2008-02-12, 23:18 | Link #21 |
Member
Join Date: Mar 2004
|
Nice job on subbing k-profiler. The cheating is pretty crazy here, on an entirely different level than what Akagi was doing, which seemed more on the psychology of mahjong and somewhat less on the cheating. Still, it was awesome in an entirely different way, so thanks a lot for subbing it.
|
2008-02-19, 23:09 | Link #23 |
Junior Member
Fansubber
Join Date: Feb 2008
Age: 42
|
Glad to hear you guys like the show!
Just calling in to tell you that the second batch of episodes is done! Get it from: www.k-profiler.com Enjoy! |
2008-02-20, 21:10 | Link #25 |
Mahjong Triple Pro
Join Date: Sep 2006
|
I don't like it, really. One of the reasons I didn't like Akagi at first was the prominent role cheating took in the first few games; I don't consider cheating to be admirable like some people apparently do, especially since most of the techniques shown in the show aren't possible convincingly (like the Tsubame Gaeshi and Caterpillar) so seeing some kind of cheating in Akagi's first episode was a major turnoff to an otherwise strong start for the show. Same feeling for the end of the Yagi match, parts of the Ichikawa ones, ect. It's cool Ichikawa, Yagi and the other folks could do stuff like that (namely Ichikawa memorizing all the tiles on his wall, which was pretty incredible) but a bit point of the Akagi show was it was "realistic". Anyone who plays mahjong knows ANYTHING can happen in the game, making the crazy stuff that happened during those rounds very possible. One guy I saw from Lobby 7447 even got a Suu An Kou, Dai San Gen (with the 8 Pin concealed Pon) JUST LIKE AKAGI DID. That added a whole layer to the awesome. Me, once I had a Kokushi Musou wait on the 1 Pin just like Washizu and I won on a Tsumo, but I clicked the wrong button (リーチ for Riichi instead of ツモ for Tsumo) and DEALT THE 1 PIN, which was snapped up by my Kami Cha and I ended up losing my hand. It was the equivalent of hitting the table right when I had victory in my hand; I reached for the heavens but my luck ran short and I fell into the abyss.
Tetsuya is a lot different from Akagi. It's less mythic and noir, more like a shounen anime than some epic narrative about an urban legend in the Japanese underworld. The show's a lot less technical than Akagi, not bothering with the mechanics and logistics of mahjong and just skipping to the effect. This puts it in common with something like Shion no Ou and Hikaru no Go where the game is just a backdrop for the central themes of the story, while in Akagi the game and themes were inseparable - one could not properly convey Akagi's genius without going into details about the gameplay. I also disapprove of the rampant cheating. It's different from Akagi, but different doesn't necessarily mean awesome. Tetsuya is a different character from Akagi himself and I guess that makes him interesting in a sense, but honestly he's pretty annoying. Hot-headed, stubborn, and otherwise talentless without what he knows in mahjong. Akagi's genius could be applied in any scenario; had he been born two decades earlier, he could have been a legendary general for the Japanese in World War II. Born three decades earlier or three decades later, he could have become powerful shadow king like Washizu (which he inevitably became). But fate lead him to mahjong and that's where he expressed his talents best. I've only seen the first three episodes of Tetsuya, but though I don't like it thus far, I'm still quite eager to watch the rest and my great thanks to k-profiler for hunting down the elusive raws to provide us with a top quality release. I'm always game for anything mahjong related; I feel it makes me a better player somehow.
__________________
|
2008-02-21, 00:36 | Link #26 |
Junior Member
Fansubber
Join Date: Feb 2008
Age: 42
|
I'll throw in my two cents as well :--)
Tetsuya is set in post-war Japan, and the story revolves around a bunch of guys trying to make a living playing mahjong in an era(?) when cheating was the norm and not the exception. Tetsuya shows you a ruthless world of gambling where anything can happen. What I simply love about Tetsuya is the sheer decadence of it all. The drinking, the drugs and the general atmosphere... These people expect that all the good opponents cheat somehow, so they figure that the only way to beat them is to cheat even more themselves! The show really shows you how it must've been like to gamble for a living back then. There are many great insights given about the mentality of gambling, which apply even today. (think about playing poker for a living...) You'll also notice that all the main characters have these crazy pre-internet era misconceptions about luck, randomness etc, in which they really believe in... Think that's stupid? You should see how many people believe in that BS even today! Read a book by the top pro (?) Sakurai Shouichi, where he goes on for hundreds of pages about how to predict what you will draw next from the wall by reading how the "luck is flowing" in the game... It's infuriating to see that crap written in books that are meant to help you learn the mechanics of the game, but when you see that in Tetsuya, it's more like "it's funny because it's true!" To sum it up in one sentence, I kind of think Tetsuya has this weird realism to it that many other mahjong shows lack. Maybe it's just me? :--) The major difference between Tetsuya and Akagi is the mahjong scenes. In Tetsuya, they're pretty fast paced, and revolve more around different forms of cheating than psychology or "basic game strategy", if you will. Watching it won't make you a better mahjong player, but then again, I really wouldn't recommend any anime for that purpose. The show has many levels, and as an avid mahjong and poker enthusiast, I've watched it many many times and I just never seem to get enough of it Kind of like the movie Rounders, in a sense. Malintex_Terek> Thanks, and getting raws of this quality wasn't easy, I can tell you that :--) |
2008-02-21, 18:43 | Link #27 |
Member
Join Date: Jul 2007
|
kudos k-profiler, i'm loving this series and i hadn't heard of it before. also, i love how this thread has been dormant since 2004 and has been resuscitated. looking forward to seeing future episodes.
