Related titles: Hikaru no Go (manga)

How much have I seen when I wrote and last revised this review?: About the first 15 eps, eps 47-71, plus some miscellanous eps.

Alternate Title: ヒカルの碁 | Hikaru's Go
Genre: Sports | Drama | Humor
Company: Pierrot
American Licsensing Company: Not Licensed yet
Format: numerous 23 minute episodes
Dates: 10/10/01 and still going
Original Creator: Takeshi Obata and Yumi Hotta
Age Rating: 10 and up

Synopsis: Hikaru Shindo is just a normal 12 year old Japanese boy. One day, he's rumaging through his Grandfather's things to see if he can find something to sell. He pulls out an old Go board and starts cleaning it. It cleans well, except there are bloodstains on the Go board that only Hikaru can see! A ghost of a man named Sai Fujiwara comes out of the board, a Go player that lived a thousand years ago! Sai now haunts Hikaru and wants to accomplish the perfect Go game, called the "Hand of God". He hopes to do this through Hikaru, since he could not accomplish the perfect game in his own lifetime. Hikaru is still himself, but now Sai is haunting him and is a constant companion, always pestering him to play Go. Remarkablely, Hikaru takes it in stride, though there are times he wished there was only one voice in his head. Hikaru is the only one who can see and hear Sai and so his journey to help Sai's dream come true starts. Hikaru meets many fellow Go players and starts learning the game, and soon finds that he has a love for it too. Now he wants to become a great Go player, without having to rely on Sai to win. He especially wants to become better so he, not Sai, can be the one to beat his rival, Akira Touya, the first person he and Sai ever played against, and a prodigy Go player who is the same age as Hikaru! Can Hikaru and Sai both accomplish their goals and possibly make Hikaru the best Go player of his time in the process?

SCORE: 83%

What I've thought so far: I do not like sports, so I most certainly do not like sports anime. However, the characters are not boring, and watching kids cry over Go is pretty entertaining. *grins evilly* Or watching Go playing Japanese kids yell at their opponents, such as fellow Japanese, Korean or Chinese kids is pretty funny too. ^_^

My girlfriends and me enjoy this show and making fun of it because we like it so much. We love twisting lines that end up making male characters flirt with each other *grins again*. But, the show is very good and entertaining, even without my friends and me editing it for our personal enjoyment. ^_^

This anime is beautifully animated and rendered, especially for something so utterly commerical. If your bored this this anime's plot, you'll at least enjoy a lot of pretty boy eye candy. ^_^ The artwork alone is great, and the manga's even better...did you know that?

Actually, another appeal to this show is how it really is about Go, a sport not many Americans know about. I already picked up on a few things, so now I'm no so ignorant to what Genma and Soun are playing all the time in Ranma 1/2. I've found Go play pretty entertaining, and I didn't think of it as a sport so much since it's a board game.

The characters are cute, and the rivals are fun. Hikaru and Akira are little cuties! Hee-hee-hee! You can guess how I've made fun of those two while watching this anime...lol. I especially love Akira with his girly looks and hair. I love his bitter aloofness. I made up the nickname "Angry Boy" for him, and it's a nickname that has stuck with me and my friends.

Miracles of miracles! Unlike the majority of anime out there, you actually get to watch the characters grow up!

I LOVE SAI! He wears lipstick and is too pretty! He's so scary because of his girliness! The only thing to let you know he's a guy is his story, and his clothing, because his voice only helps sometimes. But he always cracks me up on when he tries to get Hikaru to play Go with his pouting and whining. He's such a dorky little baby! ^_^

So, does the show have a plot? Sure! It's just really long, and only about Go too of course! Was it made to make Go popular again and sell a lot of Go merchandise? Yep! But who cares? So, it's not the most earth shattering anime of all time, but a nice silly one to enjoy.

So, if you like Go or are curious about it, check this show out! It's fun for morons like me to watch who get easily entertained. ^_^

Score so far: If you're not easily entertained, can't make fun of this series with some friends, can't enjoy pretty pretty viusuals, or can't stand watching sports anime (especially about a board game), you won't be able to enjoy this anime. But, if you do watch just a bit of it, I bet you'll get some sort of enjoyment out of it. This anime is getting a score of 83% so far!

Date of last revision of this review: None yet

Websites:
Hikaru no Go (Official Tokyo TV Website in Japanese)

Have a website about this series, or do you know of a good one? Want me to link to it on this review? Well, the feel free to email the sucker to me! Just make sure to put "Review Link" in the subject.