Episode list

Twelve-year old Hikaru Shindo finds a old Go board with an hidden surprise. Trapped inside is Fujiwara-no-Sai, the ghost of a ancient Go master...

After defeating Go prodigy Akira Toya with the help of Sai, Hikaru starts to get a better understanding of the game through classes with a local Go tutor. While learning the fine points of the game from Shirakawa-sensei, Hikaru is thrown out for disruptive behavior. He then makes his way to a local Children's Go Tournament. Meanwhile Akira is still pained by his loss to Hikaru and will do anything to face him once again.

Going on instinct, Akira finds Hikaru at Children's Go Tournament and demands to know about more about this Go-playing upstart. They face each other in the Go Salon and sensing Akira's desire to win, Sai plays mercilessly, defeating Akira. As news spreads of Hikaru's win over Akira, he is spotted by the curious Ogata, a professional Go player, and dragged in to face the legendary Toya Meijin, a Go playing champion and Akira's father.

Initially rebuffing Akari's invitation to the Haze Junior High festival, Hikaru decides to attend only to be stood up. As he walks through the festival grounds, he spots a Go demonstration, much to the delight of Sai.

In a game of Go that could go either way, Kaga defeats Hikaru. But instead of making him jump into a freezing cold pool, Kaga recruits Hikaru to join he and Kimihiro to play in an upcoming Go tournament at rival Kaio Middle. The only problem is Hikaru isn't even old enough to play! As he keeps playing, Hikaru finds that Go has opened up a whole new universe for him.

As if the pressure of getting caught for playing in the Go tournament, Akira Toya is touring the grounds of Kaio Middle, a school with a powerful Go team. Can Hikaru and his teammates win it all before their cover is blown?

With the Go Tournament behind them, Hikaru is now an official student at Haze Middle school and is eager to start a Go team with Kimihiro. It's just too bad that Kaga has quit to rejoin the Shogi Club. Meanwhile, Akira has entered Kaio Middle and joined the infamous Kaio Go Club. However, he has only one opponent on his mind, Hikaru! Will they play another match?

Akira Toya's presence on the Kaio Go Club has made him the most hated member of the team. Not only is he a Go master in the making, but he beats everyone who dares to face him. In the midst of a springtime downpour, three fellow Kaio teammates devise a plan to knock the mighty Toya off his perch.

As the newest member of the Kaio Go Club, Akira must clean an old classroom to be used by the Girls' Go Team. But as soon as he starts to clean and look through old books of Go Strategy, Kojima and Ito, two Kaio teammates, trick him into playing Go without looking at the board. Can he win these games blind and prove he belongs in the Kaio Go Club?

Still looking for that elusive third player, Akari tells Hikaru and Kimihiro about Yuki Mitani, a fellow classmate who can play a mean game of go. The only problem is that he wants nothing to do with amateur tournaments. After overhearing about a match with a middle schooler in a nearby Go Salon, Hikaru and Sai discover Yuki playing not for the love of the game, but for the love of money.

Hikaru discovers Yuki secret to winning at Go...Cheating! When Hikaru returns to the Go Salon, it appears that the Shu, the Go Salon keeper, has brought in a ringer to stop Yuki and his hustling. Taken for all his money by his heartless opponent, Sai vows revenge and he and Hikaru take on the ringer for all that he's worth!

In a token of thanks for defeating the ringer at the Go Salon, Yuki joins the Go Club and gives his word not to cheat. Over at Kaio Middle, Akira plots his next move in trying to face Hikaru once again. When he discovers that Hikaru will be playing in the weaker third position, Akira begs to be removed from the dominant first position so he can have the rematch he so desperately craves.

Now that Haze Middle can "officially" enter school tournaments, Hikaru, Yuki and Kimihiro are ready to win it all. First up is Iwana Middle, whom they beat in a sweep. After a quick lunch break, It's time for Akira to face the opponent he's been waiting for: Hikaru!

It's Kaio Middle School versus Haze Middle School. Yuki faces off against Kaio's captain, the arrogant Kishimoto while Hikaru takes on Akira for the third time. Who will win in this do-or-die Go Tournament?

With summertime around the corner, Hikaru and Akira find themselves traveling new paths on their journeys. Akira gives up the Kaio Go Club and decides to take the Pro Exam while Hikaru introduced to the world of Internet Go. With his newfound appreciation for online Go, Hikaru gives Sai a new outlet for playing the game he loves so much.

