Hikaru no Go, Vol. 17
By Yumi Hotta and Takeshi Obata
Published by Viz Media

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Warning: This review contains spoilers for volumes fifteen and above.

At the end of volume sixteen, having reluctantly agreed to a game with Isumi, Hikaru finally found Sai in the most obvious place of all: his own game. This volume opens with Hikaru tearfully facing that truth as well as the realization that the best way for him to honor Sai is to continue to play Go. With this new determination, Hikaru confronts Akira after a match (one that has raised Akira into the Hon’inbo League) to inform him of his return. Fortunately, a match between the two of them is already on the schedule, one which they both anticipate eagerly.

Meanwhile, higher-ups in the Go Association, the upper echelon of pros, and members of the press dedicated to the game are all getting excited about the “new wave” of powerful young players rising up in the ranks, viewing it as both a personal call to arms (in the case of the pros) and a much-needed potential for revival of the game in Japan. As Hikaru and Akira finally face each other over the goban for the first time in over two years, rumors of their rivalry re-emerge among the other players, feeding this new excitement.

After volume sixteen’s shift in focus, it is exciting to be back in Hikaru’s thrall once more. Having recovered his true energy, he pulls the story along at full speed, so much so that it almost feels like Akira must come after him rather than the other way around. It is a real pleasure to see these characters on track together again–their rivalry rendered nearly poetic by the likes of Hon’inbo title holder Kuwabara, who sees Hikaru and Akira as equally gifted geniuses, dependent on each other in their quest for the “divine move.”

What’s especially refreshing about the writing in this series, however, is that even though this rivalry is heralded as something divine in nature, it does not diminish the importance of the story’s many supporting characters, each with his/her own batch of worries and rivalries–not even the students back in the Haze Junior High Go Club–but instead portrays each of them as a vital part of the living, breathing entity that is Japan’s Go. There is such warmth in each chapter as writer Yumi Hotta takes the time to linger over each of the characters’ personal stakes, great or small, and it is this feeling that allows this story to be intensely dramatic and completely down-to-earth, both at the same time.

This volume has a fantastic energy throughout, but the real drama emerges in the penultimate chapter, in which Akira admits to Hikaru that he sees another person inside him, only to be further shocked when Hikaru all but admits it. This leads beautifully into a dream sequence for Hikaru that easily brought me to tears.

Though my consistent recommendation of this series may appear excessive, it has evolved at this point into such a wonderfully crafted story, it’s very difficult to find fault. From its increasingly moving plot to its consistently fantastic artwork, the true elegance of Hikaru no Go continues to impress me with each new volume.

Review copy provided by the publisher.

So, I picked up volume four of Pluto earlier this evening, anxious to dig in to the latest volume of my favorite manga series this year. My plans were dashed less than a chapter in, however, when I became so emotional that I actually had to put it down. Since this volume is new, I’ll avoid any details. Suffice it to say this was a fairly small incident (relative to the scope of the work as a whole) that just happened to hit me unusually hard. This isn’t a fatal issue, of course. I’ll pick it up again once I feel I’ve recovered, perhaps in a less vulnerable moment. Nor is it a criticism of Pluto, by any means. I want to be moved deeply by fiction. That’s why I read it. It’s a powerful testament to the craft of both Tezuka and Urasawa that the series is able to affect me so strongly.

What this experience brings to mind now as I remain here uselessly in my chair, not quite ready to pick up anything else, is other moments in manga that have brought me to tears.
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Hikaru no Go, Vol. 16
By Yumi Hotta & Takeshi Obata
Published by Viz Media

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After volume fifteen’s intense drama, this volume begins with relative lightness as Isumi heads to China with a group of pros to play a few friendship games at the Chinese Go Association. After a couple of devastating losses, Isumi decides to stay a few extra days in order to get a rematch with the young pro who first defeated him, but at the urging of a friendly Chinese pro, a few days becomes two months. Meanwhile, the Japanese pro world is stunned by Hikaru’s growing string of forfeits as he remains determined not to play in hopes that Sai might one day return. Though Hikaru refuses anyone who asks him to play, the one request he is unable to turn down is from Isumi who, having returned to Japan, feels that he must play a clean game with Hikaru before he will be able to face the upcoming pro test.

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Hikaru no Go, Vol. 15
By Yumi Hotta and Takeshi Obata
Published by Viz Media

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Yesterday, Brigid Alverson linked to an article by Bob Thompson at the Washington Post, in which he discussed the recent popularity of graphic novels, and his experiences sampling them as a steadfast “prose guy.” I link to Brigid’s post here, because her reaction to the article was much like mine (and a million other manga fans across the internet, including John Jakala, whose post on the subject she also linked to, and who spoke about it in thoughtful detail), which was something like politely irritated disbelief at the fact that he seemed to pass hasty judgement on manga as a whole based on one volume of Naruto and seemingly little else. This is especially interesting, given that he does recognize late in the article that, “in the world of Japanese comics, you can do anything you want.”

Nobody needs me to reiterate the article, and pretty much everything that could be said about it already has been, and by people much more eloquent and knowledgeable than I. If I have anything to offer here, it is my own story of learning to love manga, because really, if I could fall in love with it, anyone could, even Bob Thompson.

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The new year has already turned out to be even more challenging than the last, which is certainly not what I expected, but perhaps it all leads to a more meaningful path, both for me and those close to me. None of that is really appropriate to this blog, so I won’t go further, but it’s in my nature to be optimistic, so that’s what I’m running on right now.

Something I’ve done to distract myself from deep thoughts the past couple of days, is to reacquaint myself with Hikaru no Go, specifically the manga. I’d watched the anime somewhat recently, but I hadn’t gone back to the manga, especially the final arc which is not included in the anime, since my first whirlwind through it. This time, I started with the final arc, which actually disappointed me a bit the first time through, but worked much better for me on the second read. Something that I was struck with immediately was just how skillfully crafted this story is. What rich characters! What a compelling plot! What delightful artwork! Jason Thompson refers to Hikaru no Go, in his book, Manga: The Complete Guide, as “…one of the few all-ages manga that can truly be enjoyed by all ages,” and though I personally have not read enough all-ages manga to make such a statement, I can absolutely vouch for Hikaru no Go.
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Happy holidays! I hope you’re all enjoying yours, however you choose to spend them. It’s been a bit of a strange holiday season for me, I admit. This is usually my favorite time of year, but everything has had a bit of a damper on it this time around. This year has been like that overall, I suppose, but I’m still surprised to find myself with anything even approaching the holiday blues. It is very unlike me. I hope this year remains an anomaly, as I don’t especially wish to repeat it. I did enjoy time with family, which was a true pleasure.

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