(L) Saki manga

[Requiem-x]

Originally Posted by The Green One

Oh that's what she calls that outfit? How she hasn't been arrested yet for public indecency is beyond me.

One of the benefits of being Touka's main... let's say maid

And looks like Yuuki Time is over, huh? Oh well, you did pretty well, girl. Enjoy it while your heart can still feel joy. The clock is ticking...

[Serperior]

Originally Posted by night_sentinel

Finally!
The match is heating up.

Spoiler for Satoha vs. Yuuki:

It looks like the battle is still raging in this chapter. Our yakuza batman lady is not giving Tacos any quarter. On the other hand, Yuuki is still the one rolling the dice. But, its only a matter of time until the deadlock resolves itself. In the end, the duel resolves in favor of Satoha with Yuuki finally getting noten.

On Uzusan... I still have nothing yet.
I do understand that Suzu is still not exploding, though.

To be honest, I really like the sound of this chapter. Especially, the part of plans not surviving contact with the enemy. And as much as I sympathize with Yuuki and Suzu, I'm rather partial to this sort of development.

+ Suzu's pro training for 1 day is proving to be ineffective and it rightfully should be. Besides, the advice of the pros is truly trashed because Yuuki wasn't doing anything expected of her.
+ Yuuki's new skill set, on the other hand, also hit a snag with Satoha being quick on the uptake. Meaning Hisa's batman gambit is partially failing as well.

Now, that Yuuki's east is broken. Its going to be a very different fight. Hopefully, Yuuki's south round is enough to take on our new Yakuza Batman. If not, well hang in there Tacos! There's still another East round around the break after all.

Full scans are out, and here's what happens:

Spoiler:

Yuuki is still holding on to her dealership but she's growing impatient. She decided to go back to her usual style and riichi.

Yuuki's riichi gave clearance to Satoha to start being more aggressive. Satoha disrupted Yuuki's ippatsu with a call. Naruka, wanting to play safe, dealt in Yuuki's riichi tile. (The tile which is positioned sideways.) [In this case, it's the 2man]

It seems that Satoha called to prevent Yuuki's ippatsu and to alter her wait into specifically targeting the 2-man. This is actually a very smart play move. Because Yuuki is dead if she draws another 2man. Though Naruka's carefulness lead to her being ronned instead of Yuuki.

East 2. Suzu's dealership. The rest of Himematsu is still waiting for Suzu's explosion. Yuuki began to call and make a sanshoku bluff. (She called the 6-7-8 of man and pin, and a green dragon), In reality, Yuuki's hand is waiting for the 3 and 6 sou. 3 of her 5 tiles are dora. A very good trap and bluff as no one would expect that kind of wait for a sanshoku.

....However, due to Yuuki's calls. Satoha managed to figure out the composition of Yuuki's hand. Unluckily, Yuki drew Satoha's winning tile.

In the end, Naruka, Yuuki and Suzu both got no-ten. Yuuki had backed out and went to playing defense. (This was really cool since Yuuki's the offensive type!)

Naruka and Suzu was surprised that Yuuki was in no-ten.

East 3. Satoha's dealership. Is it time for Satoha to take the offensive?

Chapter ends.

Anyways, this was a really exciting chapter! Mahjong actions here are the best.

For those wondering what will Naruka do, just keep in mind that Usuzan had only managed to catch up to Rinkai AFTER the sergeant match so Usuzan's strong players are at the last few spots. That doesn't mean Naruka would be a pushover as she is Usuzan's ace.

Oh! Here's a very good analysis of the round by an /a/non:

Spoiler for Satoha time:

Satoha's definitely got game. Her gambit managed to stop Tacotime and she stopped the explosion.

The sad thing about Suzu is that she noticed that Tacos had more ways to attack than she had before, so she's even worse off than she thought initially.

After Satoha having ron on Tacos with that 3500 point hand (wait on 2man and effectively halved her hand value), Taco realized that Batman's using Tacos' dealership to also keep the other two in check.

Tacos actually noted to herself that she would lose her aura should the South round goes the same way.


