Wake the Sun

* It is, it is. But you know, what with Ogata and Kuwabara, you kind of have to wonder about this manga anyhow.

*When the pro exam participants were talking about the strain put on them by work, and school/university, and travel etc., I had to think that I'm not sure that I would do well in that general environment of stress.
I'm fairly certain that I would have had difficulties focusing myself enough to deal with getting into university without sliding into the lack of concern that is Hikaru's natural state of being.
I would have had anxiety issues en masse.

* I used to absolutely loathe Ochi, but with greater understanding of psychology (and kids in general), I just sort of want to give him a hug and tell him to simmer down.
He's so intense and takes everything very personally, a sure sign of immaturity.
Akira provides a great contrast to that, and I *do* think he's quite mature in a way, but a big part of his tolerance is his almost exclusive focus on igo and on Hikaru.

I used to know someone a lot like Ochi, and in a competitive environment I've unfortunately displayed some of his less charming traits myself. SIGH.
I was a kid, but still.

Psyching Isumi out was pretty evil though. I'm not even sure he fully understood what he was doing, he's so focused on himself.

* AAAAAH ISUMI. *pulls at hair*

* Oh the psychology of this is so interesting from both sides, aaaaah ... [I'm live commenting, can you tell? ^^]

* I'm probably reading too much into it, but I find Hikaru's relationship to his parents a bit troubling.

* Nope, Ochi definitely doesn't see the effect he's having. Boy needs some sensitivity training. Or training to hone that skill to psych people out, depending on the direction he wants to go.

* Whoo, an angry Isumi is an AWESOME Isumi.

* Ochi's family environment is clearly responsible for his attitude and the pressure he puts on himself. Brings back memories.

* NAAASEEE, YOU'RE MY FAVOURITE. (Sometimes. ^^)

*Aaaand now, one of my top favourite scenes in the entire series. *beams*
*deep sigh* OH AKIRA. WE ALL WANT TO KNOW.

Hikaru's family is frankly an *issue* to me. His parents don't know anything about what he does, what he likes, what he worries about.
And they exhibit only very cursory efforts to find out. Certainly his dad never shows up, and his mom - I'm not a fan of hers.
She has shown a total lack of confidence in Hikaru, she doesn't know him *at all*.
It's like to her, he's an adult with a young adult's rights and the simplicity of thought and the emotional needs of a four-year-old, if that.

Hikaru grows up a lot in the course of the series, and it looks like his parents missed that happening.

It's like the idea that every teenager has, that their parents don't understand them, is explicitly true for Hikaru.

I think it's because he's so self-focused. He wonders aloud to Isumi and doesn't really consider what he's doing there.

When it comes to psychological strength in a competition, the difference between 12 and 18 is not very big. Frankly I was more stable at 12 than at 16, though it went back up around 17 to 18.
I've seen two 13-year-olds completely psych out the entire rest of the competition, even though in that instance they weren't even in competition with those of a different age.