Saki

This anime is for the mahjong fans, by a mahjong fan.... I am going to state upfront this anime is for mahjong fans and players. As basic understanding of mahjong rules and play is required to understand most of the plays in the game. Saki is an anime named after its main character, Miyanaga "Saki", a normal high school girl in a rural area of the Nagano Prefecture in Japan. Saki is a girl who detests playing mahjong, because she gets scolded at home whenever she either wins or loses, and has hence developed a style of always playing just to break even. Not winning or losing a single point or dollar, regardless of opponent skill and number of games. For anyone who understands basic mahjong, they would realise to make this happen in reality, the player has to be extremely skilled in: 1) reading her 3 opponents concealed hands/tiles 2) be able to read and control the flow of the game 3) have excellent arithmetric skills to calculate the point differential and the exact tiles, play needed to break even 4) be able to predict which tiles are being drawn next 5) and to have inhuman luck to execute the plays and draw the required tiles in summary, Saki is a mahjong genius! However, through a set of coincidences and making friends with her school's mahjong club members, she rediscovered the joy of winning in mahjong and decides to join them in aiming for the japanese national high school mahjong championship The story of "Saki" is very sports-shonen style. Main character has undiscovered talent in the particular sport/game, finds common minded friends in his school, and they aim to be national champions together. Even though the formula is so tried and used, it works based on the fact that any boy or girl who has joined a school club for competitions can relate to the struggle and difficulty in winning a school competition, as the odds are like usually 1/1000 and you only have limited tries based on how many years you are in studying in the school. All these kids, or in my case, once-a-kid, can fantasize about how lucky they would be to have some gifted talent in their genre, and can dream of the joy of winning. However a anime about a table game isn't particularly exciting, given the lack of action sequences. And how this anime pulls this off is through its amazing cast of characters. Saki has so many characters that its almost on the level of "one-piece", that the viewer would easily lose count of how many characters have appeared through the middle of the anime series. The amazing thing about the characters is that each and every character appears unique, in terms of looks and personality. Every character has a unique look to them, whether its their hair, shape of their eyes, body shape. And each character has a special personality attached to them as well. Whether they are playful, careless, strict or just outright funny, its amazing and so awfully realistic that each and every single character has this uniqueness to them. Another trick up its sleeve is in the special moves, and their respective animations, used by each key character. Key characters like the adorable, rabbit-like Amae Koromo has her "deep sea scooping moon" finishing move. Miyanaga Saki has her "Rinshan blossoming flowers" finisher. And the sexy, cute-moe Hanamura Nodoka has her digitial "Nodochii" mode transformation. These animations provide tension and excitement to the otherwise dull, intellectual plays in a table game like mahjong. Add to the fact that the show keeps introducing stronger, unique opponents to challenge Saki and her clubmates for the national championship at every tournament round, and you have a anime series that is good enough to hook you in and keep you watching eagerly for every next episode. Of course this show isn't completely without weakness, but in my opinion the weakness is due the simple fact that mahjong by itself isn't an exciting spectator sport in the first place, especially so if the viewer doesn't understand the general rules of mahjong. In summary I feel Saki is a great anime to follow and entertains its viewers. The highlight of the show is definitely in its huge, varied, unique cast of characters (almost all cute, teenage girls). This is a show that any anime-viewing mahjong player cannot miss. I eagerly await its second season, but fans of the anime should continue to check out the side story series "Saki: Achiga-hen: Episode of Side A" to see the story that is being developed in the other national tournament rounds, which are omitted in the "Saki" main story.

Yet another "cute girls doing cute things" animu. This time it's mahjong. It's a "4-way battle" to head to the nationals and such. And the focus is mainly on cute school girls. Oh yeah; some of [the better players] have weird powers when they play. This series is mainly about Saki, Nodoka (who looks like a cross between Lucky*Star's Kagami and Miyuki) and their teammates. It's about the other characters and other teams as well... But hey. I'm here to KILL this animu and receive "not helpful at all" points for being honest. * The CRAP treatment of one Kyoutaro Suga * Rie Kugimiya's "mini-b####" return as one Yuuki Kataoka * "Magical Skirts" and thereby the lack of "panty shots" * The high amount of lesbianism * The LOW amount of "straight parings" (if you can call Kyoutaro and that loli-looking Yuuka an actual "pair") It ain't worth watching if you want something more or other than CGDCT. And I'll NEVER trust the animu industry to make a mahjong anime where men and women are on equal footing (without turning it into "for the lulz" / "women always win" comedy). I still remember that time when some important Japanese person stated how popular that anime [was]; it was all over ANN. My teeth hurt every time I remember it.