Between Hikaru's novice computer skills and Sai's strength at playing Go, they become the most unbeatable player in the world of Internet Go. From New York to the Netherlands, Sai's has players from all around the globe wondering who is this amazing player!

At the World Amateur Championship, the air is abuzz with interest in Sai whom some of the participants have played online at one time or another. While some think he's a pro, others feel that he might just be the ghost of famed Go master Hon'inbo Shusaku, who Sai taught many years ago. But when Akira's name shows up onscreen, Hikaru gets ready for another rematch.

Eager to take on Sai, Akira doesn't even bother to show up for his first pro exam match. But Sai defeats him, leaving Akira to wonder if it's Hikaru on the other side of the board. When Ms. Ichikawa tells Akira that she spotted Hikaru at an internet café, his instinct turns to intense suspicion.

Summer's winding down and thanks to all his internet playing with Sai, his game has gotten stronger. But there's no time to play at the internet café and with Sai's help, takes on Hikaru's grandfather so he can get the premium Go board and stones he desires.

After a chance meeting in a bookstore, Kishimoto, the captain of the Kaio Go Club, takes Hikaru to a Go Salon to see what kind of player he truly is. Over a game of Go, Kishimoto tells him about Akira's goal of turning pro, sparking Hikaru's interest in chasing and catching up to Akira.

Hikaru returns to the Go club to announce his intentions on becoming an Insei, which angers Yuki Mitani and disappoints the rest of the Haze Middle Go Club. As he breaks the news to the club, Kaga enters the room in an attempt to evade one of the teachers. Upon hearing Hikaru's new goal, Kaga forces him into a Go match that also includes Kimihiro and Yuki!

Even with his new-found love for the game of Go, Hikaru finds it nearly impossible to sit comfortably, let alone beat his opponent during the test. Luckily for him, he discovers that the game is not being decided on wins and losses, but on strength and is accepted as an insei. After the test, he reveals his rivalry with Akira Toya to a pair of skeptical insei, competitively friendly Waya and the contemplative Isumi.

Now that he's an insei, Hikaru's finding that winning is hard to come by. Starting off with six straight losses, Hikaru's at the bottom of the B-league with little hope in sight. Meanwhile, Akira has just become a pro and is gearing up for the Shinshodan Series, where newly-turned pros take on established veterans of the game.

As the Shinshodan Series starts up, the Oza is taken aback by Akira's seemingly easy rise to the pros. Instead of playing a simple exhibition match against the young prodigy, he's going to challenge Akira with everything he's got. Since he's never seen Akira play anyone other than himself, Hikaru can't wait to see this match, if only he can finish up his own match first!

Waya invites Hikaru to a study session with his teacher, Morishita-sensei. Hikaru learns about the Young Lions Tournament, where only the top 16 Insei in the A-league get to compete against newly crowned pros. Eager to face Akira once again, Hikaru vows to make it into the A-league and the Young Lions Tournament!

It hasn't been easy, but Hikaru's moved up the ranks and out of the B-league. Now he's taking on a tougher group of opponents, including the mistake-prone Fuku, Waya's toughest opponent. In a discussion about Internet Go with Waya, Hikaru lets his tongue slip when he reveals a bit too much about Sai.

Feeling a bit nostalgic, Hikaru comes back to visit to Haze Middle Go Club, where things have gone from bad to worse. Since Yuki quit, the club cannot participate in school tournaments. Now no wants Hikaru around, fearing that his presence will push Yuki away even further away from rejoining the Go Club.

It's time for the Young Lions Tournament, where 16 newly crowned pros take on the Top 16 Insei in the A-League. While his other fellow Insei keep falling to the pros, Isumi takes on obnoxiously boastful Mashiba, a former Insei who never ceases to brag about his life as a pro. Will Isumi knock off him off his pedestal or continue to fall victim to his endless taunts?

As the Young Lions Tournament winds down, Hikaru loses his match to Murakami 2 -Dan. Anxious to know about how the entire match progressed, Akira presses Ogata Sensei, one of the spectators at the tournament, for answers. But Ogata's got more important things on his mind, such as dethroning Kuwabara-sensei for the Hon'inbo title.

In the lobby of the Go Association building, Kadowaki, a top College player, is looking to brush up on his game before taking the Pro Exam. Enter Hikaru, who with Sai's help, teaches this amateur how the game of Go is truly played. Meanwhile, the battle for the Hon'inbo title continues as Ogata and Kuwabara trade moves, as well as words, in order to psych each other out.