https://starcrossedanime.com/wpcontent/uploads/2022/11/HikarunoGoBanner.png Slam Dunk. Haikyuu. Cross Game. Aside from being fantastic series in their own right and being about sports they all share one thing in common: Their success helped popularize their sport both in Japan and the world at large. Slam Dunk has an actual basketball scholarship program named after it for goodness sake. They galvanized entire generations showing them how fun and accessible these sports are and how cool they could be if they played them. In a way in some communities minds they have come to define that sport just as specific athletes like LeBron James or Lionel Messi do. And today I would like to introduce you to another series from this most hallowed of halls. Originally written by Yumi Hotta with direction split between Susumu Nishizawa Jun Kamiya and Tetsuya Endou animated at Studio Pierrot I give you 2001s Hikaru no Go. Be warned this review contains minor unmarked spoilers for Hikaru no Go. It also contains major spoilers in some sections however these will be heavily marked to avoid accidents. https://starcrossedanime.com/wpcontent/uploads/2022/11/HikarunoGoMeijin.jpg Narrative First up what is Hikaru no Go about? On the most basic level Hikaru no Go follows our titular lead Hikaru Shindou as he becomes haunted by a ghost from Heian era Japan and is introduced to the wonderful world of Go. But what even is Go? Go also known as Igo Weiqi and Baduk is an East Asian strategic board game not unlike Chess. But where Chess seeks to capture the king Go seeks to capture territory and where Chess has individualist pieces Go has groups of connected stones. It is in the differences between these games where can find the greater themes of Hikaru no Go: Connection. Community. The passing of the torch from one generation to the next. Working together to play a greater and greater game of Go. On its surface Hikaru no Gos story is structured in a pretty standard manner. Hikaru starts a sport Go meets a rival Touya Akira and the two circle each other. Forever improving and reaching greater and greater heights. In that Hikaru no Go is a pretty standard Sports Shounen. What sets it apart from many of its contemporaries however is the same thing that sets Haikyuu Slam Dunk and the other great sports series apart: The care it gives to the human element. No game is ever played Just to have a game. Theres always a greater emotional need for that game. Whether it be Akira chasing the shadow of Sai or Hikaru chasing Akira a Senpais desperate desire to start a club or a philosophical difference over the game itself. Yes more light hearted games exist. But even those have reasons beyond The show needs some action here. Narratively the only real negative is how abruptly Hikaru no Go ends as well as some filler episodes and a dip in the pacing. The first is a bit of a sad tale with numerous sources citing a conflict with a Korean Go player accusing the series of depicting them poorly as well as fan backlash regarding what I believe to be the best narrative decision in the entire series. Combine these with the natural slowing of a series as it catches up to its original manga and you get what I would call an anticlimactic ending. Emotionally I find it beautiful. Hikaru no Gos final arc is one of the most cathartic emotionally resonant finales I have ever experienced. But it climaxes about 6 episodes before the show does leading to a bit of an epilogue problem. Is this a huge issue? No. But its noteworthy. Ultimately however despite its pacing issues and abrupt ending I think Hikaru no Gos narrative it a beautiful one. The way it brings back older arcs/characters to show us how far they and Hikaru have come. Its depiction of how Go can mean something different to everyone whether it be an old man trying to connect with his grandson or a young student trying to go pro a middleaged salarymen still holding onto the vestiges of a dream or an ancient ghost completely disconnected from the world yet still remembered through how he plays the game. This is not just a story about some random kid picking up a new sport. Its a story about the sport itself. And its exactly because of this that it inspired people around the world to try the game the same way Haikyu did Volleyball and Slam Dunk did Basketball. https://starcrossedanime.com/wpcontent/uploads/2022/11/HikarunoGoCharacters.jpg Characters Speaking of the character if they are that important to the story then lets go ahead and talk about them. Hikaru no Go has a fairly sizable cast. Upwards of 100 if memory serves though only about half of those are what I would call relevant. With the rest being oneepisode wonders adding flavor to a story or filling in the background. Of those 50 about 10 are probably relevant from start to finish. The remaining 40 or so either existing from