Gekka no Kishi

Reading the manga Gekka no Kishi. Don’t really like the main character, but the manga is interesting enough to read fast and has nice art. I can’t play shougi but I can tell the game scenes in this manga are a bit silly. That scene where the new meijin licks spider blood of the board dropped me from the chair.

Wife of one of the pro players always asks her husband after the game “did you lose?”, because if she instead asked “did you win?”, he might be pained to answer. This way it’s an easy both ways with “Yes, I did” and “No, I won”.

The author is close to 70 years old and apparently still drawing manga.

I wonder if taking amphetamines is illegal in pro go or shougi, as doping.

Reading more Gekka no Kishi. There’s literal blood on the board in almost every match. I’m liking this the more I read it. It’s written in a really personal style. Maybe it’s the kind of “serious humor” Bakuman mentioned at one point. The characters always have funny faces and do outrageous stuff that makes me laugh, but the jokes are rarely acknowledged with tsukkomi or laughing characters.

I’m also in awe of this work’s visual art considering these volumes are from the early nineties.