Hikaru Shindo is the main character of Hikaru no Go. At the beginning of the series, he is a sixth grader in elementary school. In the first episode, Hikaru finds an old Go board at his grandfather's house. While cleaning the board, he finds stains that won't come off; it turns out that these are blood stains. After he sees the stains (and his friend Akari, who is with him, cannot), Hikaru can see and hear a spirit named Sai.
Fujiawara-no-Sai is originally from the Heian era of Japan. 140 years before the start of the series, Sai was the Go instructor to the Emperor. When he was challenged to a game of Go by the Emperor's other Go instructor, Sai was framed for cheating. The accusation shook Sai so much that he ended up losing the match, and was banished. Since Sai had no other skills besides Go, and his reputation as a Go instructor was ruined, Sai committed suicide. However, his spirit ended up staying behind in a Go board. At one point, Sai's spirit had possessed renowned Go player Honinbo Shusaku. Honinbo died at a young age, and Sai's spirit returned to the board.
Hikaru ends up agreeing to play Go so Sai can have opportunities to play. After school one day, Hikaru goes to a Go parlor, where he plays a game against Akira Toya. Akira is the same age as Hikaru, but Akira is already known for being an amazing Go player. Sai guides Hikaru through the game, and Hikaru ends up beating Akira. From that point on, Akira and Hikaru become rivals.
While this series is another form of "dueling" anime, it uses a board game for its battles instead of cards, tops, or creatures. After watching Hikaru no Go, I didn't see anything objectionable for younger viewers. Personally, I would recommend Hikaru no Go for anime viewers who are 11 or 12 years of age and older.
| Hikaru no Go | 75 | 2001-2003 | Tetsuya Endo/Jun Kamiya/Shin Nishizawa | Studio Pierrot | N/A |
| Hikaru no Go: New Year Special – The Road to the Hokuto Cup | 1 | 2004 | Tetsuya Endo | Studio Pierrot | N/A |