the start with minor appearances like Kuwabara Honinbou or having a major role in a single arc and then fading away after words like Toshinori Honda. This isnt to say these characters are meaningless of course Honda has one of the most emotionally charged scenes of the entire show after the Pro Exam. I only mean that they arent part of the core main cast. Among our core cast 3 in particular stand out and define Hikaru no Go as a series: Hikaru Shindou Akira Touya and Fujiwara no Sai. These first 2 are pretty obvious they are our lead and his rival 2 sides of the same coin the same story but from 2 different perspectives. Where Shindou begins the show as a novice not even aware of its rules and learning how to play Akira is already skilled enough to go pro. One teaches us the sport allowing us to grow and learn the sport and its history along side him while we watch the other mature both as a young adult and a budding pro. All the while the two circle each other perpetually pulling the other along. But some of you might wonder why is Akira chasing Shindou if hes a complete novice? This is where Sai comes in. If Shindou and Akira represent modern Go then Sai represents Gos history. He is all the players who came before. Who discovered the strategies used today who pushed the game forward who started this long chain of connections. Sai represents how despite their time having passed you can still learn from the older players today. In many ways it is that those players existed at all. And that is what truly makes Sais place in this story beautiful. How despite being unable to physically interact with the world or anyone other than Hikaru he is able to affirm his existence through the game. His style of play the way he thinks his very personality exists on that board. And others such as Akira are able to recognize that. Its this exploration if identity even without a corporeal body that makes Sai one of my favorite characters in Hikaru no Go. Basically what Im saying is this: Hikaru no Go revolves around its characters. There isnt really an overarching plot theres no national championship no team spirit. Hikaru can stop playing at any time and the only person who loses out would be him. And while this does lead to some of the pacing issues I mentioned above I still think its one of Hikaru no Gos greatest strengths. Characters arent pulled along my some grand plot or mustdo task. Rather they are motivated by their own goals their own agency. They do what they do not because it is thrust upon them but because it is something they want. And sometimes... sometimes they dont get it. And from these moments of loss springs forth their growth as people and some of the best scenes in Hikaru no Gos entire run. https://starcrossedanime.com/wpcontent/uploads/2022/11/HikarunoGoConnection.jpg Production This brings me to the production and my primary criticism against Hikaru no Go. To put it simply: Hikaru no Go is not a good looking show. Sometimes it makes use of bold linework heavy shading and saturated colors to produce some striking scenes as well as the occasional inspired composition. It most certainly has good looking memorable shots that you will find yourself engrossed in. But this is a 75 episode monster animated at Studio Pierrot a place known for taking Shounen and pumping them out like dollar menu cheeseburgers and Hikaru no Go is no exception. Youre regular visual experience will be stills sliding backgrounds panning shots extreme closeups and overhead shots of the board. Does this sound like an engaging visual experience? Because as someone who absolutely loves this show let me tell you its not. The only saving grace for this production is its unity. Hikaru no Go despite its visual shortcomings has a unified vision across the entire production. Every single element from character designs to lighting to music they all feel like they belong together. Do you know that old adage The whole is greater than the sum of its parts? Thats Hikaru no Go. Timing the clicking of stones on the board to the beat of the song character reveals to the swell of the music pacing a scene just right so that the sunset strikes their back just as they deliver their line. Its all just... perfect. Considering Hikaru no Go had 3 directors across its run Im not sure if this is down to phenomenal team cohesion or simple luck. Whatever the case the actual experience of watching Hikaru no Go is far greater than its lackluster visuals would otherwise lead you to believe. So all in all while Hikaru no Go is certainly hamstrung by its visual production its able to make up for a lot of its shortcomings by ensuring all of its various pieces work together to their maximum effectiveness. https://youtu.be/KP7O4TP5RMM?list=PL46459E1791DDC7A2 OST/Sound Design Finally we come to the OST and Sound Design. Theres no easy way