Affected by the latest chapter of Hikaru no Go, the ninth episode of the second season of the TV drama, which aired on Friday, set a new viewership record of 3.32%, once again ranking first among all TV series that premiered this quarter.
As for the anime adaptation, it continued to perform strongly as well and currently ranked among the top three in viewership for new anime series this season.
After several days, the intense fervor surrounding Sai's disappearance in Hikaru no Go gradually subsided.
As expected, the newest chapter of the manga was serialized on schedule the following Wednesday.
This week's chapter contained relatively little forward movement in the main plot. Instead, it devoted almost the entire chapter to Hikaru coming to terms with Sai's disappearance.
At first, Hikaru believed that Sai was merely hiding somewhere.
Then, little by little, reality set in.
After searching everywhere and finding no trace of him, Hikaru finally accepted that Sai would not return. The realization triggered a complete emotional collapse.
Overwhelmed by guilt, Hikaru blamed himself deeply.
Sai had only ever wanted to play Go, yet Hikaru had spoken so harshly to him. Hikaru became convinced that Sai's disappearance was the result of his own selfishness.
This guilt led him to a desperate and irrational thought.
If giving up Go could bring Sai back, then he would do it.
Sai's disappearance alone had already devastated fans the previous week. This chapter, depicting Hikaru breaking down in grief, further intensified their emotions. Once again, Hikaru no Go fans across the internet erupted.
For an entire day, Shirogane was verbally attacked without pause.
And yet, despite the backlash, Hikaru no Go still ranked first in the magazine's popularity poll, recording over 910,000 votes.
By February, the National Annual Manga Awards ceremony, for which Rei had received a nomination invitation, was scheduled to take place in just two days.
Even before the ceremony began, live broadcast viewership had already surged, driven by the massive attention from Hikaru no Go fans.
During winter break, Rei had remained almost completely reclusive, while the resentment and emotions of fans continued to ferment online.
Everyone was eagerly anticipating Hikaru no Go winning Best Manga of the Year.
At the same time, many wondered if Hikaru no Go failed to win the top prize, would the camera capture even a fleeting look of regret on Rei's face.
Reality offered no such drama.
Among all newly serialized manga that year, Hikaru no Go was overwhelming.
It had ranked first in the Dream Comic Journal for five consecutive weeks.
By the day of the awards ceremony, its average volume sales had reached 9.81 million copies.
Its online ratings, measured prior to the ceremony, were the highest among all currently serialized manga in Dream Comic.
Aside from its comparatively lower commercial ceiling due to genre limitations, Hikaru no Go was regarded as an epic level work by nearly every metric.
When compared to other new manga released that year across different journals, it was a complete dominance.
At the awards ceremony, Rei, still a few months shy of eighteen, stood on stage. The host asked the question everyone wanted answered.
"Will we ever see Sai again?"
Rei did not evade the question.
Facing the camera, he answered calmly.
"Of course. How could Sai truly disappear?"
That single, ambiguous sentence instantly ignited the emotions of Hikaru no Go fans across the country.
Though Rei revealed nothing concrete, anticipation soared.
What fans did not yet understand was the true meaning behind his words, a meaning that would only be revealed through later developments in the story.
After Hikaru no Go won Best Manga of the Year, Rei immediately buried himself in work.
He stopped paying attention to online criticism regarding Sai's disappearance. As for popularity, the manga stabilized at around 900,000 votes per week, continuing to hold first place in the journal and maintaining a lead of tens of thousands over Source War Chronicle.
The collapse that many outsiders had predicted never happened.
Even more strikingly, the manga's focus gradually shifted away from Go itself.
Instead, it turned inward, centering on Hikaru's emotional journey.
After Sai vanished, Hikaru began to despise himself even more deeply. He reflected obsessively on his past actions, convinced that he had driven Sai away.
Eventually, he reached a painful resolution.
"I won't play Go anymore."
This was Hikaru's final decision.
He began skipping Go League team matches.
He ignored all professional Go activities.
Once celebrated as a prodigy, Hikaru returned to a completely ordinary school life, steadfastly refusing to touch Go.
Yet his former Go club friends continued playing.
Though Hikaru had left the Go club to become a professional, they remained, challenging Kaio Middle School year after year in inter-school competitions.
Hikaru was trapped.
Tormented by Sai's disappearance.
Bound by his vow to abandon Go.
And yet his eyes were still drawn unconsciously to the light surrounding those who truly loved the game.
