Yumi Hotta

This Japanese Manga series is based on the game of Go, a two-player territorial board game played with black and white circular stones on a 19x19 board. Invented in China over 2,500 years ago, it is believed that this is the oldest board game that is still played to this day. Hikaru Shindo is a young boy who one day stumbles onto his grandfather's old Go board which is haunted by Sai Fujiwara, a ghost who was a professional Go player in his past. Sai possesses Hikaru, who does not have any experience with Go at all. But Sai wants to play, after centuries of being trapped in that Go board. Reluctant, Hikaru agrees to play a game against a kid the same age as he, not knowing that his opponent is Akira Toya, already a professional player. Hikaru, with Sai directing his moves, absolutely destroys Akira, and there begins his journey towards becoming a professional Go player himself, with the help of Sai. I loved this book/series. It is what introduced me to Go and got me hooked to the game. The characters are well written, and the illustrations are great. Overall, a wonderful reading experience. This is the first volume of 23.… (mehr)