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ヒカルの碁 [Hikaru no Go] #8
Hikaru no Go, Vol. 8: The Pro Test Preliminaries: Day Four
After stumbling across a haunted go board, Hikaru Shindo discovers that the spirit of a master player named Fujiwara-no-Sai has taken up residence in his consciousness. Sai awakens in Hikaru an untapped genius for the game, and soon the schoolboy is chasing his own dream--defeating the famed go prodigy Akira Toya!
Hikaru faces the preliminary rounds of the pro test, during which he must eliminate not only his classmates at the insei school but also any outsiders who want to take the test. One of them in particular appears to know how to exploit Hikaru's weaknesses, and poor Hikaru seems powerless to stop him.
Hikaru faces the preliminary rounds of the pro test, during which he must eliminate not only his classmates at the insei school but also any outsiders who want to take the test. One of them in particular appears to know how to exploit Hikaru's weaknesses, and poor Hikaru seems powerless to stop him.
205 pages, Paperback
First published August 4, 2000
19 people are currently reading
172 people want to read
About the author
Yumi Hotta
100 books100 followersYumi Hotta (堀田 由美 Hotta Yumi, most often written as ほった ゆみ) is a Japanese mangaka, best known as the author of the best-selling manga and anime series Hikaru no Go, about the game of go that is widely credited for the recent boom of the game in Japan. The idea behind Hikaru no Go began when Yumi Hotta played a pick-up game of go with her father-in-law. She thought that it might be fun to create a manga based on this traditional board game, and began the work under the title of Nine Stars (九つの星 Kokonotsu no Hoshi), named for the nine "star points" on a go board. She later worked with Takeshi Obata (the illustrator) and Yukari Umezawa (5-Dan, the supervisor) in the creation of Hikaru no Go. She won the 2000 Shogakukan Manga Award and the 2003 Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize for Hikaru no Go.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
April 2, 2023
This is a good example of a volume of this series striking a balance between the main plot thread of the pro test and the subplots of the side characters that revolve around the binary system that is of the rivals Hikaru and Akira. It makes for a filling and satisfying read when the gravity of the two main stars influences the orbit of the space dust around them.
January 5, 2022
Hikaru takes part in the preliminaries of the professional Go test in which Inseis compete against each other to proceed to the actual pro Go test. Hikaru has to play against people he never played with before, even adults who are trying to take the pro test.
Not even Hikaru's mother and grandfather know what being a professional Go player is all about. Interesting that this volume mentions them being surprised to learn that Hikaru aims to be a professional Go player. Hikaru is slowly taking steps further to finally stand in front of his opponent 2 dan Toya Akira.
Not even Hikaru's mother and grandfather know what being a professional Go player is all about. Interesting that this volume mentions them being surprised to learn that Hikaru aims to be a professional Go player. Hikaru is slowly taking steps further to finally stand in front of his opponent 2 dan Toya Akira.
June 25, 2021
This tankobon mainly focuses on the Preliminaries for the Professional Go Exams (hence the title). Although the top eight insei are automatically seeded into the Pro Exams, Yoshitaka Waya informs Hikaru Shindo that they take the average of the last three months and pick their eight from that. So, despite Shindo making it into the top five, he still had to take the preliminaries, because of his average ranking didn't make the cut.
Which I'm glad they did, because it opens up Shindo's world to the greater world of amateur world of Go. Introducing amateur adults who wish to take on the Pro Exam, who were once insei, but aged out or just too old to become an insei, but still want to become a Professional was a particularly good idea. I really enjoyed two of them: Tatsuhiko Kadowaki and Toshiro Tsubaki.
Kadowaki was Collegiate Go Champion in his days and finally decided to become a Go pro. However, he changed his mind after playing Sai (via Shindo) as a pick-up game. After seeing the supposed level of the insei, Kadowaki decides to take a year off to really concentrate on his game and reapply to become a Go pro the following year.
Tsubaki is a giant of a man named after a flower with a beard and a brash persona, whom Shindo nicknamed Gorilla Man, and apparently his new best friend. Because of his imposing and self-confident nature, Shindo felt intimated and lost his game to him.
