[Hikaru no Go] Hikaru & Akari

[flonnebonne]

Why is it that Hikaru never gets the girl? And don't say it's because he's gay and loves Touya. I mean, Touya is the gayer of the two and he seems to end up going out with Akari more often than Hikaru does, judging by my extensive *cough* survey of HnG fanfic. Yeah. There are hardly any tru wuv Hikaru/Akari stories even on Ff.net.

In the first chapter of the HnG manga when Akari shows up on Hikaru's doorstep with a demure blush on her face, I could have sworn she had a crush on him. So then why is there so little fanfiction that pairs up Hikaru and Akari? Are they just too brotherly/sisterly? Would we rather have Hikaru leave her behind to play Go in order to amp up the angst? Is it just not an interesting pairing? Is it because Akari and Akira's names are annoyingly similar and we don't want to confuse people?

Comments

[trixie-chick.livejournal.com]

i think it's because hikaru never shows akari anything but brotherly interest. yeah, she crushes on him HARD, but the whole damned series is about his obsession with akira. even if you don't take that slashy, it's still pretty clear that hikaru doesn't see anyone like he sees akira. *shrugs*

[flonnebonne]

All true. But I'm just surprised, because there are always some fanficcers who really, really like pairing up the main guy with the main girl, never mind the canon. Well, admittedly it's a yaoi-heavy fanbase, and Hikaru and Touya are really, really obsessed with each other, but still. Where are the Mary Sues? Where are the writers who insert themselves into fics under the guise of Akari? There's some of that at ff.net, but not much. Do we have to wait for the dub to come out for the Mary Sues to come out of the woodwork? Actually, don't answer that question.

Hm. It occurs to me that the Hikaru/Akari pairing has evidence against it (his lack of interest), but the Touya/Akari pairing has no evidence against it (because they've barely met). So yeah, the fanfic writers can make something up for Touya/Akari, but for Hikaru/Akari they have to refute what's already there. More work, that.

[fyredancer.livejournal.com]

Hmm...do you have any fic recommendations after your, ahem, extensive survey?

[flonnebonne]

Aw jeebus, you called my bluff.

Anyway, I am terrible about keeping a record of fics I like. Off the top of my head, here are some journals with good fics:

-quillofferings, but you probably already know this one
-harukami, another duh entry
-ladyseishou recently did a thirty-days challenge for HnG. Artsy. AU.
-rageprufrock, sex sex sex. Mmm.
-starlighter and tintenfic, check out their freakish crack universe
-reality_is
-tsukikoushi, who is nuts. Which is good. Occasionally does serious stuff too.
-chapter_house, especially Waiting For, about Touya Kouyo
-svz_insanity, especially her more recent stuff
-murinae
-thehoyden
-supacat's post about Ko Yongha ("clearly the slut of the Korean team") is not actually a fic but has the seeds of one. Plus there are some fic recs in the comments below the post.
-issen4, good writer and reccer
-shinra_lackey, lots of recs here (Yes, I am passing the buck)

Aaaannddd this is totally off-topic, but there's a great community for sharing HnG doujinshi: hikago_djs

Aaannddd this is even more totally off-topic, but if you want to learn how to play Go this is the best interactive tutorial I've found: The Interactive Way to Go

Hope you find some of this useful. :)

(Sorry if you get this comment more than once...lj was giving me trouble!)

[flonnebonne]

Ah! One more fic to recommend. Jigo by Dracostella, one of my faves.

[ahsirakh.livejournal.com]

Because the romantic interest seems more like a one-sided affair where Akari has a huge crush on Hikaru but he is either oblivious or uninterested, perhaps both. Later on, her feelings for him seem to mellow, and as her priorities shift to the Go club whereas Hikaru chases after Akira, people start pairing her up with Yuuki instead (especially with the subtext of the incident where she starts throwing stuff at Hikaru because he'd been there when Yuuki decided to pop by).

Also, Akira/Akari? Really? I mean, Akira is seriously gay, and he's more sexual than Hikaru, even if he's less kinky (unless you count all the weird Go fetish stuff that people like to write ^^).

[flonnebonne]

Ah ha, I had forgotten about Mitani and the incident where Akari kicked Hikaru out. You're right there does seem to be something going on between those two. That makes total sense.

Yeah, Akira/Akari. Go figure. Admittedly, my "research" through ff.net wasn't exaclty thorough. And I did eventually find some Hikaru/Akari (!), so I'm a big fat liar, it exists. But there's more Akira/Akari.

Like I said to trixie_chick, tt occurs to me that the Hikaru/Akari pairing has evidence against it (his lack of interest), but the Touya/Akari pairing has no evidence against it (because they've barely met). So yeah, the fanfic writers can make something up for Touya/Akari, but for Hikaru/Akari they have to refute what's already there. More work, that.

