Hikaru no Go

## Hikaru no Go *Hikaru no Go* is one of the most beloved sports manga ever created — a story about the ancient game of Go that somehow becomes a meditation on mastery, rivalry, and the cost of obsession. Hikaru Shindo is a reckless sixth-grader with no interest in intellectual pursuits who discovers an old Go board in his grandfather's attic. The board is haunted by the spirit of Fujiwara no Sai, a Heian-era Go master who has been waiting for centuries for the chance to play the "Divine Move" — the theoretically perfect game of Go. Sai possesses Hikaru and begins playing through him, but Hikaru gradually discovers his own talent and passion for the game. What begins as a supernatural vessel story becomes a rigorous, emotionally invested sports manga about two rivals — Hikaru and the child prodigy Akira Touya — each pushing the other toward unprecedented heights. The manga made Go genuinely popular among a generation of Japanese and Asian youth, and its depiction of competitive gaming culture holds up across any era. Art by Takeshi Obata (*Death Note*, *Bakuman*).