Like most things, Shindo barely manages to pass the preliminaries and related his problem to Waya and Shinichiro Isumi about Tsubaki. Their response is to take Shindo to one of the many various Go Salons in Tokyo to play Go and make Shindo used to playing what the Insei call Outsiders.
There is two other scene of note in this tankobon. Seiji Ogata challenging Kuwabara Honinbo for his title and relays that there is a new wave of Go coming and that he wants to meet it head on as a title holder. The second scene that was really impactful is about Shindo's mother going to her father-in-law and inquired about her son's abnormal behavior of late – that he wanted to become a Go Pro and didn't inform his parents about this decision.
All in all, I was really pleased with this tankobon, while there weren't any major tournament-like games. It does show the inner-workings on how to become a Go Pro. From the humble beginnings of an insei to working your way up to the Pro Preliminaries and finally to the Pro Exam, which hopefully starts in the next tankobon.
Which I'm glad they did, because it opens up Shindo's world to the greater world of amateur world of Go. Introducing amateur adults who wish to take on the Pro Exam, who were once insei, but aged out or just too old to become an insei, but still want to become a Professional was a particularly good idea. I really enjoyed two of them: Tatsuhiko Kadowaki and Toshiro Tsubaki.
Kadowaki was Collegiate Go Champion in his days and finally decided to become a Go pro. However, he changed his mind after playing Sai (via Shindo) as a pick-up game. After seeing the supposed level of the insei, Kadowaki decides to take a year off to really concentrate on his game and reapply to become a Go pro the following year.
Tsubaki is a giant of a man named after a flower with a beard and a brash persona, whom Shindo nicknamed Gorilla Man, and apparently his new best friend. Because of his imposing and self-confident nature, Shindo felt intimated and lost his game to him.
Like most things, Shindo barely manages to pass the preliminaries and related his problem to Waya and Shinichiro Isumi about Tsubaki. Their response is to take Shindo to one of the many various Go Salons in Tokyo to play Go and make Shindo used to playing what the Insei call Outsiders.
There is two other scene of note in this tankobon. Seiji Ogata challenging Kuwabara Honinbo for his title and relays that there is a new wave of Go coming and that he wants to meet it head on as a title holder. The second scene that was really impactful is about Shindo's mother going to her father-in-law and inquired about her son's abnormal behavior of late – that he wanted to become a Go Pro and didn't inform his parents about this decision.
All in all, I was really pleased with this tankobon, while there weren't any major tournament-like games. It does show the inner-workings on how to become a Go Pro. From the humble beginnings of an insei to working your way up to the Pro Preliminaries and finally to the Pro Exam, which hopefully starts in the next tankobon.
February 4, 2024
The pro exam preliminary rounds.
January 12, 2012
Hikaru now enters the preliminary tests to join the ranks of professional go players. It's actually true that adolescents can become professional go players in Japan and Korea, though usually they've been playing and studying intensively for years, unlike Hikaru. Of course, most adolescent go players don't have a thousand-year-old ghost as a tutor.
Once again, Hikaru almost defeats himself by allowing himself to be psyched out. In his first of five games for the preliminary trials (in which one must win at least three to move on to the next round), he faces a boorish, bearded motorcyle-riding man whom he and his young friends refer to as a "godzilla." Since anyone below the cut-off age of 30 can take the pro test, he's an outsider who intimidates his young opponent, even inviting him to lunch and then bragging about how Hikaru made the mistake of making the last move before lunch, thus letting his opponent think about his next move over the lunch.
This is echoed in the subplot of Ogata 9-dan vs. Kuwabara sensei. Kuwabara is a much older go master who currently holds the Hon'inbo title, which Ogata wants to take away from him. Kuwabara turns out to be a crafty old man who psyches out Ogata after Ogata makes a "sealed move" before their overnight break.
Most of this volume was just Hikaru playing in the preliminaries. There is a female Insei who is actually a named character (Asumi Nase), and she's quite the little hottie. There's one brief moment where Hikaru seems to notice this. Is the kid finally going to take an interest in something besides go?
Also, his mother apparently has been clueless all this time that Hikaru is actually preparing to be a professional go player. I know Japanese housewives tend to live rather secluded stay-at-home lives and cater excessively to their sons, but Hikaru really needed to be slapped. Also, I don't think we've seen dad since volume one...
