Hikaru no go kanzenban edition review

In this post I will be taking a look at volume 1 of the kanzenban (complete/ultimate) edition of Hikaru no go manga (Japanese comic).

I recently got a copy of the 1st volume of the kanzenban edition of Hikaru no go  (ヒカルの碁 完全版) by Yumi Hotta and Takeshi Obata (The artist who drew Death note and Bakuman). I would like to share my thoughts on this edition in case there were people out there who like me is interested in maybe buying it.

What is different

The kanzenban edition was released in 2009. Whereas the original tankobon came out in 1999 and the bunkoban in 2012.

At first glance the kanzenban editions of Hikaru no go has some new cover designs and is released into 20 volumes instead of the original 23 volumes of tankobon. There is also a bunkoban release of the series which compiles it into 12 volumes.

The cover paper is kind of matte, but it is not the usual matte cover paper, it has a thick paper feel similar to watercolor paper, but it is still very smooth. If that makes sense. The golden letters on the cover are shiny and metallic.

In case you are unfamiliar with Japanese manga books, the almost always have theses dust covers that hardcover books sometimes have in the west. The cover under the dust cover on the kanzenban edition has a sketch for the dust cover design in case you are wondering.

There are a few colored pages which i assume were the ones that were colored when the series where first published/serialized in the magazine "Weekly Shonen Jump". I don't think the american Viz media release has these colored pages. The Viz release does include a small intro page though and after the first chapter there is a small commentary comic strip from the creator, and in the back there is a page about the game go. The small commentary comic strip is also included in the back of the kanzenban edition, so you won't be missing out on that.

The kanzenban does have a profile page at the beginning of the book, in the case of volume 1 there is a profile of the character Hikaru in color.

The page quality seems really good, it is very white and thicker than the usual Japanese tankobon paper and has a smoother feel than the paper used in the usual Viz tankobon. The whiteness and smoother paper makes the art look a bit more crisp/stand out i think. The art is really good to begin with.

The page size is also bigger than both the usual Japanese and viz tankobon.

Top (Meitantei Conan/Case closed Japanese tankobon), middle (Fullmetal alchemist viz English tankobon), bottom (Hikaru no go Japanese kanzenban)

The price

The Japanese kanzenbans retail price is around 952 JPY without tax.
The Japanese tankobon retail price is around 390 JPY without tax and the bunkoban around 705 JPY without tax.
(Actual prices may vary)

Putting it into perspective...
So which version would be cheapest to completely collect?
Kanzenban: 952x20=19040 JPY
Tankobon: 390x23=8970 JPY
Bunkoban: 705x12=8460 JPY

If you are just going for the cheapest option to collect the series, the bunkoban may be the choice for you. I don't actually own this edition, so i can't say as to the quality of it.

Review

I personally really like the kanzenban edition, the larger format makes it easier for me to read and i really appreciate seeing the art in a bigger format too. The covers are gorgeous and it's nice to see the colored pages now and then. This edition really has a premium feel to it overall. I think the new covers in pastel and lighter colors are really pretty. But they are also very different from the original tankobon and bunkobon covers which had a more of a black and white design with bolder colors. So if you are more into the original design, this new cover might not appeal to you.

The only downside, aside from the higher price tag, would maybe be that the bigger format makes it a bit more difficult for me to hold in my hands the way i usually do, but changing the way i hold it immediately eliminates that problem. And maybe people with bigger hands don't get that at all.

I think paying a bit more for this version is definitely worth it for what you get. And comparing it to the price of a standard english release manga it really isn't too expensive at all.

Is it suitable for Japanese learners?

Since it is a shonen manga I think almost all kanji has furigana, which is helpful if you are learning Japanese and can't read many kanji yet. It is a bit text heavy though, and there might be a few words you would have to look up if you aren't that fluent in Japanese yet. I wouldn't recommend it if you are a complete beginner at japanese, but once you can read kana and a know good amount of common vocabulary and grammar, this shouldn't be too hard of a read i think. And if you aren't used to reading much japanese yet, it might be helpful that the kanzenban is in a bigger format, so the characters are bigger and easier to read.

Overview - Which version should you pick?

This kanzenban version of the physical release is recommended if
- You like the new covers.
- Like the bigger format.
- For the paper quality.
- For the few colored pages.
- You are okay with the missing commentary pages.
- You think it is worth the higher price.
- You know or are learning Japanese (*see the section for Japanese learners).

Where to buy

For the first volume I got it used from an amazon.co.jp seller. Even though it was used (I think the condition was described as "Very good"), it was still in excellent condition. I probably wouldn't have guessed it had been used before, as the minimal wear it had could have just been shelf wear from the bookshop.

The sites i usually use to buy japanese manga/comic are:

cdjapan.co.jp

honto.jp

amazon.co.jp

Beware that at the time of this post i think volumes 1, 14 and 15 of the kanzenban edition are a bit hard to get, aside from buying them used. Especially volume 15. This may have changed since the the time of this post though.


Please feel free to leave your thoughts in the comment section below or do let me know if I might have missed/mistaken something :)