(CR) Saki Zenkoku-hen (National Tournament Arc)

[Requiem-x]

Originally Posted by The Green One

Morale of the story: Don't expect character hypes to be 100% accurate. Go into each match with an open mind.

You'd think Achiga would have taught us that.

[DGDCOne]

Wa-ho! Mako show the girls who boss!

[Qilin]

Well, I can understand some of the disappointment at the conclusion of the vanguard match. It really is disappointing how Jindai is built up to be a monster, yet she only fires in the very last hand. However, the momentum is definitely building up after this match.

As for me, I loved this episode. Firstly, this is a Mako episode, and I hardly have expectations for the Mako's match-ups. Secondly, this episode definitely provided way more material than the manga did. I (and likely a lot of other readers) never got a detailed description of Aislinn's powers. As such, seeing it in action here was quite nice. Lastly, that was probably the most adorable depiction of a mahjong superpower I've seen yet (Her drawings come to life!).

What I can tell from Aislinn's power is that:

1) She visualizes a scenario and turns it into reality. This power takes everyone's draws into account. The upper limits of this power are unknown but appears to be limited to conventional hands.

2) Her scenario can be broken by making certain calls. The question here is whether her power takes conventional calls into account or if any kind of call can ruin her control.

3) Her power involves some degree of prediction of how her opponents will respond to her scenario. The question here is if the "prediction" used here is limited to the assumption that her opponents adhere to a conventional play style (this would make it ineffective for stronger flow players).

Well, these are questions I doubt we'll ever have answers to, but worth asking if she ever comes on stage again. I'll keep an open mind since I have long submitted to the idea that the tile wall in the Saki-verse is essentially a quantum space.

[kitten320]

I quickly skipped through Achigan for time being and have a question... how exactly does Saki plan to play against Teru if she is the last player on the team while Teru is among starting line up?

[Requiem-x]

Originally Posted by kitten320

I quickly skipped through Achigan for time being and have a question... how exactly does Saki plan to play against Teru if she is the last player on the team while Teru is among starting line up?

Individuals. Right now we're seeing the group matches.

That's the answer to a lot of match related questions, by the way.

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by kitten320

I quickly skipped through Achigan for time being and have a question... how exactly does Saki plan to play against Teru if she is the last player on the team while Teru is among starting line up?

I really don't get Ritz here. I mean, I really don't get her creative choices here.

Saki focuses a lot on the Saki/Teru situation and on team play. It's much much more team-oriented than individuals oriented. So why the heck would Ritz have Teru going first and Saki going fifth? It would fit the general thrust of the show much better if they met in a team match than in an individuals match, imo.

[juventus95]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

I really don't get Ritz here. I mean, I really don't get her creative choices here.

Saki focuses a lot on the Saki/Teru situation and on team play. It's much much more team-oriented than individuals oriented. So why the heck would Ritz have Teru going first and Saki going fifth? It would fit the general thrust of the show much better if they met in a team match than in an individuals match, imo.

You're not the only one. I read and read the manga 3 times and the prefecture individual match is never shown. Only anime shows the individual match. So I wonder if Ritz will bother doing the individual match or only cares about team match. Then it doesn't make any sense considering the whole manga starts because Saki wants to "talk" to her sister through mahjong.

Not to mention the whole thing with working on side stories while continue to delay the main story. (Sorry, I just want to vent my frustration)

[kk2extreme]

Originally Posted by Requiem-x

Individuals. Right now we're seeing the group matches.

That's the answer to a lot of match related questions, by the way.

I am betting that there will be a separate manga regarding the individual matches

[The Green One]

Don't expect to see the Individuals anytime soon. It will likely be 1-2 years at best for the manga, God only knows when there might be an anime version or even if.

[kitten320]

But that makes no sense considering that Saki was happy with taking part in team matches and then gave up on separate ones until Nodoka kicked some sense into her =/

She basically was ready to play Teru in team matches and that what I expected to happen until skipping through Achigan. With the way it is, Saki will end up playing Awai.

[The Green One]

Actually Saki just wanted to step aside in favor of Hisa since as a third year this was her last chance. Saki is well aware that due to their different positions they won't see each other directly in the game and isn't overly concerned about it. She doesn't even seem to have much of a plan for this other then just sort of hoping it works out. She's even actively avoided doing things that run the risk of encountering her as well as not being willing to watch Teru play in the quarter finals and the semi finals.

[Kanon]

Aren't the individuals in season 1 of the anime supposed to be canon? Saki didn't play seriously until Nodoka knocked some sense into her, so that can't be where she intended to face her sister.

Besides, Saki (both the character and the series) has always been focused on the team tournaments. For all we know, Ritz is just going to change the lineup, because who says that can't be done? Saki may not even need to play against her sister directly to communicate with her through mahjong. It all depends on what exactly she wants to convey to her, but given that we don't even know how their feud started, it's hard to guess at the moment.

[The Green One]

It's been said once you register your team for the tournament to qualify for nationals you're locked in. Saki vs Teru is not going to happen in the team tournament. End of story. Individuals are cannon, there was even a reference to Yuki's performance in the Individuals two episodes ago about how she had the highest score in the East rounds and ended the day in first place.

