Hikaru no Go 14
Posted: December 23, 2008 Filed under: Hikaru no Go 1 Comment »Like I said, I love reading volumes of this consecutively since it really does read better all at once, so I was very excited when I received this volume so early, and so soon after I had read the last one.
I was mistaken. I thought this volume dealt with both the game between Toya Koyo and Sai as well as another story involving Sai, but I had forgotten there was so much aftermath after their game. The game actually takes up a good chunk of the first half or so of the volume, and somehow, through the magic of this series, it is anything but boring to watch two old guys play Go. Lots of people gather from all over to watch at their computers and offer commentary, and the game itself between Sai and Toya is depicted in an extremely unique way. The computer medium is set aside completely in favor of showing the two of them playing Go in what appears to be a black void, with Hikaru watching in front of Sai.
Toya keeps his word, and we get plenty of the expected “is Hikaru Sai?”-type comments. Lots of chaos comes after the game, and once all that is smoothed out, apparently Hikaru graduates to a new level and much about him is discussed by others. Hikaru plays a non-official game against a pro towards the end of the volume using all the same color stones, which I kind of liked too, both for the novelty of the game itself and because the pro is a fairly amusing character.
This really is one of the best volumes of the series, and so is the next one, so I’m still really looking forward to what comes of Sai’s mopings next volume. Once again, there are very few series that can make something as mundane as a board game exciting, so you have to sit up and take special notice when it happens and you become addicted.
This was a review copy provided by Viz.
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