Want to watch a sports anime but don't want to feel like a lazy pos because you're watching a sports anime instead of doing..well sports? Saki's got you covered. It's an anime about a group of girls and their guy friend playing riichi mahjong. Don't know anything about riichi mahjong? You don't have to. Just know it's cool as fuck to shout "Rinshan Kaihou!" like a Dragonball Z character as you win the hand. You don't need to know anything about mahjong to enjoy Saki, and if you decide to learn anything about it you'll quickly realize the amount of plot armor padded on to the main character in this show. That doesn't matter because it's a blast. There are over the top dramatics and antics at play over a game of tiles. It's Dragonball Z without the fighting, it's YuGiOh! without the monsters. It's literally a game, but they are damn serious about it. Characters can either fall into archetypes or have fun quirks. Main character is the unnaturally gifted protagonist out of nowhere, followed by the big chested worked hard for her title character, the comic relief taco eating brat that can play and her boytoy that fantasizes about the other girls while also sucking at the game. Cool glasses chick and cool experienced chick. That isn't all though because the cast of supporting characters is huge but it never feels bloated as most characters are given unique traits and ambitions. Some characters have "special" moves which just serve as obstacles in the plot for the main cast to overcome. Saki is basically a giant tournament saga and it does this well while keeping momentum and never leaving a viewer bored or feel out of place despite their knowledge of the game. It's a fun time and for yuri fans there's even the slightest hint of it with a whole lot of blushing and ship teasing.

This review is the first one I've ever wrote, and I want to write one right now because I enjoyed this anime so much that I even started following it's manga. Basically this anime tells a story about a girl who at first hated mahjong, but decides to play it again because of specific reasons. I enjoyed it a lot because the main character is an absolute monster at mahjong, and can make seemingly impossible things happen. I also loved how the character's relationship improve because of mahjong. It shows how if a person has one thing in common with someone else they can build a strong relationship, and people don't have to be similar to be friends.

There is nothing more exciting other than *Yuri Moe Bishoujo* playing a Asian table game known as Majhong. Somehow others are irritated by the *Yuri Moe Bishoujo* fact and dropped this series because of that... How wrong are they (lol) orz. Story: 7 There's not much going on in this series other than going to the nationals. Similar to most of the anime, with the help of Yuri settings (lol). The story reveals around a female (male) leading protagonist Miyanaga Saki with her (his) waifu Haramura Nodoka, wishing going for the High school Majhong Nationals. On their track, they have been playing with several strong players and have overcome/grown stronger to over come them, or simply..... Vip Hacks. Art: 9 The art they used in this anime is quite the catch, with all the sponsors it sure did a amazing job of creating the anime. One thing they did was really smart, most of the time the anime is set in a room with a Majhong table and 4 players around them, which did not take much effort, and yet little flaws. Sound: 8 The sound track in this series is also done well, with very relaxing tone through out the series that just makes you want to sit back and enjoy, those hackers with VIP access and those without them (lol). Character: 9 The characters in this series is very lovable, including the main cast, and the other cast who suppose to be the antagonist in this story. Both places and characters are explained through out the matches giving the viewers a little information about them, and lets face it.... There's simply no one alive who hates watching *Moe Yuri Bishoujos* who plays Majhong. Enjoyment: 9 Very enjoyable series for those who doesn't understand Majhong and who does. If you do understand Majhong, you can see how ridiculous tiles they draw, its quite impossible for a normal person to have that much luck, which is implied... All of them uses hacks... those who without them... can only be owned. Orz Overall: 8 Very good series, very recommended, and if you can't understand some of the tiles, please ask, it's will only be more interesting for you self. This series i would like to give it a 10, and it will be 10 for me, although this review is made for those who haven't watched this series, and an 8 is just a normal score... Please, watch 3 episodes at the least and if you still can't stand it, just move your mouse to the top right corner and click the red cross... not everything is for everyone but it is very stupid to stop a series for some retarded reason *Moe Yuri Bishoujos*

