Firstly, I will probably include some spoilers so if you haven't watched this anime yet, please be aware of that (I will warn beforte the spoiler).
Story-
The story here focuses especially on the characters in the series.
You don't have to know how to play Go to enjoy this. You get to know a bit about the moves but it's not everything.
Hikaru finds in his grandfather's old garret, an old Go board where he finds Sai. Sai is a spirit who seeks the "God's divine move". Along with him, Hikaru starts to learn how to play Go and have the goal of beating his rival-Touya Akira.
Characters-
I think that the characters are the strong point of this series.
Each character was important for the show, Hikaru's friends, rivales and other side characters. All of the characters were pretty realistic, the main characters had their good points and bad points that we could identify with.
There was a wide variety of characters-both of the genres, many ages and even residents from all of the world.
Hikaru at first was a childish and energetic child, but as the series continues, he grew and became matured, and we, the viewers grew with him. We got to like him and be happy with his accomplishments, be sad with his failures. Cheer him in moments and feel motivated along with him.
Hikaru wasn't perfect. He didn't "master" the moves of the Go at first, he had to go through a lot of phases untill he improved. (school's club activities, Insei exam, pre pro-exam and the pro-exam...) He wasn't like other Shounen typical main character-he had to work very hard to succeed.
The relationships between Hikaru and the other characters are also a good thing to mention.
Hikaru and Sai- Sai was also a character with depth, although Sai was a "genious" , sometimes he lacked patience and as the series continued, we saw that even this genious afraids of things and get jealous.
Sai was a teacher to Hikaru, he guided him in Go and in his life, Sai took a great part of Hikaru's life because Go started to be the main goal in Hikaru's life. Moreover, Sai wasn't only a teacher but also a friend of Hikaru who wanted him to get better and gave him advises.
*spoiler ahead*-
In the end of the series, as Sai disappeared. we got to know how much big his existence was to Hikaru, as a friend and as a teacher. Hikaru also grew much more matured after his disappearance because his lost was so traumatic.
Touya Akira- Hikaru's eternal rival was Hikaru's goal trough all of the Anime.
Akira is was very emotional and even though he's reffered as "the son of the genious" he didn't get to his level without putting effort, loving Go and even HE lost in some games.
Akira wasnt so concerned at first, but as Hikaru improved, he started to have interest in him and after all, admitted that he's his rival.
I think that their rivalry wasn't just that, but that their relationship was much more deeper than that, they were friends ,and in the last episode we could really understand that.
They knew each other from their Go and appreciated each other even though each of them wanted to win. This respect and appreciation they felt for each other held a big part of this series and also was one of the things that made this Anime so unique.
I have to point few supporting characters as well.
Akira's father- Touya Kouyou, if we search for the main typical "genious' father characters" in anime, we'll find a demanding character who has no sense of humor at all, but this time it's different.
Touya Kouyou appreciated Akira's effort -he encouraged him.
Kouyou was nice to his admires and put learning lessons in his house, he was interested in Hikaru and at the end, *spoiler ahead* retired according to his own will, but still played Go because this is the thing he wanted to do.
Even supporting characters had purpose for the story:
Ogata san was the one who made the path to Hikaru's beggining in the Insei instituation.
Kuwabara was the "wise old man" who knows everything and let the characters and us, the watchers understand things and look for the future.
Hikaru's friends- Waya, Isumi and his friends in the beginning of the Anime, all of them made the story seems much more realistic, and all of them had their motives and pupose.
Art-
You can't expect less than Obata sensei who brought great works to the world like Death Note, Bakuman and Hikaru no Go.
This anime is quite old but the Anime staff and the animation studio didn't fail in this. At the end of the Anime you can really see the differences between the beginning and the ending.
* I also loved the seiyuus who made a great job in this anime. Each of them fitted to their character and made everything seem much more real.
Sound-
I didn't really like the opening and ending songs of the Anime but it didn't bother me much.
I think that the OST and background music itself was enough.
Overall-
Hikaru no Go is a great anime of games and memorable characters.
The ending was open but was very satisfying.
The thing that I think that all of us need to learn from it is, going after your dream and go for it with all you've got, not give up even if you fail, appreciate your friends and remember the fact that you can learn from anyone-old and young.
I don't think that I'll forget Hikaru no Go's characters, realtionships and of course it's motivating lessons.
I hope that everyone can enjoy this Anime as much as I did.
