Hikaru no Go 25th Anniversary Rewatch: Episode 9 Discussion

[u/wloff]

The Ninth Match: An Irritating Presence

◄ Episode 8 | Index | Episode 10 ►

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Series Information:

MAL | AniList | AniDB

Streams:

Hulu | Disney+

Purchaseable:

On Apple TV or Prime Video.

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Proverb of the Day:

Respond to tsuke with hane.

Tsumego of the Day:

Today's theme: White to kill!

Questions of the Day:

1. What is the oldest book you've read?
2. What would be your preferred method of dealing with bullies as a club senpai?

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Rewatchers, remember there are first-timers present!

Be careful not to spoil anything that hasn't happened yet in the show. If you wish to discuss something in the future, make sure to hide it under spoiler tags.

Spoiler tags work like this:

[Hikaru no Go]>!Sai is cute.!<

Which becomes: [Hikaru no Go]Sai is cute.

[u/wloff]

wloff's go corner #9

I've never tried blind go. I think the biggest hurdle to doing so (apart from the fact that I'd lose track within a few dozen moves for sure) is that there isn't really a well-established coordinate system to call out the moves.

In go books, no one writes any coordinates, because that's be extremely cumbersome and ineffective. Instead, it's all diagrams with numbered moves, like I've done for the tsumego solutions here.

You sometimes see chess-like coordinates used on English forums, but those are kind of awful, in my opinion. Go isn't like chess where there are only 64 squares, each of them with their own unique properties. We have 361 points, and most of them have identical counterparts in different orientations and mirrorings.

This is just my own little soapbox, but I'd vastly prefer if we used pure numbered coordinates like in the anime. At least when I hear 16-4 followed by 17-6, I can with some effort visualize the relationship between these moves, but when I see a bunch of letters written down it's complete gibberish to me, and the only way I can make sense of it is by having a diagram with the coordinates next to me.

That's just, like, my opinion though.

But I do think this might be why there are so many names for different kinds of moves in go. Since any move only really matters in relation to other stones around it, it's much easier to communicate moves in words, rather than coordinates. If I say "hoshi, low approach, tsuke, nobi, one-space jump, three-space high extension", I bet any go player familiar with those terms can easily recognize the joseki I just spelled out.

(At least if they know the joseki in question, that will help.)

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Anyway, we heard a lot of those names for move types in today's episode, so let's speedrun through some of the common ones!

• Nobi, sometimes called "extend" in English, but the English term is not as clearly defined. A nobi is when you have a stone, or string of stones, and play another stone directly adjacent to that stone, extending it into a longer line.
• Tsuke, often called attachment in English. A move that directly attaches to an opponent's stone.
• Hane, rarely called a turn in English, but the Japanese term is in use almost exclusively. It's a move where, when your and your opponent's stones are touching each other, you turn a corner, so to speak, around their stone.
• Cut, kiri in Japanese but the English term is almost exclusively used. Just what it sounds like, any move that cuts through the opponent's formation and splits it into two groups. When one player plays a hane, the other can often cut through it.
• Kosumi, sometimes called diagonal move in English. I've mentioned this before, but a kosumi is a move that goes one space diagonally from one of your own stones, without touching an opponent's stone.
• Jump, tobi in Japanese but the English term is almost exclusively used. A move where you "jump" away from your own stones, leaving a gap in between. Often clarified as "one-space jump", "two-space jump" and so on.
• Keima, or knight's move. The English name comes from how the knight moves in chess and kind of explains the move: a jump from your other stone, two spaces one way and one space the other way, like the knight moves in chess. Sometimes you hear the term split to small knight's move or kogeima, and large knight's move or oogeima, which is similar, but three spaces one way and one the other.

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There are plenty more names for different moves, but this is a decent enough starter's kit for now!

[u/wloff → u/wloff]

Tsumego of the Day

Today's theme: White to kill!

Since today's episode was about Touya playing with white and disposing of some fools, let's do a bunch of good old-fashioned "White to kill" life-and-death!

Today, the problems come from One Thousand And One Life-and-Death Problems.

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• Beginner 9-1. White to kill.

• Beginner 9-2. White to kill.

• Intermediate 9-1. White to kill.

• Intermediate 9-2. White to kill.

• Advanced 9-1. White to kill.

