First Impressions / Saki: Achiga-hen episode of side-A

「信念」 (Shinnen)
“Conviction”

Arata and Shizu’s turns were fraught with difficulty, as Senriyama continued to steamroll and the other two teams reminded us of why they deserve to be there. Of the two, Arata’s was the less exciting match (big surprise, since Shizu is last), but it did serve to set up the fun for the final round. This happened with a single hand from Kentani’s Morigaki, where she took 8,000 points from every team and catapulted Kentani into 2nd place. Two more thoughts on this match:

  • During the match we were shown some backstory on Morigaki and Kentani, but once again Studio Gokumi didn’t spend enough time on it to make me much care. It wasn’t like in the original Saki where we got full episodes dedicated to many of Kiyosumi’s opponents. That really enriched the matches and made me like those characters. Here, not so much.
  • These matches leap around a lot. Once again comparing it to the original, in Saki I always felt like I had a firm grasp on the ebb and flow of the matches because we got so much detail. Here, they leap forward so much that I end up depending heavily on those little score updaters to figure out how it’s going. Not ideal.

Other than that, I would have liked to see Arata play some more. All we really saw was that she has a bowling motif when she scores. I’m as interested as Senriyama’s Megane-chan in seeing how she plays, except without the yuri undertones. Go go megane-chan x Arata-chan?

Then it was Shizu’s turn, which was much more entertaining. Heading into the round, I had already written off 4th place Koshigaya, given the massive point deficit they had to deal with. Maybe Shizu did the same thing, because she goofed up and played into a stealth haneman, losing 12,000 points and causing Achiga to fall down into a solid 3rd place. Shit. Fortunately, this gave Shizu a chance to show off her special ability once again. What’s that you say? Shizu doesn’t have a special hax mahjong ability? FALSE!!

Okay, actually it’s true. Shizu doesn’t really have a special ability. If she did though, it would be this – she does not give up. She’s immune to despair. Even in the face of almost certain defeat – or worse yet, Koromo – and she never gives up until it’s over. Even after making a mistake that could have cost her team their chance at advancing, even after getting two different hands that could have brought them back, only to see those chances destroyed in the discards, she didn’t give up. She just kept playing, kept trying, kept opening herself up to luck – until she finally got it. Not even the titular Saki can’t claim that, since she nearly despaired playing against Koromo. That’s why Shizu gets to be the hero of Achiga. Go go Shizu, you’re on fire!

In the end, Shizu pulled off the victory, giving us a good conclusion to what was the first genuinely impressive match of the side story. Yay! The only problem? They still ended up 90,000 points behind Senriyama, and they’ve got them + Teru’s Shiraitodai team to deal with next round (and another team that is probably good too). I don’t blame Akado from raining on their celebration a bit. There’s still work to be done, ladies.

Last but definitely not least, this episode ends with the return of STEALTH MOMO!! I don’t know what wisdom she (or her huggle buddy Yumi) will impart on the Achiga girls, but that + the reappearance of Kazekoshi is making me really look forward to next week. Well, that and Achiga hopefully figuring out how to get 90,000 points better in a few days. Should be fun to see what they come up with.

tl;dr: @StiltsOutLoud – Shizu’s special power is she’s immune to despair. Achiga for the comeback! (for 2nd place). Next ep, Tsuruga & Kazekoshi return #SakiAchiga

Random thoughts:

  • Pardon me while I take this picture out of context. You’re free to join me.
  • Teru is so two-faced. The cake dere is a lie!
  • As I was saying earlier, Shizu always puts herself into positions where she can get lucky. In the match, that took the form of never giving up even after constant setbacks, while afterwards it took the form of really wanting some ramen. Hey, whatever works for you, Shizu.
  • Stealth boing~

Full-length images: 14, 23, 28, 29.

 

Preview

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35 Comments

    2. You should check out RC’s IRC’s weekly mahjong game this week. Man it was kinda… -_-
      Here’s the video! As usual we’ll be at Lobby 36, Room 1. If you need help find Reverry at IRC. If he’s not there, use Mizore to leave him a message.

