(L) Saki manga

[Serperior]

Originally Posted by Sol Falling

That and, I honestly expect for there to be more to Nodoka's abilities than simply play efficiency. Nodoka has been explicitly demonstrated to be able to cancel out abilities like Momo's stealth and Jun's flow disruption, so I think the reveal of some form of specific, formulated ability to subconsciously cancel other players abilities for her would be natural. For this reason I'm quite curious to see how the semi-finals Vice-Captain match will play out.

Nope. It's not that Nodoka cancels out abilities -- she just ignores them. She cancels out Momo's ability because she wasn't focus on the "presence" of her opponents, so therefore Momo's ability to disappear doesn't affect her.

The same goes for Jun's ability. Jun has the ability to disrupt the flow, but unfortunately for her, Nodoka's main firepower is digital style. It means that Nodoka can decide which is the best choice for her even before she draws. You can see that she plays very fast. Draw + discard immediately since she has already decided beforehand. Jun's ability is to disrupt the flow by calling tiles. Even if Jun calls to disrupt Nodoka, Nodoka is not affected since she has already decided which hand has the higher probability with the current hand. Meaning she's very flexible of her tiles. Does that make sense?

If Nodoka fought Hatsumi before Momo, you would think Nodoka's SOA is an advantage.
Do you get what I'm saying or am I just confusing? But yeah, that's the gist of it.

[tjalorak]

Side B seems to be shaping up to be the smarter, more strategic version of Side A. We've already got the 'better Shindouji' in Usuzan and their Ace (Idol) Captain, and Rinkai seems to be a more balanced and intelligent Shiraitodai (with an Ace Vanguard even if not as dominant as the Champion). Himematsu isn't as flashy as Senriyama but I think they're probably a more solid team whose members are less likely to act out (and an Ace at Lt. position) and incidentally, fulfilling the quota of the equivalent of the 2nd high-ranked team.

Doesn't the score order even end the same way for the vanguard round? Rinkai - Himematsu - Kiyosumi - Usuzan.

[King-Slayer]

Originally Posted by The Green One

So can we call this chapter adequate foreshadowing to show that Hisa has a plan to take on Teru and is making sure Yuuki is fully prepared and trained to face the champion? Maybe now if Yuuki actually defeats Teru because of her extensive preparation, readers wont be so quick to cry foul as it ended up happening in Achiga.

As long as we're forewarned, readers shouldn't have anything to complain about. And I do think that Hisa has a plan for the finals because she loves her some planning. I'm pretty sure it even said so in the Love-jong book.

[tjalorak]

Originally Posted by King-Slayer

As long as we're forewarned, readers shouldn't have anything to complain about. And I do think that Hisa has a plan for the finals because she loves her some planning. I'm pretty sure it even said so in the Love-jong book.

Has the Love-Jong book been translated anywhere on the net? Or just random tidbits leaking out as people read it?

[Requiem-x]

Originally Posted by King-Slayer

As long as we're forewarned, readers shouldn't have anything to complain about. And I do think that Hisa has a plan for the finals because she loves her some planning. I'm pretty sure it even said so in the Love-jong book.

Hisa has always been a naughty little schemer, it's just this time you need some batman level planning to deal with the opponent, so it's still a bit of a surprise instead of something you see coming from a mile away.

Also, I respectfully agree with our disagreement, and will accept Sawaya's hair looks like the kind you'd want to sink your head into.

Also, when did people cry asspull at the first match? I thought the complaints were towards Kuro's uselessness and whining.

P.S: Nodoka's nullifying indeed works only on powers based in perception, but guess what kind of opponents she'll ALWAYS face. Right now my biggest hope to break the streak is Arata, given the peculiarity of her style and the fact she mixes it up with old school stuff that should predate anything Nodoka has seen in the web.

[Sol Falling]

Originally Posted by Serperior

Nope. It's not that Nodoka cancels out abilities -- she just ignores them. She cancels out Momo's ability because she wasn't focus on the "presence" of her opponents, so therefore Momo's ability to disappear doesn't affect her.

The same goes for Jun's ability. Jun has the ability to disrupt the flow, but unfortunately for her, Nodoka's main firepower is digital style. It means that Nodoka can decide which is the best choice for her even before she draws. You can see that she plays very fast. Draw + discard immediately since she has already decided beforehand. Jun's ability is to disrupt the flow by calling tiles. Even if Jun calls to disrupt Nodoka, Nodoka is not affected since she has already decided which hand has the higher probability with the current hand. Meaning she's very flexible of her tiles. Does that make sense?