Once again, Hikaru almost defeats himself by allowing himself to be psyched out. In his first of five games for the preliminary trials (in which one must win at least three to move on to the next round), he faces a boorish, bearded motorcyle-riding man whom he and his young friends refer to as a "godzilla." Since anyone below the cut-off age of 30 can take the pro test, he's an outsider who intimidates his young opponent, even inviting him to lunch and then bragging about how Hikaru made the mistake of making the last move before lunch, thus letting his opponent think about his next move over the lunch.
This is echoed in the subplot of Ogata 9-dan vs. Kuwabara sensei. Kuwabara is a much older go master who currently holds the Hon'inbo title, which Ogata wants to take away from him. Kuwabara turns out to be a crafty old man who psyches out Ogata after Ogata makes a "sealed move" before their overnight break.
Most of this volume was just Hikaru playing in the preliminaries. There is a female Insei who is actually a named character (Asumi Nase), and she's quite the little hottie. There's one brief moment where Hikaru seems to notice this. Is the kid finally going to take an interest in something besides go?
Also, his mother apparently has been clueless all this time that Hikaru is actually preparing to be a professional go player. I know Japanese housewives tend to live rather secluded stay-at-home lives and cater excessively to their sons, but Hikaru really needed to be slapped. Also, I don't think we've seen dad since volume one...
December 23, 2023
The story now revolves around the pro test preliminaries. Hikaru has to go through the preliminaries, but he is shocked that he has to play people who are older than him. He is stressed when he meets a scary guy who throws him off with some strange technique. He is thrown off by this guy, so much so that he's losing two in a row. Given that he has to win three out of five games, he's in a pickle.
This volume focuses on the mental side of the game, and this makes it more interesting. While there is a side-story related to his mother (who is not very much aware of what Hikaru does), most of the story revolves around how easy one's focus can be diverted, how the mental side of the game is as important as the skill - this side of the story was prepared since the Honinbo title, from the previous volume, but only now we see it work on Hikaru.
Sai becomes more or less a spectator. Although it's implied that Sai still trains Hikaru, this no longer feels important, and while the growth of Hikaru is still not completely explained, it's fascinating to watch it. I only wished I could see those games he plays.
This volume focuses on the mental side of the game, and this makes it more interesting. While there is a side-story related to his mother (who is not very much aware of what Hikaru does), most of the story revolves around how easy one's focus can be diverted, how the mental side of the game is as important as the skill - this side of the story was prepared since the Honinbo title, from the previous volume, but only now we see it work on Hikaru.
Sai becomes more or less a spectator. Although it's implied that Sai still trains Hikaru, this no longer feels important, and while the growth of Hikaru is still not completely explained, it's fascinating to watch it. I only wished I could see those games he plays.
September 10, 2025
4.5/5 (Review is for the series as a whole and does not contain spoilers)
12-year-old Hikaru finds an old Go board in his grandfather’s attic and accidentally frees the ghost spirit of a young Go teacher from medieval Japan, named Fujiwara-no-Sai. Sai has a strong passion for Go and wants to achieve the “Divine Move,” but unfortunately for him, Hikaru knows nothing about Go and has little interest in learning the game. When Sai finally convinces Hikaru to play, they defeat fellow middle school student, Akira, who has been training relentlessly with his father, Go master Toya Meijin. Akira, who is good enough to go pro, is shocked at his defeat and declares that Hikaru is his rival. This rivalry sparks a passion in Hikaru, who decides to learn the game and soon becomes a good enough player in his own right.
This series is appropriate for the middle grade age group, and may inspire readers to want to learn how to play the game of Go. The author consulted with actual Go players to make the manga moves more authentic, and throughout the series there are tidbits and instructions on how to play and resources for learning more about the game. In addition, this series teaches valuable lessons about friendship and explores some of the challenges in coming-of-age, especially as we grow up and move away from some people. This series is also likely to appeal to fans of sports manga, as it features similar story telling devices, and works to build tension in the Go games that the players play. Overall, this series is a fun, low stakes story that makes me want to learn a bit more about the game of Go.
