[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

[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.