(((I Will Outlive)))

• The reason Hikaru’s clothes all seem to have the number 5 on them is because “5″ is “go” in Japanese, so it’s a pun. This is why May 5th is Hikaru no Go day; May 5th (a holiday known as Children’s Day in Japan) is also the in-universe date of the big Thing that happens in episode 60, and the irl date that the volume the Thing happens in was released in English.
• Sai’s former host, Kuwabara Torajirou (better known as Hon’inbou Shuusaku), is a real historical figure widely regarded as one of Japan’s all-time best go players. He’s best known for having 19 straight wins in the Castle Games (an important go tournament during the Edo period), and the famous “ear-reddening game”, in which he played against a higher-level player and appeared to be losing until he made a comeback with a move supposedly so good that his opponent’s ears turned red. Torajiro eventually became heir to the prestigious Honinbou go school, but never actually inherited this role; When a cholera epidemic swept Japan in 1862, Torajiro insisted on tending patience in the Honinbou house, and died of cholera himself at age 33. (His teacher and head of the school at the time, Honinbou Shuwa, didn’t die until 11 years later.) Also, yes, Torajirou shares both his last name and his title with Kuwabara-sensei (although the modern Honinbou title is a title won in a tournament, since the Honinbou school closed in 1940). It’s unclear if there’s any actual connection between them other than their names. Oh and here’s a piece of rare official art that I’m fairly certain is of Torajirou’s death. :)

• Speaking of names, Hikaru, Akira, and Akari all have first names that have to do with light or visibility (”shining/bright/glittering”, “clear/light/bright”, and “light/glowing/lamp” respectively), while Sai, Hikaru, and Akari all have last names that include the character 藤, meaning “wisteria”, associated with the Fujiwara clan. (It’s the “dou” in “Shindou”, and the “fuji” in “Fujiwara” and “Fujisaki”). Again, nobody’s 100% sure of the significance of these connections.
• Sai’s hat is called a tate-eboshi (standing cap), and his robe is called a kariginu. His clothes are typical casual wear for a Heian-era nobleman. His hair, however, is not how men wore their hair at the time, but rather how noble women did (it’s a style called “taregami”, aka keeping your hair silky and as long as you can possibly grow it). His makeup and earrings are not typical of the period. Sai also uses gender-neutral pronouns (not that this is especially noteworthy, it really just means he’s polite, Roy Mustang uses the same ones ffs), has been shown in flashbacks interacting face-to-face with both men and women at a time and place where that wasn’t really a thing unless you were married or biologically related, and the publishers for the English edition of the manga thought Sai was a lady until the author corrected them on which pronouns to use.
• Go is known as “weiqi” in China, and “baduk” in Korea. Yes, there are go leagues in other countries. Yes, there are standardized English go terms. I don’t know WHY nobody in this fucking fandom ever uses them, ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING “GO-ISHI” LITERALLY JUST MEANS “GO STONES” AND ISN’T SPECIAL, but here’s a convenient list of terminology for when you’re reading a fic and have no idea what the hell anyone’s talking about.
• There’s an old PS1 RPG that takes place in a Heian-period AU in which Akira is an onmyouji (sort of like a wizardy priest I guess), Hikaru is a police officer in Heian-kyo (the capital city), and Sai is an ex-noble and legendary go player. The three of them have to work together to save Heian-kyo from a mysterious, seemingly go-related influx of yokai attacks. You can read my incomplete translation of the game here.
• Paper Cranes by @tenspontaneite​ is the most gripping fic you will ever read for any fandom, and blissfully ship-free. Don’t read it until you’ve finished the series, but do read it!! It’s SO GOOD and I really need to catch up oh my god
• Everyone loves to mock Akira’s fashion sense, but it’s actually made worse by the anime; In the manga, his hair was black with a lavender tint, so it went well with his lavender/pink/blue wardrobe. Then the anime came along and decided to make his hair FUCKING FOREST GREEN, BECAUSE THAT LOOKS GREAT WITH LAVENDER AND HOT PINK. Sai’s lipstick was also a lot less garish in most of the manga art, and if anyone ever tries to convince you that Sai’s lips are “purple” to represent his death via drowning, they’re an idiot who does not know what a drowned corpse looks like, or what the color purple looks like. Sai’s hair was also black in the manga.
• Here’s the famous “long hair Akira” image, a drawing by Takeshi Obata of what Hikaru and Akira would look like 10 years after the end of the manga. I forgot what this was drawn for, I think the anniversary of the manga maybe? Idk. But yeah, here it is.

H Y O U K A | THE END (◕‿◕✿) 

Getting Ready/ Houtarou Style~