Hikaru no Go (2020)

Hidden Gem!

Hikaru no Go is a drama with a primary theme of passion for the game of Go. However it goes beyond your regular sports based story and explores important slice-of-life themes such as friendship, perseverance, teacher-student relationship, hardships faced while trying to achieve your dream, bi-directional family support (between children and parents) and many others.

Strengths of this drama:
- Fantastic screenplay (pulls you in from the first episode and keeps you engaged throughout its runtime)
- Enlightening short story arcs in the middle of the drama (drifting painter, temple monks)
- One of the best child actors i have ever seen (the kid who played ML was so charismatic)
- Support characters add such great depth to the story and each one contributes something significant to the main lead's journey
- Great bromance between the main leads (true to adage 'bringing out the best in each other')
- Peppy and 80s/90s nostalgic music is a bonus as well

If I had to nitpick, the only thing this drama was lacking was some romance. However that doesn't take away anything from this wonderful story.

It's a pity not many people know about this drama. It certainly gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling. You may not love it as much as I did but it definitely deserves a watch from anyone who is looking for something sweet and fulfilling.

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A few predictable scenes but worth the watch

Best:
Chu Yings character. I feel like he was the heart of the story. His character is a lot of times cute in his pure love for Go and childlike, sometimes annoying and sometimes stern. I really liked his character and it was what made me carry on watching the show.
Realistic growth. The drama shows how they grow from sometimes rather annoying characters to more mature people with life things. It depicts realistic phases of life.
Humor. I really liked the well placed humor, it had me laughing out loud.
Yu Liang and Hong He. I really liked these two characters, one bringing humor and epitome of a friend and the other just felt like a pure soul.

Annoyed with:
Cinematic angst. Some scenes/story arcs are annoying because they use the same predictable tactics to develop characters (eg Shen Yi Lang), making me feel like some of it wasn't necessary.
Story arc wrap ups. I liked but also did not like how they didn't give us closure on some character arcs.
Shi Guang: I found his character quite annoying and just generally not likable. He did a lot of things that just made me mad.
Rating on MDL. Although I find this drama endearing, I really don't feel like it deserves this 8.8 rating. Some story arcs I felt were forced because of how they used predictable tactics to create problems for characters.

#Spoilers
I wished they showed us where Chu Ying went and what happened to him. There was no closure on his character or how his journey was when he disappeared, which I think is not cool because this was just as much about his story as it was about Shi Guang.
The ending for Hong He felt so random and unnecessary. Why did his father suddenly end up like that? I feel like this was not fleshed out properly and it just sprung out of nowhere.

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One of my favorite dramas of the year!!

Hikaru no Go is one of my favorite animes when I was young. I even started learning Go (though I did not continue) because of this drama. When I heard that the Chinese drama adaption is very good, I just had to watch it. And I did not regret any minute of that.

★Passion for Go
What I find fascinating about this drama is the ability to show the suspense in every go game, though, at the same time, the audience has no understanding of the rules of the game. I cannot recall any anime/drama that has successfully achieved this. However, the makers still did enough research so that every set up is correct and each move is real so that they are faithful to the game itself.

★The characters
I have rarely seen a drama with such a great supporting cast. Have you seen a better and more loyal friend than Hong He? How about Fang Xu, who is both a great bigger brother to Yu Liang and a successful businessman to the Go World? Shi Guang's school friends had also supported Shi Guang all the way esp. when he most needed them. Even characters who just appeared in 1-2 episodes, such as the go factory workers, the monks in the temple, or the mystery go player who has beaten all go schools except for Yu Liang, are three-dimensional with a story to tell. Many of those characters are original characters of this drama, and one notices that the writer wants to show Go through these characters' eyes. Before Chu Ying's disappearance, it was very memorable that every character appeared to say good goodbye to him.

