i think there will be 3 in total, the one we saw, one with them training and a bit of the hokuto cup, and the last part of the tournament.

I think they might fit a movie in there to finish things off.

It's a pity that the "un-animeified" part of the manga is (or at least is said to be) of a lower quality than the part that went to make the series. I guess that finding an interesting continuation to the story of Hikaru is a bit problematic.

On the other hand, HnG is one of the best series when it comes to interesting side characters. A lot of them could warrant an episode or two in their own right (and indeed, Izumi got thee episodes, if I remember correctly). The last episode contained brief flashes of their lifes, and that was one of the great kicks in the whole series, as I remember it :)

Eh, time to stop ranting and raving perhaps. My point is that I'm clutching onto the hope of spin-off series (Kaga no Shogi, anyone? ;) ) By the way, is there anywhere one might read up on the mangaka that drew HnG? In English preferrably, hehe.

The whole manga's been translated for a while now. I'm sure you can find it on IRC or just search for it on google.

If anybody has definitive information on whether either of the fansub groups is going to be picking up the special, I would love to hear it.

I can't speak for anybody else, but I enjoyed the part of the manga that has not yet been animated. Also, I thought it left ample room for the series to go a lot of different directions. If you particularly liked the character of Sai, then it might be something of a letdown, of course. But for me, if the series has Hikaru the protaganist in it, then that's good enough.

isumi, not izumi, theres a big difference :). Yes its nice to see an anime with interesting characters.

I got all 75 eps plus the specials off an FTP. It got closed though. You need a login now.

Or else, since it is licensed, I can wait until it's in paper form and *gasp* buy it with actual money! Radical, ain't I?

Well, anyone interested in watching HnG could of course look up this page (as pointed to by AnimeSuki of course). Me, I'm on my second viewing, so I should perhaps bring it up in the "Rewatch" thread :)

Ooops, Isumi it is. I stand corrected :heh: But in any case, I am hoping for some kind of continuation of the series. Well, well, time will tell.

I've seen this on mircx:
[YoumaOtakus]_Hikaru_no_Go_Special_[745B9593].avi
but the torrent seems to have no seeds. It's the real thing or not?

Edit here's the torrent page:
http://www.spike-domain.net/koro/bt/
Here, the tracker shows 4 seeds.

Might be interesting... At least I have heard of no HnG episodes by that group before. Do report back when you have tried it out :)

I'm pulling the file right now, seeing 5 seeds and ~20 peers, unstable speed (prob the tracker) we should see the result in a couple hours

<information leak>I know aone's planning on a release of it... but I can't promise you when, due to an unforeseen staffing issue. I don't want to elaborate on that, but we'll get it out eventually... </information leak> We're all a bunch of addicts, you see ;)

Kudos to that new group for getting it released before us.

As Tery Pratchett once said: Three explanation marks = sign of a madman :P

Edit: Just notices above post \o/
Anyway, while we're on the topic, is the by any decent group right now? And does it bring it to the END of the manga? I'm not sure what everyone is saying, so I'd just like a little clarification :)

This 2004 special doesn't bring the anime to the end of the manga. Youma-Otakus has done a few other things before, although they don't put out very much, but from what I have seen of their work, they're decent.

without giving too much detail and this post becomes a spoiler, this is *confirmed* the New Year Special that was just aired earlier this month. The encoding seems solid, and not too bad translation job either, i would recommand it if you really need something to settle that HnG craving!!

potential spoiler, hence....

i believe they are making a sequel to continue the story that' left over from manga, the storyline after this new year special to the end of Hokuto Cup.

Ahhhhh! My need is at least temporarily sated :D

Without spoiling the special, I'll say that you can look forward to some more of the photogenic Umezawa Yukari sensei (all dressed up for the occasion as well) and featuring Hikaru as a narrator voice for the first time ever. Also, expect some really unorthodox play in this episode. So far almost all games from both the anime and the manga have been identified as actial pro games, but I wonder about that one...

At least we can be fairly sure of a continuation of the storyline, as it ends halfway through :)

\o/ Yeah me! I'd like to see more of Kaga! :D

Btw ato, I really like your avatar ^_^

Hmmm... Their tracker seems a bit flakey. The domain is showing up as not found.

Well, people seem to be downloading happily from me at least :)

In any case, kudos to YoumaOtakus for subbing this special, and it will be interesting to see aones version when it comes out. HnG always has a massive re-watch value, so I'll be sure to get that one as well, hehe!