Anime At Its Best
John W. Eubanks | Alaska, United States | 01/07/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"My first introduction to Hikaru No Go was in electronic manga book form. When a new Japanese Manga series is first published, various clubs scan in the pages, and translate the captions to english. Since I am a fan of the game of Go, a friends made me aware of the series. However, when a U.S. company signs to publish an english version, the clubs pull the Internet copies. What comes next are the Japanese Anime (video cartoon), and again these are translated by Anime clubs with English subtitles, and posted on the Internet. Next the Chinese start sell their English subtitled version, with humorous lines like "Ate you OK Hikaru?" Then finally, an American company signs a contract to produce an English dubbed version of the anime. The process has taken from early 2001 through the present, and is still not complete as of January 2008.
Hikaru No Go is easy to get hooked on, and I have paid to obtain it in every English translation form that I could get my hands on. When each new DVD comes out, I watch all that I have before watching the newest volume. It is just that enjoyable. It has a great story, and it promotes a great board game with a more than 3,000 year history. It gives insight into Japanese culture and into the world of Go."