(L) Saki manga

[eavein18]

http://raw.senmanga.com/Saki/112/1/

The raws people (in case you've not found/seen it)

Don't you think Satoha looks really pretty when her hair is down? Wonder why she tie it up and wear glasses (lol)(mahjong mafia theory?)

Satoha's discard are west, hatsu, 3 sozu, 4 pinzu, 5 manzu, I wonder if this has special meaning...

So Satoha cut off Suzu's fuss... so... no more explosion?

[The Green One]

Suzu's trump card, her explosion mode has been soundly and thoroughly snuffed I think this pretty much clinches that Suzu is outskilled and outclassed at this level of the tournament, this may be the beginning of the end for her and her team.

[Fragment off]

Originally Posted by The Green One

Suzu's trump card, her explosion mode has been soundly and thoroughly snuffed I think this pretty much clinches that Suzu is outskilled and outclassed at this level of the tournament, this may be the beginning of the end for her and her team.

The begining of the end was when Kiyosumi fell on there groups, now it's just the long agony of someone who don't know he is dead already.

[tjalorak]

Aces outclass regulars, even regulars with abilities, and (awake) monsters outclass aces.

It's not a surprise that Satoha seems to be dominating the round given that she's Rinkai's Ace. And we've seen teams get out to a big lead in the beginning and then lose it (i.e. Kazekoshi, Shiratodai). Going to have to see how Hiroe and Kyoko perform to have a better idea on whether Himematsu will make it through.

Although I do have to say that while I like Hiroe, I'm a little partial to Rinkai at the moment if only because I think Satoha would be a more interesting 4th to the match up with Teru in the final.

[Used Can]

I'd like it if Rinkai doesn't up suffering from the same issue as Shiraitodai (Vanguard rocks, the rest sucks), and that the other girls prove to be extremely good players as well. They are supposed to have two monsters in their team, no?

I'm really, really, reeeeaaaally expecting them not to start sucking as soon as the Vanguard match is over. Shiraitodai was already too much of a disappointment, and Rinkai really seems promising.

Mind you, I love the Himematsu girls and the Usuzan girls seem cute, but I really want Rinkai to rock this round.

[Requiem-x]

Originally Posted by Used Can

I'd like it if Rinkai doesn't up suffering from the same issue as Shiraitodai (Vanguard rocks, the rest sucks), and that the other girls prove to be extremely good players as well. They are supposed to have two monsters in their team, no?

I'm really, really, reeeeaaaally expecting them not to start sucking as soon as the Vanguard match is over. Shiraitodai was already too much of a disappointment, and Rinkai really seems promising.

Mind you, I love the Himematsu girls and the Usuzan girls seem cute, but I really want Rinkai to rock this round.

I wouldn't worry about that. Shiraitodai had the very special circumstance of having the final boss as their vanguard, so of course the rest of the team would be downplayed (though Awai was a bit of a dissapointment, admitingly). There should be at least one really good player in Rinkai after this.

Not sure if that will be enough to defeat the catholic school boost, but we'll see.

[Fragment off]

An other thing about the Level Satoha (And Kei too but we are not talking about her here) Is that she was third in a individual match agaisnt Teru, were as far as we know no one got below Zero.
That mean she managed to not lose more that 25000 point to Teru.
Just that pose her as a top 4 on the list a the best player we've seen so far

Originally Posted by Used Can

I'd like it if Rinkai doesn't up suffering from the same issue as Shiraitodai (Vanguard rocks, the rest sucks), and that the other girls prove to be extremely good players as well. They are supposed to have two monsters in their team, no?

I'm really, really, reeeeaaaally expecting them not to start sucking as soon as the Vanguard match is over. Shiraitodai was already too much of a disappointment, and Rinkai really seems promising.

That is also a probleme They have two Monster but none of them is the Ace. It mean Satoha beat them both.
Satoha is close enought to Teru Level that I don't worry much but it mean thay have crack in there play.

And those two monster will most lickly go agaisnt Hisa/Hiroe or Saki
The combination Hisa/ Hiroe even if they play agaisnt each other strike me as something that make crack in play even bigger, and they are good enought to strike at weakness.
As for Saki... do I really need to explain after the Quarter-Final?

[teja208]

IMO, I think it's likely that the rest of Rinkai will get nerfed somehow, after what happened to Esui and Shiraitodai this is to be expected. In Shiraitodai case though, they are nerfed due to having to compensate Teru's overwhelming lead, but I can't imagine Satoha achieving that much point gap so I don't think Rinkai will be nerfed as badly as Shiraitodai.

