In early March, the Hoshimori Group's official website released a piece of news that shocked the entire manga industry of Japan.
Hoshimori Group's hit manga, Hikaru no Go, would conclude within six weeks.
On the day of its final chapter, the manga's creator, Shirogane, would hold an official fan meeting and Q&A session. Fans of Hikaru no Go could apply for tickets to the event through the official website.
The announcement itself was barely a thousand words long and written in a restrained, factual tone. Yet to the Hikaru no Go fan base, it struck like a nuclear explosion.
Even many professionals within the manga industry were left completely stunned.
Hikaru no Go is ending?
What kind of joke was this?
Claims that the manga's popularity had declined after Sai's disappearance were nothing more than online teasing. In reality, Hikaru no Go was still the number-one ranked work in Dream Comic.
The sales of its collected volumes were skyrocketing.
So who in their right mind would end a manga at such a moment?
Hoshimori Group would never make such a decision on its own. That meant only one thing.
This ending was Shirogane's choice.
The moment the news broke, long-silent Hikaru no Go fans erupted across the internet.
"What is Shirogane thinking? He's really ending it like this?"
"Didn't this manga sell nearly nine million copies last month? And it's just… ending?"
"This is insane. How is that even possible?"
"Has Shirogane completely lost his mind?"
"This can't be real news, right? Is today April Fool's Day?"
"How can Hikaru no Go end in six weeks? What about all the unresolved foreshadowing?"
"Did everyone forget the drunken game between Sai and Seiji Ogata? That was clearly set up for something!"
"And Toya Koyo explicitly said before retiring that he wanted to play Sai again. Hikaru and Toya Koyo have never truly faced each other!"
"Not to mention old man Kuwabara. He's shown so much interest in Hikaru, yet they've never played."
"Most importantly, Hikaru and Akira still haven't played a single official match since becoming professional Go players!"
"This feels like a rushed ending."
"No way. A rushed ending only happens when an author runs out of ideas. But this world still has endless possibilities!"
"Even we ordinary readers can think of dozens of potential storylines. Why wouldn't Shirogane?"
"World championships alone could support twenty chapters minimum. Best-of-three, best-of-five finals, any of those would be amazing!"
"As long as Shirogane wants to draw, he could easily serialize this manga for years."
"The average sales are guaranteed to exceed ten million per volume. One month of serialization equals tens of millions in income. Why would anyone stop?"
"Has he made enough money and decided to retire?"
"He's only earned tens of millions. At least make a few hundred million before quitting!"
"A seventeen-year-old genius thinking about retiring already? Is he serious?"
"Other than making enough money, I can't think of a single reason for him to end Hikaru no Go."
"Could it be that he was emotionally crushed by the backlash after Sai disappeared and decided to end it out of spite?"
"That would be ridiculous. He's a top-tier manga artist now. Who cares about being cursed when you're earning that much?"
"If that's really the reason, it's unbelievably irresponsible."
"It does feel like the kind of impulsive choice an immature teenager might make… but this is his masterpiece."
Speculation flooded the internet.
As for industry media, they were far less restrained. Sensational headlines appeared one after another.
"Genius Manga Artist Shirogane Loses Confidence After Massive Fan Backlash, Ends Hikaru no Go and Prepares to Retire!"
"Cyberbullying Claims Another Victim: Japan's Manga Industry Loses a Rising Star!"
"Made Enough Money, Now Lying Flat: Shirogane Ends Hikaru no Go at Its Peak, Showing Utter Disrespect for His Own Work!"
"Seventeen-Year-Old Lacks Ambition: Shirogane's Ceiling Exposed After Brief Success!"
"Online Rumors: Hikaru no Go Creator Distracted by High School Romance, Frequently Seen Acting Intimately With a Female Classmate!"
At her villa, Miyu nearly spat out blood when she read those articles.
Are they seriously dragging me into this?
Who else could that so-called "female classmate" be, if not her?
"Rei is simply ending his manga on his own terms. Who do these people think they are to judge him?"
When she saw fans in the comment sections viciously attacking the unnamed "female classmate," Miyu finally snapped. She logged into her account and began arguing with them directly.
As for Rei himself, Hikaru no Go was a phenomenon spanning manga, television dramas, and animation, with an audience numbering in the tens of millions across the country.
That its ending would explode into a nationwide topic and trigger sensational reporting was entirely within his expectations.
At this point, there was no need for lengthy explanations.
He calmly opened his phone, logged into his creator account, and posted a single message.
"The ending of Hikaru no Go is a normal ending. The plot of the final chapter was conceived at the same time as the first chapter. This has been the intended ending for Hikaru no Go from the very beginning. It is absolutely not a rushed ending. Please rest assured."
Copy, paste, and click send.
