In late August, school started, marking the beginning of Rei's senior year of high school.
But the moment he stepped onto campus, even before his classmates could surround him, his two closest friends, Hana and Yui, who normally went out of their way not to bother him, couldn't help themselves this time.
There had simply been too much news about hikaru no go over the summer.
Rumors were everywhere that Sato Haruki and Kanzaki, two of the most popular young actors in Japan, had been cast as Hikaru and Akira.
And Takagi Masato, who hadn't acted for several years and was once famous nationwide for his elegant period-drama roles, would be playing Sai.
Though past his peak, Masato had once been a top-tier star, and his public appeal was still immense.
As for important supporting roles, Seiji Ogata, Kuwabara, Toya Koyo, the budget couldn't stretch to household-name superstars, but the production team had still brought in veteran actors familiar to the audience.
The cast wasn't luxurious, but it was solid.
And more importantly, the original work belonged to a classmate sitting right beside them.
On top of that, Rei had spent the entire summer on set as a consultant.
Which meant, at least in theory, he had personally met all these actors.
Among the students, many weren't interested in manga.
But almost no one was indifferent to celebrities.
So the moment classes resumed, Rei was immediately surrounded.
Questions flew at him nonstop.
"All right, all right," Rei said quickly, raising his hands.
"I'll try to help you get autographs, but only if it doesn't interfere with filming or their personal lives. And don't even bring up visiting the set again. I'm just a consultant. The set isn't my house."
"Oh, so that's how it is!"
"Can't you make an exception?"
No matter how they pleaded, Rei remained unmoved.
Even Hana and Yui looked a little crestfallen.
Rei waited until most of the crowd had dispersed before lowering his voice.
"You two…"
"If you're really interested, contact me over the weekend. You might be able to come along as temporary assistants or something, but I can't guarantee anything. And absolutely don't tell anyone else."
They were friends he'd known since his first year. His hardline attitude had never been meant for people like them.
"Got it, got it. Rei, you're the coolest," Yui said instantly, recovering her grin.
Hana simply smiled and nodded.
Off to the side, Miyu spoke calmly.
"What's so great about celebrities anyway? They don't understand that if you reach the top of Dream Comic, your influence will rival theirs. Instead of chasing them, they should be paying attention to you."
Rei smiled, but didn't continue the topic.
In September, hikaru no go's story continued to focus on the professional promotion tournament.
After passing the preliminaries, Hikaru became painfully aware of his biggest weakness, not skill, but mentality.
So in the month before the main tournament, he, Ochi, and Isumi began special training aimed solely at mental resilience.
Easily distracted by external factors?
Then go straight into adult Go clubs.
Crowded rooms. Noisy chatter. Surrounded by old men.
Grumpy ones. Gentle ones. Loud ones. Intimidating ones.
Two consecutive weeks of chapters revolved around this training, easing the tension for readers while quietly strengthening Hikaru's foundation.
Rei deliberately retained these side plots, but kept them restrained.
In the original manga, the gap between the preliminaries and the main tournament stretched for more than ten chapters. When Rei first read it in his previous life, he'd nearly forgotten the main tournament even existed.
That kind of pacing wouldn't work here.
But one crucial event did happen during Hikaru's mindset training.
He met Ko Yeong-ha, a prodigious Go genius from the Korea region, at one of the clubs.
In this world, competitive Go followed a familiar pattern: Japan and Korea dominated, while China had long fallen behind.
There was no AlphaGo incident here.
No legendary "Hand of God."
But Japan's Go fans still harbored deep resentment toward Korea players.
And Ko Yeong-ha didn't help matters, constantly boasting that Korea Go was superior to Japan's.
So when Hikaru, provoked beyond endurance, placed his first move directly on tengen and crushed him, making the so-called genius cry;
The scene electrified Japanese's readers.
It is rumored that when this plotline of hikaru no go was serialized in its previous life, many people in the Korea felt that Ko Yeong-ha's loss and tears were an insult to their country, and they furiously reported the hikaru no go manga. The manga's serialization was even affected by this plotline to some extent.
But in Rei didn't care about these things. Frankly speaking, after this plotline of hikaru no go was serialized, the happiest ones were some of the Japanese professional Go players, as there were indeed too many black whistle incidents experienced while playing Go in Korea.
However, although manga readers enjoyed this plotline, hikaru no go's ranking still remained at fifth place. While the gap with the fourth-ranked work narrowed, it still hadn't overtaken it.
Time, just like that, arrived in mid-to-late September.