to put this so Ill just say it outright: Kei Wakakusa AKA Saitou Tooru is a God among men. What he has done here as the primary musician/composer of Hikaru no Go is create one of the most iconic sound tracks in all of anime. Across its 75 episode run these 60 or so tracks run the emotional gamut. From the soft halcyon days of Yuu to the challenge of scaling mountain tops with the iconic Kami no Itte. The grief and hope for a brighter tomorrow Mae wo Muite evokes to the funky almost cocky confidence of Sairyou no Itte. Throw me any song on this list and I can probably name not only a scene where it played but enhanced it. Yet so great is this OST that Im not even halfway done. Saitou doesnt restrict himself to a single track for any given emotion. Instead he tackles each one from a myriad of different angles coloring each one ever so slightly different. In Michibiki he trades the unreachable mountain tops of Kami no Itte for a smaller more personal yet still inevitable destiny. Or the funky almost cocky confidence of Sairyou no Itte for a the more resolute and focused Shukuteki. Even the subtle differences between Mae wo Muite and Tomadoi both so clearly stricken with grief yet with their own unique patinas. To me this is one of Hikaru no Gos greatest strengths as an OST. If it had just one track for each emotion they would get played out quickly and lose their power. But some of these only get played once maybe twice across its entire run so they never suffer from that kind of dilution. This isnt to say that Hikaru no Go is nothing but grief battle and destiny however. Far from it Sure tracks like Takaburu Omoi and Nagori really play up the destined rival thing. But there are also plenty of day to day tracks celebrating the simple days before or between epic clashes Kizuna Imayori Takai Tokoro e and Atatakai Hi are just a few examples of this. Those warm Summer days spent in the club room hanging out with your friends or soft sounds of Spring after a cold and harsh Winter. Suffice to say I absolutely adore Hikaru no Gos OST. Its stuck with me for over a decade since I first saw it so much so that I was brought to tears just by hearing some of these songs again for the first time after starting my rewatch. I can only hope it does the same for you. As for the sound design and folly work there really isnt much to say here. While its OST is absolutely iconic Hikaru no Gos overall sound design isnt terribly impressive. Within the games of Go its pretty good The clicking of stones on boards the rustle of fingers within a bowl wind blowing through peoples hair and clothing as they dramatically place stones. It sounds great Satisfying even But outside of them I cant say it was particularly memorable. This isnt to uncommon for Studio Pierrot even today. But it remains a noticeably dull mark on an otherwise outstanding series. P.S. OPs 1 amp 2are absolutely incredible. https://starcrossedanime.com/wpcontent/uploads/2022/11/HikarunoGoAlone.jpg Tsugi Connecting the Stones Finally we come to the personal section of this review. This is where I drop all pretenses and structure and simply try to have a conversation with you. To tell you how Hikaru no Go touched me personally to try and explain why I feel the way I do about it. This is noholdsbarred spoiler territory. In fact I can tell you right now Im going to talk pretty heavily about perhaps the most emotionally and narratively important scene of the entire show. So if you havent watched it or you maybe dont care about my personal story with the show then feel free to skip. Ive already talked about all the main stuff above. But if you want to try and connect with me and get to know me as a reviewer? Then read on. You have been warned. https://starcrossedanime.com/wpcontent/uploads/2022/11/HikarunoGoSaiShot.jpg Conclusion All in all it should be obvious that Hikaru no Go is one of the timeless greats. It isnt perfect The production is generally lacking and it suffers from occasionally pacing dips these are both true. But it more than makes up for them with its soul. With that distinctly human element that no studio no adaptation can truly provide. Its something that has to already be present in the series from the start. Despite being less watched then most of its contemporaries older to since Id wager some Haikyu fans werent even born when Hikaru no Go came out it stands shoulder to shoulder with them in the annals of Sports Anime history. Hopefully this review convinced some of you who havent seen it to check it out or to rewatch it if you have. Now excuse me while I go cry to the ending one last time. P.S. Feel free to comment on this review I love the feedback. Agree or disagree Im always down for a conversation. Especially about a series that means so much to me. https://starcrossedanime.com/wpcontent/uploads/2022/12/HikarunoGo30.1.jpg