• Advanced 9-2. White to kill.

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Solutions to yesterday's problems:

Beginner 8-1

• 1 is the last remaining point on the board. By playing there, White gains one more point. The triangled point is a dame point, not worth anything for either player.
• If it's Black to play, he can prevent White from making one point with 1.

Beginner 8-2

• The points 1 and 4 are the last remaining points on the board. The triangled points are dame, not worth anything for either player.
• If it is White to play, she can play the bigger move first, and be one point better off.

Beginner 8-3

• White 1 defends the last defect in White's territory and gives her 20 points in the corner.
• If it were Black to play, he could capture three stones with 1 and 3, and make a big dent in White's territory.

Intermediate 8-1

• There is no other move but Black 1. After this White can intrude no farther into Black's territory.
• Black 1 us unreasonable. After White 2 and 4, Black can't connect, so White has devastated Black's territory.

Intermediate 8-2

• After Black 1, because White's three stones are short of liberties, White has no better answer than 2.
• If White foolishly tries to block, Black 3 and 5 capture seven stones and devastate White's territory.
• If Black simply plays 1, White answers with 2 and 4. This result is more than ten points worse for Black than the correct answer.

Advanced 8-1

• Black 1 is the correct answer. After this, White (a) would be gote, but Black (b) is sente, so Black will be able to play it first.
• If Black plays 1, White can play 2 to 4 in sente. This is a four-point loss for Black.

Advanced 8-2

• The diagonal attachment of 1 threatens both (a) and (b). White will be able to devastate Black's territory.
• Continuation.
• White 1 and 3 won't work. Black can answer with 2 and 4, and White's incursion into Black's territory is minimal.

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If you wish to discuss today's problems, please do so under spoiler tags, to give others the chance to solve them on their own! I'll be posting the solutions to today's problems tomorrow.

[u/SpiderTechnitian → u/wloff]

Am I allowed to just post my tsumego guess here? I don't know the convention 😭

[For the first, Beginner 9-1]White has to go B1 to stop black from creating life, right?

[For the second, Beginner 9-2]I'd say F2, for the same reason, have to disrupt black from F2 and creating two eyes

I have to say, I watched most of Hikaruo no Go in 2016 and I loved it.. until I lost time to watch anything and had to put it down. I somehow have never found that time to go back and finish it because I'd need to rewatch so much and not just pick up where I left off. But this puzzle and thread legitimately have me queuing up the first episode right now.

Thanks for your post! These puzzles look like they take a lot of work, even in just the write-up and templating, let alone the construction (I hope you're just taking them from a test bank and not manufacturing them 😭 it would take so long to be sure of the puzzle before you publish so many at a time!)

Thanks

[u/wloff → u/SpiderTechnitian]

Am I allowed to just post my tsumego guess here? I don't know the convention 😭

Absolutely, go for it! There's no real convention, you can post your answers or just think about them quietly to yourself, anything goes.

Nah, I'm not designing these myself, apart from maybe one or two here and there... I'm just picking them out from books that I have and maybe modifying slightly. It does take more time per day than I anticipated or would like to admit, but I'm having fun with it!

We'll see if I can keep it up for 75 days straight or if there'll have to be a day off here and there when I just don't have the time...

[u/IndependentMacaroon → u/wloff]

[B 9-1]White E1, then if Black D2 B1, else own D2 (and presumably Black B1. Former branch: Fill in C1 as well (Black would be blocking themselves), now no matter if Black takes the stones or not there's one hole and 7/8 stones gained to 0/2 lost. Latter branch: Play C1 to take the single bottom stone as well leaving one hole, or if Black C1 with A1/B1.

[B 9-2]White C1 blocks the potential Black eye at D1. From there D1 or if blocked F2 leads to certain death for the whole Black group

[I 9-1]I think you start B1 to get to enveloping the left part (and if Black connects E2 that helps you with liberty reduction, E1 needs some counterplay though) but it eventually got too complicated for me right now

[I 9-2]Not even sure if E1 or D2 is the right opening move. The C2 stone in atari giving a chance for a hole is a problem.

I still don't entirely get what counts as territory.

