump. The first couple of trades should be available in your local bookstore.
(Or else, I might have the whole series scanlated. Possibly. Hit me up, you might get lucky. *g*)
You say that I haven't wet your interest? I'm sorry. It really does seem kind of boring on the surface, doesn't it? But why don't you download the first couple of episodes, or check out the first volume of the manga? I bet you'll change your tune - most people do. Hikaru no Go really is extremely engaging.
Fanfic
You're interested in checking out some fanfic? Very cool.
Unfortunately, there isn't much, and most of it isn't very good (or it's unfinished).
You could always go digging through ff.net's Hikaru no Go section, as that's where most of it seems to be.
A good place to start though, would be the best_of_hikago journal. A lot of the links there are a bit off (the owner likes writing .html/), but that's easily fixed, and it links to many of the better Hikaru no Go fics.
I hope I got at least one person interested. If not, well, pretty pictures? *g*
(using this icon purely because it's HnG related)
So I, being the immensely self-serving person that I am, will now pimp the fandom to you and hope that it's catching.
For those of you who, up front, say "Don't bother, I don't like anime," I'll tell you the following: Hikaru no Go has no magical girls, no mecha, no time traveling, no alternate dimensions, no spaceships, no demons, no magic, no completely illogical technology, no armegeddons, no small talking animals, and no people being raped by tentacle monsters (say it with me now: "aww, no tentacle monsters?" *g*).
It does, however, have exactly one ghost. But hey, so does Due South.
It's about a board game that's more complicated than chess. No, don't run away! The characters are well drawn out, the music is good, the art is good, and, for some reason, it's one of the most addictive things ever. And it had to have become one of the more popular series in recent years in Asia for a reason.
It's a classic coming of age story. Boy has no direction. Boy finds haunted goban (go board). Ghost becomes mentor. Boy meets rival. Boy decides to become a professional go player. Boy and rival have lots of sex.
And it's ridiculously addicting. But, I warn you, it may give you the inexplicable desire to learn how to play Go.
(a note - I'll be using anime and manga images interchangeably, as the Hikaru no Go anime follows the manga almost exactly. Right down to clothing and scene staging.)
So.
Shindou Hikaru
Shindou in the first episode
Shindou is a 6th grader at Haze Junior High School at the beginning of our series. He's your typical direction-less boy who hates school and loves manga. He knows nothing of Go, except that it's an "old man's" game. Then, one day he and his friend Fujisaki Akari go into his grandfather's loft (Hikaru's looking for something to sell), and he comes across an old goban (go board).
It turns out to be haunted.
A quick reminder to read the text right to leftt
And that's how he meets Sai, and that's where his life completely changes.
Touya Akira
Touya in the first episode.
Touya is a 6th grader at Kaio Junior High School at the beginning of our series. He's the son of Touya Meijin, one of the greatest Go players in Japan, and has been playing Go since probably before he was born. He's the best Go player his age, and has been expected to become a pro forever.
One day, Shindou walks into the Go Salon owned by Touya's father because Sai desperately wants to play Go. (Shindou places the stones for Sai). Sai basically completely waxes Touya's ass. Touya, of course, thinks it was Shindou that was playing the game, and wants nothing more than to catch up to his strength.
And so the chase begins.
(Touya also has an amazingly horrid dress sense. He enjoys things like sweater vests, wearing mustard yellow ties with peach shirts, and purple suits. And, dude, check out his pants. Horrid.)
Shindou and Touya in the last episode of the series. They grow up! And check out the ugly sweater.
For a fun progression of Shindou growing up, I've uploaded the series's
3rd Opening for you.
Fujiwara no Sai
Sai
Sai was a Go instructor to the Emperor in Heian Era Japan (794-1185). There was one other instructor, who proposed to the Emperor that he and Sai have a game to decide who should remain, as the Emperor really only need one. During the game, the other player cheated, though no one noticed, and promptly accused Sai of cheating. Sai was thrown out of court, and he drowned himself out of shame.
But Sai still wanted to play Go, so eventually his spirit found itself haunting a goban. In the 1800s, he met a child that could hear him, Shuusaku Torajiro (Honinbo Shuusaku). Shuusaku is regarded to be one of (if not the) best Go player in history - but all of his games were him putting down the stones for Sai. (Shuusaku is an actual historical go player, FYI). When Shuusaku died at the age of 34, Sai went back into the goban as he still hadn't found the Kami no Itte (divine move/hand of God... basically the perfect hand and/or game of Go).
