MOVIE • 2024

Utaemaki 「Hikaru no Go」: The Opening Move

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One day, 6th grader Hikaru discovers an old Go board in a storehouse. At that moment, the spirit of Fujiwara no Sai, a brilliant go player from the Heian period who had been residing within the board enters Hikaru’s consciousness. Moved by Sai’s single-minded passion for Go, Hikaru gradually steps into the world of go. Meanwhile, Akira Toya, a prodigious Go player and the son of professional Go player Koyo Toya—said to be the closest player in the modern era to attaining the "Divine Move"—happens to play against Hikaru and suffers a defeat. And so, this begins their endless journey as rivals. As time passes, Hikaru enters middle school and, together with Kaga of the Shogi Club, Tsutsui, the president of the Go Club, and his classmate Mitani, continues to broaden his world of Go. ("Utaemaki" can be translated into "Symphonic Picture Scroll"—this is a musical.)