「連荘」 (Renchan)
“Dealer’s Streak”

I’m afraid this post is going to be pretty short, people. Here, I can summarize this whole episode with a bad haiku:

Saki’s big sister
A hurricane of despair
Teru always wins.

Horrible. I should stick to prose. And teruable puns.

So yeah, this episode was basically just Teru bending the other players over and wailing on them mercilessly, figuratively speaking. No one else won a single hand the entire time, and they’ve proven completely ineffectual at stopping Teru’s onslaught. Honestly, I thought it was too much. Teru is way too good! Maybe once you put her at the table with Saki it’ll be fun to watch the true monsters duke it out, but until then this feels like she’s beating up a bunch of frightened puppies, which not coincidentally is what Kuro looked like for most of this episode. Don’t get me wrong, I like a good curb-stomp battle (trope!) as much as the next guy, but only when the people who are getting stomped deserve it. Here, I don’t think anyone can honestly say that either Toki, Kuro, nor the amazing Subara deserve the beating they’re receiving.

The only thing of real note that happened this week came at the end, where we were treated to flashbacks about Toki’s attempts to look two turns ahead. It would be nice if she could start doing that, because I would like to see someone (maybe) start putting up a fight against Teru. Though would it tire her out too much? Really though, it just reminded me of how much Toki (and Senriyama) are acting as the protagonists lately. Kuro is just useless! I never expected her to win against Teru, but I wish she would put up half as much of a fight as Toki and Subara are. They really should have put Ako in the first seat. I can’t imagine her crumbling like this.

Not much else to say. The episode ended with Shiraitodai 100K up on Senriyama, with the other two teams another 20K & 30K behind them. Things look really bleak for our designated heroes, though at this point I can’t even say that Achiga deserves to advance. Toki needs to hurry up and evolve so they can get out of this round and let some of the other players do some work. The work of battling for 2nd place, that is.

tl;dr: @StiltsOutLoud – All points go to Teru. That is all. #SakiAchiga

Random thoughts:

  • Can anyone explain to me why the other players aren’t going for super crappy trash hands? It seems to me that’s the best way to get out of this round ASAP, and minimize the damage. Or are they actually doing that, and Teru just isn’t letting them win anyway?
  • I enjoyed how, because of Megane-chan’s research, Toki was watching for the rinshan kaihou when Teru kan’d. Your reputation precedes you, Saki!
  • If I had to choose something to see upside down while I was feinting, I would pick Ryuuka’s thighs as well. Oh, and I would also choose to squeeze her breasts to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. I’m glad Toki and I have so much in common! :3
  • I really do think this should have been about Senriyama instead of Achiga. I’m sorry girls, but Toki x Ryuuka yuri lap pillows are 100x better than anything Achiga is bringing to the table. And if Senriyama had Subara on their team as well…well, at that point I just might vote for them over Kiyosumi. Maybe.
  • What? What are you looking at?

Full-length images: 12, 17, 23.

 

Preview

End Card

51 Comments

    1. I did understand it but it is not spoiler for me since I read the manga.
      And also we all know from Saki anime ending that Taco’s girl will play against Teri that I do not know what other two teams will be at that table. My guess is that those two teams will be the Miko demon girls and Achiga. But how will Achiga will win over Senryama? A lot of luck is my guess.

      tendo
  1. Oh Kirame. How you have been able to hold up to this abuse from Teru for the second round in a row, I have no clue. You may have more guts than Shizuno.

    To be honest I really don’t want this show to end at 15 eps. It feels like they may pull something plot wise (skip over parts of the match or end the game on someone going bankrupt) just to end in 5 eps. It’s too bad this wasn’t scheduled for 2 cour like the original. Especially when it seems like they have an inside scoop on where the plot for future chapters are heading from the creator.

    Annyms
    1. @Oh Kirame. How you have been able to hold up to this abuse from Teru for the second round in a row, I have no clue. You may have more guts than Shizuno.

      Simple, she’s an M just like Shirai Kuroko with voice and all.

      viss
  2. I hope that third preview shot indicates Toki (who I’m liking more and more each episode) doing something to stop Teru. And I was on the fence last week, but I am officially declaring my support for Senriyama to go to the finals. In comparison to the other schools close to the finals, Achiga seems really…average; and I don’t just mean the lack of effective monster-power skills. Though I’m starting to think that Achiga may actually figure out Teru’s weakness, they may still end up losing and would just tell Nodoka what they found out when they meet so that she’d have a better chance.