12-year-old Hikaru finds an old Go board in his grandfather’s attic and accidentally frees the ghost spirit of a young Go teacher from medieval Japan, named Fujiwara-no-Sai. Sai has a strong passion for Go and wants to achieve the “Divine Move,” but unfortunately for him, Hikaru knows nothing about Go and has little interest in learning the game. When Sai finally convinces Hikaru to play, they defeat fellow middle school student, Akira, who has been training relentlessly with his father, Go master Toya Meijin. Akira, who is good enough to go pro, is shocked at his defeat and declares that Hikaru is his rival. This rivalry sparks a passion in Hikaru, who decides to learn the game and soon becomes a good enough player in his own right.
This series is appropriate for the middle grade age group, and may inspire readers to want to learn how to play the game of Go. The author consulted with actual Go players to make the manga moves more authentic, and throughout the series there are tidbits and instructions on how to play and resources for learning more about the game. In addition, this series teaches valuable lessons about friendship and explores some of the challenges in coming-of-age, especially as we grow up and move away from some people. This series is also likely to appeal to fans of sports manga, as it features similar story telling devices, and works to build tension in the Go games that the players play. Overall, this series is a fun, low stakes story that makes me want to learn a bit more about the game of Go.
May 25, 2022
As I mentioned in my previous volume reviews, I did not enjoy vol. 5 and 6. Thankfully vol. 7 was more enjoyable and this one was lots of fun (minus that annoying Tsubaki guy, although at least because of him Hikaru's friends realized he needed to practice against adults so that he gets better and doesn't get nervous next time he plays against an adult in the pro test). They keep talking about how amazing Akira is at go but that's to be expected because he's playing for years so of course he's better than Hikaru. I don't believe in prodigies, I believe in lots of hard work and experience. What should be considered amazing is that in one year of playing go he's gotten so good.
There's one thing I'm wondering is that if anyone under 30 can enter the pro test then how come Hikaru had to jump through so many hoops to get there or is it because he wanted to improve quickly and becoming an insei was the only way to do that? I don't remember exactly what was said about this when he was just playing for fun and what volume it was in.
Overall, I enjoyed this one and if I enjoy vol. 9 and 10 as well then I will buy the rest of the rest of the series.
Blog: nazishreads.net/TravelandBookBlog
Twitter: Naz_readsanime
Instagram: nazreads01, nazcosplay, nradesigns, charmedanimegirl01
There's one thing I'm wondering is that if anyone under 30 can enter the pro test then how come Hikaru had to jump through so many hoops to get there or is it because he wanted to improve quickly and becoming an insei was the only way to do that? I don't remember exactly what was said about this when he was just playing for fun and what volume it was in.
Overall, I enjoyed this one and if I enjoy vol. 9 and 10 as well then I will buy the rest of the rest of the series.
Blog: nazishreads.net/TravelandBookBlog
Twitter: Naz_readsanime
Instagram: nazreads01, nazcosplay, nradesigns, charmedanimegirl01
November 4, 2023
Hikaru No Go finally strikes a good balance between its main plot of the upcoming pro exam and fun subplots; delivering an enjoyable experience that admittedly does drag a bit. Vol. 8 is largely focused on the insei preparing for the pro exam; Hikaru needs to do the preliminaries due to not having a high ranking. Meanwhile Ogata faces off against a title holder, Kuwabara, who manages to be an interesting character give how little screentime he gets. Hikaru is psyched out by the adult players at the prelims, paralleled by Ogata feeling intimated by Kuwabara. We also get a brief one chapter story of Sai getting to play against a former insei.
Overall Vol. 8 is a promising step in the right direction for this series to take in regards to balancing storytelling. With Obata's art delivering on every front, being a delight to look at.
Overall Vol. 8 is a promising step in the right direction for this series to take in regards to balancing storytelling. With Obata's art delivering on every front, being a delight to look at.
July 23, 2025
In addition to technical knowledge about the game, you also need experience playing in different conditions, and even just general life experience wouldn't hurt. Who knew, right? Hikaru has been going at it without any coaching plan or much support from his parents, so he's learning on the job.
This series is also good at showing other people's stories parallel to Hikaru's, and this time, we see Ogata 9-dan fall for the exact same trick that unsettled Hikaru in his pro test games. I for one appreciated it a lot: Ogata is a great character with his edgy style, but so is Kuwabara sensei, a perfect old codger who absolutely lives for the joy of taking youngsters down a peg.
