Most of the time I don’t feel the need to leave a review, but this time I just have to.

The story is very complete and satisfying but this world and our main character are so engaging that it feels like I could easily watch 36 more episodes. Seriously, it’s like I could watch Shi Guang forever.

I’ve loved many other series before, but this one stands out for at least a couple of reasons.

First, there is not one dull episode. Nothing feels unnecessary. Nothing gives you the itch to skip ahead. Nothing makes you lose your interest. You just want to keep watching non-stop. Every episode is consistent like that, always captivating, with a good rhythm, for the most part all equally interesting.
This is such a major feat already. There are so many shows that I enjoyed but became bored or too frustrated with at some point. No such thing with this one.

Second, related to this of course. The world and its characters felt very real. Not a dreary realism, mind you. This has a supernatural aspect to it obviously and plenty of comedy, but beyond that the characters are very human. They are complex characters with their own thoughts and feelings. The story developments feel natural. As well as the characters’ interactions, their bonds, their growth and change. It’s very well pieced together and at the same time feels organic.

Third, it didn’t feel predictable and at the same time satisfied the underlying expectations set up from the beginning. Which is rare. Most series fail somewhat in one way or another: become predictable or betray the viewer’s expectations and rob them of a satisfying development. This series in contrast develops and wraps up everything pretty nicely without leaving loose ends or feeling rushed at the end. (Though I could definitely go on watching Shi Guang living his life with the people around him)

I must compliment the acting of pretty much every single actor in this series. The only acting that did not satisfy me was from the Korean character (that was admittedly a bit cringe) but he’s such a minor character that it weights very little on the overall performance. Of course, I specially loved our main duo, Shi Guang and Chu Ying. The child actors were also incredible.

The story is about Go, but also about so much more than Go.
I knew pretty much nothing about Go going in and yet never felt lost nor bored. On the contrary I was able to learn a few things about this game and now I want to try playing it (give it a ‘go’, yes haha).
Beyond that the plot and subplots were all incredible in some way; interesting, funny, touching, inspiring, heart-warming...

I could go on talking about this series but it’s probably best to stop here. I just hope my commentary did it some justice.

So, I won’t spoil anything but the bottom line is: it’s truly worthwhile!
I just don’t give it a 10 because there’s always a couple of things that could be a bit better but still, a solid 9 for sure!

(...I already miss it so much. It will be hard to move on!)