★The friendship between Shi Guang and Chu Ying
I have watched many dramas. As far as I can recall, I cannot remember a time that I cried as much as watching Hikaru no Go. The episode in which Chu Ying disappears is the most heartbreaking moment that I have experienced. My eyes were as puffy as grapes the next day.
For Shi Guang, Chu Ying was not only a Go teacher, but he was also his friend, his playmate, and his biggest cheerleader. To Chu Ying, Shi Guang started off to be someone who can help him play go, but soon he realized Shi Guang was so much more than that. Both of them believe in each other, depend on each other, and supported each other. If this is not the best friendship you have seen, then else is there?
This drama also demonstrated many other beautiful friendships: Shi Guang and Yu Liang, Shi Guang, Hong He, and Shen Yi Lang, Shi Guang and his school mates, teacher Da and teacher Ban Fang Xu and Bai Chuan... all very different but all very sincere and heartwarming.

★Sticking to the original story but adapted to a drama in China
The manga and the anime were an all-time favorite at that time of the airing, all thanks to the great writing. They have stayed true to the original story, at the same time, the writer adapted the story to China in its 90s and 2000s. Many details are well reproduced and nostalgic. While the original work was heavy Go focused, the drama goes beyond Go and focuses a lot on the characters, their real struggles, their achievements, and their contribution to where Go is today.

★The acting
This list would not be complete without praising the two main characters' outstanding acting: Hu Xian Xu starring Shi Guang and Juck Zhang starring Chu Ying. Hu Xiang Xu successfully depicted an immature young boy who wants to try Go as a hobby to someone with confidence and conviction. The audience can truly feel his desperation and his loss of direction after Chu Ying has left. He is indeed one of the best young actors of our time.
Juck Zhang did have an easy challenge as Sai's in the manga/anime is extremely unique, and there is a huge gap between the serious him and his 2-D cartoon one. I found it surprising that Juck Zhang gave us a different Sai - his own interpretation of Sai. A Sai who we also cherished and loved throughout the drama because of his loveable character, his passion for Go, his determination to support Shi Guang wherever Shi Guang needed him.
Hao Fu Shen's Yu Liang is slightly less of a show-off character, but I still did a great job depicting the serious Akira.
An honorable mention is the little actor who played the young Shi Guang. Oh, this kid has talent! He is better than many baby-faced grown-up actors in China!

Now one point which this drama could have done more to get to a 10/10 - the ending.

☆The last episode focused too much on Yu Liang and Shi Guang. It was slightly anti-climax as after Chu Ying has left and Yu Liang has finally found his way back to Go, it would have been great if the drama ended with an exciting game of the two on an international stage. However, this did not happen, and there was little happening until the very end. Though the episode lasted more than one hour (almost the time of a move), the writer should have made something better of this.

☆Another element they could have added is giving a more satisfactory closure to Chu Ying and Shi Guang. In the end, no one understood why Chu Ying never told Shi Guang that he was leaving before - though that might be the writer's intention to increase the drama and force Shi Guang to go through a tough phase of recovery. We could have more of a final moment of Shi Guang meeting Chu Ying in one way or another. For instance, Chu Ying returned to the past and picked up Go again, was he able to recover his name? If Shi Guang know where Chu Ying has gone back to and wouldn't he be happy for him? Did Shi Guang know that it was him, in the end, who fulfilled Chu Ying's drama and played "Hand by God"? What would be Shi Guang's reaction? All these elements could have been easily incorporated in the last episode.

Despite some shortcomings, all in all, Hikaru no Go is still one of my favorite dramas of this year. Who would have thought that! There is no romance, no good looking actors, no fancy special effects or CGs. But it has proven that you don't need all this to make a great drama. I promise, you will not regret watching this, even if you don't know the original work!

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A lot of GO

This is basically a mix of Queen's Gambit and Haikyuu. My favorite thing is that I literally have no idea how Go works or what each move means (even after finishing the show) but I still really enjoyed this show! The competition is great but falls from the biggest part of the story, friendship. ShiGuang and YuLiang are literally Hinata and Kageyama, always pushing each other to win and improve. ShiGuang and ChuYing are like two brothers bickering about stupid stuff but always there for each other. I don't really like to criticize these dramas because they are obviously just a fun watch and I had a lot of fun watching ShiGuang's journey of GO. Very motivating, inspiring, and a great watch!

