(L) Hikaru no Go

[Nightengale]

Originally Posted by Jaden

Spoiler:

Sai disappeared because he was so impressed by Hikaru's and the other modern player's potential that he decided to leave the Hand of God for them to find. He's a ghost, ya know? They vanish once they have no more regrets.

Nonsense.

Spoiler for Sai:

He had a lot of regrets. In fact, he was almost angry. He wanted to play more, he wanted to stay by Hikaru's side, he wanted to achieve the Hand of God...but that was not his purpose of existence. He didn't live after-death for the sake of achieving the Hand of God for himself, he lived to pass it on to Hikaru, but he didn't know of it until that final moment against the Meijin. He eventually came to accept it for what it is, that his role is just to push Hikaru further as a person.

He was sad, but he came to accept it, and cherished it as happiness instead. That he met Hikaru, the times they spent together... and Hikaru's future to walk on the path to the Hand of God.

[TougeSil80]

Originally Posted by Areguzanda

As I said. watch the last Eps 76!
there you get a fair ending and a couple of really good matches.

I thought ep.75 is the last ep. The source I use only had 75 eps.

[jpwong]

Originally Posted by TougeSil80

I thought ep.75 is the last ep. The source I use only had 75 eps.

There are 75 TV episodes, plus a 1 hour long New Year's special broadcast that happenned a year afterwards IIRC that picks up the story a bit more.

[Areguzanda]

Originally Posted by jpwong

There are 75 TV episodes, plus a 1 hour long New Year's special broadcast that happenned a year afterwards IIRC that picks up the story a bit more.

not 1 hour.
90 minutes

[jpwong]

Been a while since I've watched it, so wasn't sure.

[TougeSil80]

I found a 75 minute special, is that the right one?

[strategos]

Will this series ever be broadcasted on Cartoon network?
wasnt it liscense by it?
Damn, I would like to see this series again; but this time on Cartoon NEtwork

[raikage]

It's featured on Toonami Jetstream, CN's online offering.

Sil80,

Spoiler:

I actually liked the non-ending ending. It gives you the vibe that even though the show is over, and that we won't be watching the adventures of Hikaru, Akira, Isumi, Waya, Ochi, Akari, et. al, the lives of the protagonists rolls on.

Sai's dying (don't play semantics, you know what I mean ) again illustrated real life and how in the real world, we don't choose our time to go. We can't pull a Spike Spiegel and have a poetic death, lasting just long enough until our ultimate goal is achieved.

And you could see that, with Sai attempting to bargain with God for more time on this planet. Everyone thought he would be around forever, but it was not to be.
Sai wanted to achieve the Hand of God. He thought he would had all the time in the world (just like many of us seem to act, day in and day out) but it turns out he didn't (just like all of us, who only have a finite period of time to live).

Sai's refusal to tell Hikaru that his time was running out, denied Hikaru the chance to come to terms and accept Sai's death. Denied Hikaru the chance to say goodbye for the last time to his dear friend. And again, losing friends and family suddenly, happens in life.

I thought it was very well done, and wouldn't be surprised to hear that Sai's death reflected the passing of someone the author knew.

EDIT: And yes, that 75-minute special is the right one. But don't count on it giving you a more conclusive ending -- in fact, it's an even worse stopping point than Ep 75.

[TougeSil80]

^

Spoiler:

I guess that's one way to look at it. I was just disappointed that the first 60 eps are so definitely and well thought out, the last 15 eps just seems like fillers when they could've cover a lot more meaningful stuff. I usually like a conclusive ending. IMO, the Coowboy Bebop ending was great, he did what he wanted to do. It seems like Hikaru isn't even as smart (at go) as Akira. He only improved so quickly because he has the best teacher in the world teaching him. After Sai disappeared he probably won't be improving as fast and lag behind Akira. So that kinda sucks.

Thanks for the info, I'll watch the special anyways, if they cover a good match it should be pretty good.

[Areguzanda]

I think that the special makes for a better finish though
because in the special

Spoiler for special:

you get to see Hikaru use his real own power and you see that he realle has learned from Sai and that now Sai's game is in the game that Hikaru plays.
Hikaru plays better than ever in the Special.

[faustianideals]

I remember downloading a set of the episodes, and then deleting them to make room for new episodes on my old 20 GB hard drive computer. I never got to finish the series, got to about 57 if I remember correctly. I loved this show. I want to download/buy the rest of it.

I liked the atmosphere of the show most of all.

[Zifx]

Does anyone now why they never entirely completed it? It was only missing one new year's special to reach where the manga ended if I remember correctly.

[jpwong]

Originally Posted by Zifx

Does anyone now why they never entirely completed it? It was only missing one new year's special to reach where the manga ended if I remember correctly.

To be totally honest with you, I'd rather it end right where it is rather than end where the manga did.

Dunno why they didn't take it right to the end, but I heard that the japanese fan community had a general consensus that the manga ended in a bad place, which may have been a midigating factor.

[Zifx]

Originally Posted by jpwong

To be totally honest with you, I'd rather it end right where it is rather than end where the manga did.

Dunno why they didn't take it right to the end, but I heard that the japanese fan community had a general consensus that the manga ended in a bad place, which may have been a midigating factor.

Ah ok...I never read the last part of the manga. I kept hoping they would follow up with a final new years special but if it was a better place to stop I'm happy they did.

[jpwong]

I believe it has to do with people liking their series to end on a high note. The manga doesn't really do that, so it really feels incomplete when you read it if that's the style of manga you're used to reading.

There is apparently 2 "special chapters" that came out after the end of the manga (which I just found out about). I think it does better as an ending. Wouldn't animate too well I don't think though, just because it's so short, and it's timeskip.

[passenger]

i believe manga is complete in its own way.

Spoiler for heavy manga spoilers:

in the story it is obvious that hikaru does not have to surpass akira in order to reach god's hand. honinbou clearly states that in order to reach god's hand/perfect game you need to geniuses of equal strength. so i believe the story ends when hikaru levels with akira. in the manga at the end of his match with korean kid (su young maybe?) it is clear that he is on the same level with akira and with some cheesy words story ends. but on the contrary in the anime this is not emphasized/animated.

[TougeSil80]

Originally Posted by Areguzanda

I think that the special makes for a better finish though
because in the special

Spoiler for special:

you get to see Hikaru use his real own power and you see that he realle has learned from Sai and that now Sai's game is in the game that Hikaru plays.
Hikaru plays better than ever in the Special.

Spoiler for Special:

Just watched the 75min special. It's pretty good. I can accept that as a better ending. It really shows even Akira is not at level 10 yet, and Hikaru is not at level 9 yet. But the difference between the higher class are so small I guess they are about even. The match he played with the Kansai kid really ended it well, so I like this ending much more.

[Areguzanda]

Originally Posted by TougeSil80

Spoiler for Special:

Just watched the 75min special. It's pretty good. I can accept that as a better ending. It really shows even Akira is not at level 10 yet, and Hikaru is not at level 9 yet. But the difference between the higher class are so small I guess they are about even. The match he played with the Kansai kid really ended it well, so I like this ending much more.

Told you

[strategos]

This anime was so well done.
Even people that dont like sports anime got into it!.

[Mueti]

Great show indeed.

...anyone else started playing Go after watching this?