The title to this volume is somewhat stupid though. Who thought of that?
This series is also good at showing other people's stories parallel to Hikaru's, and this time, we see Ogata 9-dan fall for the exact same trick that unsettled Hikaru in his pro test games. I for one appreciated it a lot: Ogata is a great character with his edgy style, but so is Kuwabara sensei, a perfect old codger who absolutely lives for the joy of taking youngsters down a peg.
The title to this volume is somewhat stupid though. Who thought of that?
April 7, 2025
Hikaru takes part in the preliminaries of the professional Go test! I am shocked that this has happened, and we are simply in the 8th volume of the series! Hikaru plays against a ton of new opponents with a wide range of age, as everyone has the same goal in mind....to get good enough to take and pass the pro test. Hikaru starts to get a good look at what it means to be involved in the professional Go circuits and to be a pro! This volume truly gives you both a taste of what it is to be a pro and also Hikaru's progression. Kudos again to Yumi Hotta (writer), Takeshi Obata (artist) and Yukari Umezawa (pro advisor).
April 26, 2022
Great Volume!
by Barbara Kelley
This was another great volume. I only saw one difference in the manga than with the anime version. Tsubaki, the bearded guy, was nicknamed "Godzilla" in this manga, but the anime version I saw by Funimation, called him "Gorilla man". This volume was about the 4 day pro preliminary games where each player with 3 wins out of the 5 games would advance to the Pro matches in a month. Then, only the top 3 Insei at the end of the pro games will become a pro. I gave this volume 5 stars and will be reading Volume 9 soon.
by Barbara Kelley
This was another great volume. I only saw one difference in the manga than with the anime version. Tsubaki, the bearded guy, was nicknamed "Godzilla" in this manga, but the anime version I saw by Funimation, called him "Gorilla man". This volume was about the 4 day pro preliminary games where each player with 3 wins out of the 5 games would advance to the Pro matches in a month. Then, only the top 3 Insei at the end of the pro games will become a pro. I gave this volume 5 stars and will be reading Volume 9 soon.
May 1, 2022
I'm still having a good time, I'm just not heavily invested in Hikaru's story. I'm a big fan of character interaction and character growth, but these characters mostly want one thing (moving up in the ranks) and there's not much progression except going from one go tournament to the next one.
I really liked chapter 62 (when Sai gets to play!) and 66/67 when we get a tiny little glimpse into Hikaru's mom's worries. I would have liked it if the manga focused more on small, interpersonal issues like that.
I really liked chapter 62 (when Sai gets to play!) and 66/67 when we get a tiny little glimpse into Hikaru's mom's worries. I would have liked it if the manga focused more on small, interpersonal issues like that.
January 12, 2022
How much time has passed now? Is it possible to be so much better in a game within that time?
Hikaru sure has a lot of talent. But we are approaching the areas, where mindset is key. even a pro can lose, if he loses his cool.
Hikaru sure has a lot of talent. But we are approaching the areas, where mindset is key. even a pro can lose, if he loses his cool.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 14, 2023
Volume che scorre facile dove non succede nulla di rilevante: l’esame da professionista per i giovani Insei si avvicina e Hikaru deve abituarsi a giocare contro gli adulti perché non può permettersi di perdere la calma e di fare errori grossolani.
November 8, 2017
や～～私も人の作戦が全然理解できない。
碁はゲームだよ。ゲーム。碁をやってる人は本当にそんな卑怯な作戦使うか？信じらない。相手の精神を壊すとか驚かすとか、何よその技? 私わ結構まじめな性格からいつも真剣でぜんぶやってる。このやり方はおかしい。
他の事はなんか。。。あきらは子供ころのさいに似てない？
碁はゲームだよ。ゲーム。碁をやってる人は本当にそんな卑怯な作戦使うか？信じらない。相手の精神を壊すとか驚かすとか、何よその技? 私わ結構まじめな性格からいつも真剣でぜんぶやってる。このやり方はおかしい。
他の事はなんか。。。あきらは子供ころのさいに似てない？
April 4, 2019
Pretty great board game manga! Really good story and sweet art, Another awesome Shōnen so far😻♟😁❤️❤️📖
October 18, 2020
A nice way to learn about the Go culture of Japan.
