Reread: Volume 3, Games 19-22

[chagrined]

NO SPOILER POLICY, SPOIL AWAY! I thought we were including a spoiler policy on all these posts, but since Qem clarified it's up to the person hosting, I will have no requirements any more. My posts will mainly focus on the story in this specific volume so there won't be major spoilers, and there are none at all in this post, but there may be spoilers in the comments. If you still choose to ROT13 or blackout spoilers in your comments, that's fine too.



VOLUME 3, PART 2: GAMES 19-22
aka helloooooo mitani

I have a huge boner for Mitani so you'll have to excuse me if most of my comments this entry consist of "OMG MITANI YES YES YES."


MY PREVIOUS POST:
Volume 3, part 1: Games 17-18

THIS POST:
-Game 19: ¥1,000 a Game
-Game 20: The Third Member
-Game 21: A Very Despicable Act
-Game 22: Hon'inbou Shuusaku



GAME 19: ¥1,000 A GAME




Summary: The Haze Middle School Go club continues their search for a third male member. Someone circles the correct answer on their poster and Akari reveals that it's a kid name Mitani Yuuki. Shindou and Tsutsui talk about Kaiou and Tsutsui tells Shindou about insei, kids training to be Go pros. When getting ramen from a shop, Sai hears that there's a Go salon out back and pressures Hikaru to go there, and when he hears there's a strong middle schooler who plays there, Hikaru goes. The kid turns out to be the Mitani who responded on the poster, but he's also cheating at Go. Sai wants to teach him not to cheat.


MY THRILLING COMMENTS:



What a good face in this panel on page 54, Hikaru.




We're introduced to the concept of insei! Haha, I love how intense they all look. Also, I totally didn't remember this scene from the anime for some reason, but I double-checked and yup, it's in there! So it's just my memory being terrible T__T




Wow WTH Viz, this explanatory footnote on p58 is MORE CONFUSING THAN JUST SAYING THIRD, like, come on now. If you already translated the words to first, second, and third board for the English version, PEOPLE WILL UNDERSTAND THAT. There's absolutely no need to bring in this generals nonsense.




That ramen looks delicious.





Haha I love this panel from p.60. Sai freaking out and throwing a tantrum and Hikaru slurping ramen and plugging his ears: CLASSIC. This makes me want to start keeping track of my favorite "classic Sai/Hikaru interactions panels" or something. ANYONE ELSE GOT ANY FAVORITES OFF THE TOP OF THEIR HEAD?




Love this super-shady entrance to the go salon, THO IT LOOKS P NORMAL INSIDE IT haha.


AND NOW THE MOMENT I'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR!!!!!



HELLO MITANI AND UR ADORABLE HAIR AND UR ADORABLE SUSPENDERS MY YOU ARE LOOKING PARTIUCLARLY DELECTABLE IN THIS PANEL

(my general level of discourse when presented with adorable Mitani pics)




LUV THIS PANEL OF MITANI PUTTING ON HIS JACKET DAMN


Viz removed another explanatory footnote on p68 but I suspect it's not really necessary. ANYONE WANT TO CONFIRM? :3




Posting the Japanese scan of this panel because really, IS IT NECESSARY TO HAVE THE FURIGANA NEXT TO THE KANJI EVERY TIME WHEN YOU REPEAT THE SAME LINE 3X IN A ROW? lol

Also in this panel Sai is saying, "Don't forget Hikaru – I can tell everything that you're thinking!" WHICH REMINDED ME OF THE DEBATE WE'VE HAD ABOUT THIS BEFORE, whether Sai is aware of absolutely EVERYTHING Hikaru thinks, or only his surface thoughts or something like that? Is it only if he's paying attention? A POINT FOR DISCUSSION. SHARE OPINIONS!


