Hikaru No Go

As I explained in my introductory post, it was this manga that first aroused my interest in the game of Go. However, since learning to play, I haven't received any new volumes of the book until last week, when volumes 16 and 17 arrived in the post.

It was a completely different experience reading them with a first-hand understanding of go. I found myself examining the board positions in the (sadly too few) occasions they occur. The author is an obvious fan of the game, and I've seen SGFs of the games featured in the story online in various places, so it seems that they are real games. Whether famous ones or not, I dunno.

It really is an astounding feat to make such a compelling story out of just a board game and the various self-improvement journeys of a handful of people, whether at amateur school go clubs, or on the professional circuit.

These two volumes contain some of the highlights of the series. I can't express too strongly how much that you need to read this story if you aren't already a fan.