Hikaru no Go 19
Posted: June 26, 2010 Filed under: Hikaru no Go Leave a comment »Yumi Hotta / Takeshi Obata – Viz – 2010 – 23 volumes
I am a ridiculous fool for this series. I’ve stated my case so many times that there’s no use doing it again. But know that, while I do miss Sai and the anxious amateur games, there’s just something about Akira and Hikaru’s go trash talk that endlessly delighted me in this volume. I mean, they’re playing go, but they can trash talk each other just like other Shounen Jump heroes. It does my heart good.
There’s an awful lot of Hikaru and Akira playing go together, and a lot of exposition as the chapters jump around to various characters talking up the Japanese Go world, but it’s mostly exposition and an introduction to the next major story arc, the Hokuto Cup. The Hokuto Cup will be a go match between young professionals in Japan, Korea, and China, may the best man win. Of course, we’ve already met characters from both of those countries, so they are re-introduced as others talk about them and which country has the best chance of winning. Japan’s chances don’t look good, but if Hikaru and Akira have anything to say about it, things will start looking up.
Without my usual gushing, and with all the exposition, I don’t have that much to say, other than even the most mundane volumes are somehow made more exciting because the characters are playing go. I’ve got volume 20 to read, too, so hopefully all of this will lead to a very exciting opening for the Hokuto Cup. Or at least the opening of the qualifying rounds of the Hokuto Cup. You know how this stuff works.
This was a review copy provided by Viz.