I love the mahjong games. I love the animation, music, and sound effects that go with every winning play. I love how the game jumps from one character to another, all trying to take control of the game with their unique strengths and weaknesses. It's often ridiculous, but also intense, chaotic, and exciting. And speaking as a novice player, it feels true to the spirit of mahjong. I am indifferent to or outright hate everything else about this show. Beyond establishing the characters' basic personalities and skills for the mahjong tournament, this anime does very little with them. There's maybe one scene for the MC's family situation and one scene for her yuri-bait partner's family, and we're supposed to be led to believe that these are important parts of their characters. But then for the rest of the 25 episodes, we get to see almost nothing new about them. And then they are vaguely in love with each other, but all I can see are cardboard cutouts with boobs making blush faces--hence, "yuri-bait." The rest of the main cast is similarly criminally underdeveloped. One of the other club member's characterization ends up just being a pedophilic running gag that gets run into the Earth's core by the end and wasn't even funny to begin with. The club president has so many ways to be interesting with her connections and power in the school, but almost all of that is ignored in favor of repeating her one backstory in the mahjong club over and over. Effectively, the MC's school is just the mahjong club. It's clear that the anime just wants to focus on the mahjong games and only wants to establish what is necessary to make them work in the end, and if the anime really WAS just mahjong games, then I'd be more or less willing to accept that. But there is SO MUCH time wasted on yuri-bait pandering and fanservice episodes that are completely devoid of any personality or substance. It doesn't help that, in the actual tournament, the anime sometimes struggles to keep every character at the table relevant without bogging down the pacing with constant flashbacks, sometimes to scenes that were IN THE SAME EPISODE. And while I do appreciate characterizing the different opponents the MC and her club have to face, it also means that there's even less time to focus on the actual main cast, which makes the yuri-bait sequences feel even more empty and unearned. Not to mention that it's just kind of creepy that at some point every loli girl wears very loose or scanty clothing, sometimes both. It happens too often to ignore. This can only be a 6 for me because the mahjong battles are just that good. As someone that enjoys sports and game fiction, mahjong games being 4-player free-for-all make them refreshing to watch. All of the major battles have multiple competing narratives, and it's not always clear which one will dominate in the end. A player may be preoccupied with beating one character only to be surprised by a completely different character that was enacting their plan the entire time. It never feels overwhelming either; having 4 players has just the right balance of complexity versus emotional resonance. The game being partially luck-based also works in the show's favor, because it gives the sense that anything is possible and any player can still come back from seemingly insurmountable odds. It's like the best parts of Yu-Gi-Oh or No Game No Life, but with the added complexity from having 4 players/teams. There are episodes in this anime that I would absolutely watch a second time. Every character has some special strength that gives them the edge, but any other character can disrupt them with their own special strength and take over the narrative. When someone finally breaks through a character's dominance of the game, the show's excellent presentation does everything in its power to make you feel that high, even if you don't play mahjong. Not every mahjong game is a huge hit; there are times when I think the characters' powers get too ridiculous to the point where, even when another character starts to beat them, it's not really clear HOW the other character is winning or what they did differently. The pacing being sometimes interrupted by too many flashbacks is also a bummer. But even the worst mahjong battles in this anime aren't a slog to get through, and the highs are still just as high. In the end, I'm torn, but overall I'm glad I got to have watched this anime. It helped in my introduction to the game of mahjong and how it can be fun and interesting, but anything beyond that is just a mediocre shoujo ai fanservice schlock. I'd recommend this to anyone who can at least somewhat tolerate/enjoy those distasteful parts, because getting to those mahjong fights was well worth it.

what happens when u put 5 girls together, mix in a big-boobed girl, yuri undertones, OP MC, a bit of supernatural- you get saki. I have heard of majhong beofre, but the 1-player matching tile version, not the 4-player match version. watching the first episode, we see the MC do something that is thought impossible, then gets recruited. nothing unexpected. then on to the prefecturals. kiyosumi, an unknown school that saki goes to beats the the demon girl koromo with an amazing last play that knocks her down to go to the team nationals. then the individual tournament, saki, nodoka and fujiki go on to the nationals. story-8.5. i thought this anime was a little weird, beng based off a game where you sit for hours moving tiles. MFW moving tiles involved supernatural power undertones in the tournaments. In the last hand of the team finals, we know kiyosumi wins with plot armor(duh), but they were so far behind it wasnt even funny. then saki pulls a huge play out her ass to beat koromo, all the tension that was built up in the one play had my eyes glued to my screen going "holy mother of god, this is happening". seeing how the plot developed from my first impression was a second-rate team turning into a national level contender was a great ride. sound-9. the OP and ED are decent for this anime, not memorable to me, but maybe to others. the SFX used for the plays in the tournaments, loved them so much cause it emphasized the over-the-top plays that were going on. art-8. not grand amazing but not horrible either, the art is consistent through every episode. the character designs and background are well drawn, dark auras on some of them make you shiver cause it like they have killing intent, never expected it from this. character-9. seeing each characters backstory and how they developed through the 25 episodes was great. saki going out of her comfort zone and raping shit was just great, beating koromo in the last hand showed just how much plot armor she has on her. nodoka not being embarressed to play with eotpen took a lot of courage(i could never do that), made her look adorable when she got into her groove. yuuki is just.... yuuki, taco power and all(explains her perfectly). takei is the club president and in her last year.she cares a lot for her underclassmen and sets them up to win through the multiple training camps(making yuuki do arithmetic homework, felt so sorry for her), she waited 3 years to go to nationals at kiyosumi. mako is the character that th eanime doesnt focus a lot on, more just saki and nodoka, but she is indespensible to takei because they have been together the longest. enjoyment-9. who ever knew that watching majhong could be fun. well IRL, it would be pretty boring unless ur a diehard fan or a pro. the anime shows the struggles a team must go through to nationals. it gets pretty intense as it goes on. if i knew how to play majhong, my overall would be a 9, but im just enjoying the ride, thats how anime should be enjoyed, like the ARIA series. overall-8. i recommend this anime is you like shenanigans happening every 7-10 minutes or so.even the majhong matches themselves are worth watching themselves.i have high hopes for the second season, seeing how they make it to the finals, with saki going against her sister:spoiler, achiga-hen knowledge. i think everyone can agree that saki will win probably because of a last turn, last move kazoe-yakuman against her sister. and everyone shall dafaq at teru losing to her sister.

