hontou ni sou omou?

It’ll probably be a few more years before TSRI releases a HnG DVD thinpak-boxset, so as an alternative I’ve been eyeing the 23 volumes of the Hikaru no Go manga for the longest time and they are finally mine! There’s currently a 20% discount for Kinokuniya members until 27 June - I thought that I would miss out on it as my membership had expired and it normally takes up to 3 weeks to process new membership applications. But the very helpful staff issued me a card on the spot. Needless to say, armed with shiny new membership card, my spending limiter was released from AA to S class. SET UP Moyism mode! (Also bought myself Lucky Star Vol. 3 and 4 as well as The Splintering of Haruhi Suzumiya light novel.)

Hikaru no Go is, without reservation, my personal favourite of all the anime series I’ve seen. Yes, more than Evangelion or Cowboy Bebop. It’s a great coming of age story with rivalry, friendship, struggle, growth, passion, despair and so on. It doesn’t shy away from darker elements like cheating, gambling, unprofessional pros - though our heroes come on top. I never cease to be astounded at the series makes the game of weiqi so dramatic and interesting.

The biggest difference between the anime and manga are that the former doesn’t go into the events and aftermath of the Hokuto Cup which are spread over the last four volumes. There are also several enjoyable side stories in Vol.18 including Waya’s ‘date’ with his sensei’s daughter, how Nase’s date was frightened off by the atmosphere of a go salon and Kurata as a middle-schooler at the horse races. Two minor changes that I thought were noteworthy was Hikaru’s rediscovering Sai after his disappearance - the manga had less impact as the fan motif wasn’t used, the other was that the manga was much more effective in conveying Isumi’s sense of isolation at the China Go Institute due to the language barrier - we are forced to share Isumi’s incomprehension when dialogue is simply marked with Xs.

It was really enjoyable to see Hikaru grow in skill and emotional maturity with each win or loss making him more of a man, though there were times when Hikaru’s immense natural talent and the privilege of Sai’s unparalleled tutelage made it quite hard to identify with him. In such moments, some of the passing travails of the supporting cast touched me all the more deeply.

Two such instances are centred on Yoshitaka Waya, a big brother figure to Hikaru who rapidly surpasses in the course of the pro examinations. In episode 43 [Vol.11, Ch 90], Waya recalls the praise and admonition from his teacher, Morishita - that he was a good student, obedient and earnest but he shouldn’t expect to be babied forever because of that. This lesson for Waya is something that I had learn the hard way too - there are many people who will take advantage of you in a second if they can. Standing proudly on my own two feet is something I continue to struggle to achieve.

Later, in the New Year’s Special OVA [Vol.20 Ch 163, Vol.21 Ch 167], Waya is shaken by Ochi’s fierce professional pride when the latter gives up his qualification for the Hokuto Cup to challenge Yashiro; in contrast, Waya had been relieved that he hadn’t drawn Hikaru for his round. The tragedy for Waya is that he is talented enough to understand just how much stronger Hikaru is and to understand that he is unlikely to be able to catch up on, much less surpass, Hikaru. Ochi’s challenge to Yashiro was all the more a bitter blow to Waya because Ochi is not at all a likeable character. Such moments have been deeply unsettling shocks - when someone I regarded as definitely not better than myself did something that clearly showed me the defects of my own character.

Perhaps the side character moment that reached most deeply into me was Ayumi Nase’s musings after she defeated Honda in Ep 42 [Vol.10 Ch 87]. The latter was consistently ranked higher than her and had even defeated Isumi and Hikaru during the pro exams; it was a great game that she wished her colleagues/friends could have seen. On a bittersweet note, Nase observed that it’s because she can play like that, that she can’t give up trying to become a pro. The lesson I draw from Nase is that although one is often outclassed in one’s own chosen field (as the Chinese saying goes: Beyond one tall mountain is another taller one), striving hard so as not to betray one’s own potential is still what one needs to do for one’s own sake. Ganbarimasu!