As for who will made it to the final between Rinkai and Usuzan, to be honest, I think Usuzan has more potential than Rinkai depending on whether Ritz prioritizes the vanguard or the captain match in the finals, and I think captain match favors Uzusan more than Rinkai. For one thing we were hinted that Usuzan kept their best players at the back.

At this point it would seem that Satoha will make a better contender for Teru in the final vanguard match than Naruka. Satoha is the world class player and having faced Teru once. However, when looking at the rest of the team, they may be among the best of their country, but plot-relevant wise, they don't provide much while Uzusan has more potential to turn into a wildcard.

You know, I think Ritz intent to create some sort of sentimental “connection” between every captain players in the finals. For example, before the Semi of side A, Awai didn’t even remember Shizu’s name, but the author wants to spices things by adding some rivalry dynamic between Awai and Shizu so she had Shizu beat Awai in the Semi. Now Awai wants her revenge, so a “connection” was formed between the two.

So the fourth player who plays captain in the finals should also have some sort of “connection” with Saki, Awai, or Shizu. For instance, supposed the fourth player is the mysterious girl in Saki’s dream or something like Awai’s former middle school rival seeking rematch after Awai beat her last time. Now back to Rinkai and Usuzan. The thing about Rinkai is, aside from Satoha, the rest aren’t likely to have that sort of “connection” since they came from other country. If Rinkai advances, Satoha will get her rematch with Teru, but when it’s their captain's turn to play, Rinkai player will be left out from the “connection”. For one thing, they aren't even Japanese to begin with so at least we can rule out any "connection" with Miyanaga family to say the least. But when it comes to Uzusan’s captain, there is a higher chance that the captain player will turn out to be someone with a “connection” to Saki, Awai, or Shizu. Note that unlike Rinkai, some of Uzusan’s players faces are kept hidden which may imply that their face belongs to someone important. Once we saw that face, we may be able to “connect the dot” if you know what I mean.

At this point, I want Rinkai to advance, but I had this feeling that Ritz wants to keep Usuzan as a surprise just like Achiga. You can say that Usuzan is Achiga of Side B. Naruka already given that impression by acting like Kuro 2.0 let's see how the rest of Uzusan players turns out. I bet their next player loves cold places to contrast Yuu's love of warm places coming from Hokkaido and all that.

[tjalorak]

Originally Posted by night_sentinel

I can't believe that I almost missed this post.
+1 for tjalorak

I also believe that Saki's lack of agency or goals is one of the core plot point of the manga, Its practically embodied in her +/- zero playstyle wherein she doesn't want to win or lose ever. Its a playstyle that basically nix any sort of confrontation.

Yep. Agreed.

And from what we know of Saki's past, this was a justifiable and in-character response. It also makes me want to scream wth?! at the Miyanaga family, bit by bit, we are seeing that they are not a normal family at all. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if the whole family happens to be as tjalorak predicted, mahjong savants that absolutely suck at relationship.

Saki seems surprised by a lot of things. Going to the pool for the first time... and then there's the reaction where she thinks of everything in terms of reward / punishment for mahjong. When Hisa announces the trip to a pool, Saki doesn't get it until Hisa spec. notes that it's a reward for winning the team tournament.

... That's pretty sad.

Anyway, back to the +/- zero. It is obvious in our first reading of the manga but more rereads shows that it is a symptom of deeper issues. That Saki doesn't have any goals that she wished to accomplish for herself. That and she dislikes any sort of confrontation.

But, I don't think that its all gloom and doom. Saki having no goals is the major reason why she does better on the team tournament than the individual and why I think Saki makes the perfect captain player than any other position. Team tournaments afford Saki to share goals with her teammate. If we look now, Saki doesn't really get this winning thing and giving it your all thing that Nodoka talked about. Even now, she's mostly winning so that it won't hurt her teammates feelings or her opponents and uphold her promise to Nodoka.

See: individuals until Nodoka gets mad at her. Speaking of Nodoka, I'm always amused by her confidence. And it's not even arrogance: it's just stuff like 'I'm confident in my abilities and that of my teammates. We're aiming for the nationals,' etc.

But that makes Team tournaments great for Saki. For even if Saki doesn't really get this competition thing, she is really self-sacrificial when it comes to her loved ones - not letting them down is something she can easily get. Thus, Saki will naturally be more motivated when it comes to team matches.

