The Totally Epic HikaGo Reread - Vol. 14

[effex]

~Volume 14 of Hikaru no Go~

Chapters 114 - 121 + Bonus Chapter

Comments

[effex]

* I spent a lot of time laughing at Ogata this volume - his Go is the most fun line, his middle-age-crisis car (to be fair, it's a sweet car), his dramatic taking off of glasses while watching net Go, his running down of Hikaru in the hospital... the man looks cool on the outside, but he's an obsessed go nerd just like the rest of them [pats him fondly]

* Poor Akira - he can't stop thinking about Hikaru (and Sai) no matter how hard he tries.

* The more I think about it the more I realize what a mindtrip the Hikaru+Sai thing must be, especially for Akira and his dad. Akira's poor confused face right after Ogata tells him about Hikaru in his dad's room...

* Oh, Sai.

* Oh, Kurata. Everyone enjoys messing with Hikaru's head.

Grabs!

[onkoona]

56-1
http://onkoona.livejournal.com/38170.html

56-2
http://onkoona.livejournal.com/38438.html

57-1
http://onkoona.livejournal.com/38831.html

57-2
http://onkoona.livejournal.com/39154.html

58-1
http://onkoona.livejournal.com/39319.html

58-2
http://onkoona.livejournal.com/39510.html

59-1
http://onkoona.livejournal.com/39925.html

[effex]

Oh, I forgot to add - I really love how happy Touya Senior is in his retirement. Between that and the game with Sai, he seems a much happier, looser person.

[onkoona]

Serious angsting for Sai. And Hikaru only slightly notices!

Kurata always reminds me of a bufferfish, all filled with hot air. But i guess he serves a purpose in the plot.

Akira seems to playing the same record over and over, and not getting anywhere. I'm starting to think it's bad writing at this point, like Akira's been put on hold until his, hopefully at some point, game with Hikaru.

[onkoona]

Yeah, noticed that. It's not really a good advertisement to become a pro, is it!

[effex]

I agree re: Akira - he seems stuck in a holding pattern. Even if he's been doing his best not to think about it, he must have formed *some* conclusions... but we're not really eeing much of him outside his relationship with Hikaru, maybe he's doing most of his growth in other areas.

[effex]

Ha, no! It seems like a very high-stress profession.

Kids sure do grow up quick

[lacygrey]

Hello again.
So I was away for two volumes, I come back and Hikaru looks like he’s aged by at least a year! This ‘growth spurt’ is particularly noticeable in the anime, he’s still very much more a kid in the manga version, for example, the scences in the hospital.



Of course, unfortunately I can no longer link to the scantilated manga for comparison.

I wholeheartedly support the initiative of Onemanga in removing licenced manga - especially if this means Viz will finish officially publishing the series in English - its just a bit inconvienient for pointing out little things like this in an internet-friendly way.

Hikaru's dad DOES excist!

[onkoona]

I was starting to wonder if he were but a figment of his mother's imagination!

Here's the proof!

Re: Hikaru's dad DOES excist!

[lacygrey]

Don't we see his feet once too somewhere? !

Re: Kids sure do grow up quick

[onkoona]

(I think onemanga removed all content)

Yes it's nine months after the pro exam. In a boys life that's a long time.
It seems in the manga & anime they are very precise about times of year, and growth of characters.
An anime I've years and years ago was also about a young boy growing up. In that one he wandered about Europe for some years, so the change of seasons was more noticable in that one, but it's here too.

Re: Hikaru's dad DOES excist!

[onkoona]

Oh! They do spoil us don't they!

[onkoona]

I don't think Akira has a life outside of Go.

Re: Kids sure do grow up quick

[effex]

I noticed it too, especially when onkoona posted the screencaps last week. Not sure what caused the sudden age jump in the anime.

[nods] Me too but yeah, it was useful being able to link to stuff. Here's hoping Viz finally wraps things up!

Re: Hikaru's dad DOES excist!

[effex]

[laughs and laughs] Poor Shindo senior and his amazing lack of page-time.

Re: Kids sure do grow up quick

[onkoona]

They skipped from September, made a stop over in January, and then skipped straight to April.
Time goes fast!

[lacygrey]

The previous time we saw him was when he was still in hospital. That might have had a bearing too.
But it does seem like an occupation that's both sedentary and highly stressful that can't be very healthy.

[effex]

Well, no. I meant in his professional career - we hear about him playing games and things, but we don't really get to see it or know what he's thinking. Only time we get to see inside his head is when he's thinking about Hikaru and/or Sai.

Re: Hikaru's dad DOES excist!

[onkoona]

He doesn't even have a face in the character guide, just those shoes!

Well, at least he gets a name; Hikaru's mom, is just called "Hikaru's mom".

[lacygrey]

Reading the manga first I was spared Touya’s color sense the first time round.



Until I saw the anime I was wondering why there was so much fanfic with Akira clothes jokes.

[onkoona]

Ah yes, he presumably does play other people as well.
I would have liked to see him play someone else for a change. Uhm, did we ever see him play someone other than Hikaru & Sai? I mean properly, not in passing.

[onkoona]

Ahw, poor Akira, he's such an easy target!

[effex]

[snickers] You see it a little in the manga's color spreads but yeah, the anime really drives it home. Akira can't dress himself at all.

[effex]

I'm not sure... I can't remember any in particular, just people mentioning in passing that they've played him (or beat him, in Kurata's case. *That* would have been a game to see).

[lacygrey]

To me, Kurata is like Ogata's opposite. Physically, its clear but they are also opposites in attitude. Kurata lacks a single grain of sophistication, or aspiration to it, but instead appears incredibly straightforward. What appears initially as arrogance later reveals itself to be a kind of child-like blind faith in his own abilities, which, accurate or not, carries him along.

Here, he also provides insight on Touya Kouyo’s change in playing style and is the latest character to find himself in the role of 'gobetween' between Shindou and Touya.