Hikaru no Go Episodes: 26 Genre: Action Comedy Creator: Yumi Hotta Age Rating: 13 and up Commercial Release: Unlicensed

Overview:
Young Hikaru Shindo has always been a carefree young boy, but his life is about to take a strange turn when he finds an ancient "Go" game board in his grandfather's old things one day. The board contains the spirit of a long-dead Go player, who wants to fulfill his unfinished destiny of playing Go and attaining ultimate mastery of it. To this end, he inhabits Hikaru's mind and begins to teach Hikaru the basics of Go, a game that, up until now, Hikaru thought of as a boring game. Hikaru, however, will discover his own inherent love for the game of Go in his adventures with Sai.

Some Characters of Note:

Hikaru Shindo: A young and carefree student, Hikaru is popular, outgoing, and easily identified due to the unique two-toned color of his hair. Hikaru was leading a normal life until he dug up his grandfather's old "Go" board while looking for extra money one day. Now, with the talented ancient Go master Sai at his side, Hikaru is learning the basics of Go while impressing players much older than he is with his playing style, which is guided by Sai's antiquated, but effective strategies and moves.

Sai Fujiwarano: The charismatic, somewhat effeminate Sai is the spirit that inhabited the Go board that Hikaru accidentally uncovered. Sai ends up possessing Hikaru and teaching him the ways of Go. Sai is following an unfullfilled dream to completely master Go, a goal that he was cheated out of back when he was alive and playing a rival for the right to tutor the emperor in Go. He was wrongfully accused of cheating and committed suicide as a result, but the desire to fulfill his goal kept him alive as a spirit.

Akari Fujisaki: HIkaru's very good childhood friend, Akari appears to have a little bit of a crush on him as well. Always following Hikaru around, Akari is curious about Hikaru's mysterious and sudden interest and Go, and even begins to try and learn the game of Go herself when Hikaru tries to join a Go playing club. While Akari is nowhere near as good of a player as the Sai-guided Hikaru is, she nevertheless stays by Hikaru's side, even though at times, it seems that Hikaru mistreats her somewhat and tries to avoid her.

Akira Toya: A young Go prodigy, Akira is already as good as a professional Go player, if not better. Having been taught from the age of 2 by his father, a Go champion, Akira obsessively plays go in order to become better. His skill is so incredible that at the local cafe, he is the one who is always teaching the much older players about strategies. However, he suffers a puzzling, yet nevertheless crushing defeat at the hands of Hikaru (guided by Sai) and makes it his goal to defeat Hikaru to remove the blemish from his record.