(CR) Saki

[tjalorak]

Originally Posted by Secca

Saki is really strong when she can face to face with another player. But since she was doing +- 0 to avoid conflict in her family in the first place, that's probably her weakness, she can't play againts players that terrorize or preasure other players like her sister, that's why she lost in the cafe. It's almost like she was being dead stared by a snake.

I wonder if also she's just more sensitive to, well, the closest term would be, killing intent. She notices Koromo's aura from probably miles away. It's sort of interesting that the only two people with these types of auras are Koromo and Saki.

Edit: In the tournament that is. Others so far are Teru and Fujita like you said.

That being said, your theory definitely has a lot of merit and doesn't bode well for Saki's early play against Koromo.

[Peanutbutter]

Originally Posted by 4Tran

Bingo. Although I think that there's something up with Yumi, the club president as well.

I'll just note down this statement for now.

[scr]

Spoiler for speculation time!:

- Haven't read the manga yet, but i think Hisa's change of family name could be due to her parents divorced. "Ueno" is the family name of her father, and when her mother divorced him, Hisa took the family name from mother's side, "Takei".
- It's possible that stress (, etc) from her parents' divorce caused her to break down and deserted the competition three years ago.
- If all of this are true, then suddenly the conflict between Hisa and Mihoko become more dramatic (for me, at least. I love drama in my competition anime). Imagine: losing a parent, losing the chance to compete (her own fault, maybe), getting into a backwater school with no chance to go back to Mahjong, and now when she has hope, it will be crushed?
- I think Hisa's ability is something involving a counterattack or "Limit Break" (FF7), seeing as how she prefer things to be torturous to her.

- Maybe Momoko's face can't be represented using Euclidean geometry, that's why Gonzo is doing us a favor of not showing it. Her face can't be safe to look at...

- It's strange, really, those two girls who tried to steal Nodoka's precious thing. They say that they went karaoke until morning (who the heck are they?! they have mindset and looks of a salaryman!), but by the time they get to the nap room, it's close to 12 o clock. And they say that they go to the nap room to take some rest, which is even stranger. If their school is so far away (like the Kazekoshi), they should have a place to sleep for at least two days (the length of the preliminary, the number of days they get their leave from school).

I'm reading between the lines, really.

[tjalorak]

Originally Posted by scr

Spoiler for speculation time!:

- It's possible that stress (, etc) from her parents' divorce caused her to break down and deserted the competition three years ago.

She didn't break down though... Her family didn't have the money to get into Kazekoshi so she went to Kiyosumi. And she never wanted to leave the competition. Granted, she could have gone to the individual competition but according to her, she was more interested and wanted to go as a team.

[Deathkillz]

Originally Posted by Quarkboy

Hisa's "special power" has been foreshadowed multiple times in the show, including the preview for the next episose... Mako complained about how Hisa always "Chooses the waits with the worst odds". Not sure how that is a special power instead of just an unconventional playing style, but maybe it's exactly that unconventional playing style that is what throws off her opponents.

She seems like a greedy player and likes to win BIG with one hand to me

I was rather surprised at Mako being thrown off by a pure noob...what's more, said noob actually managed to crawl to 2nd place of the leader board...talk about luck(?)

But I have a feeling that Hisa will kick some serious ass especially since Mihoko shat bricks when realising that she faced off against her before. Kowaiii~

[SuperKnuckles]

Sometimes, beginner's luck is a bit of a skill. Since beginners usually play pretty chaotically, they automatically become the dark horse and may stump players who have advanced strategies in mind. Especially when discarded tiles figure so heavily into the Mahjong game, if you're doing it chaotically, then it becomes a bit of a weapon. I mean, even in fighting games (videogames), other card/board games, beginner's luck can actually wear down veterans from time to time because their tactics are either so chaotic or so pure as to how they play, it disrupts in-depth planning.

[felix]

Not if you know what kind of beginner mistakes they make.
Mako was right, if she had seen more newbies she would have won.

[Willen]

Originally Posted by Cats

Not if you know what kind of beginner mistakes they make.
Mako was right, if she had seen more newbies she would have won.

She didn't watch Kyou enough? Or maybe he isn't a newb, just not very good?

[Eisdrache]

I wonder when exactly Hisas power was foreshadowed? o_o I dont remember her seeing playing even once. Maybe my memory is bad. Im not watching previews so that is out too, seems like I have to wait for the next episode to see her awesomeness.

Originally Posted by Willen

She didn't watch Kyou enough? Or maybe he isn't a newb, just not very good?

