The Totally Epic HikaGo Reread - Vol. 4

[effex]

~Volume 4 of Hikaru no Go~

(Is really late today)

ETA: It's been pointed out that including chapter numbers would be useful which, yes. Yes it would. Volume 4 spans chapters 26-34, volume 5 will be 35-43. Fortunately, Wikipedia has a handy guide for this!

To the comments!

Comments

[onkoona]

eps 13-17 cover this volume

The screencaps are here:
13-1
http://onkoona.livejournal.com/10491.html

13-2
http://onkoona.livejournal.com/10669.html

closing #2
http://onkoona.livejournal.com/10997.html

14-1
http://onkoona.livejournal.com/11206.html

14-2
http://onkoona.livejournal.com/11338.html

15-1
http://onkoona.livejournal.com/11718.html

15-2
http://onkoona.livejournal.com/11896.html

16-1
http://onkoona.livejournal.com/12067.html

16-2
http://onkoona.livejournal.com/12394.html

17-1
http://onkoona.livejournal.com/12560.html

17-2
http://onkoona.livejournal.com/12967.html

caps

[onkoona]

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<phew!>
did it all in one day
now I'm tired!

Re: caps

[lacygrey]

Thank you for your efforts. Its really good seeing the screen caps alongside the manga - It gives an idea of how they went about adapting it.
I notice that the choice for the New York skyline is, out of sensitivity I suppose, different. Although this part of the story occurs in 1999, the anime dates from 2001-2002.

Re: caps

[onkoona]

Apart from the first 4 eps they are absolutely word perfect. And with the first 4 it was mostly a question of reshuffling of the scenes.
I'm first reading than watching, so it's really clear.
On average they do about 2 chapters per ep.



Well spotted in the skyline!
I hadn't even thought about it!

Re: caps

[effex]

That is an amazing amount of shiny, shiny screencaps.

Re: caps

[onkoona]

HnG seems to be a very easy meduim to catch; every grab is perfect!

[onkoona]

Eh?
I was the only one here last night?

[lacygrey]

I think our host has an internet connection problem. Thank you 'effex' for starting the ball rolling anyhow.

[effex]

:D Yes - our modem is broke or [shrugs] something of that nature. Usually I have time to hang out on these posts at work, but yesterday was a bit hectic.

[effex]

Heh, yes, sorry - I got the post up but didn't have time to get the conversation started before leaving work - truly, lack of internet is a terrible thing [grins]

[onkoona]

It's like missing an arm, I know!

[esmenet]

I loved seeing all the players for the World Amateur Go Tournament get together and geek out about Sai. :D

It's been so long since I read the early volumes, I'd almost forgotten what young!Waya looked like.

My favourite part of this volume was when people were speculating about Sai being a kid, and Akira and Ogata just *looked* at each other and went "Hmmm..." That one panel makes me want buddycop!AU liek whoa.

[onkoona]

But Waya does seem to be pissed off most of the time!

[lacygrey]

Yes, with SAI, with Touya, with Fukui....

[onkoona]

I suppose it would be redundant to yell "get a life!" at him?

[lacygrey]

I find that he redeems himself in later episodes :)
His attitude to Touya is understandable but I doubt Touya understands.

I reckon Waya plays Go on an iPad these days!

[effex]

...

[vows to track down an iPad go app asap]

[onkoona]

I doubt Akira cares what anybody else thinks of him, especially an insei!

[bookshop]

*SIGHS HAPPILY*

[zanzando]

Oh you. <3

[lacygrey]

This volume brings together several amazing moments for me.

Firstly, the Junior high tournament where Hikaru wins in the first round on his own merits but then has to face Touya much sooner than he would have hoped.

Then Hikaru finds himself torn between playing Touya and letting Sai play him, with the final outcome that he takes over and loses horribly upsetting everyone. I found the tournement sequence of the anine particularly pretty, with heaps of suspense piled on to boot. Also, we see a lot of the games, and these are closely enough linked to the story for a non Go player to follow: The exchanges between Kishimoto and Mitani are priceless. Touya's victory is absolute and crushing, even if one only knows the basics of Go.

Then there's the internet sequence - what would this story be without internet? And the iMac - already starting to look a little retro! Sai, standing beside Hikaru and telling him what to play gives me chills: you so often cannot know whether something on the internet really comes from the person who supposedly wrote it - and not from some other person, some hired hand or 'ghost' who's 'standing beside them'.

[effex]

I love how the series chooses to show go - they don't beat you over the head with explanations, they don't overload you with technical or obscure terminology, and the whole thing is easy for someone with no idea what go even is to follow. [grins] No wonder it helped introduce a whole new generation to the game.

I've always found Akira and Hikaru's game at the tournament to be wonderfully tragic - the buildup! the let down! the crushing disappointment! [hugs everyone involved] It's a great point, storytelling-wise, in the Hikaru-Akira-Sai relationship.