Excerpt from the omake about Hotta sketching characters and how Obata ends up drawing them:



HAHAHA THIS IS THE BEST STORY ABOUT KUWABARA EVER



GAME 20: THE THIRD MEMBER



Mitani looks so skinny on this title page. ALMOST CREEPILY SKINNY??? but I like it :3


Summary: Shindou tries to convince Mitani to join the Go club and confronts him about his cheating. Mitani reveals he cheats to earn extra spending cash. Shindou drags Mitani to the Go club and makes him play Tsutsui, whom Mitani beats by tricking him into illegally playing two moves in a row. Mitani leaves and Shindou tells Tsutsi and Akari about the cheating in the Go salon, and Tsutsui gets worried. Mitani goes to the Go salon again and starts playing some old dude who seems drunk, betting ¥10,000 this time instead of his usual ¥1000. Shindou rushes to the salon to try to stop Mitani from cheating again.


HERE I GO:



WHAT A GOOD PAGE ALL AROUND. It's the first time Mitani really acknowledges Shindou, when Shindou reveals that he knew Mitani was cheating (even though Sai was actually the one who noticed, lol). Anyway,

LUV MITANI'S PERFECT LITTLE SMIRK HERE YES

AND THEN IN THE LAST PANEL YES MITANI'S STRIPED SOCKS YES YES YES

Wow I just love Mitani's fashion so much.




So Shindou is calling Mitani by his last name already in this Viz translation! And yet his senpai Tsutsui is still "Kimihiro." EYEROLL. (Although later, Viz changes this and has Shindou call him Yuuki instead ha.)

Also ahem yes, Shindou dragging Mitani around. >:D




Oh Mitani, u let urself get pushed around so easily. <3




Oh Tsutsui ur so excited <3 and ur CUTE GLASSES FALLING DOWN YOUR NOSE




mitani luv u scritching ur head <3<3

Also I'm really noticing even more through this whole manga reread so far how cute Tsutsui is when flustered haha.




Sai is all like NOTHING IN THE WORLD WOULD BE WORTH CHEATING AT GO, and I'm like, wow Sai you don't get out much.




GR8 REACTION PANEL




This looks like an epic romance poster or something. As so many Hikago panels do.

YES HIKARU U MUST TTLY GO AFTER HIM *waggles eyebrows*




Also yes here you go, at the end of the chapter now Hikaru is calling him Yuuki instead. THEY SURE GOT TO KNOW EACH OTHER FAST??? orz



GAME 21: A VERY DESPICABLE ACT



This chapter isn't cool enough for a standalone title page I guess.


Summary: Tsutsui explains how Mitani cheated to Akari. Mitani's still playing the old drunk dude in the Go salon. Suddenly the old dude changes his demeanor and starts beating the shit out of Mitani. The old dude wins and demands ¥10,000.

I NOW KNOW HIS NAME IS DAKE but I will still 4ever think of him as "that creepy old dude who ttly trounces Mitani and it's beautiful."


COMMENTS AHOY:



*INSERT COCK HERE*




You look so serious here, Tsutsui.




Somehow I suspect Viz is not translating these joke idioms on p105 literally haha.






Mitani is pretty sharp here... He's already sensing that something is not right, heh. THEN AGAIN SAI AND EVEN HIKARU REACT TOO lol.




Oh Mitani. Yes. I love it when you sweat and struggle too. <3 THIS WHOLE CHAPTER IS THE GR8ST FOR THAT!




This dude has the weirdest teeth.


Also, BONUS, one time I made some silly Hikago compilation videos, and in one of them titled "GO IS SRS BZNS" it has part of Mitani's match with this creepy old dude haha. I LOVE THIS SCENE IN THE ANIME b/c the super hardcore intense music is perfect, and the dude places his stones so intensely, and Mitani makes all these great little distressed noises. Haha. SKIP TO 1:17 IN THE VIDEO FOR THIS SCENE. THE PASSWORD IS hikago

(direct link)



GAME 22: HON'INBOU SHUUSAKU




Summary: Mitani is slightly short of the ¥10,000 he bet and asks to borrow some change from the Go salon owner. Creepy old dude reveals he was hired by the owner to beat Mitani and teach him a lesson. Mitani borrows the change from Shindou instead, pays creepy old dude, and runs away. Shindou and Sai are upset about how the old dude bullied Mitani so they challenge the old dude for the same amount. The old dude asks how good Shindou is and Shindou replies that he's about as good as Hon'inbou Shuusaku. Sai plays and obviously beats the dude handily, shocking him. Meanwhile the Go salon owner was watching baseball on TV, YEAH BASEBALL.