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Overcoming yourself, striving for improvement over glory.

A story worth checking by all young and older viewers, that shows the importance of striving for improvement, patience, healthy rivalry, friendship and many more life lessons that one is never too old to be confronted with.

The main plot lines of the show are Shi Guang slowly discovering his love for Go, his rivalry with Yu Liang and Chu Ying’s search for The Divine Move. The main stories are surrounded by countless amazing side plots that make the character grow, mature, learn and reflect on their actions. We witness many different hardships characters have at different points of their lives - each serving us important life lessons. I feel like I learned so much, not only from the main characters, but also all the supporting ones.

While I enjoyed most of the stories told, I could not help but feel disappointed with how The Divine Move story was concluded. Loved the message behind it, and it truly fits the show perfectly, but the execution seemed lacking - it did not impact me as much as I hoped it would.

All characters were unique and served a purpose in the story - it goes not only for main ones, but all the supporting, or at times even guest roles. Ones that showed up for two or three episodes had a visible impact on the main characters and the plot even long after they were gone.

Shi Guang was a hot tempered and impulsive child - this being both an advantage and a disadvantage of his, depending on the situation. Sometimes making decisions on the spot is the only way to move forward, but at times it might lead to severe consequences. Watching this kid mature, gain more grounded and reasonable confidence in his skill was an amazing journey, full of emotional scenes that made me cry my eyes out a few times.

On the other side, we had the complete opposite - calm, collected and reserved Yu Liang. Probably my favorite from the show. His character development was less extreme and, for lack of a better word, dramatic, but I admired his love for learning. Watching him put developing his skills over pride of winning matches was in some strange way touching, since many of us would not be able to do that.

Even though these two barely shared screen together, their chemistry as characters was undeniable. I am truly amazed how I could still see the massive influence they have on each other, on the decisions they are making and progress they are striving for, even when they did not really see each other that often.

Behind a lot of the developments was Chu Ying - true master of Go. His admiration for the game was inspiring. With his guidance, Shi Guang was able to improve, while he himself was able to rediscover the true joy and meaning behind the game of Go. That said, he was one of my least favorite characters. At times, his childish behavior was too much, especially since he was supposed to be older than the two main teenagers. I was also truly not on board with some decisions he made, as the consequences were mostly negative and could have been avoided.

Acting wise - truly phenomenal. Especially Hu Xian Xu. I was amazed by his performance. Not one scene, not one line, not one emotion was a misdelivery. The diversity in his acting and the natural way he presented the internal conflicts the character was facing just blew me away.

The whole cast did not disappoint. Even the supporting and guest cast presented the level of acting worthy of the main characters. Sure, the children acting as the young main cast could have been more natural here and there, but for such a young cast, I was still truly impressed with what they presented.

I have close to no complaints in terms of production and directing. Some CGI seemed excessive and the makeup on Zhang Chao was a bit distracting, but except for that - everything just clicked well together.

“Our Adventure” is such a bop, every time it played at the end of the episode I wanted to drop everything and go on an unknown journey. Just the initial tune had quite an impact on my mood, making me want to try a bit harder in whatever I was going to do - be it work related or even a simple hobby.

Overall, I would not say it’s a must watch for everyone, since there is no drama that fits all tastes, but it’s for sure a must try for everyone. Whenever you feel like it’s something you will enjoy or not, give it a shot - you might be surprised with the result.

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I was sleepless for days because of this (even my modules got dumped) ?? It's so great especially the acting of the actors! My time is not wasted, so worth it. Now I'm at ep 33 and can't move on because of my attachment of the actors. The story is great too that you can't stop thinking about it in even in your dream(jk) . If I have time I will definitely watch this again. I'm confused when will I continue watching it hhhh I will be sad for sure :(( Thank you for the cast, staffs and everyone who are inckuded in preparing and filming this drama. Will recommend this to my friends

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the reason got an average rating even though the drama was amazing (my version)!