"If I play Go again, Sai will never come back."
Even now, Hikaru did not understand why Sai had disappeared.
Still clinging to his misunderstanding, he stubbornly believed that Sai had left because of his own selfish refusal to let him play.
"How could Sai completely disappear?"
The comment section on Rei's creator account had also begun to calm down.
"So… when will Sai return?"
"He'll come back, right, Teacher Shirogane?"
"If Sai comes back, can Hikaru and Sai play alternately? They both love Go. There's no need for one to play while the other can't."
"Exactly. We used to criticize Hikaru for being selfish, saying he never let Sai play. But we were never extreme enough to say Hikaru shouldn't play either."
"This chapter made me cry. Hikaru loves Go just as much as Sai does."
"The school Go club really feels like Hikaru's pure sanctuary. Whenever he's in emotional turmoil, returning there always seems to heal him a little."
"When Hikaru watches the Go club members play against Kaio Middle School, does he remember how he and Sai sneaked in as elementary school kids and almost became champions?"
"I vote for Hikaru no Go every week. Please, Teacher Shirogane, let Sai come back."
"Stop tormenting us. Hikaru has already missed several Go League matches without explanation. If this continues, he'll be expelled from the team, and no professional Go group will want him."
"It's already the fourth week since Sai disappeared. I really miss him."
"Teacher Shirogane, please stop making us suffer. Draw something happy next week. Please."
At home, Misaki was carefully reviewing the final storyboard of Hikaru no Go, while Rei scrolled through the comments left by fans on his account.
"Sigh…" Rei let out a long breath.
Although the original plot had always been planned this way, imagining how many Sai fans would be heartbroken when the next chapter was released still made him hesitate.
"So… this is the final chapter of Hikaru no Go?" Misaki neatly stacked the storyboards, closed her eyes, and quietly absorbed the emotions the ending conveyed.
"Rei… you truly are a manga genius," she said after a long pause.
"You're not blaming me this time?" Rei asked, surprised.
"From the moment Sai disappeared until now, almost a month has passed. Yet I haven't seen a single fan say that Hikaru no Go itself is bad," Misaki replied softly. "They only criticized you, the author. That's when I understood that Sai's disappearance was absolutely necessary and meaningful. The fans couldn't accept it emotionally, but that doesn't mean they failed to understand its importance."
"Sai's disappearance is the key turning point for Hikaru's growth," she continued. "It's what allows him to transform from a mischievous child into a mature Go player. Someone who no longer relies on Sai standing behind him, but who can walk forward on his own and reach the path of light Sai once pursued."
"And for the past three weeks, you've been depicting Hikaru's spiritual transformation in depth, haven't you?"
Rei smiled faintly and changed the subject.
"After next week's chapter, where Hikaru resolves his inner conflict through Isumi's return and their match, the main story of Hikaru no Go will conclude. Later on, I might draw some extra stories."
"Extra stories?"
"For example, after the ending, Hikaru and Akira could team up to face young Go players from Korea and China in the Hokuto Cup."
"Or perhaps…"
Rei paused, thinking.
In the original manga, there had been storylines such as Hikaru miraculously entering the Go Saint title challenge as a first-dan player and defeating Kuwabara, the Honinbo titleholder, by one and a half points.
However, after Sai's disappearance, many of those later arcs lacked emotional weight and immersion.
Since the original manga never had a definitive ending, and its popularity gradually declined after Sai vanished, Rei had no intention of reproducing those developments.
Instead, he planned to follow the approach taken by the anime production team in his previous life and end Hikaru no Go at its most unforgettable point: the moment Sai dissipated.
An open ending should remain open at the most emotionally powerful moment, not after the sorrow has faded and readers have already shifted their focus elsewhere.
Ending it later would only dilute its impact.
That would be a failed ending.
"So these extras would be released as separate volumes?" Misaki asked.
"That's right," Rei replied. "I want to preserve the integrity of the main story."
"I'll report this to the company," Misaki nodded. "But since you'll have time afterward, you should also start thinking about your next work. Try to begin a new manga within two years after Hikaru no Go concludes."
"Two years?" Rei asked, startled.
"I know it's demanding, but I hope you'll push yourself," Misaki said seriously. "Don't disappear from the industry for three to five years."
"You became a first-tier manga artist too quickly. Less than two years since your debut. If you stay silent for too long after Hikaru no Go ends…"
She looked directly at him.
"Your fans will forget you."
...
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