a random dive into Hikaru no Go

So I fell down a Hikaru no Go rabbithole. The plan was to watch the new Chinese live action, which I haven't done yet except for an episode or two, because I read the manga and watched the anime instead.

Did I learn to play Go? No. What's so fun about HnG is that it's still appealing even when you don't know the game.

I'm also fascinated that the mangaka, Takeshi Obata, went on to work on Death Note. I know he was the artist and not the writer, but I love the idea of Ryuk in Death Note (nightmarish demonic shinigami accompanying our protagonist, invisible to everyone else) as an alternate version of Sai in HnG (charming, brilliant, puckish, only occasionally ruthless ghost accompanying our protagonist, invisible to everyone else). Or the frenemy/rivalry of Touya and Shindo at a Go board turning into a similar relationship between a serial killer and a detective.

Mostly, having just finished the anime, I want to sit with Sai and make him ghost tea and listen to his stories about Heian court life. It's mentioned in canon that he played with Murasaki Shikibu and Sei Shonagon, but what did they talk about? Did Sei Shonagon try to flirt her way out of defeat? Did Murasaki base any of her Tale of Genji characters on him?