Forum - View topicREVIEW: Hikaru no Go DVD 1
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ACDragonMaster
 Posts: 405 |
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I'd seen some of this fansubbed before, and I thought it was really quite engaging. You only really need to catch on to the basics of Go to follow what's going on, as the characters are after all careful to explain every move in true shounen style.
As for the dub, well, we ended up showing the preview disc of the first episode that came with Viz's jump in anime club one night because someone had messed up discs for another series and wasn't back yet with the correct disc. And, well, it came off more as a shallow comedy than the story it really is. Pretty disappointing, really, but at least there's always the subtitled version. |
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Jadress
 Posts: 807 Location: Seattle. It purdy and nerdy! |
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I dunno, I suppose big portions of this show are standard shonen-competition type stuff, but I reeeaally loved it. It taught me how to play Go, which is a game that is way too hard, but pretty interesting. Honestly, anyone who sticks with this show through the end will be rewarded by one of the most emotional, great endings in anime tv series I've ever seen. The art is gorgeous, the theme songs are great, and I just love the character interaction. One of my all-time favorite shows! I'm so sad to hear the dub sucks.
 Anyway, good review!
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shirokiryuu
Posts: 714 Location: Northern California (SF Bay Area) |
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it inspired me to join my go club and learn! I never thought such a bland looking game is actually a lot of fun! (to me at least).
i might have to see it again, because back then i didn't know a single thing about go, but it still grabbed me until the end =D ahh... first shounen jump has err.. questionable translations, and now bad dubs? a connection? |
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Sam-I-Am
Posts: 121 Location: Midwest US |
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I stumbled across this series a year and a half ago, and it has become a favorite of mine, and I've been eagerly awaiting the US release since it was announced. I'd bought an HK bootleg of the series back when everyone was convinced it would never be licensed, but I'm looking forward to subtitles that were translated directly from Japanese to English (without passing through Chinese first), reliable chaptering, discs that don't randomly go back to the begining, etc. I've already watched the entire thing four times through, but I'm wanting the US discs anyhow, even though I know they'll take up more shelf space than all the versions of Eva.
Zac's not the first person I've heard of that dislikes the English dub. I haven't heard it yet, but something to be aware of is that Sai's pretty off-the-wall to begin with, bouncing back and forth between 'wise master' and chibi 'comic relief' so fast you'll get whiplash watching him. The VA's for Shindo Hikaru and Sai did Lucson and Koji Aiba in Infinite Ryvius, respectively, so it's not the first time in the booth for either, although I would have guessed that between the two, the roles would have been reversed. I'll give them a whirl, and if I prefer, I'll switch to the original dub. Centering the series around Go is not as bad or boring as it sounds. Much like Kenshin's friends standing around calmly discussing swordfighting styles while the Hitokiri and his opponent beat on each other, there's plenty of side characters giving play by play of the "Can he overcome this?" "He's grown so much" "I didn't know that move was possible!" sorts. The series acts as a guided tour of Go, and since Shindo's new to it too, what you need to learn to follow the action is also what he is being told about. The camera angles, montages, and speedlines also help make what is essentially a checkers game writ large look like gripping tv. You can enjoy Eva without being a Talmudic scholar, and you can enjoy HnG without being an upper dan Go player. Go itself is a great game - I've started dabbling in it myself, and people who play both Go and chess seriously usually think that Go is the superior game. It's easy to learn the basics, but really mastering it can be a life's work... or not. Two basic-level players can have as much fun as two title holders, perhaps more. Ultimately, it is the realism of the characters that makes it all work. Sure, they're all hellbent on a board game, and one has a 1,000 year old ghost living in his head, but other than that, they're as normal a group of characters as you're likely to find in Anime. No magic, no robots, no demons, just a couple of metaphorical dream-image swords, not a crystal-shard in sight, and in 75 episodes, one single punch is thrown (these guys tend to act out their aggressions upon the Go board). Most of the characters in the show remind you of someone you've met before, and behave much like that person would in the given situation. The rivalry between Shindo Hikaru and Touya Akira is the driving force, as they push and pull each other to greater heights, yet there are plenty of counterpoints to that melody. One word of warning - for those who get hooked, the show is addictive. Most episodes end with some level of cliffhanger, as the boys keep growing and playing stronger and stronger opponents. I've shared it with a number of friends, and like the potato chip makers say, you can't stop with just one. More than one anime get-together was brought to a screeching halt, variety-wise, by the group saying 'let's keep going with this'. If you're looking for magical transformations, samurai fights, robots, puddles of blood, spaceships, explosions, or panty shots, this is not the series for you. If you think that watching realistic people struggle to pursue realistic goals can be entertaining, I recommend it. And if you have to, switch to the sub. |
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Joe Mello
 Posts: 2312 Location: Online Terminal |
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Remember, this is Viz we're talking about.
