Hikaru no Go

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I've been watching a lot of Hikaru no Go lately.  I was initially really hesitant to watch it, even more so than how I felt about Yu-Gi-Oh way back when it was new.  An anime about a game, and an extremely non-symbolic game at that?  I figured the only way they'd be able to make it interesting would be to make the various shapes appear as some kind of creatures, and when it turned out to actually what it sounds: an anime about a guy playing a classic, abstract board game, I initially concluded it would be no good.  Actually, all that really drew me in was that in a small spot of the first opening, Hikaru's made to look literally identical to Shuichi Shindo in the Gravitation OVA.
I've watched 58 total episodes out of 75 (sometimes I really hate that rule of 75).  Needless to say, I'm in love with it.  I'm experiencing a phenomenon watching this that I normally only experience when playing Street Fighter.  When two pro players go up against each other, both at very high skill, the tension between the two players creates a very unique feeling.  That self-improvement by testing each other one-on-one so that one of you will eventually reach the highest peak of gameplay, it's better than sex.  I'm going to have a more in-depth review once I finish it.  The only thing that bugs me so far (I'm watching Japanese version) is that Hikaru's voice doesn't seem to change despite clearly going through puberty.  I can now understand why people were upset about Goku's voice in Dragon Ball Z being essentially identical to his kid form in Dragon Ball.

More to come as I finish the anime.  In the meantime, I recommend anyone who actually reads this thing check it out.  It's available on Netflix.

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