[ahsirakh.livejournal.com]

Honestly speaking, though, I don't see Touya/Akari as likely to happen because of their differing temperaments; being that Akari was a little disturbed by Hikaru's seriousness at the beginning of the series, I just can't see her clicking with Akira at all.

aishuu conjectured Waya/Akari in Brightly Burning that seems to fit so much better, partly because Waya is in Hikaru's particular clique that is more likely to ever come across Akari, not to mention that Waya has a certain sense of sociability around him that Akari seems to have as well.

[flonnebonne]

(Sorry if you get this twice. Goddamn you, lj, why do you keep putting my reply posts in the not-reply post places?!)

Yep, I whole-heartedly agree with you on the distinct lack of plausibility when it comes to Touya/Akari. Touya's just so damn...polite and reserved, I can't see him being passionate about anyone who isn't an awesome Go player. He's kind of sad that way.

And you're right that Waya and Akari work well together. They are the cutest thing ever in Brightly Burning.

[tintenfic.livejournal.com]

Hm. It seems to me that (and I can't remember the manga but I can remember the anime, how warped is that? Must be the blinding fashion choices) Hikaru doesn't seem to notice Akari much, outside of "Hey, you want to play Go too? I'll teach you!" Whereas Akira pays more attention to people. My first thought was just that he's better brought up, but there are probably other reasons.

And I think there's no way you can base a pairing on that. Hikaru is obsessed by Go -> Touya Akira. He fixates on Touya Akira as a...goal, perhaps? Someone to respect? It helps that Touya does his own bit of chasing Hikaru around.

It seems that Hikaru only sees people only after he's played them and (preferably) has been beaten by them. Akira does the same thing, but he's just less obvious about it.

I'd say that end-series Hikaru wouldn't be so oblivious about Akari's feelings wrt him (Sai's disappearance matured him a /lot/) but Akari's long receded from centre stage by then.

[flonnebonne]

Akira pays more attention to people [than Hikaru].

That's a very good assessment of Hikaru and Touya's characters. I don't think that Touya's much less obvious than Hikaru though--because when Touya fixates, he really fixates.

Yeah, Hikaru isn't ready for a relationship with anyone early in the series (he's just a kid after all, at first). And by the time he's mature enough, Akari's left the picture. You make all my arguments sound even whinier and flimsier than they already were.

Also, I should get around to watching the anime so I can see all those blinding fashion choices in their full, glorious colour.

[tintenfic.livejournal.com]

Akira and Hikaru both fixate on Go and each other. That's pretty much what the series is about. Other than Sai, but I think Sai was mostly there to capture the interest of all the Go virgins. Of course, this is my biased opinion since I started watching HnG for the...of all things, Go. (And cute boys, but)

Your arguments are not whiny. I've read some of them and they make sense. I don't get the Touya/Akari, or Waya/Akari (I need more evidence than nothing against to make sense of a pairing) but Mitani/Akari definitely. In fact I remember thinking that it was more Mitani -> Akari. There was some part later on in the series where Mitani specifically says something that hinted that he had noticed Akari in a way Hikaru never did.

Damn my terrible memory! But yes, the anime! It's a lot less Go-centric, but go for it! Quite funny. And chibi Sai is cute.

[flonnebonne]

You actually started watching HnG for the GO? You're the first person I've known to say that. Do you play? I'm surprised that the anime is less Go-centric, since I've heard people complain that the games are too long in the anime. I figured the anime format would allow them to show more of the individual moves being played, and it would be easier for the audience to follow the games, but I guess I'd have to watch a little to actually find out.

I don't get Touya/Akari either except in the "yeah, I guess it could work if you really wanted it to" kind of sense. Waya/Akari makes a bit more sense to me personality-wise, but there's zero canon evidence.

What I'm more interested in is how the fandom decides some pairings are kosher and some are not. When you compare it to, say, the Prince of Tennis or Ranma 1/2 fandom, HnG writers are pretty prudish when it comes to throwing together random couples. I guess it comes with the territory...especially considering how cracked up the PoT anime is. But anyway, like you said, HnG is about Akira and Hikaru fixating on Go and each other, and there's no getting away from that.

[tintenfic.livejournal.com]

I played Weiqi way back when, and liked it enough. Started picking it up again slightly more seriously when people wore me down to watch HnG. I was terrified that this game I liked would be destroyed by the improbable sparkly (think tennis and PoT...urgh, what tennis)

It comes and goes, my interest for Go. Most times what I really like is solving Go problems. My personality is such that I'd spend so much time second-guessing that I end up playing suckily.

The anime showed Go moves being played...way too fast for me. Half the time I had to go online to check which game it was they played. But then again, it's an anime, not television kifu.

It's the whole "Rivals/Buddies" thing, I swear. Tennis...their rivals and buddies switch around waayyyy too much to fixate properly. Not that I don't try to.

[flonnebonne]

I think if I got heavily into Go I'd be the same way as you...I'm not really much for competition or playing under pressure. I like doing Go problems (really really easy ones) more than actually playing.