Now, this is just conjecture, but wouldn't it make more sense to have Brad Swaile voice Hikaru and Vincent play Sai? |
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Av4rice
Posts: 5 |
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"about a spunky kid who learns how to play what’s essentially the Japanese version of Chess from his effeminate ghost sidekick."
Uhhh, isn't Shogi the Japanese version of chess? |
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darkchibi07
 Posts: 5515 |
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I thought so too. I mean I remember Samuel Vincent's rather "feminine" voicework as Hanagata in Saber Marionette J, and I thought it was hilarious. And Brad Swaile usually plays the leading shounen protagonist. It rather peculiar choice the Ocean Group made. 
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.Sy
Posts: 1266 |
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The dub was what sort of ruined the English version, but as long as there's the bilingual option, I'm happy. This show bored me for periods during episodes, while other times it was very interesting. I accidentally got a hold of a biligual bootleg a while back, and many parts were bearable because I marathoned the disks. There are scenes where they show charatcers sitting at the Go board (sitting still) for what seems to be many long minutes, and that sort of thing just doesn't fly with me. I would pass for the manga on this one.
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Treeloot
Posts: 140 |
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The dub seemed pretty bad when I heard it on the free disc Shonen Jump gave me.
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Yashouzoid
 Posts: 411 |
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Well, I guess I'll be the minority here by saying that the dub was decent.
Sure, Sai over-acts a bit, but the kids are like, 10 years old? In my experience, not many kids are emotionally involved in whatever they're doing. |
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Wyvern
 Posts: 1600 |
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HnG is one of those shows where you really can't go by the first volume review. Having seen the entire series, I can say that the first five or six episodes are easily the weakest-they're not bad, but the show is still kind of finding its vibe in those eps. It really evolves into a riveting, can't-wait-to-watch-the-next-episode series very quickly once it gets past the early jitters. And it's just a lot of fun to watch Hikaru grow up and get better and more mature (a process which happens gradually and naturally, so much so that when you go back and watch the first episodes after you reach the end, you'll be amazed at how much Hikaru's grown.)
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hentai4me
 Posts: 1313 Location: England. Robin is so Cute! |
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no Shogi is Chinese. actually I think Go might be as well...I'm not sure. but I think what they mean is in the Western world when you think strategy board game you think Chess, well in Japan they must think Go. |
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Sam-I-Am
Posts: 121 Location: Midwest US |
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Go is often equated to Chess because of its focus on strategy, the dedication of its fans, and because there is no Western game that it is truly analogous to, not from any similarity in how the pieces look or move. Shogi is more similar to Western Chess, in that the pieces have certain sets of movements available to them. About the closest game to Go that westerners are familiar with is Othello, but that's like saying to someone unfamiliar with cars that a VW bug is similar to a Kenworth semitruck. Go could be compared to tic-tac-toe, but again, that's like comparing two kids with woodern swords to World War II. Go originated in China some 4,000 years ago, and spread to Japan about 1,500 years ago. It is also known as Wei Chi in China, and Barduk in Korea. If you're interested in learning more about the game, www.usgo.org is the website of the American Go Assn., and is a good place to start surfing from. |
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JETBLACK87
 Posts: 1073 |
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shogi "Shogi is native to Japan and is sometimes called Japanese chess." |
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hentai4me
Posts: 1313 Location: England. Robin is so Cute! |
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interesting, my Chinese friend told me it was from china. |
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