hikarunogo | The Epic Hikago Rewatch: Episodes 5 and 6

This week’s character spotlight is Tsutsui Kimihiro! In addition to discussing episodes 5 and 6, let’s celebrate Tsutsui!

Tsutsui’s official title is “The Founder.”

In episodes 5 and 6, we see Tsutsui with his nose in a Tsumego book during his matches. And yet, we know from his incredible comeback that he is a strong player, especially in Yose. Do you agree with Kaga that Tsutsui’s Tsumego book is holding him back?

Episode 5 – Prediction of an Awakening

Sai tries to come back from losing so many stones, but he loses by half a moku. Akari finally meets up with Hikaru, but he’s too concerned about losing to talk to her. Kaga and Tsutsui are amazed at such a spectacular comeback, and Kaga decides they will enter the school tournament with Hikaru. Hikaru arrives early and tells Sai that he wants to play for himself. He sees someone he knows and realizes he’ll have to keep a low profile so he doesn’t get discovered. He watches a game that goes about halfway when the stones get messed up. Hikaru pulls the stones off the board and completely replays the game up to the point they were at, angering and amazing the actual players of the game. We learn that this is a higher level skill that Hikaru shouldn’t have. Kaga taunts his opponent, but wins, and Hikaru loses. Kaga is shocked by the state of Hikaru’s game after having played Sai. Hikaru compares the board to the universe with him as the god. Everything rests on Tsutsui’s shoulders to advance to the next round.

Episode 6 – The Beautiful Match

Touya just so happens to be touring his future school on the same day as the tournament. The principle asks him to join the Go club, but Touya knows it’s not the place for him, though the principle thinks it would be good if there was someone to look up to. Touya replies that he’s not as strong as the principle thinks. Tsutsui wins his match and Haze advances. Kaga wins in the second match, as well. Kaga sees Tsutsui will lose, so to get Hikaru to play seriously, he tells him Haze must win the tournament or not only will Haze not get to have a club, but the Shougi club will take it out on Tsutsui for having Kaga in the tournament and still losing. Hikaru sees the gap between him and his opponent, and Sai starts to tease him, but Hikaru is so upset that he doesn’t have the strength that he cries, and Sai is sympathetic to his feelings and wins the second match. Then they face Kaio. We’re treated to a flashback of Touya talking with Ogata about Hikaru playing his father. When the principle finally pulls him out of his memory, Touya spots Hikaru at the tournament. During the game, Sai begins to help Hikaru learn the meaning behind his moves and officially becomes his Go teacher, saying Hikaru has awakened. Kaga loses his match, and when he looks to Hikaru, he sees Touya staring intently at the board. Tsutsui is about to resign when his opponent makes a mistake, giving Tsutsui the win. Kaga, Touya and Tsutsui all stare in shock and awe at Hikaru’s game. His opponent resigns and Yun-Sensei comforts him. Hikaru finally looks up and sees Touya. Touya tells him that it was a beautiful match, but he’s angry that he wasn’t the one playing him and he resolves to no longer run from Hikaru, going so far as to say that he will never reach the Hand of God if he doesn’t surpass him. As Haze is about to be declared the winner of the tournament, Hikaru is found out, and the win defaults to Kaio. Sai asks Hikaru if he felt anything from their last match, and Hikaru says yes and thinks about how Touya is chasing after Sai, and though he’s so far behind, he will take his first step.

Possible Discussion Questions

Touya’s education isn’t discussed much in Hikaru no Go. However, we do know that Kaio is incredibly prestigious and difficult to get into thanks to Hikaru’s comment when he arrives at the tournament. We are also told that Touya Kouyou also went to Kaio when he was a child. Usually, fandom portrays Touya as doing nothing but playing Go and doing Go-related activities, but to be able to get into Kaio, he must study hard and possibly be quite smart. What do you think of studious Touya? Do you think he has a favorite subject? A least favorite? What do you think Touya thinks of school? Are there other things Touya is interested in that we just don’t see in the manga?

Sai says that Hikaru has ‘awakened’. What do you think he means by this? Additionally, what do you think of Hikaru comparing the Go board to the universe?

Though Kaga takes note of Touya, the two don’t appear to have any interaction whatsoever, even though they were in the same Go class when they were little. Touya, if fact, never even acknowledges his existence. Is it possible Touya has forgotten him? Is it just his extreme focus on Hikaru, or do you think he may be feeling awkward or uncertain, and so does nothing? Since there is no discussion of it whatsoever in the anime or manga that I know of, I think it would be nice to explore this a little. Maybe Kaga’s intense hate (which really boils down to hurt) keeps Touya at a distance, or maybe he is just so selfishly focused on Hikaru that he doesn’t even notice him. What do you guys think? (If you feel the urge to drabble this, I highly encourage it! :D)

Touya’s reaction to Shindou’s game really stands out – he tells him it was a beautiful game but that he’s angry Hikaru wasn’t playing him (AND THEN HE CALLS HIM SHINDOU-KUN ALSKDJGHDLKFGDHDSGH FORGOT ABOUT THAT) and tells him he realizes that he will never reach the Hand of God unless he surpasses Hikaru, so he’s resolved to not run from Hikaru anymore. (When did he run from Hikaru? I only remember 347653894756 scenes of him running TO Hikaru. XDDD) This little speech speaks volumes about what Touya thinks of Hikaru (or Sai, without knowing it), and for someone you’ve only met twice, this is an incredibly strong statement to make. But even with as little as we know about Touya at this point in the rewatch, we know that this is not a declaration he makes lightly. What do you think of this declaration and do you think this moment shapes what’s to come?

(Sorry for the outbursts in that last question – I try so hard to keep the posts semi-professional and pairing/character neutral, but… SHINDOU-KUN? *Dies of adorableness*)

Alright guys, you know the drill. ROT13 for spoilers, feel free to take the topics and run with them, introduce your own topics, fic, give recs, meta, squee, whatever. As long as it’s Hikago related!

As for the chat, It was FANTASTIC, and if you missed it, never fear, we’ll be doing it again next week on Saturday, March 3rd at 6PM PST. What time is that in the rest of the world? We’ll be doing episodes 7 and 8, and you’re welcome to show up early or stay late – Aja has given us permission to use it whenever we need to. That means if some of you are only available at times that I can’t be here to run the live chat, you can make use of the room to have your own chats at whatever time you’d like! You are also welcome to post announcements about unofficial chats you plan to have with the rewatch tag. (Please only post once per chat – I know during BG sometimes people go crazy and post six times for the same chat – let’s not bury the discussion posts, shall we? XD) If for some reason you expect there to be more than 12 people there, or if you can’t get into an official chat because the chat is full, you have to let me know. Aja has offered to adjust it if we end up with more than twelve people – but I’ll have to ask her, so make sure to contact me.

If you have any questions/comments/suggestions/etc, please do let me know!

Now, let’s discuss!