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Hikaru no Go chinese drama review
Completed
Hikaru no Go
5 people found this review helpful
by Kate
Mar 27, 2022
36 of 36 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 9.0
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 9.5
Music 9.5
Rewatch Value 8.5

Overcoming yourself, striving for improvement over glory.

A story worth checking by all young and older viewers, that shows the importance of striving for improvement, patience, healthy rivalry, friendship and many more life lessons that one is never too old to be confronted with.

The main plot lines of the show are Shi Guang slowly discovering his love for Go, his rivalry with Yu Liang and Chu Ying’s search for The Divine Move. The main stories are surrounded by countless amazing side plots that make the character grow, mature, learn and reflect on their actions. We witness many different hardships characters have at different points of their lives - each serving us important life lessons. I feel like I learned so much, not only from the main characters, but also all the supporting ones.

While I enjoyed most of the stories told, I could not help but feel disappointed with how The Divine Move story was concluded. Loved the message behind it, and it truly fits the show perfectly, but the execution seemed lacking - it did not impact me as much as I hoped it would.

All characters were unique and served a purpose in the story - it goes not only for main ones, but all the supporting, or at times even guest roles. Ones that showed up for two or three episodes had a visible impact on the main characters and the plot even long after they were gone.

Shi Guang was a hot tempered and impulsive child - this being both an advantage and a disadvantage of his, depending on the situation. Sometimes making decisions on the spot is the only way to move forward, but at times it might lead to severe consequences. Watching this kid mature, gain more grounded and reasonable confidence in his skill was an amazing journey, full of emotional scenes that made me cry my eyes out a few times.

On the other side, we had the complete opposite - calm, collected and reserved Yu Liang. Probably my favorite from the show. His character development was less extreme and, for lack of a better word, dramatic, but I admired his love for learning. Watching him put developing his skills over pride of winning matches was in some strange way touching, since many of us would not be able to do that.

Even though these two barely shared screen together, their chemistry as characters was undeniable. I am truly amazed how I could still see the massive influence they have on each other, on the decisions they are making and progress they are striving for, even when they did not really see each other that often.

Behind a lot of the developments was Chu Ying - true master of Go. His admiration for the game was inspiring. With his guidance, Shi Guang was able to improve, while he himself was able to rediscover the true joy and meaning behind the game of Go. That said, he was one of my least favorite characters. At times, his childish behavior was too much, especially since he was supposed to be older than the two main teenagers. I was also truly not on board with some decisions he made, as the consequences were mostly negative and could have been avoided.

Acting wise - truly phenomenal. Especially Hu Xian Xu. I was amazed by his performance. Not one scene, not one line, not one emotion was a misdelivery. The diversity in his acting and the natural way he presented the internal conflicts the character was facing just blew me away.

The whole cast did not disappoint. Even the supporting and guest cast presented the level of acting worthy of the main characters. Sure, the children acting as the young main cast could have been more natural here and there, but for such a young cast, I was still truly impressed with what they presented.

I have close to no complaints in terms of production and directing. Some CGI seemed excessive and the makeup on Zhang Chao was a bit distracting, but except for that - everything just clicked well together.

“Our Adventure” is such a bop, every time it played at the end of the episode I wanted to drop everything and go on an unknown journey. Just the initial tune had quite an impact on my mood, making me want to try a bit harder in whatever I was going to do - be it work related or even a simple hobby.

Overall, I would not say it’s a must watch for everyone, since there is no drama that fits all tastes, but it’s for sure a must try for everyone. Whenever you feel like it’s something you will enjoy or not, give it a shot - you might be surprised with the result.
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