As fast as Nodoka's playstyle is, it is not actually possible for her to select her "best discard" before actually looking at/knowing her next drawn tile, so that isn't accurate. What Nodoka does is evaluate/categorize all possible routes/outcomes for her her hand depending on the next tile she will draw, thus enabling her to make her decision nearly immediately. However, it can neither be predetermined nor instantaneous; otherwise, it would not make sense within the context of (digital) mahjong.

In this way, Nodoka's ability to ignore Jun's flow disruption indicates at least some level of supernatural immunity/protection from other people's abilities. Essentially, because unlike Momo's stealth ability (which only effects the perception of other players of the tiles) Jun's ability is an occult ability to sense/adjust the flow of the tiles themselves, this suggests that Nodoka's ability to ignore other people's abilities allows her to convert on some level an occult situation into a digital one (if only for herself).

Compared to Saki's ability to summon kans, Kuro/Yuu's ability to summon doras/red tiles, Hatsumi's ability to summon winds, Toyome's ability to summon various hand completion scenarios, etc., Nodoka's efficient digital style is lacking in offensive power. Compared to prediction/situational awareness abilities like Captain, Toki, and Ryuuka's, Nodoka's playstyle is also lacking in strategic flexibility. However, in combination with that said efficient digital play, Nodoka's ability is probably an extremely strong/reliable counter against abilities which debuff other players (i.e. Momo's stealth, Jun's flow disruption, Koromo's iishanten hell, Awai's bad start, or Shizuno's deep mountain interference, among others). In essence, Nodoka's defense/efficiency is enough that it should certainly allow her to beat out any player without extreme offensive capabilities; and, due to its insusceptibility to disruptive plays, to achieve a much more consistent average gain.

[King-Slayer]

Originally Posted by tjalorak

Has the Love-Jong book been translated anywhere on the net? Or just random tidbits leaking out as people read it?

just tidbits that i'm aware of.

Originally Posted by Requiem-x

Hisa has always been a naughty little schemer, it's just this time you need some batman level planning to deal with the opponent, so it's still a bit of a surprise instead of something you see coming from a mile away.

Also, I respectfully agree with our disagreement, and will accept Sawaya's hair looks like the kind you'd want to sink your head into.

Also, when did people cry asspull at the first match? I thought the complaints were towards Kuro's uselessness and whining.

P.S: Nodoka's nullifying indeed works only on powers based in perception, but guess what kind of opponents she'll ALWAYS face. Right now my biggest hope to break the streak is Arata, given the peculiarity of her style and the fact she mixes it up with old school stuff that should predate anything Nodoka has seen in the web.

It think it was more the Shizu match that everyone cried about because her powers came out of nowhere. And I do love Sawaya's hair

[Requiem-x]

Originally Posted by King-Slayer

It think it was more the Shizu match that everyone cried about because her powers came out of nowhere. And I do love Sawaya's hair

Precisely. Altough, Toki peeking into the akashic records should be more of an asspull if you ask me, but when you're so manly and yurilicious, who cares about petty stuff like that? (See also; Dokidoki precure)

Yeah, I figured you'd like the hair too. It's always a nice touch.

Also, a bit of a public information service, it seems an untranslated hakka-ya doujin has popped up. And a translated one for our beloved wireless ecchi combo.

[Von Himmel]

I'm still waiting for Awai x Shizu doujin :< Hopefully they'll start popping after the final match.. which would be about one year later?

[King-Slayer]

Already procured the Himeko x Mairu doujin. So cute and H.

[Requiem-x]

Originally Posted by Von Himmel

I'm still waiting for Awai x Shizu doujin :< Hopefully they'll start popping after the final match.. which would be about one year later?

I'm honestly surprised we still have nothing in that front. At all. The hate/love dynamic should be enough to catch people's attention.

Originally Posted by King-Slayer

Already procured the Himeko x Mairu doujin. So cute and H.

Like the pair itself. And I was actually surprised it turned out to be a prequel.

[tjalorak]

Someone posited this in a fic I'm reading, but I thought it was very interesting. Looking forward a bit...

We know Mako like sozu and her favorite yakuman is the all green ryuuiisou. Yuu likes the 'warm' tiles... Therefore, it's likely that Mako will pick up mostly *green* sozu. Maybe Mako will be able to pull off her favorite yakuman?

In addition, Mako's ability to disrupt players who seem to be approaching tenpai and her somewhat strange intuitive decisions could turn out very helpful against Sumire.

