Hikaru no Go 8
December 28, 2006
Slow releases are killing a couple of the next series for me. I know I could read this in Shounen Jump, but I hate collecting magazines because I can’t bring myself to throw them out. Graphic novels are the way to go for me, but 3 a year for this series is seriously murdering it, especially since it’s got such a fast pace.
For this series, you’re sort of expected to remember all sorts of background characters and what strengths they possess, because they’ll pop up later. Except… later could be two years/5 volumes down the road, and I’m not going to remember that. I hardly remember Akari anymore, and I’ve already read the damn thing through to the last volume. Also, we often get a lot of buildup for particular pivotal events with lots of Go games in the meantime. After 4 months elapse, not only do I not remember what Go game the characters are talking about, but I don’t remember that Hikaru was even getting ready for the Pro test.
Aside from that, we got to meet Tsubaki here. Apparently, he’ll reappear in the next volume to try and throw off Hikaru’s groove again. I like the guy, but I’m not going to remember him in April. I also like the fact that Hikaru’s playing in the Go parlor against some old men, but I’m also not going to remember this is where we left off.
I really liked that we got to see Hikaru’s Mom’s take on everything, and this take was that she was totally clueless and Hikaru told her nothing. Having a Go pro for a son I gather would be like having him become a professional baseball player and not even knowing it. Awesome.
Other than that, I’m very excited for the next volume, because I love the pro test stuff.
December 29, 2006 at 3:35 am
[...] The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review has reviews of two new Tokyopop titles, Kamiyadori and Utopia’s Avenger, both vol. 1s. Active Anime’s Holly Ellingwood reviews vol. 14 of W Juliet vol. 1 of Vampire Knight, and the anthology Because I’m a Boy. Mangamaniaccafe likes vol. 2 of The Day of Revolution. At Anime on DVD, Megan Meinhard takes a look at vol. 1 of Our Everlasting, a 2005 18+ title from DMP. Kethylia has mixed feelings about # 00 of Rush. At Slightly Biased Manga, Connie takes on vol. 8 of Hikaru no Go, vol. 8 of xxxHolic, vol. 13 of Dragon Ball, and vol. of Bird Kiss. And Pata has a new Right Turn Only!! column up at ANN, with reviews of recent volumes of xxxHolic, ES: Eternal Sabbath, and Eden, among others. [...]