Hikaru no Go

(Viz, 2004-2006)
™ and © 1998 Yumi Hotta & Takeshi Obata

Hikaru is an ordinary grade–school kid who inadvertently releases the spirit of Fujiwara–no–Sai, an ancient master who once tutored the Emperor of Japan in the chess–like game, Go. Sai will only stop haunting Hikaru if he lets Sai use his body to play Go in hopes of one day making the game’s legendary “Divine Move.”

Naturally, Hikaru has zero interest in playing the ancient game but soon becomes immersed in the world of professional Go championships. In spite of himself, he, and (by proxy) we, not only learn the rules of the game, but gain an appreciation for some of its subtleties.

Yumi Hotta and Takeshi Obata do a remarkable job of making all this not just comprehensible to readers with no knowledge of the game, but actually compelling. The main keys to its success is that they manage to make the static gameplay visually interesting. The characters Hikaru and Sai go through a rough period of adjustment but soon learn to appreciate each other: a concept that’s both attractive and appealing.

— S.A. Bennett

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