Whenever I wade into the PoT fandom for a while I feel like it's a game of mix and match with all the pretty boys. Makes you kind of jaded after a while.

[svz-insanity.livejournal.com]

I think it's because all the yaoi fangirls scared most of the het shippers in the Hikaru no Go fandom. OK, I lied. I think I've encountered a total of one Hikaru/Akari fic and it was actually pretty good but I've lost the link since. (It was over on ff.net)

I'm certain that Akari liked Hikaru, but Hikaru being the typical Shounen protagonist he is-- was oblivious. Akari didn't want to lose her best friend, so she feigned interest in Go as a way to stay in his life, and actually started to like it. We all know how that turned out-- they ended up drifting apart anyway, with Akari more concerned about the Go Club and Hikaru becoming pro-- they both had lives and and as time went by, they just didn't talk as much as Hikaru wasn't allowed in the Go club.

I think Akari just knew that it wasn't "meant to be" and from what I could see,I saw hints of her liking Mitani. I need to rewatch the series again, but I was so bent on writing a Mitani/Akari fic.

As for Akari/Akira... um, I just don't get the pairing. Have they ever talked? Was I out of the loop of some super sekkrit episode where Akari and Akira profess their ever dying love to each other?

[/end ramble]

[ahsirakh.livejournal.com]

No, Akari and Akira never crossed paths in the manga, at least not directly; the only time I recall Akari seeing Akira was when he dropped by the Go club to shout "SHINDOU!" and asked to challenge him again, but I don't think there was another encounter, and that wasn't even a meeting per se.

There were definitely hints of Mitani/Akari that I picked up while going through the series, most notably Akari chasing Hikaru out of the Go club after Mitani realises he's been there, and Mitani sighing when he realises that Akari would have caught his bluff thanks to his peer. I believe there was more than that, but nevertheless I got a substantial vibe.

[flonnebonne]

Another cute Disney icon! You rock at those.

Whoa, you found a good Hikaru/Akari fic? I would be interested in seeing that if you ever come across it again. Not that I'm interested in the pairing, I'm just interested in seeing if someone could make it work.

Yep, I think you've got the Hikaru/Akari/Mitani thing spot on. Regarding Akari/Akira, you must have somehow missed the fifteenth New Year's special episode where Touya wakes up with a hangover and finds Akari naked beside him and Go stones scattered all over the place. Then Hikaru walks in and all hell breaks loose (ie. a threesome)

Okay okay, I don't get A/A either except that there's no evidence against it happening if they ever got around to saying hello to each other. Akari does play Go after all--there, they already have one thing in common, how can it not work?

[svz-insanity.livejournal.com]

Thanks! :D I collect Disney icons the way some people collect stamps.

Here you go. I highly recommend Catwho's gen fic, Fujiwara .

Come to think of it, I think why some people ship Akira/Akari is because they're similar personality-wise. They're both mature, they're friends of Hikaru, and they're reserved and polite. I'm probably making a mountain out of a mole hill... but possibly?

[flonnebonne]

Not just Disney icons, but also AWESOME NARUTO ICONS made from AWESOME NARUTO AMVs!!

Thanks for the fic link! Will read soon. Looks like a long one, so I'm gonna need hot chocolate.

Funny you should say Touya and Akari have similar personalities, because ahsirakh and I were just commenting that they're very different! I do agree that they're both pretty mature for their ages (maybe not at the beginning, but Akari grows up quite a bit), but Touya seems a lot more reserved to me than Akari. And also a lot more intense.

Hm, maybe that's what it is. The sweet, pretty girl who cracks through Touya's reserved shell. I could see that appealing to some writers. And Hikaru can introduce them to each other--who hasn't seen their friends pair off together?

Or maybe I should just go back to my theory about their names being so similar that people feel they have to match them up. Blargh!

[svz-insanity.livejournal.com]

Or maybe I should just go back to my theory about their names being so similar that people feel they have to match them up. Blargh!

Fangirl: Hmm. Akira. Akari. Aww. Kind catchy.

*GOES OFF TO WRITE FIC*

I mean that in total jest. :D I haven't encountered a single good Akari/Akira fic yet.

[flonnebonne]

Neither have I. :) Badfic, though...

It just occured to me that if you had them in a threesome with Ashiwara you would have a Triple A fic. Like the American Automobile Association (I think). And if there was sex in it you could make it an XXX-rated AAA fic. Go me!

Okay, I'm definitely getting hot chocolate now.

[moonythestrals.livejournal.com]

And if there was sex in it you could make it an XXX-rated AAA fic.

I don't even know why I'm still laughing over this. GOD.

[flonnebonne]

*blinks*

Gosh, I barely even remember making that comment. Did I actually say that?

*is flattered*

[moonythestrals.livejournal.com]

hahaha - I don't even remember how I came upon this thread last night at, oh, two-thirty? but it made me laugh.

for, like, a ridiculously long time. :)