There's no need to fake it, neither of us likely know anything about the game of Go. In fact I've read the manga twice and can still only tell you the basics. And odds are if you somehow already knew about Go, you've probably already read this. So the question is: for people who don't know/don't care about Go, is this worth reading? And the answer is abso-friggin-lutely!

The heart of Hikaru no Go is clearly the characters. They all love the game of Go, yet they somehow don't spend lots of time boring the audience with intricate strategy detail talking. While in many sports manga, games will last volumes at a time, most Go games last only a few pages while highlighting the internal monologues of the characters and making them look badass while placing down a Go piece instead. The longest game is maybe 4 chapters and only because it is very pivotal, but even that's not showing the game played step by step, but going into the thoughts and feelings of the characters. As a result, the pacing is just right, lots of things happen and lots of time passes in the series. Also, the audience isn't expected to know about Go in order to enjoy the manga. They're linked to Go through every fiber of their being, yet to the audience, it's not a problem. One problem I have with many sports manga is that I am a nerd, and thus do not care about sports. I don't know the rules of baseball, so when something happens and all the characters react, I'm not sure why they're reacting. Since character reactions are a large part, it's always clear to me. At the same time, it never feels either repetitive or like I'm being talked down to. The result of this is simple perfection on the usage of the games within this series. And there are little end chapter single bonus pages talking about the basics of Go, so even if you come into this as clueless as everyone else, it'll help you pick up on some basic things. And damn if this manga won't make you want to try out Go at least once anyway.

Characters are, as I said before, the most important aspect. The cast is very large. Hikaru meets lots of other players of all skill levels, and every one of them is distinct looking. They might not show up for several volumes at a time, but you'll immediately remember them by their looks. Not only that, but the younger characters will age during the series. Because this is a sports series, there's not exactly a bad guy here either. Thus, having a game of Go against your best friend always stirs up emotions in everyone and makes for fantastic character development. There aren't any one-note single dimensional characters here, there's no pointless business suit bad guys out to screw over people for no reason, there's just a lot of passion. And Hikaru isn't always the focus, lots of characters get spots in the limelight, sometimes for volumes at a time. Yet they're just as interesting so you might not miss Hikaru during that time, and that's not a bad thing. The characters and the setting are also realistic. I know this starts with a kid getting possessed by a Go obsessed ghost, but supernatural is hardly the focus here. The set up also isn't "here's the next bad guy, defeat him", lots of games are played and there's never just one adversary. It's a game between two people, so even when they're cheering for the friend they're currently playing against, it's every man for himself. Fortunately, this does not make everyone a jerk like it could in a lesser series, they play seriously when it's time and hang out together on the weekends. The characters are friends and it's a lot of fun to see them wether they're doing Go related stuff or not.

Anyone who perhaps isn't into traditional shonen or wants a series with strong focus on characters need look no further. People who need lots of action scenes might not find what they're looking for here, but that won't stop it from being the best shonen I've ever read.