The Totally Epic HikaGo Reread - Vol. 16

[effex]

~Volume 16 of Hikaru no Go~

Chapters 131 - 139

Comments

[effex]

It's interesting that we shift to Isumi here - the manga up to this point has been very (though not exclusively) focused on Hikaru and now we're hanging out with a secondary character in China. Which is good, I think - we need some distance from Hikaru's misery.

Grabs!

[onkoona]

Volume 16
(64 is actually part of vol 18)
64-1
http://onkoona.livejournal.com/43105.html

64-2
http://onkoona.livejournal.com/43323.html

64-3
http://onkoona.livejournal.com/43655.html

65-1
http://onkoona.livejournal.com/43857.html

65-2
http://onkoona.livejournal.com/44161.html

(66 is a story from vol 18)
67-1
http://onkoona.livejournal.com/44298.html

67-2
http://onkoona.livejournal.com/44557.html

68-1
http://onkoona.livejournal.com/44937.html

68-2
http://onkoona.livejournal.com/45170.html

69-1
http://onkoona.livejournal.com/45554.html

69-2
http://onkoona.livejournal.com/45651.html

70-1
http://onkoona.livejournal.com/45928.html

(70-2 really belongs next vol.)
http://onkoona.livejournal.com/46088.html

[effex]

Also, the randomness of Le Ping is one of my favorite HikaGo things. A tiny, Chinese Waya? Why not!

[onkoona]

Yes it' is good to be away from Hikaru for a bit but if I'd have had to wait on the next volume as it came out I would have been seriously miffed.

And I am miffed that they cut the Hikaru vs Isumi game off in the middle.
With watching and reading I did do the next chapter too (chapter 140)

(effex, chapter 139 is in vol 16 too!)

[onkoona]

and even less well behaved than the original!

[effex]

Ahh, thank you! [fixes]

[nods] I bet volume 16 seemed really, really long to folks reading it in Shonen Jump. At least, once they got to chapter 139, they only had to wait a week for the next installment.

[lacygrey]

Le Ring is so much of a little kid compared with Isumi, but still better at Go. I have a feeling that they are using this to show how different, not to mention how much stronger, Go is in China.

Re: Grabs!

[lacygrey]

I wonder if the insertion of the Sai side story at ep 64 was another way of taking a break from the sadness of the main story at this point.

Re: Grabs!

[onkoona]

Yeah, like memmenissing about the good old days, somthing like that.

I miss Sai!
*boohoohoo!*

[effex]

[nods] I really like that they went there, took the time to seriously address it.

Re: Grabs!

[lacygrey]

And total Torajiro fanboying! Still we said we'd get into that with vol 19...

[lacygrey]

Its clearly a different world: A live-in Go institute! That's serious coaching.

And poor Isumi he can't understand anyone at first and seems so lost.

[lacygrey]

And Yang Hai saying that after thirty 'the younger players start dragging you down'. It must be so much more competitive there, think of Kubawara.



I wonder if this says more about the overall improvement of Go playing over time, or about human aging ^_^

We never do learn Yang Hai's age.

[lacygrey]

Isumi plays the detective after learning that Shindou's been missing games.

Then theres this scene that I can't find in the manga:



The French fandom focalised on this short sequence and it spawned a small hoard of sugar daddy-toyboy fics. I'm wondering how the dub actors voiced it, and whether this was the reason :)

[lacygrey]

The hair continues to amaze me:

These guys have super long fringes/bangs but their hair never gets in their eyes.

[effex]

...you're right. It's really convenient how it always parts over their eyes just right.

[onkoona]

That is correct, several scenes in fact, where Isumi talks to people who also know Hikaru. He even talks to Kawai and Owner-san at the Heart of Stone! I don't think he ever went back there after the team matches....

[onkoona]

Ah, the joy of being made from ink & paint only!
Too bad they get stuck with such interesting fashion, like Akira....

[lacygrey]

The reappearance of Mitani, several inches taller and particularly mean-looking, rather changed my image of him



Previously I had this idea, probably influenced by his Samurai outfit in that Omake, that he was this smooth, clothes-concious guy who was just a bit surly about the edges.

Here he comes over as a real tough. I wonder if its the effect of the suspenders/braces?



This comes over strongly as 'Get away from my girl'

[onkoona]

The suspenders maybe part of his uniform. So you can get away with stating ne'd wear something completely different when not in school. Of course we've only ever seen him in school (or just out of school) so we have no idea what he'd wear.....

[lacygrey]

During the whole of this sequence of episodes we are seeing a series of people who crossed the paths of Hikaru and Sai and were somehow influenced. We see a lot of old faces in this run up to Hikaru's game with Isumi.

And finally Hikaru complements Akari on her Go. But she's too busy to notice.

[lacygrey]

But he's the only one with suspenders, and red socks and (sometimes) red shirt. What an individualist!

[effex]

Aren't there a couple illustrations/splash pages that show him in casual clothes? Now I want to go look...

[lacygrey]

Did you see this. I think its been done with a lot of love and the fan presents her point of view on Akira's clothes very nicely.

You should do the same for Sai and his facial expressions - now you have all those screencaps.

[lacygrey]

There are some in vol 18 at least.

[onkoona]

Hmm, I might at that.
But it's going to have to wait until after BlindGo, as I have some serious writing to do for that.