I'm a big fan of stories about competition, sports, character development, teamwork, and friendship. I have read and watched many manga, anime, and drama with this kind of story. But I haven't read the manga or watched the anime from this drama, so this is my opinion based solely on the drama. So, I will give an honest review!

for the first 20 episodes, I LOVE IT SO MUCH that it even made me think: "This drama isn't real, this drama is too good. only a few episodes left, I don't want it to end!." and im sure i will give 9/10 for this drama. until...
from episode 25 onwards the story bore me a little (note, I really like dramas about competition), especially episodes 30-34, I really hated how the story went.
And for the ending, I just gave an "OK" rating. I swear it ended pretty well, but it's still way below my expectations of how the story should end.

WHAT I LIKE:
1. Character development.
Not only do the main players develop their characters, his friends also develop their characters.
2. The match makes me excited.
The first 20 episodes, each match really excited me. how the main player returns to playing Go, how he competes at the school level, how to get into Go school, and grading.
3. Their friendship.
The friendship here is more realistic, why? the fact is that friends will always change at every level of our lives, not from beginning to end with the same friends (most of drama is like this). even though the friends on our side change, but once friends are still friends and how they still support each other. I really like how they all got along with the main character.
4. Hong He's character!
My favorite character here is Hong He! he is the definition of BEST friend. His character is very beautiful, he is sincere about friendship, Go, even knows the most important priorities in his life. His character is a supporting character that I can like more than the main character, he is the second character who can make me feel this way after Li Sa from drama Our Shiny Days.

WHAT I DONT LIKE: ( no 2 minor spoiler)
1. Unnecessary scene.
at most in episode 25 onwards. especially some bromance scenes that annoyed me a little because they didn't feel necessary.
2. Chuying's character.
okay I know the main characters here are Shi Guang and Chu Ying (+ Yu Liang). I dont hate his character, but i also cant like his character either. And sometimes I feel no need for ChuYing's presence lol I know this is stupid because he is the biggest reason Shi Guang started playing Go and how he can keep playing. But sometimes I feel Chuying's character annoys me a little, even I wonder if this story is better without his character. what if ShiGuang liked Go because of himself, what if ShiGuang could have the skills to play Go by studying alone or learning from the masters he met. It would be better because he would not be depressed for about 3 episodes due to Chuying's missing presence and I really hate this for being the cause of ShiGuang's depression and the biggest problem in this drama.

okay overall I like this drama, but still I feel this drama could be much better!
For those of you who are looking for a similar story (without ghost lol), I would suggest Chihayafuru! this is one of my all time favorites, there are manga, anime, even live action / movies. And I'm going to suggest two of my favorite Chinese dramas, The Princes of Tennis and The Kings Avatar.

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Story telling perfection!

I waited a long time to watch this drama since I don't know the game, but I remember my father telling me how hard the game is. Never imagined that I'd be watching this drama in one GO! The cast/story/production were all so good. I love 99% of the characters which is very rare in any drama. Good job limiting single dimensional annoying characters with only few lines.

Best of the Best in:
1. Casting. From leads to supporting characters, there were no weak characters. Too many outstanding actors to even list.
2. Character development. I love how the story not only focused on the lead characters development but also gave light to the supporting characters.
3. Friendships/Bromance: Story didn't have or need any romance. The multi layered friendships feels ever so heartwarming.
4. Story telling. Great pacing (except ep 33-35) I didn't skip any scenes and finished this drama in 3 days. I don't even know how they manage to bring GO to life! 36 ep went by and I wanted more! And once you finished watching, rewatching ep 1 beginning scene will be more meaningful.