The next person he finds is Shindou. And thus our story begins.
Sai is extremely fun-loving, and all he wants to do is play Go.
Other Characters You Might Run Across
I'm keeping the descriptions vague here, and on some of them giving info from around the middle of the series.
Haze Junior High
- Fujisaki Akari, Shindou's friend from childhood - calls him Hikaru. Member of the Go club.
- Mitani Yuuki, a member of the Go club
- Tsutsui Kimihiro, Go club founder
- Kaga Tetsuo, plays Shougi (Japanese chess)
The Go World
- Waya Yoshitaka, a good friend of Shindou's. Was an insei (someone studying to become a go pro) with Shindou.
- Isumi Shinichirou, friend of Shindou's. Was an insei with Shindou.
- Ogata Seiji, 9-dan. Professional go player, knows Touya.
- Ochi Kousuke. Was an insei with Shindou.
- Touya Meijin (go Title)/Touya Kouyo. Professional go player, Touya Akira's father.
- Yashirou Kiyoharu. Go player from the Kansai institute; a member of the team that goes to the North Star Cup (a tournament).
- Kurata Atsushi, 7-dan. Professional Go player.
- Kuwabara Honinbo (Go title). Professional Go player.
- Amano. Works for Weekly Go.
- Ichikawa. Works at the Go salon Touya goes to.
I'd put a story summation here, but it's really quite basically a formulaic coming of age story. About becoming a professional go player.
There aren't even any "bad guys". So, coming of age. Go. That's... pretty much the story. I promise it's more interesting than it sounds.
Go. It's like foreplay. In a way.
So, this is where I get biased. *g*
Shindou and Touya. They will so have sex at some point in their lives. More than once. Uh-huh. It's undeniable.
First, I give you the fact that they have never, not once, used honorifics with each other. They are always simply "Shindou" and "Touya", right from the first time they meet. By the end of the manga, you get the feeling that given names? Not out of the question in a year or two.
Also, they are always thinking about each other. Always. It doesn't matter if they haven't actually met up face to face in 15 episodes, they're still thinking about the other. Constantly.
Next! Pictorial evidence! (Pictorial evidence does contain some spoilers.)
They highly enjoy staring at each other:
They keep track of how long it's been since they played:
They enjoy screaming at each other (and Touya is always, always calm. Except with Shindou.):
They promise to tell each other secrets:
They make lifelong commitments:
These two on screen together just make me happy. Happy happy.
Where to find it:
So you're a little bit curious? Whee!
Hikaru no Go (the anime) has not been licensed in the States (and I doubt it will be). You can find fansubs of the full run of the series, plus the specials, here. There are also some black market Hong Kong DVD sets out there, but why pay for black market region 0 DVDs when you can download free fansubs? Depending on when you go, it will say that they have no seeds - but download and start them going. I usually got seeds fairly quickly (especially if I left them up overnight).
I also have the entire series burnt to VCD, which I'll gladly copy and send out for cost of shipping if anyone doesn't want to deal with the torrents.
Hikaru no Go (the manga) has been licensed and is currently running in Shonen Jump. The first couple of trades should be available in your local bookstore.
(Or else, I might have the whole series scanlated. Possibly. Hit me up, you might get lucky. *g*)
You say that I haven't wet your interest? I'm sorry. It really does seem kind of boring on the surface, doesn't it? But why don't you download the first couple of episodes, or check out the first volume of the manga? I bet you'll change your tune - most people do. Hikaru no Go really is extremely engaging.
Fanfic
You're interested in checking out some fanfic? Very cool.
Unfortunately, there isn't much, and most of it isn't very good (or it's unfinished).
You could always go digging through ff.net's Hikaru no Go section, as that's where most of it seems to be.
A good place to start though, would be the best_of_hikago journal. A lot of the links there are a bit off (the owner likes writing .html/), but that's easily fixed, and it links to many of the better Hikaru no Go fics.
I hope I got at least one person interested. If not, well, pretty pictures? *g*
(using this icon purely because it's HnG related)