Manga Review: Hikaru no Go

Manga Title: Hikaru no Go
Volumes: 23 (197 chapters)
Genre: Comedy, drama, shounen

Story
The story is about a boy named Hikaru Shindou who discovers an old Go board in his grandfather's attic. To his surprise, there are blood stains on the board that only Hikaru can see. Soon after he notices them, a ghost emerges from the Go board (Go being a game similar-ish to chess) and haunts him, forcing him to do things against his will.
Okay, not really. He finds the Go board, and out pops a really friendly ghost who is completely obsessed with playing board. This ghost, Fujiwara no Sai, convinces Hikaru to take up Go himself, and the ghost both mentors him and plays through him. This eventually leads to some really interesting plot points.
The two go through the manga and battle other go players, eventually leading to a tournament, which shouldn't be much of a surprise.

Characters
Hikaru no Go has a huge cast of characters. There are only three that I feel someone new to the series needs to really know about.

Hikaru Shindou: He's our main protagonist. At the beginning of the manga, he's middle-school aged, and he's pretty much your typical shounen protagonist with the traits of bravery, courage, and not thinking things through completely and letting his ego get in the way sometimes. However, Hikaru starts off not knowing how to play Go at all, so he has a goal that seems out of his reach and a lot of determination and focus to reach the goal, making him a more tolerable shounen protagonist than someone like . . . Naruto.

Akira Toya: He's our other protagonist, but in a way he also serves as the antagonist. From volume one, he finds himself stuck as Hikaru's rival, and he finds himself very fascinated with Hikaru, to the point that most fans speculate that there's a subtle romance between the two characters. He's the opposite of Hikaru in the sense that he's almost a Go prodigy. He has a bit of ego because of that, but he definitely seems more cool and composed that Hikaru.

Sai: The ghost from the Go board. Sai is absolute Go trash, and is so happy that he gets to play Go again once he meets Hikaru. Needless to say, he's insanely good at the game, and that's all you need to know.

Art
The art was done by Takeshi Obata, who has also done the art for extremely popular series like Death Note and Bakuman. So it's hopefully obvious that the art is really good. The character design is great (and look better in the manga, but that's just my personal opinion) and clearly, a lot of work went into making sure that the Go boards had accurate game illustration. The physical development of the characters is also very noticeable, and is one thing that I really appreciated. I have nothing bad to say about the art.

Other Thoughts/Things Worth Mentioning About . . .
The Feels. This is an intense manga, actually. It is very dramatic, very intellectual, and you'll learn a lot about the game of Go. I cried once I finished the last volume, not because it was sad, but because I felt empty after it was over. You really get attached to the characters, and some of the plot twists will probably have you close to tears when they happen.
The Rating. Unlike in my anime reviews, I couldn't put a rating here because there really isn't one. That being said, I do think that this manga is suitable for people of all ages. It has young characters that younger readers can relate to, but it has an intellectual enough plot that readers past the typical shounen age range could enjoy it.

To read or not to read?
I would absolutely recommend this manga to all fans of manga. I enjoyed it so much, and I know that other people will too. One of the things I notice when people are writing reviews about this series is that they were surprised that a story about a board game could be so interesting. The cast of characters is unforgettable, the story is so well thought out, and this might not count for anything, but it's my favorite manga to date. If you get a chance to read it, take it.