GO SPOTTING: The Glory
Chris Garlock | Published on 2/11/2025
by Joel Sanet
Many Asian series feature Go as window dressing but in The Glory (streaming on Netflix) the
game is an integral part of the plot. It even shows up at the end of the opening credits when a Go board fills up with black and white Go stones that suddenly turn black, signifying the dark nature of the story.
Moon Dong-eun is a poor middle school girl who is mercilessly bullied by a group of her rich classmates. There is nothing she can do about it because the school officials and the police are in the pocket of the group's rich parents. She drops out of school and contemplates suicide but decides on a long-term plan of revenge. She works hard at menial jobs, passes the GED and college entrance exams then becomes a licensed teacher. On her journey she learns to play Go and seems to have a talent for it. When she finds out that the husband of her chief tormentor is an avid Go player, she integrates the game into her plot. This all happens in the first two (of 16) episodes.
Warning: This series can be brutal at times. Some will find the scenes in Episode 1 of a child being abused, both physically and psychologically, especially difficult to watch.
ADDITIONAL NOTE: a Chinese live-action version of Hikaru no Go has been released on Prime Video.