With Himematsu, Kyouko warned that Suzu does not explode reliably, and she may fail to detonate or to detonate against weak opponents (prematurely).


At any rate, Satoha is actually very guarded. By this point, Tacos and Suzu to a lesser extend have some sense of what would come from Batman. However, Satoha's may go on the offensive by East 3 round, where she's dealer.


Tacos is now a completely different beast from the prefecture rounds. She cannot be read just by tells or her records, and only Satoha's able to actually get a handle on what Tacos has in mind. Overall, Satoha is tactically daring, and had managed to stop Tacos at any cost.

Unrelated but interesting to note: It seems that Himematsu is low on skilled players currently. Kyouko originally wanted to be the team's strategist but the shortage of skilled players left her with no choice but to fight. This is the reason why Ikune took Kyouko's advice on Suzu and Kinue.

[night_sentinel]

Originally Posted by Serperior

Anyways, this was a really exciting chapter! Mahjong actions here are the best.

For those wondering what will Naruka do, just keep in mind that Usuzan had only managed to catch up to Rinkai AFTER the sergeant match so Usuzan's strong players are at the last few spots. That doesn't mean Naruka would be a pushover as she is Usuzan's ace.

I really like how Yuuki improved gradually in this tournament. Even if she can't outright beat the other school's aces she is doing a respectable job.

About Naruka, it is possible that she is the ace of Usuzan. But we don't have any solid proof yet. After all, while it is customary in the present for the ace to be in the vanguard position many teams still put their aces in other position. Like for example Himematsu who put their ace in chuuken, Shindouji who put their ace in the fuku-taisho and taisho position.

Nonetheless, I do agree that the stronger players of Usuzan may be further on the back of their lineup. Their chuuken, fuku-taisho and taisho has a very good chance of being scary. After all, Hayarin must have seen something about them. Right?

[cedec0]

[this post is incomplete, but I am tired and so I am publishing it in its unfinished state]

;--------------------------------

I grew up Geneva where I watched anime on French TV. So because anime/manga's unaturally popular in france ("The French exception"), I was watching Goku beat Freezer back in the early 1990s.

Forget the USA, they're behind Europe and way behind France concerning the popularity of manga, and unlike in Europe, the market has been growing very slowly in the USA (and it's still very much a sub-culture). The Japanese refer to the phenomenon as "The French exception". Aside from Japan itself, France is their biggest market for manga, and about the only one in the West where Korean and Hong-Kong titles also sell. Beside France (with Belgique and Quebec in tow), manga sell extremely well in Asia, then also in Spain and Germany, and Brazil. Only then comes the US market.
...
French TV execs got a bit overeager and started buying the wrong series, not fully grasping that there was a lot of anime designed for young adults and adults, while the Japanese studios that sold them didn't understand that in Europe, cartoons are for children and they would be shown to children. And so the more violent stuff ended up shown in children slots...
http://www.readandfindout.com/books/...eboard/236834/

I was one of the kids watching the "more violent stuff", and I was completely hooked on animes like Saint Seiya when I was six years old (which is sort of disturbing now that I think about it since Saint Seiya is an extraordinarily bloody anime (decapitations, mutilations, amputations, etc)).

Anyhow, when you have watched as much anime as I have, you really start to hunger for anime/manga that break the mold and do something trully unexpected (or maybe this is due to the trauma of watching the Fist of the North Star when I was five).

;--------------------------------

For example, if you have never seen the bad guy win, try watching episode 20 of Silent Mobius:

[removed link due to warning]

Watching Ganoza (the villain) bow in victory to viewer at the end of the episode is something you will probably never see again in anime.

;--------------------------------

Another example would be the anime s-CRY-ed.

Spoiler for why s-CRY-ed is special:

In the first 11 episodes, the series introduces 22 main/side characters. Then, starting in episode 12, the series begins to kill off these characters, and, by the end of episode 25, FOUR are left standing (no, the protagonists do not survive).

Outside horror and battle royal type anime, I have never seen a series embrace the "Anyone Can Die" tone so agressively.

;--------------------------------

Which brings me back to Saki.

