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Fic Rec Friday! — Hikaru no Go

Hikaru no Go is an imaginative, charming, funny and poignant, incredibly engaging manga and anime series. I was first introduced to it through the anime adaptation (A+ music btw), and it's one of my enduring favorites of all time.

I got into HnG back around 2004-05. I'd been in college for a little bit by then, but I was living in a cheap apartment with monthly-limit dial-up as my only internet, and I really had no idea back then what fandom was capable of. I was SUPER into the show, but the only fannish outlets I had were importing the soundtrack, and downloading fan-made (and entirely uncredited on aggregate sites) desktop backgrounds to admire. I had no idea what fic was, and it wasn't until the show ended abruptly and I came to find out that the manga had also ended pretty abruptly that I stumbled upon doujinshi. And I didn't really investigate dj very far at the time, either.

But what all that means is, I've read nearly ZERO fic for any of my earliest, isolated fandoms, including Hikaru no Go. I mentioned some of this a couple weeks ago to ranuel, whom I got to meet up with again at a local nerd festival convention, and who has been involved with fandom for longer than I've been paying my own rent. In response, ranuel gifted me with the link to this fic -- which was absolutely everything I could have hoped it would be.

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fic: desynchronization by Ontogenesis

- fandom: Hikaru no Go - characters: full cast - pairings: Fujiwara no Sai/Ogata Seiji, background Shindou Hikaru/Touya Akira - rating: 16 and up, cursing and mild sensuality - setting: canon - spoilers: whole series - words: 116,866

Author’s summary: A chance rescue one evening turns into quite a surprise for Ogata Juudan. Whom exactly did he pull out of the Ichigaya Canal?

Hikaru no Go spoilers beneath the cut!

I started this fic, was immediately charmed, and read the whole thing as quickly as possible, absolutely delighted. It's set two years post-series, and while trying not to give you too many spoilers about the fic itself, I can absolutely say that everything that I ever sat alone back in 2005 wishing would have happened in the series happens in this fic, and it is the best feeling ever.

There is such secrecy in Hikaru no Go that the reader is privy to but nobody else is, regarding Hikaru and Sai, and the waves Sai made as a legendary internet Go player. Ontogenesis is masterful at the "missed him by that much" sort of scene, with big reveals to the characters being narrowly averted several times, with you as the reader just sort of watching, wide-eyed and admiring. I sat there several times going "omg, omg", in varying degrees of relief or lip-biting. The pacing is pretty much perfect for making the reader eager for things to finally happen, without rushing them, and while making the actual reveal moments that much more emotionally worthwhile.

The thing that really elevates this fic though is the depth Ontogenesis gives to the characters, particularly the main POV character, Ogata-Juudan. In the series, Ogata isn't a particularly sympathetic character - he's set up pretty early on as a sort of, not exactly an antagonist for Hikaru, but a sort of just a catalyst in places. Hikaru is definitely intimidated by him to begin with, but the story never truly villainized him, and we do get a couple of sympathetic moments for him. In this fic, we see a far more complex and compelling character: someone mostly decent, kind to Sai, respectful towards certain characters and with a deep love of Go, yet still capable of making some very self-centered decisions that hurt others a great deal - and beyond that, capable of admitting his mistakes and trying to find a way to repair what he damaged.

Another cool thing that I really enjoyed was Ontogenesis' headcanon for Ogata's family and upbringing, adding in original characters for his parents and a family friend. It was executed smoothly and added quite a bit to the story, and did a great job of making Ogata a more three dimensional character with social connections outside of the world of Go.

And speaking of the world of this fic, I'm pretty sure that every location described in it actually exists in real Tokyo. From the chapter notes it seems that Ontogenesis actually lived there for quite some time, so all of the city is well-researched and confidently described, which always improves a story even more.

By the way! Bisexual Ogata? Hell to the yessss~

I'm not ashamed to admit that I cried a LOT by the end of Hikaru no Go, and I cried at LEAST six different times reading this fic. From angst about Sai, to joy at reunions, and back to angst, this fic hit all of my feels with unerring accuracy. I kept messaging my friend as I read it, long after she'd gone to bed, with further updates re: my emotional state. I've never been so happy to cry at a fic! The canon ending of HnG provides very little closure, other than the reader going to themselves, "well, okay, I guess the point of the story was that the characters would just keep on growing and improving, they've gotten pretty far already and I guess I can be satisfied to imagine them continuing to move forward, if I have to." But... that still leaves a lot of time left staring into space and thinking about sad Go ghosts. This fic provides the closure between Sai and Hikaru that I truly wanted to read, and, just, wow. It's hard for me to write about it without giving away much, or resorting to enthusiastic keysmashing instead.

Anyway! If I wasn't so vague you gave up reading this rec post, please do yourselves the service of heading over to ff.net and reading this actual treasure of a story.

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/3701895/1/desynchronization

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