03-06-2015, 06:12 PM | #51 |
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That's good to see indeed, although going into the comments section for an HnG music track is kinda cheating because die hard fans tend to congregate in there! I'm sure that if you looked up some Naruto soundtrack videos you'd see a bunch of people raving, "OMG, NARUTO! NARUTO IS THE BEE'S KNEES!"
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03-06-2015, 06:45 PM | #52 |
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Haha, true, true! But! The point still stands that we aren't the only ones who use the M word when discussing Hikaru no Go -- or vice versa that we aren't the only ones who identify Hikaru no Go when asked to name the greatest animes of all time.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ It's not flawless though. I think it's important to recognize that. Nothing/Few things in life are perfect, and Hikaru no Go isn't one of them. (Spoilers follow in every spoiler box.) Spoiler: show There's no denying the existence of filler episodes in Season 3. (The water-magic porcelain one at the very least ...) That's another strike against the series' claim to perfection. The story never (or, if I'm forgetting, rarely): Spoiler: show It's not perfect ... but it's definitely a masterpiece. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Currently only halfway through Episode 25. Probably won't get to watch much more today. But that doesn't mean I don't want to! Rediscovering this tale is such a pleasure.
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03-06-2015, 08:53 PM | #53 | |
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Quote:
...I should probably finish this show sometime, shouldn't I. *shot*
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03-06-2015, 09:04 PM | #54 |
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Did you read the manga? It goes past the TV series and OAV. Hikaru and Touya play in a Japan vs China vs Korea tournament. It's okay but nothing special. There's also some other stuff in the manga like Nase (minor character in insei school) going on a date with some dude. The manga is decent enough but it's just not the same without the WOOOOOSH sound effects when people slam down stones with lines flying in the background and epic music playing.
Unfortunately Go Seigen died a few months ago at the age of 100. On the plus side it's the perfect time for a Hikaru no Go sequel!
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03-06-2015, 11:11 PM | #55 | |||
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Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
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03-07-2015, 12:06 AM | #56 |
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On the topic of manga vs. anime ... one of my favorite scenes, now in manga form! I've plugged it several times in this thread and others in the form of YouTube links, but this is the very first time I'm seeing it how it originally was in the manga.
Spoiler: show It's great here too , but it's so much better in the show, I feel. The use of sound (and silence!) in the show really elevates the scene to the next level, and Kawakami Tomoko's performance as Hikaru is exceptional. The instinct to read quickly is just too strong, and it ruins the pacing of the scene as a result.
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03-07-2015, 03:48 AM | #57 | |
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Major spoilers for show, including for the end of the manga which goes past the show (not sure if you've read it or have any intention of reading it).
Spoiler: show Quote:
How far did you get? Did it not grab your interest or were you liking it and just never got around to finishing it? Would the prospect of supposed gay yaoi undertones be encouraging or are you not one of those gals?
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03-07-2015, 05:53 PM | #58 | |
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03-07-2015, 10:20 PM | #59 |
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Two kinds of people.
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03-09-2015, 09:18 AM | #60 |
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Through Episode 34. But spoilers through the end of the series + OAVs.
Spoiler: show I've just learned that in 2012 the American Go Association (AGA) teamed up with the Korea Baduk Association to promote an official American professional system. :o Apparently it's open to both Americans and Canadians (w007) but, in addition to having to be really really good at the game , you've also got to be recognized in the community -- so much so that you earn the special invite to take the licensing test. That's right: it's by invitation only. Here are the details for the 2014 AGA Pro Exam. From what I can see in the rules, there aren't any limits on age like there are in East Asian countries. This may change after a few decades; they may simply feel bad for all of the 30+ Americans right now who had dreamed of becoming pro but couldn't justify relocating to East Asia to do it. Nonetheless, for right now all I see as requirements are that 1) you have US or Canadian citizenship and 2) you qualify for invitation. (And yes, I realize that within that qualification could be the age thing. But I don't see any mention of that anywhere, so ... :o ) Looks like last year it was a Canadian, Ryan Li, who won 1st place and thus became an AGA-certified professional. Also looks like only one person can become a pro in this fashion each year: they've set it up as a tournament, and the grand prize is getting your pro license. Since they are doing this in cooperation with the KBA, I do wonder if Korea's professional circuit recognizes AGA pro certificates as legitimate and would allow our pros to play in any Korean-hosted international events intended for pros only.