Unless she's scared / traumatized...

Besides, Captain is a good fit. Because, Saki has practically no ego problems to speak of which is the side benefit of having no goals. She'll do anything to make your team win. Saki has basically nothing to prove. She will be quite okay if she got second. She will not make any insane risks to grandstand needlessly. Basically, since she has no "I" she'll put the team first in any situation. This is evidenced by the fact that when you look deeper, beyond the flashy rinshan kaihou, Saki is scarily pragmatic in all her team matches that we've seen.

Agreed. And we've already seen several players put themselves ahead of their team. Awai, Touka... In Koromo's case, since the team was made for her, I'm sort of 'eh' about it. The purpose of the team was for her to have fun with others so I guess that was still a win for her -- finding Nodoka and Saki to go along with others of Ryuumonbuchi.

Of course, it will be better if Saki character develops beyond her +/- zero. Even with the unexpected benefit, it is still a chain holding her in bay. Her current playstyle really restricts her in many ways and makes her more passive and reactive in all her matches.

Yep. Although I'd say she's become a bit better already. I mean, this time she didn't freak out until after the match. Inside the match, she went up against two 'monsters' and a 'badass normal' and did pretty well throughout the match. (To be fair, none of the 'monsters' seemed particularly ... pressuring. Some players just seem to be more intimidating than others i.e. Koromo and Teru.) Observe, find out the others' play styles, don't play into hands*, then work around them to get her points.

* After seeing some of Shiratodai's players, I'm much more appreciative of players who can actually play defense along with utilizing their abilities...

[Marina2]

And don't forget that something that lead to the 'drama' between Saki and nodoka will happen soon. It's likely that it will happen before or after Side-B semi-final end.

This make me worry about what will happen in captain round.

[kazzuya13]

Shiratodai no longer applies as the final boss because they already lost. I can't believe the final boss became Achiga. I hope they can change position cause Teru being a vanguard downplay the match. The most exciting part of any game is the last quarter after all. Teru being in the 1st game will make catching up hard but not impossible. It would be better if all the monster come in playing as captain after all.

[King-Slayer]

Chapter is officially out. Nothing much to say about it except that Satoha as dealer is going to be trouble unless the others can work a way for Suzu to explode again or someone get a cheap win.

Originally Posted by kazzuya13

Shiratodai no longer applies as the final boss because they already lost. I can't believe the final boss became Achiga. I hope they can change position cause Teru being a vanguard downplay the match. The most exciting part of any game is the last quarter after all. Teru being in the 1st game will make catching up hard but not impossible. It would be better if all the monster come in playing as captain after all.

Teru is the final boss not Shiratodai or Achiga . If Ritz does the individuals then the last match should be beyond epic with all the monsters.

[The Green One]

Saki's true final boss is herself and her ingrained nature.

[azziz]

Originally Posted by The Green One

Saki's true final boss is herself and her ingrained nature.

great mind think alike.

[kazzuya13]

I wonder if the flowers will bloom (Saki) in the deepest part of the mountain (Shizu) beneath under the countless stars(Oohoshi).

[teja208]

Originally Posted by kazzuya13

I wonder if the flowers will bloom (Saki) in the deepest part of the mountain (Shizu) beneath under the countless stars(Oohoshi).

We still lacking one more component, the "Wind", Choi seems like a suitable candidate.

[atua]

Well if "Venter" is the final wind element in the Captain's match, then Rinkai will go through to the finals? Can't say I mind that too much; I'm looking forward to seeing how Satoha will handle Teru pwnage. Like Mihoko and Toki previously, Satoha's not above using another player to keep someone (Suzu, in this chapter's case) in check.

[kazzuya13]

Originally Posted by teja208

We still lacking one more component, the "Wind", Choi seems like a suitable candidate.

It is still not confirmed who will join in the finals in Side B after all. I hope it is not Himematsu.

[King-Slayer]

I doubt it would be Himematsu. There is still a chance of course but I don't think its wise to see the same opponent for three games. My guess as is many is Rinkai will advance. Also a small chance that Usuzan advances.

[The Green One]

Himeatsu has little chance of advancing, we'll have seen all they have to offer in these 2 matches. It'll be between Rinkai and Usuzan. We've gotten a taste of Rinkai's caliber, I'd wager we're soon to see the opening signs of what Usuzan can do.