By: Yumi Hotta Publisher: VIZ Media LLC Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: VIZ Media LLC Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 208 Publication Date: July 05, 2006 Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Product Description: Hikaru Shindo is like any sixth-grader in Japan: a pretty normal school boy with a two-tone head of hair and a penchant for antics. One day, he finds an old bloodstained GO board in his grandfather's attic-and that's when things get really interesting. Trapped inside the GO board is Fujiwara-no-Sai, the ghost of an ancient GO master who taught the strategically complex board game to the Emperor of Japan many centuries ago. In one fateful moment, Sai becomes a part of Hikaru's consciousness and together, through thick and thin, they make an unstoppable GO-playing team. Will they be able to defeat GO players who have dedicated their lives to the game? Will Sai achieve the "Divine Move" so he'll finally be able to rest in peace? Begin your journey with Hikaru and Sai in this first volume of HIKARU NO GO.
CUT DOWN TO SIZE Hikaru has refused to play against Akira Toya but he has joined the Haze Middle School Go Club. Akira joins the Kaio Middle School Club in hopes that the two will meet in one of the periodic school tournaments. Of course, Akira is a million lightyears ahead of anyone on the Kaio team when it comes to Go. While some players on his team admire his skill and want to learn from him, his arrival has thrown the hierarchy of the team into chaos, and has made some feel a great deal of resentment towards him. Three of the members plan to knock him off his pedestal in a dishonest scheme to shame him. Meanwhile, Hikaru's team might not be able to enter the upcoming tournament if they can't find a third player. They post an extremely difficult Go problem on the school bulletin board, thinking that whoever solves it could be their next prospect. A kid named Yuki Mitani solves it but unfortunately he sees Go only as a method of making money on games he bets with gullible old timers. In addition, he has a fondness for cheating. Will Hikaru and Sai be able to reform him and add him to the Haze Go Club?
I'm not going to lie and say that my knowledge of how to play Go or understand all the strategies involved has improved after 3 volumes, but that doesn't even really matter when reading this manga. Obata's art and Hotta's writing convey the suspense in each game and the emotional content without the reader having to understand each and every move. I'll probably never pick up a Go tile myself but I still really enjoy this manga. Maybe it's because the characters invest so much passion and honor in the game they play? Or maybe it's seeing them try to improve their skills to where they're worthy of calling each other equals? A good read even if you have no interest in the game itself.
Great fourth book! Well I have read the 1-3 books in he series hikaru no go and I have found them to all be great! Then one day I picked up the fourth in the series and started reading it and it was AMAZING! Hikaru is at a go tournament and he gets bored so he decides to go walk around and he sees someone playing go on the computer (which you can actually do). He finds it very interesting and so he wants to play it too, but there is one problem...he doesnt have a computer. So he goes to Yuki's sister's computer almost everyday to play go. He makes a username called Sai and becomes a very well known player on the inernet and everyone wants to play him. Nobody knows who he really is and thinks that he is a pro. Akira hears about this and he makes a username to play against Hikaru. Akira resigns because he can right away tell that it is Hikaru. Now Akira is then the only person who knows who the username Sai is. This manga is a very good page turner that I loved. Hikaru no go is one of my favorite series and I think that everyone that likes good manga should read it!
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