MY BASEBALL COMMENTS:





Awww Mitani feels all betrayed by the old owner dude awww how cute.

ALSO I LOVE IT WHEN HE STUTTERS AT SHINDOU haha.




mitani ur so skinny and it's adorbs (ESPECIALLY WHEN U R RUNNING AWAY IN HUMILIATION)




BASEBALL ON THE TV YAY BASEBALL ON THE TV. whatever I guess Shindou is avenging Mitani's honor or something but HEY BASEBALL ON THE TV.

Also this is another gr8 pic of Dake's teeth. I didn't remember them looking like this from the anime, so I double-checked and yeah, he's still got these same teeth. I guess they just don't do as many awesome shots of them as in the manga.




LOOK MORE BASEBALL!!! Okay if Hikaru no Go were a baseball manga, what would everyone's roles be? Hikaru and Akira would be playing for different teams both vying for Koushien, probably. WHO WOULD BE ON HIKARU'S TEAM? WHAT POSITIONS WOULD THEY ALL PLAY? Does Hikaru like, transfer schools or something to change from his old team comprised of Go club people to being with the insei? Or would it be a junior high -> high school type plot? WHAT KIND OF PITCHING/CATCHING JOKES CAN WE WORK IN HERE. LOOK AT ME TALK A LOT ABOUT BASEBALL




This random dude in the background of the panel on p137 is hilarious looking, I love him. THERE SHOULD ALSO BE A FAVORITE RANDOM BACKGROUND PERSON IN A PANEL POST OR SOMETHING.




Yeah I still have no idea how 2 look at a go board and really judge who's winning, so I just look at this board and am like, "what?" So THANKS FOR TELLING ME HOW TO FEEL EMOTIONALLY ABOUT THINGS COMIC hahaha otherwise I would never know how 2 react.


AND THAT'S THE END OF GAME 22!! Hikaru and Sai avenged Mitani's honor and everyone's like WHOAAAAA HON'INBOU SHUUSAKU! And then they go back to watching baseball on TV because baseball is awesome.



P.S. When I was digging up that old video clip for this entry, I realized I also has a video clip of the sensory deprivation/humiliation Go with Touya and the Kaiou club from the last post, so I've added it over there (or here is the direct video link) if you want to watch it to compare to the manga. I know this is the manga reread and all, but gosh do I LOVE LOVE LOVE the music for the anime so much. Perfection. <3



THINGS TO DISCUSS IN THE COMMENTS:

-ONCE AGAIN, ANYTHING YOU WANT!
-COMMENTS ON TRANSLATION CHOICES YES YES YES
-FUN BACKGROUND INFO OR EXTRA INFO YOU HAVE TO SHARE
-WHETHER YOU, LIKE ME, ALSO GIGGLE WHENEVER THE GO CLUB TALKS ABOUT HOW THEY NEED ANOTHER "MEMBER"
-MITANI LOVEFEST!!!!
-MORE THOUGHTS ABOUT THE SPECIFICS OF SAI'S ABILITY TO HEAR HIKARU'S THOUGHTS
-THINGS THAT WOULD BE WORTH CHEATING AT GO
-BASEBALL HIKAGO AU THOUGHTS!!!
-haha I guess the "epitome of Hikaru/Sai interactions panels" and "lolarious background characters panels" are kind of cheating since they're likely to be off-topic for this volume, but since I've thrown spoiler policies to the wind YOU CAN POST THOSE TOO IF YOU HAVE SOME :D :D