.5 imperfection? Spoiler below **********************************************************************************************
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Ep 33-35 I cried... & cried but he cried for 1 ep too long.
Chu Yang on-line profile deleted. No one noticed? or asked?
Shi Guang never explained fully to Yu Liang. (but he told the truck driver about Chu Ying?)
Hong He quits but I swear his dad was telling him to continue to play.

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A great Series!

If you love Chinese sports then you should watch this series!
Hikaru No Go is one of the most great series that I have watched. Even tho that I don't know the Chinses chess (Go or Weiqi) or how to play it, I have learned a simple idea about this gamek and I really recommned this series to watch.

Story: (10/10)
I really loved the story and what it's talking about. There were alot of fantasy moments in the series.
The relationship between Shiguang and Chu Ying was so cute! Chu Ying is trying to making Shiguang play Weiqi, and in his way to learn Weiqi, he met his opponent and his name is Yuliang. In the end Yuliang and Shiguang will be friends, playing Weiqi together in Korea. And Chu Ying will find the god's hand and live in peace.

Acting/Cast: (10/10)
The acting was really good. Facial expressions in sadness and joy are easy to believe.

Music: (10/10)
I think there is only one song for the series, which is the song that plays at the end of each episode of the series. The melody of the song is very beautiful and the lyrics and voice of the singer are wonderful!

Rewatch Value: (10/10)
Sure I'll watch it again as soon as possible!

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Fun, touching, and inspirational

The original Japanese manga is probably my favorite manga of all time. Then the anime adaptation did not disappoint and was a joy to watch. So obviously, I had hesitations going into this show.

But all my worries were blown away and the show exceeded expectations. Definitely recommended!

This Chinese live-action did so well in adapting the events/details in the story to fit the Chinese Go world. As a fan of the original, I got to see my favorite characters again. And at the same time, they were also completely different. Some personalities were slightly changed, some matches were with different characters from the original, and there were some added background or information about other characters.

One of the characters whose changes I really loved was Shi Guang's mother. She barely appeared in the original manga, where she was mostly shown as a supportive but rather clueless mom. In this live action series, her character is more fleshed out. I absolutely love that scene where she and Shi Guang had a fight about him playing Go and his future. They actually talked about it and Shi Guang grows to be so open about showing his appreciation for his mom.

Personally, I felt that the last 2 episodes of the show were a little too rushed. They really cut out events just to make it work. I wish they'd given the show 3 or 4 more episodes to really flesh out the changes and the growth after "the disappearance". It wasn't bad, per se, but it could have been better.

The main actors Hu Xian Xu (as Shi Guang) and Hao Fu Shen (as Yu Liang) were perfect for their roles. I've become a fan of theirs from this series. Individually, they carry their roles well. Together, their chemistry is so natural and fun to watch. Even the kid actors of their roles did so well at the start of the show.

Zhang Chao (as Chu Ying) portrayed his character in a way that slightly deviated from how I've always taken it (Sai in the original manga/anime). It took a bit of getting used to but it did crawl into my heart over time.

In any case, the whole thing was a lot of fun to watch. It's making me want to reread the manga (which did make a cameo in this show)!

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Bad for my sleep cycle, good for my heart

This drama in one word: comforting.

I keep returning to it whenever I feel down, sometimes even rewatching the entire thing in one go (my sleep cycle be damned).

The story itself is a classic tale of mastering a craft, with a clear progression that feels natural (Reminicent of sports stories).

The characters are endearing, their struggles both authentic and relatable. They are all different and distinct – and yet still somehow fit together perfectly.

The rivals-to-friends-to-go-partners-for-life is perfect, I kid you not. The way the characters spoke of eachother, looked at eachother, cared for eachother (often without the other person knowing) is everything I did not know I needed (They are OBSSESED with eachother and so am I).

The game of Go is used as a plotdevice with PURPOSE, reflecting both character relationships (and their evolution) as well as inner and outer conflict. I started out knowing nothing of the game and now know a little.

Straight after watching it, I read the manga (which I also adored). Now all I need is watch the Anime – and to find something to replace the Hikaru-No-Go shaped hole in my heart lol

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