mahjong cheating haters: please direct me to media (tv, film, manga) where cheating does not take place. it is completely part of the lore that surrounds the game. whether it is realistically practiced illegal skills or fictional god-given god-like abilities, mahjong drama demands cheating. |
2008-02-22, 01:32 | Link #28 |
Junior Member
Join Date: Feb 2008
|
Thanks k-profiler, I really appreciate the time you have taken so that people like me can watch this series!
I am really enjoying Tetsuya, it is not quite as suspenseful as Akagi was, but it is definitely a good show in its own right. btw Malintex, where did you find a place to play Chinese mah jongg online?? |
2008-02-22, 21:24 | Link #29 | |||
Mahjong Triple Pro
Join Date: Sep 2006
|
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
That [doesn't] make the cheating any more appealing, what you're saying is equivalent to "all anime requires fanservice because fanservice was part of what made anime popular". Some of the best anime out there have little to no fanservice, and likewise I felt that some of the best matches in Akagi (Washizu, Urabe) had no cheating whatsoever.
__________________
Last edited by Malintex_Terek; 2008-02-22 at 23:59. |
|||
2008-02-22, 23:39 | Link #30 | ||
Junior Member
Fansubber
Join Date: Feb 2008
Age: 42
|
Quote:
However, in the books and web content I've read, and I think I've read a fair amount of both, whenever the author mentions "luck flow" he usually means just that: Unbacked superstition! Make no mistake about it, there is a whole school of Mahjong strategy devoted to studying nonsense like that. When I've read stuff written by people who advocate systematic mathematical play based on expected value, "hai kouritsu" or "tile counting" etc, I don't think I've once seen the word "luck flow" mentioned. I think we're on the same line here, but I just wanted to make a point that there is a huge difference between the concepts of "the flow of the game" and "luck flow." Quote:
Cheating is an easy way to make a game like Mahjong sell as entertainment, but I bet if you dig deep enough you can find lots of stuff that involves no cheating whatsoever. Peace. |
||
2008-02-24, 22:18 | Link #32 |
Yummy, sweet and unyuu!!!
Join Date: Dec 2004
|
Many thanks for subbing this show
In regards to cheating.... Tetsuya entered a game where cheating is the norm, and if he doesn't want to cheat then there is the game for little children down the road In regards to luck... I've got a friend who plays mahjongg, big two, poker etc. He plays a lot for fun and he is really really good (ofc not as good as any of the characters in this show ). He has a great mind and really good eyes. We never beat him (yes he does cheat too, but we never proved it yet), but as soon as money is involved he will lose. The hand he draws will always be the worst possible, and it has gotten to a point he never plays for money unless it is Christmas and then he says its a Christmas present to the rest of us oO.
__________________
|
2008-03-07, 21:57 | Link #34 |
Mahjong Triple Pro
Join Date: Sep 2006
|
I finished the first six episodes and I'm hooked. There's still a lot of cheating, but it's gotten to the point that it doesn't matter anymore, my brain just pretends they're not even playing real mahjong anymore since the basic rules have been extended to "don't get caught cheating".
It's actually quite an entertaining show, I'm pleased to have seen what I have thus far and now I'm going for the rest of the episodes. Here's hoping for a time-skip!
__________________
|
2008-03-19, 08:59 | Link #35 |
Endless Nine
Artist
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: In a certain tropical island
Age: 39
|
Thanks for the subbing k-profiler! This got me hooked just like how Akagi did.
Though my comment for the show would be, I would've never watched this show if I didn't know mahjong. Akagi had that characteristic that even if you don't know how to play the game, it's still more likely to pull you in. Another thing, this is a mahjong question. One scene depicted a player being on tenpai for suu anko. However, he was on a two pair wait. If I remember my hands correctly, doesn't a suu anko require a single tile wait? Last edited by Christen; 2008-03-19 at 09:10. |
2008-03-29, 23:26 | Link #36 |
Junior Member
Fansubber
Join Date: Feb 2008
Age: 42
|
Been busy lately, but managed to finally upload some new episodes.
In other words, eps 14-16 are up! Enjoy! Christen, you probably found the answer already but if you're on a two pair wait and you draw the winning tile from the wall, it counts as Su Anko. But if you get it from someone's discard, then the hand is just San Anko + Toi Toi. Su Anko with a single wait sometimes counts as double yakuman. |
2008-03-30, 08:43 | Link #37 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2004
|
Quote:
I'm a very experienced timer. |
|
2008-03-31, 15:03 | Link #39 |
Junior Member
Fansubber
Join Date: Feb 2008
Age: 42
|
Thanks for the offer, I really appreciate it, but at this point I think juggling the video and script files around would just end up complicating things. I'll seriously consider your offer for any shows I might do in the future though (but don't hold your breath!)
|
Tags |
mahjong |
|
|