Finished the volume late last night, but waited until today to post. - I don't think I've ever seen Hikaru as angry as he was in that last panel on page 23. It honestly seems like a new emotion for him. I wonder what got him just so riled up - it's not like he hasn't been passed by by Akira before. Maybe just because he always felt that being pro was when he would first actually *deserve* acknowledgement? - The best part of being a pro? Tea's perpared ahead of time for you and placed right next to your goban! - Loved the shaking hands when Hikaru was preparing for his first *real* game against Akira. - Chapter 107's title, "Kokuhaku". The shipper in me stupidly squees. - Ogata's stolen glances at not!Sai while he's talking to Touya Meijin about net go are really amusing, in a sort of dramatic way. - The Meijin's insistence on retiring if Sai beats him has me seriously thinking that he expects he has a good chance of losing, and that really he's just looking for an excuse to retire, either because of health/family, or perhaps because he's worried that he'll lose his fifth game against Ogata and wants to retire without actually losing the title to him. (I can't remember if he ever plays that fifth game.) - The dramatic shading of the Meijin's face on the bottom panel of page 90 amuses me. - I want to make a comment about how Westerners are always drawn relatively buffoon-like in manga, but then again we have Kuwabara-sensei and Kurata-sensei, so... - It's interesting that Akira's mom doesn't call him Akira-san when talking with his father... I also get this sense that Akira's mom and dad aren't particularly close, but that may just be an accurate portrayal of how more traditional Japanese married couples interact. - Page 129, last panel, with Hikaru trudging up the stairs with his head hung and a scribble for a speech bubble... Priceless. But he seems relaxed enough once they get to his room. - That jacket Akira's wearing seems to fashionable for him. Did someone take him clothes shopping? (Or maybe it's just as bad as his usual attire and I'm just not realizing it.) - Akira's flashbacks to being in the ambulance with his dad and mom seem to show that he really does care for his family. Which I suppose is only natural, but it's still nice to see that they're not just a "family of convenience". - That part where Sai's body "passed through" Hikaru's was kind of creepy, in a good way. - DRAMATIC SLEEVE REARRANGEMENT! Although I could swear I heard the sound of the whipping cloth. - We have this entire conversation between Waya and his mom, yet they don't show his mom's face once. With as many minor characters as this series has, I find it hard to believe that that was just laziness on Obata's part. I think they were really trying to show us once again how disconnected people in the professional go world (or at least teenagers in general) can be from their parents. - Even more dramatic shading on the bottom panel of 171, and of a totally random character at that. ^^; - I like how Akira was at first just amusedly and politely observing his father's game online on the bottom panel of 191. "Yup, he's my father. Everyone's fascinated by his games. How's your game goin', father?" Which of course provided a great foil for his reaction when he realized his father was playing Sai.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2010-08-12 01:16 am (UTC)- I don't think I've ever seen Hikaru as angry as he was in that last panel on page 23. It honestly seems like a new emotion for him. I wonder what got him just so riled up - it's not like he hasn't been passed by by Akira before. Maybe just because he always felt that being pro was when he would first actually *deserve* acknowledgement?
- The best part of being a pro? Tea's perpared ahead of time for you and placed right next to your goban!
- Loved the shaking hands when Hikaru was preparing for his first *real* game against Akira.
- Chapter 107's title, "Kokuhaku". The shipper in me stupidly squees.
- Ogata's stolen glances at not!Sai while he's talking to Touya Meijin about net go are really amusing, in a sort of dramatic way.
- The Meijin's insistence on retiring if Sai beats him has me seriously thinking that he expects he has a good chance of losing, and that really he's just looking for an excuse to retire, either because of health/family, or perhaps because he's worried that he'll lose his fifth game against Ogata and wants to retire without actually losing the title to him. (I can't remember if he ever plays that fifth game.)
- The dramatic shading of the Meijin's face on the bottom panel of page 90 amuses me.
- I want to make a comment about how Westerners are always drawn relatively buffoon-like in manga, but then again we have Kuwabara-sensei and Kurata-sensei, so...
- It's interesting that Akira's mom doesn't call him Akira-san when talking with his father... I also get this sense that Akira's mom and dad aren't particularly close, but that may just be an accurate portrayal of how more traditional Japanese married couples interact.
- Page 129, last panel, with Hikaru trudging up the stairs with his head hung and a scribble for a speech bubble... Priceless. But he seems relaxed enough once they get to his room.
- That jacket Akira's wearing seems to fashionable for him. Did someone take him clothes shopping? (Or maybe it's just as bad as his usual attire and I'm just not realizing it.)
- Akira's flashbacks to being in the ambulance with his dad and mom seem to show that he really does care for his family. Which I suppose is only natural, but it's still nice to see that they're not just a "family of convenience".
- That part where Sai's body "passed through" Hikaru's was kind of creepy, in a good way.
- DRAMATIC SLEEVE REARRANGEMENT! Although I could swear I heard the sound of the whipping cloth.
- We have this entire conversation between Waya and his mom, yet they don't show his mom's face once. With as many minor characters as this series has, I find it hard to believe that that was just laziness on Obata's part. I think they were really trying to show us once again how disconnected people in the professional go world (or at least teenagers in general) can be from their parents.
- Even more dramatic shading on the bottom panel of 171, and of a totally random character at that. ^^;
- I like how Akira was at first just amusedly and politely observing his father's game online on the bottom panel of 191. "Yup, he's my father. Everyone's fascinated by his games. How's your game goin', father?" Which of course provided a great foil for his reaction when he realized his father was playing Sai.