    Watt
    1. I dont think she’s won a single hand yet so she’ll probably at least get one big win before the match is over (this show is about Achiga after all – they should have the “we’re-the-main characters’-so-go-go-last-minute-super-powerup” skill). :3

      Watt
  3. Could this be? The first HanaKana character that I can’t stand? Heck, she didn’t even have a presence in this episode. I had my hopes up at the interval break when Achiga discussed that there might be a possible weakness to Teru’s game, but nothing ever came out from it!

    I hope that Kuro gets destroyed. She deserves it. No one wants to root for someone who has given up.

    Taiakun
  4. I really do think this should have been about Senriyama instead of Achiga. I’m sorry girls, but Toki x Ryuuka yuri lap pillows are 100x better than anything Achiga is bringing to the table.

    This. I think Senriyama girls have more interesting backstory. But then again, it’s Saki tradition to put other schools in the spotlight as well, not just the main characters’ one.

    Still, Kuro’s inability to discard dora is starting to annoy me a bit. I mean, sure, she won’t get another dora in the next 2-3 turns but what’s the point of getting all those high point hand now, your main priority should be stopping the dealer’s bonus round.

    And about the trying to win with small hand. I think both Toki and that Subara girl (whose name eludes me now…) are trying to accomplish that (seeing that they conspire together just to avoid Teru to ron off them and discard the tile to help each other) but Teru manages to win anyway.

    Serapita
    1. I don’t like the fact that she is aware that everyone knows her weakness, and yet she continues to play her normal way. I don’t see any problems if doras do not come to her for the next few rounds. If anything, it can even be an advantage since she knows that there will be one type of tile she won’t be getting and can adjust accordingly. I didn’t like the fact that she gave up that tile out of fear of losing, rather than willingness to take the initiative and disrupt the flow of the game.

      Taiakun
    2. Agreed with the above. Mind you though, some other sharp commenters below rightly note that Kuro goobering up all the doras actually is helping their situation out, but that still doesn’t reflect well on Kuro herself. While Toki and Kirame are actively trying to thwart Teru, Kuro is only being useful because of her innate ability. That’s still useful, but it doesn’t reflect well on her.

      Stilts
  5. To be honest, teruable though it may sound, I don’t actually want Achiga to win… err scrape second place. I feel like Senriyama is much more deserving of progressing to the finals. Achiga just isn’t enough of a powerhouse to put up a fight in the finals.

    Moomba
    1. Besides Toki, I don’t think Senroyama can put up much of a fight too since 4 of them are only normal players.

      I actually want Shindouji to win. I mean, we still don’t know about the other 4 players and from the looks of it, one of them should be a monster in her own right.

      underMebius
      1. Touka(Koromo’s relative,and Ryuumonbuchi president) should also be in the top level. If we just remove her personality of “wanting to take over the spot light of the game(standing out)” she would top everything. Show Spoiler ▼

      2. there is 1 team missing from that ranking.
        At the end of saki anime there is a team: 1 of them with an umbrella and has some sort of power. and 1 short chibi that just moves on the screen.

        tendo
      3. Croos with the usefulness! Looking at this, it means that Moomba (and myself, and a lot of others) are right: Achiga really has no right advancing. Now that said, that doesn’t mean they won’t – Shiraitodai could spend the whole time going after Senriyama, and they wouldn’t be wrong to do so – but Achiga is definitely a lot weaker.

        A few other things:
        * Kiyosumi really is strong enough to go to the final round
        * That miko team is really strong too
        * I can’t find three of Shiraitodai’s players on there
        * Of the Shiraitodai players I can find, BOTH of them are Saki-level monsters!! Oh man, that final round is going to be nuts…if we ever get to see it animated T__T

        Stilts
      4. I take it the chart only listed players who had played so far in the story, thus missing some characters not yet playing, including the much anticipated foreigner school.

