Hikaru is given a phone call asking him to appear in the Japan/China/Korea Junior's Tournament but he finds out he will have to take part in a preliminary tournament to choose Japan's three contestants. Upon discussing this with Akira, he discovers that Akira has already been chosen for the tournament and will not be taking place in the preliminaries. Hikaru then decides not to visit Akira's Go Salon until he takes his place on the team with Akira. That may be tougher than originally planned...
Direction
Tetsuya Endo builds tournament tension like a sports film.
Writing
Hikaru and Akira's parallel growth hits different here.
Acting
Tomoko Kawakami's frustration and determination in Hikaru's voice.
Director
Tetsuya Endo
Tomoko Kawakami
Hikaru Shindō (voice)
Sanae Kobayashi
Akira Toya (voice)
Keiji Fujiwara
Seiji Ogata (voice)
Yurika Hino
Hikaru's mother (voice)
Katashi Ishizuka
Kiyoharu Yashiro (voice)
Reiko Takagi
Ping Le (voice)
Eriko Fujimaki
Shi Zhao (voice)
Kenichi Suzumura
Isumi Shinichirou (voice)
Mitsuo Iwata
Atsushi Kurata (voice)
Yumi Kakazu
Akari Fujisaki (voice)
Rokuro Naya
Honinbo Kuwabara (voice)
Mitsuaki Hoshino
Hirose (voice)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The North Star Cup reflects real Japan-China-Korea Go rivalries; each nation treats the game as serious national sport.
This special bridges the series gap before Sai's departure, making Hikaru's solo determination hit harder retroactively.
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