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03-10-2015, 06:21 AM | #61 | |
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Another underrated moment that I really like:
Spoiler: show Man, so good! I could watch an unlimited amount of scenes of Sai beating the crap out of unsuspecting people. The inclusion of Sai is such a fascinating aspect of the show, because it changes the standard sports anime premise of, "Young kid takes up new sport and attempts to climb his way to the top." Sure, the real Hikaru is trying to learn the game and get good at it, but with Sai he already IS at the top and he gets to go around blowing people's minds. It's also a premise that takes unique advantage of Go, because it wouldn't work with any other sport. It would be all well and good for some aspiring boxer in junior high to be possessed by the ghost of Muhammad Ali, but he still wouldn't be some 6'3" 215 pound man. Although he'd still be able to pull some pretty sweet moves ... On the subject of Nase, I actually got curious a long time ago and looked up Hikaru no Go hentai (NSFW). As you'd expect, the ratio is similar to Free!: ten yaoi doujins for every one hetero doujin. Quote:
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03-10-2015, 08:16 AM | #62 | |
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I had never heard of Mr. Aguilar before now. Clicked your link, read the entire article, and found this especially interesting in the context of Hikaru no Go:
Quote:
Likewise, in both Hikaru no Go as well as in real life, inseis are forbidden from taking part in amateur tournaments. Again, this may be being done with the amateurs' interests at heart, but going by Aguilar's philosophy it is theoretically damaging to the inseis who only get to partake in one serious tournament -- the Pro Exam -- each year. (Not counting the Wakajishisen / Young Lions Tournament since the inseis are typically no match for the pros. Even if I do count it, that's two: two tournaments a year.) Now look at Hikaru. While admittedly he only partakes in one tournament each year himself at the start of the story -- the annual high school Go tournament -- we observe that not only he but Tsutsui and Mitani as well grow as players from the intense experience and the lead-up to it. So one might say that, curiously, if Aguilar's thinking is correct then the Japan Go Association's policy forbidding serious students from participating in external tournaments hampers their growth. Rebuttal time though. And this grabs too much from Part II spoilers, so into the spoiler box it goes. Spoiler: show I don't think Aguilar is necessarily wrong. And in fact, I don't think the JGA or Hotta Yumi would say he is wrong either. I think the common threads between his advice and the JGA's prescribed course for aspiring pros are:
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03-11-2015, 05:25 PM | #63 |
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I think that Touya Meijin forbid Akira from playing in amateur tournaments for reasons that were more selfish than he let on. It's because it would have been a complete waste of time for Akira and detrimental to his skill development, not for the sake of protecting the poor egos of the other children. He was better served to play games with his father and other strong pros. What's the point of playing in a tournament where everyone is giving it their best when he's way above all of them in skill level? What could he possibly learn? When I played Go with my old roommate and online friends who were a lot worse than me, I often made moves that I knew I could never get away with if I was playing someone who was of equal skill. I'd invade a section of the board that had tons of enemy stones because I knew that I could just overpower them and win all the fights. I didn't feel like I had to play smart joseki and be on top of things in order to win, so this was detrimental to my skill development. Starcraft II same deal.
I think the other kids in the tournament could benefit from playing Akira, especially if he reviewed the game with them afterwards and said, "You know when you played this move? You should have done this instead." Any time someone has a chance to play someone of superior skill level they should take it. This has its limits though. When I was a complete newb at Go, I went to Yahoo which doesn't have a matchmaking system like KGS, and just wanted to play other newbs in the Beginner's Lounge. For some retarded reason though, strong players constantly hang around the Beginner's Lounge so it was nearly impossible to find a game with another newb, it was so frustating. I couldn't learn anything from these defeats because I was too underdeveloped to understand anything about Go theory, and it's not like they offered to teach me how to play properly. They'd just destroy me, sometimes trash talk my skill and then leave. I truly had to learn the game through the school of hard knocks. Once I found KGS things got so much better. I found a $100,000 Go board on Amazon. lol, the reviews. http://www.amazon.com/Once-Lifetime-.../dp/B00CQZ8D8I
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03-11-2015, 05:34 PM | #64 |
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See, I originally thought it was mostly the theory you're advancing, but on this rewatch I was really struck by the analogy he uses of "cutting off a bud before it blossoms." Who is the bud Touya Meijin is referring to? The mind defaults to Akira, since Akira is one half of the topic of conversation, but it doesn't really make that much sense to be him, does it? I mean, Akira's already largely blossomed by this point -- not fully, no, but he'll be taking the exam in the relatively near future, everyone knows it -- and even insofar as he has not yet blossomed and is still a bud, how does letting him gallivant about in amateur tournaments risk damaging his full potential? I get what you're saying, that a strong player thrown into weak waters might form bad habits, but I dunno ... ... it just made a lot more sense to me, once I made the corrected assumption, to assume that the Meijin was referring to the other children in the tournaments as buds waiting to blossom. That makes so much more sense. Especially in the context of ...
