[hikashu]

Hmm, for me, I'd like to recommend the not-so-popular-but-really-awesome-anime/manga called Hikaru no Go.

Basically HikaGo (which most fans prefer to call, or, sometimes, Hika5) circulates around the life of a student called Shindo Hikaru. In the beginning, Hikaru and his friend Akari go to his grandfather's house to "look for stuff that could be worth some money". In the attic of the house, Hikaru finds a goban (a board used to play Go) and he sees a red stain on it. However, Akari can't see it and as Hikaru insists, he hears a voice, asking if he could see the stain. Hikaru answers yes, and he sees a spirit come out of the goban, claiming to be someone called Fujiwara no Sai, a person who taught Go to the emperor in ancient times.

The story of HikaGo starts this way, and the story then focuses on how Hikaru went from a 12 year old who didn't even know what Go is, to a 17 year old pro Go player. Hikaru has a rival called Touya Akira; a boy the same age as Hikaru who is very good at Go. As the story progresses, Hikaru joins Go classes, then the Go club at his school, then becomes an insei, and finally a pro. Sai teaches Hikaru Go too, using a method called "jidou go", or "teaching Go". As he cannot hold the playing stones, he points to the place he wants to place the next stone with his fan.

Wow, that was really long... The longest thing I've wrote in a long time.