Amadan na Briona

I have a bunch of manga on my shelves I have never gotten around to reading, as I'm not really into modern manga. But I picked this up on a whim because I have always been fascinated with the game of go, even though I never got beyond the rank beginner level.

The basic premise is a typical silly manga plot: Hikaru Shindo is an eleven-year-old boy who discovers an ancient go board. It turns out that the board is possessed by the spirit of a Heian-period go master, who then begins haunting Hikaru and urging him to play go. Hikaru has no interest in the game, but the go master manages to push him into situations in which Hikaru becomes a reluctant student of the game.

Mostly what is interesting about this is the amount of drama the writer manages to evoke from a bunch of go players. Of course go really is an intense, drama-filled game to its devotees. Also, Hikaru's characterization is realistic. Instead of being one of those manga child prodigies who acts like a tiny adult with adult skills, Hikaru is a typical sixth grader: he's immature, selfish, bratty, and impulsive, and only slowly does he start taking go even a little bit seriously.

I have another volume of this series on my shelf which I will get to next and see if I become a fan.