We dont know how long Kaori and Kyou have been in their clubs. Maybe Kyou is just for a longer time playing mahjong. Maybe he studied before going to high-school. Maybe he just learns faster than Kaori. Or maybe he got better by playing with monsters like Saki/Nodoka/Mako/Hisa.

Originally Posted by Cats

Not if you know what kind of beginner mistakes they make.
Mako was right, if she had seen more newbies she would have won.

Have fun predicting moves of a novice. Thats as possible as winning with a rinshan kaiho regularly.

Originally Posted by 4Tran

What it also shows is how seriously cheating is considered, and how difficult it is to regain trust again. This is why Saki is very much a sports anime where something like Akagi isn't.

Im NOT planning to do it, but how exactly are you cheating in Mahjong? I mean sneaking in tiles wont work, it will be discovered the second 5 of the same tiles are open. Changing tiles on the dead wall would require VERY fast hands and still depend extremely on luck. I just dont see a way. Oh maybe changing tiles in your hand and your discards.

[Farplaner]

I think it's kind of like in poker, you always see some amateur piss off the pros by playing unpredictably and recklessly, throwing their mind games off.

[Willen]

Originally Posted by Eisdrache

I wonder when exactly Hisas power was foreshadowed? o_o I dont remember her seeing playing even once. Maybe my memory is bad. Im not watching previews so that is out too, seems like I have to wait for the next episode to see her awesomeness.

I can only remember the conversation between Mako and Hisa in episode 8, specifically at around 8:42.

[M.Marangio]

Originally Posted by Deathkillz

But I have a feeling that Hisa will kick some serious ass especially since Mihoko shat bricks when realising that she faced off against her before.

Well, Hisa will play against the weakest member of Kazekoshi, Seika Bundo, the former number 78 of the club.

[Duo Maxwell]

Originally Posted by M.Marangio

Well, Hisa will play against the weakest member of Kazekoshi, Seika Bundo, the former number 78 of the club.

Not anymore.

[Peanutbutter]

I don't quite get Kazekoshi's player placement strategy though.

Especially Bundo's style later we'll see, she's more suited as the first player.

[SuperKnuckles]

Originally Posted by Farplaner

I think it's kind of like in poker, you always see some amateur piss off the pros by playing unpredictably and recklessly, throwing their mind games off.

Exactly. Playing totally newbie style means you HAVE no style. So mindgames basically does not work, period.

Obviously, some games like Poker or Mahjong where discards and playing styles dictate the match benefits from newbie style rather than something like Chess where a newbie mistake could easily be exploited. But concealed hands are totally another matter. It's basically like Mu-shin or the no-mindedness martial artists and Bushido teach. Even after YEARS of practice and techniques drilled into them, they are taught to empty their minds and lose form to confuse the enemies and make sure no moves are seen. With newbies, that is already built into their circumstance.

[tjalorak]

Originally Posted by Peanutbutter003

I don't quite get Kazekoshi's player placement strategy though.

Especially Bundo's style later we'll see, she's more suited as the first player.

Well, we know last year, Mihoko played the fukushou (vice-captain?) Touka but she notes that Jun really hurt them -- probably early in the match since Ryuumonbuchi's line up seems to be the same.

So apparently she felt she had to make sure Jun didn't go off so that Kazekoshi didn't start with a deficit. Her "special power" and her ability to hide in the flow and direct others toward Jun just seems to be a perfect counter to Jun.

That being said, yes, it is pretty perplexing! Maybe she just wants / hopes that the middle three players will lose points but at a slow enough rate that Kazekoshi will be equal and near the top going into the final round.

[Duo Maxwell]

Originally Posted by tjalorak

That being said, yes, it is pretty perplexing! Maybe she just wants / hopes that the middle three players will lose points but at a slow enough rate that Kazekoshi will be equal and near the top going into the final round.

Her only mistake is underestimating Koromo.

[DmonHiro]

I'm just speculating, but something just hit me. Momoka's (the ghost girl) aura seems very similar to Fujita's aura in episode 4. Could there be some connection?

[Proto]

Could be. Could be not.

[Marina2]

After wandered around internet, I found something interesting.

OP2's name : [bloooomin']
ED3(?)'s name : 四角い宇宙で待ってるよ] (Shikakui Uchuu de Matteru yo)

Source :


ANN also put ED3's name on their website

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/ency...e.php?id=10527

..............................................

Tsuruga team in ED2 ^^ (Next is Ryuumonbushi's ?)