[u/Biokabe → u/IndependentMacaroon]

It's bit nebulous, even in the rules of the game. It's generally understood to be, any points (referring to the intersections of the grid lines here, not scoring points) that are completely surrounded by your stones, and that your opponent can neither live inside of nor kill. There are occasionally disagreements about whether something is territory or whether it can be killed, though mostly only among weaker players. When the game is over, players have a quick discussion about which open spaces are territory before rearranging the stones to make it easier to count; if there's any disagreement about what is territory and what is not, they play it out on the board to prove their point.

There's actually a different scoring method that's a little bit easier to understand called area scoring. Under this method, you get a point for every stone you have on the board after any remaining dead stones are removed. You also get a point for every intersection you could play on without your stones dying. Because of this, when learning area scoring it's not uncommon to just fill in the board with stones (leaving the necessary two eyes per group to keep them alive) and just count up how many stones each side has at the end.

Territory scoring is usually faster to use once you're used to identifying territory, but it is less beginner-friendly. Assuming you apply them correctly and make some minor adjustments to the way you play, there's essentially no difference in the final outcome of the game.

[u/Blackheart595 → u/wloff]

[Beginner 9-1]E-1, and then B-1 or D-2 after black's response.

[Beginner 9-2]C-1, and then D-1 or F-2 after black's response.

[Intermediate 9-1]E-1 is the vital point, and then either E-2 or F-1 after black's response.

[Intermediate 9-2]The key is to prevent black from creating either two eyes on the right, or a true eye on the left. White starts with F-1. If black captures with D-2, white pushes on E-1 and then plays either D-1 or A-2 after black responds. If black blocks on E-2, then white plays D-2 and then either D-1 or A-2 after black responds. If black secures the left eye with A-2, then white reduces the eye space with D-2.

[Advanced 9-1]Squeezing on C-2 loses the capturing race, while connecting via A-3 lets black life with C-2. If I'm calculating correctly, then the solution is E-2 E-1 D-1 C-1 C-2.

[Advanced 9-2]I think the vital point is D-4. If black captures with D-3, then white squeezes on D-1 and then connects to the left group via B-2. If black blocks on B1, white replies with D-1 E-2 B-1 and black's shape is too bad to make another eye.

[u/Biokabe → u/wloff]

At least when I hear 16-4 followed by 17-6, I can with some effort visualize the relationship between these moves, but when I see a bunch of letters written down it's complete gibberish to me, and the only way I can make sense of it is by having a diagram with the coordinates next to me.

The problem is, how do you consistently make sure you're applying the correct coordinates to the correct facing and applying them in the same order? Depending on how the board is rotated, "16-4" could refer to four separate points.

And of course the same is true of using the letter-number system - though in that case, the letter-number at least eliminates the ambiguity around orientation, at the cost of not knowing how a particular board is oriented.

I agree, though - coordinates in Go are messy, at best, and outside of niche situations like playing blindfold Go it's not really necessary to have an agreed-upon standard. If you're working with anything where you have a diagram, then you just label the stones and work from that, and the diagram will come with its own coordinates to minimize confusion.

[u/wloff → u/Biokabe]

The problem is, how do you consistently make sure you're applying the correct coordinates to the correct facing and applying them in the same order? Depending on how the board is rotated, "16-4" could refer to four separate points.

I mean, the orientation flat out doesn't matter, right? The go board is symmetric. As long as you keep it consistent which way is "up" when you read the coordinates, it doesn't really matter if it's from the other player's perspective, or side perspective, or whatever.

[u/Biokabe → u/wloff]

Depends on the context. The board is symmetric, but the game isn't once you get past the first few moves. Unless you're playing mirror Go, of course.

But if you're looking at a whole-board position and someone says, "I really love the move Black did at 13-9!", which 13-9 are we talking about?

[u/wloff → u/Biokabe]

Ah, that's what you mean, I get it. Yeah, that's true.

But at the same time, if someone says to me "I really love the move Black did at G-8!" it's not going to go over much better!

[u/Biokabe → u/wloff]

Agreed! I think having the letters and numbers vs. two numbered columns makes it slightly easier, but there's still the problem that the axis you choose is arbitrary and you have to look at how the board is labeled and then figure out which convention someone is using to know which move they're talking about. There aren't kings to orient the board around, so there is no objective way to set up a coordinate system that is always going to be consistent and obvious without checking to see which arbitrary axis was chosen.

