Hikaru no Go

Warning: Plot details follow.

Hikaru no Go (ヒカルの碁) is a popular Japanese anime and manga coming of age story based on the board game Go written by Yumi Hotta and illustrated by Takeshi Obata.

First released in Japan in 1998, Hikaru no Go has achieved tremendous success, spawning a popular Go fad of almost unprecedented proportions. Twenty-three volumes of manga were published in Japan, comprising 189 chapters plus 11 "omake" (extra chapters). An anime series ran for 75 half hour episodes, along with extra New Year's Specials in January 2003 and January 2004.

In January 2004, the manga series debuted in the United States in the English language periodical Shonen Jump published by Viz Communications.

Table of contents

1 Series Premise and Story
2 Characters
3 Manga Volume Contents

Series Premise and Story

Hikaru Shindo, the title character, is an elementary school student in Kita Ward, Tokyo. While exploring his grandfather's attic, he stumbles across a Go board haunted by the spirit of Fujiwara-no-Sai, a fictional Go player from the Heian era. Sai wishes to play Go again since he has not been able to since the late Edo period. Because of this desire Sai inhabits a part of Hikaru's mind.

Urged by Sai, Hikaru starts playing Go even though he initially has no interest in the game. The arrangement is that Sai will tell Hikaru the moves to make and Hikaru will place the stones on the board. When Hikaru beats Akira TÃÂ´ya, a boy his age but very skilled at Go, Akira begins a quest to discover the source of Hikaru's strength. Thus begins an obsession which will come to dominate the rest of Hikaru's life while captivating the reader's (or viewer's) attention.

Shindo becomes a member of Haze Middle School's Go team along with Kimihiro Tsutsui and Tetsuo Kaga several months before he actually attends that school. They play in the Winter middle school Go tournament, but right after Haze's team defeats KaiÃÂ´ Middle School's team, a boy discovers Hikaru Shindo's identity and Haze's team gets disqualified because at the time, Hikaru did not go to Haze Middle School.

Due to the fact that Kaga was loyal to the Shogi team as opposed to the Go team, Hikaru and Kimihiro recruit some other boys so that the team could play in the summer middle school tournament. With newcomer Yuki Mitani, Hikaru, Kimihiro, and Yuki play in the summer tournament but lose to Kaio Middle School in the final round.

Hikaru, seeing Akira's skill grow, decides to become an insei so he can chase after him; this means he must leave his school's Go club. With Tsutsui, the founder, dropping out to study for high school exams, it is up to Hikaru's friend, Akari Fujisaki, to keep the club together. Yuki Mitani leaves but he returns to the club for occasional play.

Hikaru becomes an insei and meets fellow trainees Shinichiro Isumi and Yoshitaka Waya along with others. Hikaru also meets a spoiled brat named KÃÂ´suke Ochi. Ochi is the first to pass the professional exam and Waya is the second. Akira, who became a pro the year before, tests Hikaru by tutoring Kosuke in Go, but Kosuke loses to Hikaru. Shinichiro Isumi quits the Nine Star Club and is no longer an insei, but still pursues Go. Hikaru passes the professional exam and becomes a professional player.

Akira gets an impressive winning streak, which ends at twenty-six with a loss to Kurata. He gets an award for the highest win percentage and the longest winning streak. Hikaru gets his professional player certificate and vows to catch up to Akira.

When Hikaru learns he is to play his first oteai game, he also learns that Akira is his opponent. Akira doesn't show up at the game, giving Hikaru the win by default. It is revealed that Toya Meijin, Akira's father, is in ill health. While the Meijin is in the hospital, Hikaru asks him to play a friend of his on the internet. He asks this because Sai wants to play Toya Meijin and can only do so if Hikaru is playing the game over the internet. Toya Meijin accepts and says that if his opponent wins, he will retire. Sai, who plays for Hikaru, wins.