Differences Between Manga and Anime (spoilers until end of series)

Although the Hikaru no Go anime is pretty close to the same to the manga (at least as I see it), there will naturally be some differences in the two formats.

There's obviously the difference where the manga and anime ended. What I list may not totally be accurate as along with looking at so many episodes and so many volumes of manga, it takes a lot to check. ^^;

Also, early on, perhaps because the artist hasn't figured out exactly the whole "look" of the characters, Sai could be very easily mistake for a young woman if it isn't known that he's wearing men's clothes from that era. I think it's *so* wrong! >_< It's lessens considerably after the first few chapters, volumes.

*spoilers*

In the manga, Hikaru is actually more unwilling to play Go when Sai says that he wants to play more Go. He says that he's too young to play Go when Sai wants to play go. Even after throwing up once, Hikaru still insists that he wants to live his own life and and then Sai causes him throw up again. (It's messy... >_<) Hikaru agrees to play Go. The first person Hikaru thinks of playing Go with is his grandpa in order to get money in the process (1,000 yen, if he wins to be exact, since Hikaru still has no allowance). He tells his grandpa that he has learned go, and his grandpa shows Hikaru his awards, that weren't on display when Hikaru wonders if he needs a handicap. Sai also is a bit more uncertain as Hikaru asks if Sai can defeat his grandpa, after seeing all his awards, and the answer is "probably". The anime ignored a bit of the terminology cut out here probably due to Sai telling the numbers of the points but Hikaru get confused and his grandpa gets impatient with how long he takes to play. Hikaru also realizes that after 140 years that the game has probably evolved with Sai mentioning a move made by his grandpa would have been unthinkable back then. But then his grandpa decides he's not going to bother with Hikaru at all. Sai didn't end up helping Hikaru on the test (which was a re-take since the whole class did bad on it), but helps him on the corrections. It even occurs to Hikaru to ask Sai "Why did you come to someone like me who has no interest in go?" and he wonders about that too. But Hikaru decides that he will take a class to learn the basics of go. He's disappointed that there's no kids are there. He also meets the bully that is seen when Akari also comes to the class. But although the sensei doesn't kick him out, he wants him apologize to Akota-san the next class. But others noticed that he laughed just as much as the rest of them. And Hikaru also asks if he knows of Fujiwara Sai, although of course he doesn't. He also has a conversation that Hikaru doesn't hear because he's leaving. It's the one that is about the best shougi and go player. In the anime, this end up being in the background of the go parlor that Mitani use to go to.

After learning about Touya Meijin Hikaru sees with Akota-san and ends up spitting out his juice that he was drinking on his hair and so the wig falls off. Hikaru's rude remarks while Akota-san is leaving are heard by the sensei and he's kicked out. He asks a woman for a nearby go club, and she tells him of one, though warning him that there are strong players there and that he might not be ready.

When Hikaru went to the Children's Go Tournament, Tsutsui is one of the people in attendant and he even gets some lines.

When Hikaru is at the Haze Junior High School festival, the manga has the book as Touya Meijin's Go Tutorial, instead of Touya Meiji's Tsumego Games. in the manga Kaga puts a cigaratte butt into the goban, instead of gum like he does in the anime. Kaga uses gum is also this way in the English (Viz) version of the manga, though Tsutsui lines still says it's a cigarette because the translator was true to the original. Also, with Hikaru choosing which hand is holding a stone with Kaga, he says that Hikaru will find out why he hates Touya Akira if he picks the right one, but will put out his cigarette on Hikaru's hand if he doesn't.

At the tournment, after Hikaru replays the game after one of them disturbs the stones, Sai realizes why he was attached to Hikaru. Tsutsui also doesn't seem as attached to his book for referal, as the moment where he is considering using it after Kaga insists he doesn't need it doesn't happen in the manga. Tsutsui realizes that it was good that he wasn't referring to the book, as when his oppenent makes a mistake when he was about to resign, he was able to see it.

And that's about all I want to cover (which is about volume 2 or 3), since it takes a lot out of me too read the volumes. It's too soon after seeing the series. ^^;

In the manga, when Hikaru finds out that Mitani is making money through winning games of go, he thinks of having Sai do it but Sai says that he will lose them on purpose if Hikaru does that.

For the third game that Hikaru has against Touya in the junior high school tournment, in the manga Hikaru had already decided that he would play against Touya and not Sai. But in the anime he had planned to allow Sai this match since Touya wants to play Sai and not himself. But then Hikaru sees a point a little into the game and he has the urge to play it and see it through the game.

In the summer where Hikaru and Sai use internet go to play, the website that Akira sees on the screen in the manga is Shouen Jump instead of that eggplant comic. I wonder why they did this, unless they didn't want to give Shounen Jump the publicity.

When Hikaru stops playing games, although his mother is worried the matter of Hikaru continuing on to high school and that he's missed the entrance exams for them doesn't come up.

When Hikaru is playing against Isumi in his room, in the manga the game that was played was the game that Isumi broke the rules on. It was played at that point in the game after setting it up. In the anime the game is started from scratch. Also in the manga, Hikaru almost immediately realizes while playing a stone that the Sai he's been looking for has been inside the game all this time. In the anime, Hikaru realizes this when he sees Sai pointing to where Hikaru was going to place his stone.

I don't recall Touya Kouya joining the Chinese team in amateur go, even after his retirement in the manga.

Near the end of the series, for the Meiji tournment with Akira and Hikaru, I recall that less of the match was seen in the manga. The whole matter of Touya seeing Sai in Hikaru and the game played was not in the manga. But Touya also admits flat out that Hikaru will be his eternal rival (though of course the audience already knew that, but he never stated it). We don't get to hear who won because Hikaru's mother cuts him off in the anime or manga, a bit to the reader's or viewer's annoyance. In the anime, we find out Hikaru lost the match in his dream later on, but still not by how much.

I'm not totally sure if for the last episode Sai visits Hikaru in his dream and it unfolds that way. I'm not entirely sure it happened in the manga. ^^' I don't know if Hikaru talks to Sai as much telling about what has happened, and if Sai also hands Hikaru his fan (as a symbol for him to continue the work towards the Hand of God) in the manga, but I don't recall it and don't think so since the manga doesn't finish up with as much closure. Also, the next day Hikaru buys a modern verson of Sai's fan that he will hold on to throughout his games. And also there's where Hikaru and Akira are playing at the go parlor and then break into a fight, but Akira even defends Hikaru's competence towards go despite that they are 3-dan and 1-dan, respectively. He also publicly announces that they are rivals.