I think I might just be a bit more predisposed towards letter/number coordinates because I work in Excel an absurd amount, so seeing things like "E15" makes sense to me.

[u/Blackheart595 → u/wloff]

This is just my own little soapbox, but I'd vastly prefer if we used pure numbered coordinates like in the anime. At least when I hear 16-4 followed by 17-6, I can with some effort visualize the relationship between these moves, but when I see a bunch of letters written down it's complete gibberish to me, and the only way I can make sense of it is by having a diagram with the coordinates next to me.

I'm inclined to agree, but tbh the tsumego being presented on a diagram with coordinates is the primary reason why I'm using the letter plus number coordinates here.

[u/wloff]

Rewatcher and your host, E-F subs

Let's see Akira school some fools today.

It's kind of cute how excited Akira is about some old go books.

I'll say one thing for this redhead jerk, he has a magnificent anime villain voice! I had to check out his VA, and apparently his most favorited role is Kuran Kaname from Vampire Knight. Maybe I'll have to watch that one day.

Akira has some of the most effortlessly badass lines sometimes.

I really like what they did with Hitaka-senpai. She was kind of teased as a potential antagonist for Touya earlier, but it turns out that even if she doesn't exactly approve of him, she's just a good senpai. And a decent human being too, I suppose, stopping the bullying in its tracks.

Touya with more of his ice cold lines.

I'm sure I never noticed or understood the significance of the glance Akari gave at Hikaru holding the volleyball girl by her hand.

Hikaru, ffs...

And Sai is not much better. These goobers.

I don't think I like this Kaiou club president very much, he seems to have a stick up his ass in the worst possible way. What a way to try to make the outsider more comfortable with the club, too. But let's face it, Akira is also kind of full of shit here. He's one hundred percent acting out of pure selfishness. Even if he was the only one who can play Hikaru evenly, I'm sure he doesn't actually care one bit who wins a middle school go tournament. He just wants to play Hikaru.

This real life middle school club looks a lot more fun than Kaiou! What a cute bunch of kids.

QotD1: It actually probably has to be Plato's Republic. I almost ended up studying philosophy back in the day...

QotD2: I'm slowly watching through GTO right now, and he has a lot of good ideas. Not very appropriate ones, but very, very funny ones!

[u/IndependentMacaroon → u/wloff]

the glance Akari gave at Hikaru holding the volleyball girl by her hand

Doesn't want him going around with other girls? You might have a Hikaru level of romantic unawareness

[u/TradingStoicly]

First Timer Subbed

Akira really is a generational talent. This is my first time understanding Go but I'm assuming playing against 2 other people at the same time is already hard enough. Doing it blind? That's extremely hard lol. I'm glad that the bullying was cut out as quickly as it began. He doesn't deserve that. I wonder who the third member of the Haze Go Club will be.

QOTD: 1. The oldest book I've read is War And Peace. It's a Tolstoy classic 2. The way that the girl handled it is exactly how I handled bullying growing up. That is the one thing that's always ticked me off is when other people get bullied. Because I was very tall, I could help other students getting harassed by kids who were afraid to pick on me

[u/baboon_bassoon]

first time baduker hikaru no go to the polls

its hard to play blind against an imbecile

damn hidaka

yes maam

well Akari, Hikaru doesnt think you would pass for a boy if you cross dressed

how is it humbling to ask Toya for help

Yukari not playing blind

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my solutions for yesterdays tsumego

B8-1: K7? this is hard 
B8-2: E/F13, E6
B8-3: F2
I8-1: J1
I8-2: C4
A8-1: O18
A8-2: N18, to go for the 4 blacks on the left

[u/Shimmering-Sky]

First-Timer no Go, subbed

• So many notes to read.

• His big plan is… to make Akira play Go without looking at the board?

• Looks like Itou still lost to Akira regardless.

• Now Akira has to take on two people at once under the same blind handicap, oh boy.

• Because he’s having trouble visualizing both games, or is he trying to do a very specific thing on the game against Okumura?

• Ah… that’s not good.

• I want Akira to still overcome this somehow so Itou can suck it.

• Oh, I guess that’s one way to get Akira out of there.

• Good that she’s standing up for Akira, but Akira still wants to try anyways.

• Let’s go!

• Hikaru found a girl who knows how to play, huh?