Rei posted the same message from multiple accounts.
He knew that what Hikaru no Go fans feared most were the rumors of a disastrous, rushed ending spreading across the internet. His statement might not completely dispel those rumors, but at the very least, it would calm the loyal fans who still trusted him.
And in truth, ending Hikaru no Go here was far better than the original manga's conclusion during the Hokuto Cup arc.
The original ending had been "open," yet not truly open at all. The Hokuto Cup arc was built up for a long time, yet the protagonist's team ultimately failed to win, and the manga ended with the protagonist losing a match.
At the very least, Rei believed that ending the story here would leave first-time readers with a sense of loss and reluctance, but not the frustration of a rushed or unfinished story.
After Rei's statement was released, the heated discussions among Hikaru no Go fans noticeably cooled. That said, a number of anti-fans still lingered, waiting to see how Hikaru no Go would manage to deliver a satisfying ending within six weeks.
Soon, another Wednesday arrived, and the latest chapter of Hikaru no Go was serialized as scheduled.
Early that morning, Maki was already waiting outside the bookstore.
Three days earlier, when Hoshimori Group announced that Hikaru no Go would end, she had felt completely shaken.
How could this manga possibly conclude in just six chapters?
Yet after Shirogane released his statement, she chose to trust him once more, trust the integrity of the creator who had brought Hikaru no Go this far.
He wouldn't treat this manga so carelessly. He wouldn't.
She bought the magazine as soon as the doors opened and hurried home.
Taking a deep breath, Maki opened the magazine.
The story continued from the previous chapter.
At school, his friends learned from the newspapers that Hikaru had been absent from professional Go matches for several consecutive months.
The scene of Hikaru leaving the Go club to become a professional Go player was still vivid in their memories.
And now, his casual attitude toward the path he had chosen enraged them.
"Hikaru, we're still challenging Kaio Middle School this year. You'll never get another chance like this. Aren't you envious…?"
In the manga, Hikaru's expression was filled with loss.
He loved Go, but he loved Sai even more.
If the price of bringing Sai back was giving up Go forever, then he would rather never play Go again.
"Would that really work?" Maki blinked.
Sai had disappeared after fulfilling his wish.
Was there truly some connection between his return and Hikaru abandoning Go?
Or was this merely Hikaru's self-punishment, his attempt to atone for never letting Sai play Go when he was still around?
The perspective shifted to Isumi, who had returned from studying in China.
After spending an entire year being brutally defeated by young prodigies there, Isumi finally returned to Japan, having beaten many of the very players who once crushed him.
The first thing he heard upon returning was from Waya: Hikaru had stopped playing Go.
Isumi was furious.
He and Hikaru had fought fiercely over the final professional qualification, becoming each other's greatest rivals.
He himself had been overage and unable to remain at the dojo. To continue pursuing professional Go, he had traveled to China, enduring ridicule and defeat, all for the sake of improving his strength in his final year.
And what was Hikaru, the one who actually won that qualification, doing now?
Maki felt angry as she read.
Even with Sai gone, Hikaru's actions were undeniably wrong. They were irresponsible.
Watching Isumi scold Hikaru in the manga, she even felt a guilty sense of satisfaction.
After all, Hikaru no Go was a story about Go.
All conflicts were ultimately resolved through Go.
Isumi wanted to pull Hikaru back into the professional world.
But Hikaru refused, afraid that Sai would never return. Their argument eventually turned into a match.
A match.
That nightmare game, the one where Hikaru's regretful move led to Isumi's concession.
Isumi wanted to finish that game, starting from the exact move where he had made his mistake.
Making a mistake wasn't the issue. Regretting the move was.
He wanted to know one thing: even with his overwhelming advantage, if he hadn't hesitated, could Hikaru still have won?
"Hikaru," Isumi said, "play against me. Do it for me. Let me resolve this knot in my heart so I can face this year's professional assessment without regrets. Finish that game with me."
Maki's eyes reddened as she stared at Isumi's earnest expression on the page.
That familiar, delicate emotion she always felt while reading Hikaru no Go surged back into her chest.
Who said this manga was heading toward a rushed ending?
Wasn't this compelling?
Wasn't this deeply moving?
Even for Isumi, a character who had been absent for dozens of chapters, Shirogane had carefully laid the groundwork for this moment.
The turning point was clear.
Hikaru might refuse to play Go for himself, but could he truly coldly reject Isumi's plea, after all the kindness Isumi had shown him?
If Hikaru were truly that selfish, why would he have been willing to give up Go in the first place for Sai?
To say that Shirogane had run out of ideas in the later stages of serialization, to say that this was why he was ending Hikaru no Go;
Who would ever believe that?
...
Read 50+ chapters ahead @[email protected]/Ashnoir