A Baduk Blog

If you've ever watched Pokemon, you may have bought into an idea. The idea that you want to become “the very best, that no one ever was.” And so you rush out, and buy the game, and indeed become the very best after hours and hours of gentle button clicks and pixelated combat. But sadly, that is all Pokemon really is: a neat tv show, an addicting soundtrack over repetitive visuals, and maybe some card collecting if you're particularly loose with your cash (guilty as charged).

If you've ever watched Hikaru No Go, you may have bought into an idea. The idea that you desire to play “The Devine Move.” The characters, Hikaru and Sai, have inspired you to strive to become a Go Master. And so you Google Go and find... nothing. But then try searching Go Game... and that is where the story diverges from Pokemon.

Pokemon is awesome! It has good story telling, interesting characters, and all your friends know what it is. So I'm not hating on Pokemon. But Go, you discover, is actually a real-life game with thousands of years of history and culture and people far away from you who live the real-life version of what Hikaru went through (not including the ghost... probably).

And so, if you ever want a quick, fun, and enticing way to describe Go to a new person. Just tell them, “Go is like Pokemon, but it's real!”