“Hikaru No Go,” a Chinese drama adapted from a Japanese manga series based on the board game Go and written by Yumi Hotta, received an 8.4 out of 10 on the Chinese reviewing website Douban and a 9.1 on MyDramaList.

In the 36-episode drama aired on iQiyi, student Shi Guang (Hu Xianxu) discovers an ancient Go board in his grandpa’s home that leads to his encounter with Chu Ying (Zhang Chao), the spirit of a top Go player in the 6th century. Under Chu’s coaching, Shi rapidly improves his Go skill. At the same time he also begins to fall under the spell of the game.

“The drama is built on a solid storyline. The trailer looked interesting so I checked it out a little bit. But I never knew I was hooked until the end. I will definitely watch this drama again. The acting is superb and the music is well suited for the drama of growth and competition. I had a little bit of previous knowledge about Go but this drama gives more knowledge about it and also goes behind the scenes. One thing that I don’t like is that 36 episodes are not enough for me. I need more. I hope there’s a season 2,” commented an audience member on MyDramaList.

Many audience members are also discussing Go techniques on Douban. “I’m going to learn Go after watching this drama,” said a Douban user.

(Cao Zhen)