• But yeah, that doesn’t help for the tournament.

• Oh snap.

[u/Blackheart595 → u/Shimmering-Sky]

I want Akira to still overcome this somehow so Itou can suck it.

Hot dang, these subs are really outstanding /u/gameinn1github

[u/zambonijesus]

Rewatcher, manga reader, subs

The whole blind Go thing is very funny because other than looking like jealous dipshits, what do they even think they are going to prove? Winning under those conditions wouldn't have been anything to brag about, but ultimately all they actually demonstrated was that Akira is lightyears better than them. Akira struggling more against the bad player also does validate that my strategy would have been to play chaotically in order to make it harder to remember lol.

The Kaio Go Club episodes have dragged a bit for me because so much of it is just other club members being dicks to Akira for reasons that I don't personally really understand or find reasonable.

Edit: What is the oldest book you've read?

The oldest book in terms of when it was written or in terms of when the specific copy was made? The former would be something like The Iliad, while the latter would be one of the 16th century manuscripts I read during my dissertation research I guess.

[u/wloff → u/zambonijesus]

The Kaio Go Club episodes have dragged a bit for me because so much of it is just other club members being dicks to Akira for reasons that I don't personally really understand or find reasonable.

Yeah, they're always a little bit of a drag for me as well. For the story, it's important for us to see what exactly Akira is going through in his own journey, but... it's not Akira no Go, and I'm ready to get back to Hikaru!

[u/Blackheart595]

Rewatcher

Ah right, today's the "bondage" episode.

They're starting out with the classic bullying tesuji, but Touya deflects it with ease and finds enjoyment in it. Ah, and he thinks of using the old records for game prep against Hikaru.

And they follow it up with the one-sided blindfolded play. That'd certainly help even the skill level somewhat, but is it enough to best Touya?

Ahaha he's been crushed! Great job, Touya.

Ayup, even teaming up doesn't help them. What does help them is to have Touya play blindly against a bad player who doesn't play the standard shapes, thereby preventing Touya from effectively chunking the board.

Aaaaand the jig is up.

This is some awkward phrasing though, that's only gonna make Touya feel more at fault. At least she noticed to correct course. Note that the show leaves it open whether she actually meant the "never happened" phrase, but the Japanese dialogue included a demo—a but—in the course correction.

Hikaru, meanwhile, has been poaching club members! And it's a girl, too, which kinda qualifies his earlier comments about girls as having been more about Akari specifically rather than her gender. Either that or Sai's lecture actually had an effect on him. Not that he's gotten any less insensitive, but I think he's just plain unaware in this case.

Lmao is doesn't even count.

So, a guy who can play go and is strong... Where could they find one like... Hm...

Sai, no! Not that one!

I think that this discussion about why Touja joined the club is really important to have. Fact of the matter is that Touya is using the club for his own aims, put the way the situation comes across is that Touya is doing the school's chairman a favour. If that misconception were to be cleared up, the other club members would be free to make use of Touya in return, easing up the club climate.

Oh, he already knows.

What is the oldest book you've read?

Do we count the bible? Regardless of the answer, for me it's good old Don Quixote.

What would be your preferred method of dealing with bullies as a club senpai?

Dunno. I'd probably point out how pathetic they're being and otherwise ignore it, or something.

[u/wloff → u/Blackheart595]

Hikaru, meanwhile, has been poaching club members!

I imagine at this point he's basically the "go kid" of the class, going around telling everyone about go and asking if anyone plays.

If that misconception were to be cleared up, the other club members would be free to make use of Touya in return, easing up the club climate.

It really would be up to the club senpais to do something about the atmosphere, I think. Of course they're kids themselves and just as upset as the rest of the club, but still!

[u/Blackheart595 → u/wloff]

Japanese culture is big on pride, but it's really just a force that prevents you from doing what needs to be done. It's always presented as the opposite of shame, but for all intents and purposes it's just a euphemism for the same. For all their shit, the Christians was onto something when they labelled it as the original sin.

I imagine at this point he's basically the "go kid" of the class, going around telling everyone about go and asking if anyone plays.

What a good kid

[u/JustAnswerAQuestion]

Rewatcher

I learned about Darumas from Nichijou I think. I wonder why that daruma is in the Kaiou club room. Maybe they get a new one every year and fill it in after the tournament.