        Though I think Koromo should be on par with Saki, since technically she can defeat Saki by ron-ing Kana into minus if her arrogance didn’t prevent it. She’s like Gilgamesh in Saki-verse. 😀

        An
      5. @PeteL

        Nope. Toki isn’t demon level yet but just a monster. She can only see the future 1 or 2 turns ahead or even more but Saki has tons of ability other than making rinshan kaiho. Saki can also do flow control like she did in the beginning with +-0 score. She can picks tiles like they were chosing her. Teru is also a demon level cause – she has more ability than just doing all those consecutive wins.

      6. @Croos

        True that, but seeing into the future is an ability of a demon/half-demon and if she can expand that to 3 turns and maybe adopt another ability, she will be qualified to be in the demon class. If I remember correctly, she originally had a 3-army ability, so if she could add that to her skill or another skill she’ll be a demon, if not she’ll be a half-demon.

        Show Spoiler ▼

        I think the following players would be half-demons if all things fell into place, Mihoko, Kazue, Kuro (if she ever let go of her doras for tenpai) and her sister Yuu. Also some say Hisa has supernational powers of hyper intuition, not too sure that’s a power but if it is, then she would also be moved up as a half-demon.

        PeteL
  6. Only in the Saki universe can we see mahjong players risking their LIFE to in a national high school quarter final.

    And the commentator is having a ball with having fun with the pro. All she needs now is to scream Sayakaaaaa!

    Zaku Fan
  7. DO YOU KNOW WHY I READ STILTSOUTLOUD POST

    HAHAHA that haiku. First time seeing a writer in RC write one. :3

    @Stilts – KURO IS NOT USELESS! .Kuro is already making the points as low as possible since all the dora’s go to her. If those dora’s go to Teru, teru would already had a Yakuman(32,000 points) or a baiman (24,000 points) which is deadlier. Teru only makes it up to Mangan(18,000 points) cause of what I said earlier and that Toki is already keeping Teru in check as well with her future reads.

    1. You love using that, don’t you? 😛

      And yeah, I hadn’t thought of that point. Of course, as I noted in one of my replies above, that doesn’t reflect terribly well on her as a person (/ player), since she’s only being useful because of her innate ability, but I guess she’s at least doing something.

      Stilts
  8. Yeah well Kuro is contributing by sucking up all the doras, but then again she’s not doing anything else actively either. While the other two seems to be knowing what’s going on and trying to do something, Kuro’s just sitting there being trolled.

    anon
  9. Nobody is capable of completing their hand, even. It seems that the goal for the three other schools is not to win, but to win just a single hand to get Teru off the bonus hands before someone goes negative as to survive the vanguard round. I wouldn’t write off Kuro just yet though, because she also makes it easier to read what everyone else has.

    Jif
  10. What I don’t get is how Kuro isn’t getting at least three concealed pungs, considering all the dora she pulls in. I guess it would make sense if she’s pulling in the red fives, but whith those she could at least get a mixed triple chow? She can’t be getting crappy deals every game considering her power, and she should at least tsumo, if everyone knows not to play into her hand.

    Annyms
    1. Oh someone doesn’t like Yu-Gi-Oh!?
      The have new idea, Teru is Moltres and Saki is Zapdos. Maybe that will work.

      So then Toki will be Lugia, and Toyone will be Articuno.

      Pokemon! Gotta catch them all!

      PeteL
      1. Don’t make me go Bleach, One Piece, Berserk, Monster, Ippo, Hellsing, Naruto, Slayers, Gundam, Macross, Soul Eater, Konjiki no Gash Bell, Katekyou Hitman Reborn, Final Fantasy, Gantz, GITS, FSN, FZ and on and on.

        PeteL
  11. Here’s how that match would go… (Just highlights)

    Toyone would richii pursuit Toki, and Toki would see 2 turns ahead, and give Saki a tile to Kan, and Teru wouldn’t have anything to call.

    Then Toki would see 2 turns ahead and faint, Saki would call Kan, Toyone would be at single tile, and Teru wouldn’t have anything to call.

    Saki would need to use the washroom, Toyone would pursuit richii Teru, Teru would do her popeye wind up in anticipation of pWnZing, then Toki would faint and reflect on her trip to Disneyland when Mickey Mouse actually cared about her.

    Toyone is about to single tile pursuit, when Saki returns from the washroom, Toki goes 3D and looks 3 turns into the future, while Teru looks for a brush to fix that Son Goku hairdo, and then Toyone realizes that the parking meter is going to run out…

    PeteL

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