It's the final volume, and time for the final Hokuto Cup matches.

The volume ends with seven bonus sketches of prominent characters in the series, a short flashback manga called "Fujiwara no Sai vs. Akira Toya" (Sai and Akira's second game? Akira bites back and surprises Sai, even though Sai wins in the end), and a short manga that takes place after the end of the series, "Shoji! Oka!" (Young Lions, two insei characters play matches against Hikaru and Akira and are inspired).

The artwork is beautiful, but I really, really missed Sai. I think Hotta must have too, or Sai wouldn't have kept appearing in dreams, flashback manga, etc.

While this certainly wrapped up the series and gave it a proper ending, I still can't help but feel a bit disappointed. I wanted

I both liked and felt sad about Akira's dad's theory that, if Shusaku came back in the form of Sai, then he came back to face him. And this is certainly the closest any characters have come to guessing, on-page, what really happened to catapult Hikaru into the world of Go.

Well, that's that, I'm finally done with this series. Now I kind of want to rewatch the anime...

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)

Suyong suspects that Ko Yong Ha did not diss Shusaku and goes to him to confirm this. It turns out to have been a terrible mistranslation, but Yong Ha decides to roll with it and publicly needle Hikaru some more. Hikaru, in response, begs to be first in the match against Korea, even though he knows Akira is the more likely choice. Kurata says he'll do it if Hikaru can impress him against China - he figures this will fire Hikaru up enough to help him win. In Japan's match against China,

Hikaru's mom attended the China game!

After so many less focused volumes, it was nice to have one solely devoted to a single tournament. This volume really ramped up the tension and kept the focus on the series' younger characters. I just wish

Akira was so very close to figuring out the whole Hikaru and Shusaku thing on his own. He even remembered that, in his first game against Hikaru, Hikaru used a few archaic moves. And at the end of the volume, Hikaru came so close to explaining why he got into Go and why Shusaku is important to him. Publicly, even! Akira was visibly disappointed that Hikaru was cut short. Me too, Akira, me too.

Additional Comments:

In this volume, Hotta mentions the existence of something called the Hikaru no Go Gorgeous Characters Guide. The translation made it sound like it was previously only available in Japanese but had since been made available in English. If that was the case, it's out of print and unavailable now. I came very close to buying a copy of the Japanese edition (on Amazon it's $5-8 including shipping!) but reminded myself that I'm currently at negative shelf space and don't have room for something I can't even read.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)

[When I added this to my LibraryThing, it notified me that there was a duplicate ISBN in my collection. I checked, and apparently I own this. Huh. I have no idea when that happened.]

Ochi beats Waya, qualifying for the Hokuto Cup, but when he sees Hikaru and Yashiro's game, he knows it's several levels above his and Waya's. He asks to extend the Hokuto Cup qualifiers so that the can play against

Another fun volume, although, again, I deeply miss Sai. It hurt my heart that Akira's dad was working towards a rematch that he didn't know could never happen. I'm not sure that even a match against Hikaru after he's had a few years to acquire some experience would be good enough.

Oh man, Ochi. If it hadn't been

I liked that Yashiro's unsupportive parents made Hikaru more aware and appreciative of his supportive mom. She may not understand Go in the slightest, but she does her best to make sure he has the time to concentrate on it.

One quote I liked from this volume: "...it must be lonely to be the God of Go. You'd have no equal, no rival." (Hikaru to Akira and the people at Akira's Go salon) I still wonder about Sai. Did he disappear because he'd finally found his perfect rival (Toya Meijin?), or did he disappear because he'd helped lead Hikaru down the path of playing his own kind of Go? Considering the series title, the latter seems likely, although maybe there's an element of both.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)

Hikaru finishes his game with Kadowaki, which he wins. Kadowaki admits that Hikaru is good but thinks that Hikaru was somehow better the last time they played (I'm pretty sure his last time was actually against Sai). He's shocked when Hikaru cheerfully agrees with him. A new character, Kiyoharu Yashiro from the Kansai Go Association, is introduced.

This was a fun volume. Again, a bit scattered, and I honestly have no clue what any of them are working towards anymore. Even Hotta admits that pros' schedules and tournaments are confusing and complicated. I'm better off just focusing on individual matches and their outcomes rather than trying to figure out the big picture. One thing I do know is that the Hokuto Cup qualifier determines who's part of the Japanese team in the big Japan-China-Korea tournament.

Yashiro and Hikaru's game is exciting, even though I suspect it's unrealistically reckless.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)

Hikaru plays against other Shodan, even though he's far stronger than they are, and we're repeatedly reminded that everyone has to start at this point and work their way up. In his free time, Hikaru analyzes his and Akira's games with Akira. Akira is now playing against higher ranked players, and Hikaru wishes he could too. Hikaru's first higher ranked opponent is

This volume felt a bit scattered and lacking compared to some of the past ones. Even the short story volume worked better for me. The best parts were Hikaru buying himself a fan like Sai's (I was a little surprised that no one poked fun at him for what would have appeared to others like a sudden new affectation) and Hikaru and Akira arguing over Go. I could imagine them continuing to argue like that after having spent decades as friends and rivals.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)