Nice looking and entertainment anime without needing to understand anything about Mahjong such as Tsumi, Dora Dora, Rinshan Kaihou, Baiman, etc

Score: 4.6 rounded to 5 Would not be able to recommend Saki to anyone. While the Mahjong portions and matches are entertaining and well done, everything else centers around fan service. I went in knowing very little about Mahjong, but picked up on some things and researched others. Saki (in reference to the character) has godly luck when it comes to playing mahjong. She doesn’t really have any strategic methods through her gameplay that we have seen besides using the same trick every time. She doesn’t try anything new and more often than not we see others play more than we see her play. While Saki (character) changes her initial play style, she doesn’t grow as much as various side characters. Her matches often rely on the same approach, which makes her feel less interesting than the various side characters, who learn from both victories and defeats throughout the anime. Sometimes you couldn’t predict the outcome of a match or how things would play out. This unpredictability made the matches more entertaining and allowed for the characters to have meaningful growth. The characters were all likeable and had their own quirks. You only really get to know about a few of them deeply, some you know more about than the main character herself. Often times you found yourself cheering for others that were going against the main character. The animation was pretty basic for its time. The mahjong scenes had the best animations. Some scenes were pretty, but other than that pretty average. For one of the episodes they reused a lot of scenes during it, causing there to be repetition for the whole episode. The plot itself is very simple, it picks up after the first few episodes. Sometimes it seems like they want to add things that don’t really make a lot of sense when added later on. Supernatural abilities were introduced for certain players, but were inconsistent. Most competitors played normally, while a certain few had otherworldly abilities. Since the concept is never fully explained or consistently developed, it feels more like a convenient plot device rather than some part of the story’s world. Some things were brought up or showed conflict but never got touched again (ex: abuse against members, Saki’s sister conflict). They would get brought up multiple times or shown the issues it caused for the girls but never would give explanations or get resolved. Fan service is very common throughout Saki, beginning from the first episode. It cheapens the anime tremendously, and is very uncomfortable considering the characters’ ages. Time that could have been spent developing characters, matches, or unresolved storylines is instead spent on fan service and filler. While the mahjong matches are entertaining, they are not enough to look past the reliance on fan service and underdeveloped plot.

Saki is a surprisingly compelling strategy game anime that absolutely is not going to give you any insight into how mahjong is played. If that’s a deal-breaker for you then that’s just how it is, but even as someone who knows literally nothing about mahjong, I found myself consistently swept up in the dramatic and exhilarating games these girls play. Even if it’s not directly spelled out how good each hand is or who has momentum behind them, the cinematography, musical accompaniment, and the emotional inner monologues of the characters and the voice acting conveying said monologues give you a solid feel for how each match is going, when the tide is turning, and how much weight each move has behind it. It’s a shame the actual artwork isn’t able to keep up very often, though. There’s nothing blatantly awful, but brief cuts of lively animation don’t do much to counterbalance the mediocre character designs, plain art and color direction, and excessive use of distracting CG assets, though the quick speed of shots during hype mahjong scenes does downplay that last element just a bit. Saki as our titular lead character starts with a strong and complex connection to mahjong that, through the course of playing it with friends that she can actually relate to and open her heart around, grows into a driving passion befitting of the genre. As for said friends, as well as rivals, the sprawling cast of competitors found throughout the series are generally delightful and fun to watch on the whole, save for perhaps the single boy character just being kinda lame, and the different types of competitive relationships each player forms with each other keeps everything from becoming overly repetitive. It’s still got a few dull spots here and there and the fan service is extremely hit and miss, but there’s more than enough here to hook you even if you couldn’t possibly tell the difference between a Kong and a Pung.