The Totally Epic HikaGo Reread - Vol. 1

[effex]

Happy Wednesday, everyone!
ARE YOU READY FOR SOME HIKARU NO GO?

Yes? Excellent. Let's get this party started - to the comments with your thoughts, observations, revelations, etc!

(A reminder - there are several people who are reading the series for the first time, let's try to keep spoilers to a minimum.)

A question - how did the one volume/week work for you? Was it doable, difficult, ridiculously easy? Do we want to stay with it or kick it up to two volumes a week (or down to chapters a week)?

Comments

To get things started:

[effex]

* Boys! Ahaha, Hikaru, I forgot what a snot-nosed brat you were. And how instantly you and Akira got emotionally entangled. And how much of a drama queen Sai is (I <3 you, Sai!).

* It's always so interesting to go back to the start (or near the start, I know Obata did a couple of things before this) of someone's artistic career and look at the progress they've made. The start of HikaGo looks nothing like the end of HikaGo (or, say, DeathNote).

* Although, early art or not, the man knows how to make a game of Go exciting.

* I continue to be super amused by Ogata's nosejob + makeover.



* I need more HikaGo icons.

[dancing_serpent]

One Volume /Week - easy thing. I'd like to keep it like that.

Ogata, oh my. I love that character so much and later he gets so attractive, it's hard for me not to wince at the early drawings. But yeah, part of what fascinates me about long manga (or comic) series is the artist's development.

I adored Sai right away, the panels that show him kind of floating over Hikaru are so beautiful.

Also, I love the recurring theme of "goban as universe".

[bookshop]

oh hikaruuuu. Look how much he's changed from his first impression, when he just comes across as this bored dorky kid who's barely listening to Sai, even though Sai has all these DRAMATIC PANELS and EPIC GO TALES, Hikaru's like LA LA LA PENCIL ON MY NOSE LA LA LA

sdkfljsdfdsf; he grows up so much over the course of the series, oh, my heart.

[zanzando]

I've been having thoughts about a certain aspect of Hikaru no Go and HikaGo fandom over the last couple of days.

This is related to re-reading and re-watching the first few episodes, and reading bookshop's very first reaction to it. (Basically: "It's a board game, for God's sake.")

Hikaru no Go transcends that. It's not just a board game. It's not just people competing over territory.

I have to admit that I never saw it as ironic in any way that these characters, these people would care so much about a board game in the first place.
I didn't need to be drawn in, I didn't need to be convinced.
But: I'm biased. I spent most of my time in school competing in the IMO (International Maths Olympiad), up to the national level. There were rivalries*. There was passion.
I never thought being passionate about a board game was ridiculous or laughable in the first place.

HikaGo doesn't just rob you of your irony. It sands down a layer of jadedness.



* Yes, I *did* have my very own eternal rival. ;)

[onkoona]

I'm uploading screencaps of the firtst 4 eps to my blog right now:

Opening credits on http://onkoona.livejournal.com/2642.html
Closing Credits on http://onkoona.livejournal.com/2898.html
Ep 1 part 1 http://onkoona.livejournal.com/3130.html
part 2 http://onkoona.livejournal.com/3451.html

check in a little later and the rest should be up too

[kimby77]

I love going back and reliving things from the beginning. Hikaru and Akira are so ickle. That's one thing I really love, how they grow up in every way (physically, mentally, and emotionally) throughout the years the series takes place over. I'm glad you got this reread started. I'm excited to watch them grow up again. :D

(Though now I want to rewatch the anime, too. >.>)

[twig_tea]

I love this series. Man. I've forgotten how much, how immediately impactful it was. I started reading, and had a REALLY HARD TIME stopping after the end of the first volume (I admit it; I went to chapter nine) before coming back here to talk about it. It just sucks you back in so quickly ♥

I love Hikaru's character; he's so nonchalante about being haunted, about this ghost with such a passion for something that he defied death and waited a hundred years just to play this game once more... god, so powerful a premise, and Hikaru is just like "meh, Go's BORING" *lol*. I love how we get to see Hikaru captivated not by Go, at first, but by these people who love and are VERY SRS about the game; it's their passions that make him feel like he's missing out, something that I totally relate to and love. The first time I read this manga I was so pissed at Hikaru, for being so selfish *lol* Now I can appreciate the moxy it takes to tell a haunting spirit that their 150 year passion will just have to wait until Hikaru doesn't have something better to do.

And speaking of passion, I love that Hikaru and Touya encounter one another so early and IMMEDIATELY get under one another's skin; Touya is PISSED that this kid who's never played before totally schooled him (lol literally, get it? get it? *is shot*) and Hikaru is all starry-eyed by Touya's intensity, even before he understands how freaking GOOD Touya is (the bit where Sai totally kicks Touya's butt and then Hikaru tries to show that he gets it now, that he doesn't think taking Go seriously is dumb, he wants to make Touya feel better and not be thought of badly... so cute!). It's so fun to see this early rivalry, and to know how it changes....

I started reading it, and the seven year old son of my roommate came in the room, and he was like "what's that?" So I told him, summarized the premise, and began reading aloud to him; he was immediately interested and I realized all over again how powerful this manga is. Then he saw the image of the front cover, announced "He (Hikaru) looks sick in colour", so I had to tell him about the anime, and we watched the first episode. He had trouble getting over Sai's looks in colour ("he's wearing lip gloss *giggle*") but halfway through the first he was making me promise we'd watch the second episode together too, and had me explain Go to him (which was actually a problem, since I am a terrible HnG fan and never learned even the basics of the game really well, so I failed miserably at that--he'd wanted me to show him why Touya lost the first game against Hikaru).

tl;dr HnG is LOVE.

[ariadne_chan]

My Hubby and I loved this series and we watch the anime and read the manga at the same time, so i was drown to read fanfic and become an akihika fan and my husband start to playing go. He works so he have little time to play, but he plays a lot in internet, and today he buy our first goban (the flipped one) ad the stones i was facinated... i want to learn too!!!!

checking people i come to know that the mayor part of the male fans learn to play go and we the females start to read or/and write fanfiction

What do you think about it!
I'm really happy rereading this!!!

[bobrhyn.livejournal.com]

I missed the first day of re-read last week due to finals... but oh, my heart is going so fast after chapter 2... oh, Hikago. My chest is aching. (And the soundtrack's been playing in my head since Sai first appeared.... Looks like I'm going to have to re-watch it, too.)

[tsukikage85.livejournal.com]

I really don't have much to contribute (what I could say has been said already), but I loved the picture of Akira and his father walking together... That's really the only scene where I remember being able to tell that Kouyou really does care for his son.

Also, I think Hikaru may actually have superpowers, considering his apparent ability to shoot pebbles shaped like go stones horizontally from his fingers.