March 12, 2021
The pro arc continues. Ogata's duel with Kuwabara and Tsubaki are neat
November 22, 2021
Well perkembangan cerita yg luar biasa. Kejutan2 dmi kejutan berjalan dengan mulus seiring perkembangan plot yg baik
July 24, 2024
Getting stronger by playing ⚪️⚫️💪🏼
July 28, 2024
This volume went by quickly - very engaging as usual with a fun team dynamic
November 25, 2017
Another solid volume Takeshi Obata's art work is always fantastic, as I've seen across the multiple series I've read that he's worked on, and this was an intriguing volume. The comic is a battle manga of sorts, with its "battles" occurring on the Go board, and the creative team leverages the drama of sports/games to great effect here. It also remains realistic, demonstrating Hikaru's continued relative youth and inexperience.
HIkaru enters the Pro-Test preliminaries as his chase of Akira continues. Hikaru's youth is played to particular effect in this series of games, and the drama--thank goodness--is kept within reasonable bounds.
HIkaru enters the Pro-Test preliminaries as his chase of Akira continues. Hikaru's youth is played to particular effect in this series of games, and the drama--thank goodness--is kept within reasonable bounds.
August 28, 2009
Yumi Hotta, Hikaru no Go: The Pro Test Preliminaries: Day Four (ViZ, 1998)
Aside from the rather odd choice of title (the book covers the entire preliminaries), another winning entry in the series. Hikaru is used to playing with his study group, but the pro test preliminaries allow anyone, including adults up to the age of twenty-nine, so Hikaru is playing with people he's never played with before. He meets Tsubata, a heavily-bearded, obnoxious adult who seems to take a shine to him, which throws his game off tremendously. Can Hikaru overcome his problems and make it to the pro test? Good stuff. ****
Aside from the rather odd choice of title (the book covers the entire preliminaries), another winning entry in the series. Hikaru is used to playing with his study group, but the pro test preliminaries allow anyone, including adults up to the age of twenty-nine, so Hikaru is playing with people he's never played with before. He meets Tsubata, a heavily-bearded, obnoxious adult who seems to take a shine to him, which throws his game off tremendously. Can Hikaru overcome his problems and make it to the pro test? Good stuff. ****
August 2, 2025
This is a pretty straightforward volume. As Hikaru starts the preliminares for the pro test, he comes face to face with his greatest enemy: a loud dude in his mid-20s!!! Not that the dude is so far away from him in terms of skill, but Hikaru gets thrown off his game. Can he bounce back? Kind of? It's not the most exciting volume but there's a great balance between the progression of the arc for Hikaru, and the amount of time the insei characters spend hanging out and talking with each other. I love the camaraderi they share, both being friends helping each other improve and being rivals who have to defeat each other to progress.
May 16, 2011
３.５★ ヒカルの道はいつもまっすぐという道じゃないです。でも、それは面白くなさせる。
Anime-manga match-up:
ep 29 = vol 8 up to pg 27 （第６１局）
ep 30 = vol 8 pgs 30-71 （第６２～６３局）
ep 31 = vol 8 pgs 73-123 （第６４～６６.５局）
ep 32 = vol 8 pgs 124-176 （第６６.５～６８.７５局）
1st half of ep 33 = vol 8 pgs 184-201 （第６９局）
Anime-manga match-up:
ep 29 = vol 8 up to pg 27 （第６１局）
ep 30 = vol 8 pgs 30-71 （第６２～６３局）
ep 31 = vol 8 pgs 73-123 （第６４～６６.５局）
ep 32 = vol 8 pgs 124-176 （第６６.５～６８.７５局）
1st half of ep 33 = vol 8 pgs 184-201 （第６９局）
August 28, 2015
This story is comfort food for me. I can't quite put my finger on what keeps me rereading/rewatching this and the anime, but my interest in Go certainly helps. I also like that it's a generally positive story about getting good at something.
November 16, 2008
the Hikaru no go books are about the board game called go, and after you read about 6 books you will know how to play go and you can act like a professional go player!(even if you are not one!)
Currently reading
March 13, 2009Ok im only on page 7 because i just started it. There in line for a Go place is all i know so far.
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