by Rashid on June 21st, 2007, 12:37pm

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User rating of this review - 4.6 out of 5
Story/Plot - 4.5 out of 5
Characters - 4.7 out of 5
Drawing Style - 5 out of 5
Enjoyment - 4.4 out of 5
Overall - 4.6 out of 5

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Plot/Story: 4.5/5
Hikaru is a 6th grade student who comes across a Go board in his grandfather’s shed that is haunted by the spirit of an expert Go player, Sai. For lack of a better word, Sai “teleports” into Hikaru’s mind, and Sai uses Hikaru’s body to play Go games for him. Though soon enough Hikaru gets interested and learns to play himself.

Hikaru joins a Go Club, gains friends who also share an interest in Go, gains a rival (Akira), competes in tournaments, and tries to become an Insei. The story has many different arcs and plot twists that keep Hikaru no Go fresh and exciting from beginning to end.

Characters: 4.7/5
Hikaru starts off as your average snotty child. Though as he ages and his passion for Go grows, he matures as well. Sai (the spirit who lives in Hikaru) is probably the highlight of the manga. Akira Toya is Hikaru’s rival, and the majority of the manga revolves around Hikaru wanting to play Go with Akira. Akari (the female lead of HNG) is Hikaru’s childhood friend, who later learns to play Go as well. Many more characters are introduced throughout Hikaru No Go’s 23 volume run. One of the best parts of the manga is watching the characters grow and mature over the years (HNG takes place in a several year time-span).

Drawing Style: 5/5
Takeshi Obata’s drawing in Hikaru no Go is nothing short of brilliant. The characters never lack detail, the environments look realistic, but what’s most amazing is the slight aging in the characters. There are no significant time skips in the manga, and for the most part, it goes by day-by-day (or week-by-week). The manga spans several years, and there is slight physical changes in the character’s appearances that’s so natural you may not even notice it. As soon as you finish reading the manga, go back and re-read the first chapter, it’ll amaze you.

Enjoyment: 4.4/5
At first I didn’t think I would enjoy it because the manga revolves around Go. Go is a game I have no interest in and wouldn’t want to play, yet I still loved the manga. Though because a large chunk of the manga is watching the Go games, that may turn some people off from Hikaru no Go.

Overall: 4.6/5
Hikaru no Go is superb - in my opnion it’s one of the best shonen manga around. At a lengthy run of 23 volumes, it never gets boring, and should be read in its entirety. I highly recommend Hikaru no Go.

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