Spoiler: show
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03-11-2015, 06:21 PM | #65 | |
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Forgot to reply to this:
Quote:
Um, I think I stopped right after they reached high school? I don't remember a lot at this point, think I was enjoying it but it seemed like a good place to take a break and then I just never went back to it lol. I plan to pick it up again at some point. (Not for the yaoi, although it wouldn't hurt.)
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03-12-2015, 03:38 AM | #67 |
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OH BY THE WAY, what do you think about that MILFy lady who worked the front desk of the Go salon? She seemed to have a ped-on for Akira, always blushing around him and stuff. When she insisted that Hikaru pay before entering, Akira asked her to let him in for free, and she like moaned and said, "Anything for Akira-kun! ^_^" I also recall a scene where she drove him around in her car, and dropped him off at school in front of a bunch of schoolboys, who all had this jealous look on their faces like the two just got finished banging.
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03-12-2015, 09:47 AM | #68 |
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She definitely fancies Akira. Now whether "fancies" means "has a mild shota crush on him," "has a raging shota crush on him," or "thinks of him as a totes adorbs little boy and wants to dote on him because he's so adorable," I think the story makes unclear. In the manga it's probably a lot easier to argue for that last point of view, but in the anime I think you're right that her vocals suggest something a liiiiiiiiiiiiiittle more shotaconny. She never feels like a scary dangerous child predator or anything, but in hindsight it is pretty funny how her actions occasionally line up with those of a child predator. (Notably the chauffeur scene[s].)
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03-13-2015, 08:14 AM | #69 |
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Wow, I tracked down the chauffeur scene and it's even more blatant than I remembered. She picks him up in her car and says, "You promised to tutor me today Akira! I'll feed you coffee and cake ^_~ (yes she actually winks at him)." Coffee and cake, more like beer and roofies!
LORD is the dub ever bad, I had to check it out on YouTube. I'm honestly very tolerant of dubs but this is just too much. Akira sounds like a goofy 30 year old man ... which makes sense because that's probably who they got to play him :\
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03-17-2015, 08:48 AM | #70 |
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03-21-2015, 06:27 AM | #71 |
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03-24-2015, 08:29 AM | #72 |
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03-29-2015, 11:02 PM | #73 |
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I was just talking about this in a conversation a few days ago. Masterpiece.
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08-15-2016, 08:49 PM | #74 |
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Going through my collection of music, adding some things to MP3 player, removing others, and I'm currently looking through my Chopin. Land upon Nocturne Op9 No2 in E flat major. And recognize it instantly.
"This ... this is the song from the end of Hikaru no Go! " Compare: (spoilers for the end of the show) Spoiler: show Before I did the direct comparison, but after my epiphany, I was certain the HnG song was a direct copy-paste of the Chopin piece with only minor touches for differences. After actually listening to the two pieces, I can see that the HnG is technically its own song ... but ... MAN if it's not clearly and heavily inspired by the Chopin piece. Right!? Anyone else hearing this? Don't tell me it's just me. To me, the similarities are clear as day.
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09-19-2017, 02:24 AM | #75 | |
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Quote:
I've made much of Hikaru's family name, Shindou, and how it ties in to both the Fujiwara and Hikaru's role in the story as Sai's successor. But there's another play-on words afoot here ... There's a word in Japanese that means "prodigy" or "wonder child". It's written 神童, using the characters for "god; deity" 神 and "juvenile; child" 童. When you put these characters together, the word that they form -- "prodigy" -- just happens to be read ... "Shindou." No funny business here: shin is the standard onyomi of 神, dou is the standard onyomi of 童, and shindou is the standard reading of 神童. "Shindou." "Prodigy".
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