Mako did very well in the QF with +15k, winning her round and gaining the most points among the Kiyosumi players. We obviously didn't see much of the nationals 1st round, but presumably she did well if schools were low enough that Hisa could finish them off during her round. Going to have to see how she performs this time (hopefully, we get to see it!)... There was a point made that Usuzan's Sgt. has put in work, presumably enough to move her closer to what Mako's 'river' would have. She's already seen Himematsu's river. This leaves the fearsome Rinkai.

In any case, looks like Mako's quietly but steadily leveled up in the background...?

[tarajis]

Damn! Hisa is just awesome... I will really feel bad for her if Kiyosumi doesn't ends up as National Champion... I mean I think she just pulled the Hell Wait of all the Hell Waits... the Mother of all the Hell Waits in that matter.... I wouldn't be surprise if this all started when she gone AWOL during the last tournament she had with Mihoko...

I was thinking that Hisa decided there and then that she will be aiming for the National title... and a team national title... with her family name changing from Ueno to Takei and ending up in Kiyosumi High with no existing majhong club made her fall under the radar... her ability is clearly up and running... now, she bids her time and waited for the tiles she needs... her first tile comes after becoming 2nd year in Mako... on her third year, comes the tiles Yuuki and Nodoka... who would have thought she will get a Middle School National Champ for a tile? but still not enough... she still needs the winning tile to complete her hand... then her hell wait pays off... she gets the tile that will give her a hand that's worth more than a yakuman... much much rare than winning a yakuman... she gets a Miyanaga tile...

During the prefectural, with the name of Takei Hisa left her unnoticed by Mihoko until it was all too late for the opponents...

Now comes the Nationals... with Teru denying the existence of a little sister benefited Kiyosumi even more... with her Hell Wait in full throttle during the draw for the team positioning, monster teams after monster teams ended up in Side B minus Shiraitodai... okay, Senriyama is a good team and Shindouji is just Subara... but I don't think they will fare impressively in Side B... Side B is just the freaking circus, a collection of monsters, foreign and native, badass normals who will take on any ability users anytime of the day... not to mention monstrous boobies... Kasumi's alone will stomp Side A combined....

Hisa just put herself in the most desperate position she can be... one wrong move or a simple mistake will lose her the National title and this is the one last chance she'll ever have... but she came prepared... as Satoha just realized now... someone is very determined to win the tournament...

[Pen3]

I don't think it has been confirmed why Hisa changed her name. Hell it might not even have anything to do with majhong at all.

[Ura-dora]

Saki Episode of Side A Portable Game's Opening Streamed http://youtu.be/RMpSIkjMOMg

[thenightsshadow]

Originally Posted by Ura-dora

Saki Episode of Side A Portable Game's Opening Streamed http://youtu.be/RMpSIkjMOMg

Can't wait to see the special abilities of the characters~

[The Green One]

Saki Portable was rather fun to play considering I don't understand a lick of Japanese, and I was a complete and total Mahjong noob. I still have trouble telling some of the tiles apart and I can't read what my opponents are doing at all but I've at least got the basics down. I'd give Side A portable a whirl just to see what it's like with their abilities.

[thenightsshadow]

Just one more month...

[tjalorak]

A thought on Saki vs. Awai.

When Awai does her thing, she declares a double riichi and then kans at the corner then discards and waits to ron on someone. We also know that Saki knows what's in the wall and likes to rinshan kaihou, tsumoing on the tile she just drew from the dead wall. Awai, however, will discard that tile (and can't keep it if she's doing her double riichi).

As such... if Saki can build her hand in time for the kan, doesn't this mean Saki can easily ron off that tile? I mean, she'd be building that hand anyway... If she thinks Awai will get there first, instead of the kan she'd make to get the dead wall tile, she can just keep it as a pon and ron Awai's discard.

[Rava]

Originally Posted by tjalorak

A thought on Saki vs. Awai.

When Awai does her thing, she declares a double riichi and then kans at the corner then discards and waits to ron on someone. We also know that Saki knows what's in the wall and likes to rinshan kaihou, tsumoing on the tile she just drew from the dead wall. Awai, however, will discard that tile (and can't keep it if she's doing her double riichi).

As such... if Saki can build her hand in time for the kan, doesn't this mean Saki can easily ron off that tile? I mean, she'd be building that hand anyway... If she thinks Awai will get there first, instead of the kan she'd make to get the dead wall tile, she can just keep it as a pon and ron Awai's discard.

That's true. It would make Saki Awai's natural enemy -- except now that Shizu is in the mix, there's no guarantee that they know what that tile is.