Sai vanishes!
Creative Staff
Writer/Artist: Yumi Hotta and Takeshi Obata
Translation: Naoko Amemiya
What They Say
After stumbling across a haunted Go board, irresponsible Hikaru Shindo discovers that the spirit of a master player has taken up residence in his consciousness. In his pursuit of the “Divine Move,” Fujiwara-no-Sai awakens in Hikaru an untapped genius for the game, and soon the schoolboy is chasing his own dream–defeating the famed Go prodigy Akira Toya!
Sayonara Hikaru ignores Sai’s pleas to let him play go, and then one day Sai vanishes! Is he mad at Hikaru? Where has he gone? Will he ever come back? And will Hikaru be able to play without Sai’s coaching…?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Hikaru’s career is off to a great start starting with a win in his first real match, and his first time playing teaching games as a pro at a go seminar. However, his relationship with Sai is contentious as can be as the two argue over who gets to play. Then abruptly, Sai vanishes! Where did he go? And will Hikaru be able to play without him?
The previous volume hinted strongly that Sai might disappear, and in this volume, he does. Thus, the story breaks away from rivals and go challenges to Hikaru’s personal turmoil when Sai vanishes from his consciousness. In Hikaru’s attempt to track down Sai’s whereabouts, the manga takes us on a tour of Shusaku historic sites, complete with a few factoids about the ancient go player. Though it serves the purpose of the plot to have Mr. Kawai go with Hikaru, it is a little random to have them traveling together.
The creators do an excellent job of depicting Hikaru’s feelings at the disappearance of the friend who has been so close to him the past couple of years. While it does sound strange to mourn the passing of someone who was dead to start off with, Hikaru, for all intents and purposes, grieves for Sai, and those emotions come across strongly on the pages.
Volume 15 extras include a story thus far summary, anecdotes about creating the Hikaru no Go anime (in manga form), four “A Word about Hikaru No Go” pages, and ads for other Viz titles.
Content Grade: A
Art Grade: A
Packaging Grade: B
Text/Translation Grade: A-
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Viz Media
Release Date: May 5th, 2009
MSRP: $7.99