For Rei, he went to school during the day and drew manga at night, being incredibly busy every day, so he naturally felt that time passed quickly.
From hikaru no go's serialization in February to September now, half a year had passed, but to him, it felt like only a few weeks ago.
But for the multitude of hikaru no go fans...
These days of weekly following hikaru no go and being kept in suspense by hikaru no go truly felt like years.
Everyone had heard the news that the hikaru no go TV series was about to start filming and broadcasting three or four months ago.
But until now…
When they first saw the preview for the hikaru no go TV series broadcast information on Capital Television Station on September 21st, these hikaru no go manga fans were moved to tears.
The manga was just black-and-white line art, with no sound, no movement, and no color.
But in the hikaru no go TV series preview, when Sai, in white robes, with an elegant demeanor and handsome appearance, appeared by the Go board, and when a young Hikaru appeared on screen…
The first game, the second game, the third game… between Sai, Hikaru, and Akira…
The flickering of those live-action scenes, combined with the soothing pure-music version of the BGM "Kyuuseki no Bouken" that Rei submitted to the production team, brought forth a sense of romance in their hearts.
On that day, on the Dream Comic official website, the popularity of hikaru no go surpassed all other works in the magazine for the first time, and its discussion rate among the magazine's fan base jumped to first place.
"Tears in my eyes!"
"Although it didn't quite reach the image of Sai and the protagonists I imagined, it's already over 70–80% there."
"Hey, what's the name of that insert song? Does anyone know? It moved me so much."
"It's said to be the theme song of hikaru no go, but it's a slower, soothing version. The theme song version is much more cheerful due to its faster tempo."
"Haven't the major music websites updated it?"
"Do you even need to ask about something like this? You can definitely only download and listen to it after the TV series airs!"
"I was worried it would be another manga that suffered a disastrous live-action adaptation, but this trailer, at least I'm satisfied with it."
"The casting for young Hikaru is good, but the casting for young Akira is truly divine. Although his appearance isn't as handsome, his eyes are almost identical to the manga, and his temperament is so similar."
"Finally, this day has come. Thirty-four weeks… I've been following the hikaru no go manga for thirty-four whole weeks, and I finally have the chance to watch the live-action hikaru no go TV series premiere!"
"October 3rd, 9 PM, right? That night, even if my girlfriend calls me, I'll turn off my phone and stay home to watch TV."
"I hope hikaru no go gets good ratings. I heard that the first season of this TV series only covers up to Hikaru leaving the school Go club and preparing to join the dojo. If the ratings and popularity aren't enough, there might not be a second season. Everyone remember to support it then!"
"How long is this manga going to be, anyway? Is this plotline with Ko Yeong-ha preparing for Hikaru to represent Japan in the championship against Korea after becoming a professional Go player?"
"Doesn't that mean this manga can be serialized for at least a hundred more chapters?"
"I don't know, but this manga definitely has many more plotlines that can be developed. Go, after all, isn't over just by winning one world championship. There are seven types of championship tournaments, and great players have eight, nine, or even ten titles."
"Since this is a TV series filmed with Shirogane-sensei as a consultant, even if the first episode doesn't meet expectations after it airs, I hope everyone doesn't just rant on the internet and discourage passersby from getting into the TV series. It's normal for a TV series to seem less interesting than the manga because we have preconceived notions, but for newcomers to the TV series, they don't have this filter, and they might be very satisfied."
"Exactly, if other manga live-action adaptations flop, so be it. But for hikaru no go, I hope its TV series becomes a huge hit, a massive hit, to show those who only like family dramas and idol romance dramas why we manga fans love manga. What a truly interesting story is like!"
"Go, Shirogane-sensei, go, hikaru no go!"
"And Hikaru in the manga, you go too! After defeating Ko Yeong-ha, the professional Go promotion tournament is about to begin. Go for it, Hikaru, don't get eliminated! I'm waiting to see you challenge Akira after becoming a professional player and show that tsundere person your strength!"
The information released in the TV series preview was like a spark hitting a barrel of gasoline in the hikaru no go manga fan community, igniting instantly.
But at the same time, a large number of casual TV series enthusiasts became curious.
The information that "The hikaru no go TV series is adapted from the serialized manga hikaru no go created by Shirogane-sensei under Hoshimori Group" spread among a large number of TV series viewers.
Many people don't pay attention to Go, but they do pay attention to the various celebrity actors starring in hikaru no go.
After today, a large number of TV series fans also began to search for information related to hikaru no go.
Shirogane.
Hikaru no go… Go.
...
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