Most definantly a TV rip, but a pretty good one. There is a blurry distorted line at the bottom of the screen at all times, but you probably won't notice it if you watch it on a TV, (most clip off the other edges) HikaGo has lots and lots of really strong and bold colors, and they all look fantastic, but unfortunantly this also causes some (sometimes bad) color bleeding. Like in one scene, where Hikaru is wearing a yellow shirt, it looks like he's glowing. There is also some pixelation in really fast movements. Some scenes can look completly DVD quality, some can be like a bad digisub, but overall it's really good.

It was good and clear, and I never heard any distortions or issues with it. But it's nothing really fancy, it's just your basic stereo.

It was good and clear, and I never heard any distortions or issues with it. But it's nothing really fancy, it's just your basic stereo.

Packaging: My set has a different cover picture then the one shown, at the picture on the one shown is what the disc1 picture is. I love the cover though. It has Hikaru holding out a go stone with a bunch of star-like go boards, some with characters' faces on them, behind him. The back looks pretty good, considering it's nothing but screenshots and one picture. One thing I really didn't like was that Disc2 was a manga picture. It made the set look really wierd, but I guess it's not really something to complain about. Menus: I loved these menus. The collage was GREAT for the main one, and the Scene Select was done so the video played in Go stones on a board. The subtitle menu sucked, IMO (manga pictures used again, making everything else look wierd) but the others were great. ---------- The series is really really good. It sounds boring, but it's very fast paced and has some great music and some awesome character development. Plus, it's openings and ending ROCK. You should definantly try this one out. One thing I hated about this set was that it was one intro and one closing per episode. This might not seem like a big deal, but Hikaru no Go's episodes play the first few seconds of the ending song before it actually ends (think Fushigi Yuugi), so you hear the ending song start, and then when it should start playing, it just cuts to the Go lessons. It ruins the feel of the episodes, and it makes it so the only way to see the first ending (the best one, IMO) is watching disc 1's last episode. It turns out the very very last episode of Disc2 has the new ending, so that means that is the ending you get to see, and since every one of the first endings are different, you really only get to see the great opening once, which really blew. A pretty good buy, and it's probably too much to hope for an R2 rip someday, but definantly a really great series that was worth my time, and a mediocre DVD release. I'd try to find the digisubs instead of getting this, even though watching on your computer isn't as fun... at least it's complete (everything subbed, including on screen text, lessons, and all openings/endings)

TV-rip, but very well done. At the bottom there are some white distorted lines, but I could only see them on the computer. On my TV they weren't visible.

Good audio.

Good audio.

Despite being a TV rip, this is a nice set. And the show itself is also very good. Recommended!

Even though there are a number of mispelled words through out the thing its still really good. I think that the extra at the end of the show is pretty cool as well. This set makes you want to really watch more after you're done with it.

Video, Audio, & Subs are very good, but it appears that it was copied from TV...but I swear the quality seems to be superior to a TV copy. This is a great series...but I highly suggest that you also get Vol 2. Since there are only four episodes you will want the next set right away. One of the great things about this set is the ending of each episode. They teach you a little bit about Go each time-don't worry this part also has subs (Although you probably learn more during the episodes). Another thing that makes this anime stand out is the culture and tradition displayed during the tutoring and competition.

Volume 1 is a single-disc release that contains episodes 1-4. They are TV broadcast rips that look ALMOST as good as DVD. I have the overscan minimized on my TV and I can see the jerky white dot across the bottom that suggests this is from tape, but it looks way too good to be either VHS or S-VHS. You can occasionally see very minor dropouts. Perhaps it's from Hi-8 or some other digital format? The subtitles are very good with occasional misspellings. The names are usually correct and the timing seems fine. They seem to be taken from the [Elite-Fansubs] divx files, but I haven't done a direct comparison. The additional GO term definitions from the fansubs are not included. While this is unfortunate, the definitions are helpful while watching, but are not essential, so this should not put anyone off from buying this excellent disc. One bit of unnecessary editing, though: The opening and closing credits are not included with every episode. The disc opens with the opening credits and we don't see closing credits until the end of the final episode. All of the Go Go Igo live-action instructional clips are there, though. The audio is fine, exactly what you would expect from a broadcast rip. Hikaru no Go Volume 1 Manga International, Inc. DVD-24901-E Total time: 1:22:48 Average bitrate: 5.31Mbps Video 4/5; Audio 4/5; Subtitles 4/5 In closing, Volume 1, while only containing four episodes, is an excellent disc that is well worth owning.