• So that's why they are so angry, they think he's just showing off and crushing students for fun
• This is me playing chess. Dumb move after dumb move.
• Akari sure is nice hanging out at the go club every day...

No, that's definitely ego AND selfishness.

[u/cppn02]

First Timer, subbed

Looks like the bullies are trying to ramp things up (although I don't really see why they were thinking a loss would even be seen as an embarassment for Akira and acting so smug given the rules they have set). But Hidaka comes to the rescue and ends this whole charade.
I quite like her, she should get more screentime.

Meanwhile Hikaru continues to make an ass of himself when it comes to dealing with girls. Volleyball girl should have hit him harder maybe that would help.

---

QotD:

What is the oldest book you've read?

We read Antigone in school so almost certainly that.

What would be your preferred method of dealing with bullies as a club senpai?

if that's an option I'd also have the hot senpai take care of it for me.

[u/MaskOfIce42]

First Timer, Subbed

So I said yesterday that I think the frustration and anger felt by the Kaio members were somewhat justified, and I stand by that, but not to the extent of hazing obviously. There's expressing your frustration and then there's taking glee in causing suffering/getting Akira to dance for you. Also how can you take genuine enjoyment in winning that way? Like genuinely, it makes no sense to me, I've played online games where I won because of a disconnect on the other team, and it genuinely doesn't feel good even there, I don't see how they could enjoy this at all.

Getting past the hazing, Hikaru trying to recruit for the club brings up something that is a question I have with a number of these types of games, why are they gender divided? I was showing a friend Chihayafuru and she asked why Karuta had gendered titles, and there isn't really an answer because it is a game with minimal gender differences, and Go has even less. Heck, team Karuta at least lets you have a team of both genders, it's just that it has separate Meijin and Queen titles (probably because most schools are lucky to get to five karuta players, let's be real) It's a tradition thing I guess with no real reason to persist.

Question 1: I read the Odyssey in school, and if that doesn't count because it's a transcription of an epic, I also read Dante's Inferno. So if you count the Odyssey, that would be 700 BCE, and if you prefer Dante's Inferno, that would be 1308

Question 2: Preferred method of dealing with bullies, if I have the authority, kick them out of the club or talk to those who can. Yes I recognize the frustration they have with Akira being there, but also it is intolerable behavior, if you're inclined to do that, you don't deserve to be there. Maybe some leniency for a first offense, but still that would be a "no, fuck off" sort of moment

[u/wloff → u/MaskOfIce42]

I was showing a friend Chihayafuru and she asked why Karuta had gendered titles, and there isn't really an answer because it is a game with minimal gender differences, and Go has even less.

I guess it's tradition more than anything else. I remember someone explaining that in karuta it's only the Master and Queen tournaments that are really gender divided.

In go, it seems to just be a school tournament thing to have a boys' tournament and girls' tournament, for whatever reason. "We've always done it this way" is my guess as for why!

For pros (and also all amateur tournaments that I've ever seen), there are some women-only tournaments, but outside of those, both men and women can enter.

[u/Biokabe → u/MaskOfIce42]

Getting past the hazing, Hikaru trying to recruit for the club brings up something that is a question I have with a number of these types of games, why are they gender divided?

This is a bit of a misconception. There is a real division, but not in the way that it looks like at first glance.

Historically, games like chess and go have been male-dominated, and that continues to this day. However, at least in present day it's mostly from a disparity in interest rather than outright barriers to entry. As such, the women's tournaments are protected spaces where only women are allowed to participate to encourage more participation. The general tournaments are open to all genders, but because there are far more male participants than female they tend to attract most of the attention. I don't really follow chess so I can't comment there, but there have been a few female players that have captured major international titles or played in the finals for them.

I'm not going to say that there's nothing preventing women from being more represented (culture is a powerful force), but from a tournament- and professional-rules perspective women aren't discriminated against in these spaces.

[u/MaskOfIce42 → u/Biokabe]

That makes sense, I've heard before why it's helpful to have women's only spaces for tournaments like these because of how historically male dominated they are, but where it is weird is what's shown here where the person Hikaru found can't be their third because she's a girl and it's divided between men and women, so it is still divided by gender.