My reaction to the first chapter of Achiga-hen was that Ritz was setting Kiyosumi to lose in the finals, and I have never seen a tournament-style anime where the main characters's team loses in the finals.


[I am tired and am skipping explanation of why Achiga-hen might win the finals. Maybe later.]


;--------------------------------

Why it would be a good thing for Saki to lose in either the team or individual part of national tournament


Do you think watching Saki/Kiyosumi win the national tournament three times in row would be interesting? Or even twice? Unless Ritz plans to end the manga at the end of this national tournament, Saki needs to lose, in either in the team or individuals. Otherwise, if Saki wins both parts of the nationals, who will be left to challenge her next year? Especially with many monsters like Teru graduating?

Compare Saki to prince of tennis: both are tournament-style animes with ridiculous superpowers. So what happenned after Seishun won the national in prince of tennis? The manga ended. (Is anyone even reading the "New Prince of Tennis" by the way?)

If Saki wins both the team and individuals, then Saki the manga will slowly die from lack of interest, like prince of tennis. While Achiga winning the finals would piss a lot of people off, it would guarrenty another national tournament arc...

[Requiem-x]

Originally Posted by Serperior

Unrelated but interesting to note: It seems that Himematsu is low on skilled players currently. Kyouko originally wanted to be the team's strategist but the shortage of skilled players left her with no choice but to fight. This is the reason why Ikune took Kyouko's advice on Suzu and Kinue.

So, Saki's greatest opponent so far is someone who wasn't even supposed to be there and isn't even aware of her own strenght until the great wise, somewhat of a clown master teaches her... Doesn't Ritz ever get tired of portraying Saki as the villain? Seriously, this has hero vs demon lord setting all over it. Himemattsu is looking more like the little team that could than Kiyosumi at this point.

And cedec, first of all, thank you for mentioning that part of Silent Mobius, one of the greatest unsung troll moments in anime. Unfortunately, your argument gets seriously hurt for one thing: Nodoka's future with Saki (probably, it hasn't been mentioned in ages) depends on Kiyosumi doing damn well in the nationals, and if you know this series, you know how much that big breasted dullard is put on a pedestal. A pity, since everything else points at a not so happy ending for our ragtag band of lesbians, after all, the big lesson of the show is to have fun, not to win.

[fukarming]

I think most people forget about Nodoka's promise with her father: if she loses she will move away (and possibly quit mahjong). So Kiyosumi can't possibly lose.

[cedec0]

I think most people forget about Nodoka's promise with her father: if she loses she will move away (and possibly quit mahjong). So Kiyosumi can't possibly lose.

That isn't right. What Nodoka said to her father was:

"If I can make it to the nationals at the high school level, would it be all right to remain here?"

Father's answer: "If you can, I'll consider it."

Since Kiyosumi is already at the nationals, Nodoka has already fufilled her promise to her dad. This isn't an issue any more.

[Sumeragi]

Originally Posted by Requiem-x

So, Saki's greatest opponent so far is someone who wasn't even supposed to be there and isn't even aware of her own strenght until the great wise, somewhat of a clown master teaches her... Doesn't Ritz ever get tired of portraying Saki as the villain? Seriously, this has hero vs demon lord setting all over it. Himemattsu is looking more like the little team that could than Kiyosumi at this point.

One school's hero is another school's villain. It's so obvious that to miss this point is in itself sad.

[XenahortCharybdis]

Originally Posted by Sumeragi

One school's hero is another school's villain. It's so obvious that to miss this point is in itself sad.

Definitely true, but I think his larger point was that it's a bit of a pity that Kiyosumi was originally presented to us as the underdog...and now they're jamming the stalls, circles and foyers chock full of h4xx to the very last oily homoerotic pores.

I think it's a bit more so because Ritz has definitely shown herself to be capable of presenting characters who get by on pluck, luck, hard work while working off a -relatively for the series, what with some of the ridiculous ka-splah-bang flying around- mundane skill set.

