To Link The Far Past With the Far Future.

This was probably one of the most random moodreads I’ve done. I was randomly looking into Brandon Sanderson’s Secret Project 3, and I saw this was one of the main inspirations. I realised, "Oh yeah, I haven't read this manga yet," but I had been meaning to for so long that I decided to give it a shot. Anyway, it was a very good read, and aspects were a lot better than I expected. I had never heard of GO before, I was only familiar with Chess and Shogi, so it was a nice surprise. Learning about a new sport, art, and culture is always fun for me. Yumi Hotta explains the rules quite thoroughly, and even if you don't understand it fully, I never felt confused about what was at stake. An example is 3-gatsu no Lion, I know very little about Shogi, but I am never confused in a match because the author is talented and you immediately know what's at stake, what's a power move, etc. As with a series like this, it's more about the characters and their journey.

The art by Takeshi Obata (known for Death Note and Bakuman) is beautiful, my favourite artwork from him will still be Bakuman as it has so much variety (with unique art styles depicted throughout). The panel work is pretty basic, which isn't a bad thing. Even the author acknowledges it, but nothing speculator. From the character design and the writing, my favourite character would be Fujiwara no Sai, a spirit from the Heian era of Japan and Go instructor to the Emperor. His relationship with Hikaru was always the highlight of the series. As the author states: "For Hikaru, Sai was a friend, a teacher, a father figure, a mother figure, a brother and a pet. (Laughter)" in short, a valuable person in his life.

My first fear of the series is that how do you establish tension with a figure like Sai looming? Thankfully, Hotta addressed it very quickly. The story arcs progressively get better to a certain point, I think the highlight for me would be Vols. 14–16. That’s not to say the series gets bad as it progresses, it’s just the highlight. I would say the final arc might be the series' weakest point. I still don’t think it’s bad, but certain elements felt a tad rushed. There were a lot of characters, and I don’t think the author gave us enough time to make them interesting compared to some of the prior excellent ones. Though the final arc, I will say, wasn’t the best, I think it delivered on the overall theme of the series, linking the past to the future. It's a noble endeavour, and it delivers on it well. 

Some missed opportunities would be the final arc, some elements are not polished. Certain side characters stop being relevant, which is a shame. I wish some of the female characters were stronger, it’s weirdly lacking, and the author is a female, so it’s odd. It might be an editorial thing, I’m unclear, and you kind of just want more.

In conclusion, it's a very good series, and I highly recommend it!