[Triple_R]

To be fair, I guess that simply beating and dethroning Teru's team would certainly be one way for Saki to communicate with her sister through mahjong.

[Azure_yo]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

To be fair, I guess that simply beating and dethroning Teru's team would certainly be one way for Saki to communicate with her sister through mahjong.

Well i don't think that's the case because as we know right now Shiraitodai is not invisible, they are already lost in semi final, yes even if it's team tournament Teru already had the taste of defeat, if if she herself personally still win

[teja208]

Since Side B semi in the manga hasn't yet over, so I can speculate without spoiling that Saki will be watching Teru's vanguard match against Yuuki in the finals, and she probably hoping Teru does the same in her captain match: watching her blooming on top of the mountain peak like their conversation in the S1 flashback. Rinshan Kaihou is probably part of that massage.

Of course, I'm just scratching the surface here, there is likely a deeper massage than what I said above, but the point is they will be communicating something indirectly via watching each other playing in their respective match in the team finals.

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by Azure_yo

Well i don't think that's the case because as we know right now Shiraitodai is not invisible, they are already lost in semi final, yes even if it's team tournament Teru already had the taste of defeat, if if she herself personally still win

Having Achiga defeat Shiraitodai in Semis... Yeah, especially when you combine that with Teru being first and Saki being fifth, it's very questionable.

Ritz really is an unconventional writer, for good and for ill. I think that most writers in her position would build everything up to a great, climatic, direct battle between Saki and Teru in the Captains match of a team competition Nationals final, with the undefeated Shiraitodai looming large as the ultimate "monster heel" in pro wrestling terms.

But Ritz clearly writes by the beat of her own drummer. On the positive side, this does mean you can never be too certain about much of anything in Saki. Heavily hyped competitors can end up getting clobbered. Unsung heroes can arise from out of the shadows, sometimes literally so as Stealth Momo showed.

So the positive here is at least Saki is a bit unpredictable since it doesn't do things all that conventionally, really.

[teja208]

Well, let's just say Ritz doesn't like sticking to the conventional Sorting Algorithm of Evil for better or worse. The gap of powerlevel between the heroes and opponents aren't as wide as one usually expect from most Shonen Genre Tournament Arc. Every team has its strongest and weakest link and probabily being strongest doesn't always equal invincible.

High
Middle-High
Middle
Lower-Mid
Low

In terms of Kiyosumi performance compare to other average national teams, they are around middle-high level. If it's normal shonen setting, they are probabily lower-middle level at best or even lowest of low level so they can powerup and slowly climb their way to the top while being mock and redicule by other bigger/stronger national teams.

Achiga is around middle level, but they made up for it with their coatch Akado outstanding skill for exploiting opponent team.

Oh and did I mention Ritz likes bad match up opponents where one or more characters seem to possess ability that directly counter the other they just by random chance happen to play against? This means that even if you're a high rank tier team, you can get knocked out of the tournament due to bad match up opponents.

[Archaeon]

As an anime viewers, now that I've seen all the strength of national level monster, here's how I rank them.

1. Saki/Teru
2. Saki/Teru
3. Koromo
4. Oohoshi Awai
5. Jindai Komaki

[Azure_yo]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

Having Achiga defeat Shiraitodai in Semis... Yeah, especially when you combine that with Teru being first and Saki being fifth, it's very questionable.

Ritz really is an unconventional writer, for good and for ill. I think that most writers in her position would build everything up to a great, climatic, direct battle between Saki and Teru in the Captains match of a team competition Nationals final, with the undefeated Shiraitodai looming large as the ultimate "monster heel" in pro wrestling terms.

But Ritz clearly writes by the beat of her own drummer. On the positive side, this does mean you can never be too certain about much of anything in Saki. Heavily hyped competitors can end up getting clobbered. Unsung heroes can arise from out of the shadows, sometimes literally so as Stealth Momo showed.

So the positive here is at least Saki is a bit unpredictable since it doesn't do things all that conventionally, really.

Originally Posted by teja208

Well, let's just say Ritz doesn't like sticking to the conventional Sorting Algorithm of Evil for better or worse. The gap of powerlevel between the heroes and opponents aren't as wide as one usually expect from most Shonen Genre Tournament Arc. Every team has its strongest and weakest link and probabily being strongest doesn't always equal invincible.

High
Middle-High
Middle
Lower-Mid
Low

In terms of Kiyosumi performance compare to other average national teams, they are around middle-high level. If it's normal shonen setting, they are probabily lower-middle level at best or even lowest of low level so they can powerup and slowly climb their way to the top while being mock and redicule by other bigger/stronger national teams.

Achiga is around middle level, but they made up for it with their coatch Akado outstanding skill for exploiting opponent team.

Oh and did I mention Ritz likes bad match up opponents where one or more characters seem to possess ability that directly counter the other they just by random chance happen to play against? This means that even if you're a high rank tier team, you can get knocked out of the tournament due to bad match up opponents.

Yes so true it even manifest to the rarest release/material ever
speaking of power well let's just say not all shounen heroes start with being an underdog, at least they have something that differentiate them from other character, and it's just didn't manifest yet, Natsu of Fairy Tail, Ichigo of Bleach i think fall in this category, well even Naruto has Kyubi inside him