[u/IndependentMacaroon → u/Biokabe]

But that's not how it's presented here with no visible instances of girls playing boys. Also plenty of cases of clubs being hostile or just uncomfortable places for women

[u/Biokabe → u/IndependentMacaroon]

Also plenty of cases of clubs being hostile or just uncomfortable places for women

Yes, that's what I was getting at when I said that culture is a powerful force. I didn't really want to run into a discussion along those lines, but that's definitely a real thing and is likely a not-insignificant factor into why there's less interest in pursuing games like chess and go among girls.

It is also possible that the school tournaments are just more restrictive than the professional and amateur associations are, and even if they aren't, it's entirely possible that there's not-so-subtle pressure on the girls to not compete for the main slots and "take" a spot away from the boys, since the girls can always fall back and take a spot in the girls' tournament.

[u/Blackheart595 → u/MaskOfIce42]

I was showing a friend Chihayafuru and she asked why Karuta had gendered titles, and there isn't really an answer because it is a game with minimal gender differences

The answer is of course so that they can reign over the Karuta kingdom together

[u/Heda-of-Aincrad]

First-Time Viewer no Go

Still trying to catch up, so I'm a day late.

Even though there was a lot of scenes with kids just playing go in the last two episodes, the go club drama at Akira's school was enough to keep me invested. Those kids who challenged him to the blind games were just jerks - Akira has been polite and willing to play with anyone who asks, but they're trying to bully him off the team just because they're pissed off that he's better. Even the team captain has the same attitude. Good for that one senpai putting them in their place and telling Akira that he doesn't have to accept unfair challenges. The other boy who they said was third ranked in their club seemed like a nice guy as well. But what a bad situation for Akira all around. Most of the kids are making it clear he's unwanted.

The comedy parts with Hikaru and Sai were great though. Sai's surprise about Hikaru's "man on the moon" comment was adorable, and I was amused by Hikaru's tactless suggestion that girl he tried to recruit could easily pass for a boy. They weren't in these episodes much, but I enjoyed those scenes the most.

Questions of the Day:

1) I was really into Greek plays during high school, so probably one of those. The Odyssey was my favorite among them.

2) Zero tolerance. I would have kicked them out of the club.

[u/Kain_Shana]

Rewatch

Ugh... this is probably one of my least favorite episodes in the entire series. Everything about the Kaio Go club is such a drag to me...

This guy looks like budget Light Yagami, which is funny because HnG was made first.

I like that Akira was asked to clean the classroom and instead started geeking out over old Go books. And of course he's thinking about Hikaru d'aaaw

I don't have much to say about these kids jumping Akira like cowards aside from the fact that I hate it so much, and that Akira demostrated just how superior he is to them, once they couldn't hide behind underhanded tactics

[HnG] Kaneko my beloved! I love that girl so muuuch, she makes such a cute duo with Mitani :3, my babies

Akari tweaking after seeing Hikaru take the hand of another girl hah

Akira is being scolded by everyone this episode, give him a break please

1.- The Pillow Book by Sei Shonagon! This book is actually about as old as Sai

2.- I beat up my middle school bullies but I don't know if I could recomend *that* for Akira...

[u/wloff → u/Kain_Shana]

Ugh... this is probably one of my least favorite episodes in the entire series. Everything about the Kaio Go club is such a drag to me...

I think some of the episodes [late HikaGo spoilers]after Sai disappears are the worst, and there's a few dragging episodes here and there, but yeah, I'm always happy to have these over with when I rewatch the series too!

[u/Kain_Shana → u/wloff]

[late HnG] I really like the realistic depictions of grief, depression and guilt. It was a bit too relatable but yeah, these can get really heavy These though, are just annoying and boring and that's worse in my opinion 😒

[u/IndependentMacaroon]

First watch

More structured than last time but still mostly Akira (too nice for his own good sometimes) vs. Stooges Round 2, at least it's interesting to see him actually driven to his limits, and they do have a point about Akira being in it for himself right now. Beginner randomness confusing experts is a real phenomenon and playing blind on top I can see him losing his bearings. Not much Hikaru is unfortunate because his personality and his side of the story is just more fun.

1 - in its entirety I really don't know, probably some 19th-century school material. Of course when you get into real old material like from antiquity it's rarely a proper book, not to mention how few of those have survived.