[teja208]

Originally Posted by cedec0

Do you think watching Saki/Kiyosumi win the national tournament three times in row would be interesting? Or even twice? Unless Ritz plans to end the manga at the end of this national tournament, Saki needs to lose, in either in the team or individuals. Otherwise, if Saki wins both parts of the nationals, who will be left to challenge her next year? Especially with many monsters like Teru graduating?

Compare Saki to prince of tennis: both are tournament-style animes with ridiculous superpowers. So what happenned after Seishun won the national in prince of tennis? The manga ended. (Is anyone even reading the "New Prince of Tennis" by the way?)

If Saki wins both the team and individuals, then Saki the manga will slowly die from lack of interest, like prince of tennis. While Achiga winning the finals would piss a lot of people off, it would guarrenty another national tournament arc...

Do world championship tournament ever occurred to you?

On to the new chapter, part of me was actually relief that Satoha succeeds in breaking Yuuki's dealership. Maybe I speak too soon since the vanguard isn't over yet, but if Yuuki did somehow beat Satoha here, then there is a likely chance that she maybe able to beat Teru in the finals.

On related note, it occurred to me that if Ritz decides to continue with her hype killing streaks (I hope not) first with Eisui and now Shiraitodai, the next thing she can do to top herself off is having Kuro or Yuuki beat Teru in point gain in the finals. I fear she might actually dare enough to do it. Just imagine the horrors of fans reaction.

Just saying in case this is what she's planning on doing, Ritz is truly the most fearsome monster of Sakiverse who enjoys crushing hopes and dreams of her manga fans (mostly Shiraitodai fans at least).

[The Green One]

I don't think they're going to beat Teru in the finals, but prevent the one sided rapefest that took place in Achiga's semis.

[teja208]

Originally Posted by The Green One

I don't think they're going to beat Teru in the finals, but prevent the one sided rapefest that took place in Achiga's semis.

Really? I do consider this a possibility. With how well Teru performed in the semi on the expense of the rest of her team loosing all the lead she gained in order to made the captain match a pretty close game. If Ritz intends to have every single of Teru's teammates perform better in the finals, she will have to made Teru perform poorly. Do the math, the ratio is 1:4 players so how much points one player needs to loose in order to have the other four players who play after her made a comeback.

[The Green One]

Teru not winning by 100k points doesn't mean she'll fail, she can still do reasonably well and end the match in 1st place with a positive result.

[Sumeragi]

Originally Posted by teja208

If Ritz intends to have every single of Teru's teammates perform better in the finals, she will have to made Teru perform poorly.

If Teru's opponents are also monster-class, it could well be that Teru will do well but the actual points differences weren't that large.

[The Green One]

The show of the characters growth is that Teru will no longer be a hopeless boss fight but a very challenging but winnable boss fight. That's what I'd actually like to see.

[Fragment off]

We now have an image of each of Teru's potential foe :Kuro , Yuuki , Satoha , Naruka,Suzu . and so I wil star guessing again.
We can't say much about Naruka for now but she seem even weaker will than Saki (And it is hard to be ,that girl is afraid of everything) soa I can't see her beeing a treat for Teru , whereas Satoha is exatly what is laking to the trio Yuuki/Kuro/ ??? to do something interisting in the final.
Unless Naruka is hiding her game,pun intend (somthing really likely) we can already determine that Usuzan won't pass.
Suzu is still a mysterie ,In the sens that it seem she is a Bomb that goes off whenever and with a lot of 'dud' so...

Another thing that I remarked from the early scan is that for this match Yuuki is already starting to do what must be done agaisnt Teru , Changing her game ,and Satoha also look prone to that.

[King-Slayer]

Chapters offically out. Loved the battle between Satoha and Yuuki. Also can't wait to see how Suzu explodes or if Naruka can pull something off.

[Myssa Rei]

I found it funny that even Hiroe admits that Suzu can be a "dud" at times.

[Requiem-x]

Originally Posted by Sumeragi

One school's hero is another school's villain. It's so obvious that to miss this point is in itself sad.

Not every school's hero makes the earth (and the boobs) tremble.

[The Green One]

So we're watching Yuuki on her quest to gain enough power and skill to fight the Teru Train?

Maybe she should visit Sabin and brush up on her suplex skills.