      Cybersteel
      Reply

  4. Oh gods. All I see in Kanbaru is Rin’s Expression and Misha’s Laugh. [/Katawa Shoujo] Wahaha. :V. orz.

    SQUEE~ yay for Kazekoshi and Tsuruga in next ep ^^. Although, enh. I guess it kinda sucks storytelling wise, if they’re having to use the more solidly developed first season as a crutch :/. But, enh. CAMEOS~ whoo~~

    $5 that pattern Senriyama’s Scientist/Engineer wants to figure out is Bowling related for Arata…

    Kumakaori
    Reply

  7. GJ Shizu!! I loled on how she specifically target Kentani’s player while letting others passed, Shizu you’re sooo evil! But it’s completely understandable given the situation.

    We’ll be meeting a lot of original Saki characters next ep, can’t wait! （｀・ω・´）=3

    An
    Reply

  12. So at the end they used 3 episodes for the quarter final, next week is a training episode, that leaves what? 4 episodes for the semifinal (this is 12 episodes total, right)? How are they going to finish the semi in 4 episodes, especially considering the pace of the manga?

    Unless… Teru just wipes them all out and ends it in the vanguard match. Now that would be some crazy mahjong.

    Steelman
    Reply

  13. Achiga deserved the second place here with Shizu’s desperate finish, but to me Senriyama also established itself as a superior team. It’s not just Toki raping for 40,000+ with time haxx, every member after her plays a solid game to build upon the lead even without obvious superpowers. This is indeed a team I can see getting 2nd place nationally.

    Which makes me worried if they can find any way to make Achiga win (as in, survive) the next match without it leaving a bad aftertaste. It’s easy enough to write – Shiraitodai stands to gain much more from eliminating Senriyama than no names like Achiga – but do we really want our protagonists to win by depending on that?

    Subara-girl from the fourth remaining team might be one of the show’s most endearing characters, too. I didn’t care that much for the filler teams in this match, but watching Saki will soon be suffering.

    Cytrus
    Reply

  14. This series is… SUPER LAME.

    They dropped everything what made Saki good: they dropped story, relationship development, yuri, detailed matches, they even dropped “monsters”! Compared to Saki everything feels like a sketch: sketch of story, sketches of characters, sketches of mahjong games, etc.

    This anime is not a story – it’s a storyboard.

    They are already at the fabled “nationals”. So, where the hell are the “national level monsters”?

    I DEMAND MONSTERS – at least. The preview at the end of Saki did show tons of monsters at the national.

    WHERE ARE THE MONSTERS?!

    I WANT MONSTERS!

    rds
    Reply

    1. Sorry to break it to you, but they are actually even adding extra content to the episodes than just animating the manga chapters. This spin-off actually moves at this fast pace, but you’ll be happy once we get to the semi-finals. It slows down there.

      Annyms
      Reply

  15. Sorry to disappoint you Stilts, but I don’t think you’ll be bloging Saki next week because of this:

    http://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=443555

    And I really miss YumixMomo pair. They’re one of the more unique couples in Saki.

    Yumi didn’t apply Saki standard universal yuri confession phrese “Let’s go to the National” instead it’s “I want you” lol. So funny yet touching at the same time. Not only that, their confession were known throughout the school. If only SakixNodoka and RyuukaxToki were made public like that.

    viss
    Reply

    1. Thanks for the heads up. Without that I probably would have been freaking out for a few hours this next sunday, wondering why it wasn’t released, lol

      And yes, Mom x Yumi is awesome :3 Yumi’s accidental “confession” was just so epic-cute! Though I’m also partial to some KobaYuu, so that doesn’t hurt.

      Stilts
      Reply

  16. …also: Even the current narrators are ridiculous compared with the magnificent narrating duo from Saki.

    It seems that the whole of Japan is super-lame when compared to the Nagano prefecture.

    rds
    Reply

    1. According to the story itself, Amae Koromo level of skill is not what you see often in national competition , so the chance you’ll see someone as good as Koromo is low. Kiyosumi was just badluck to be in Nagano.

      Marina2
      Reply

    1. Sorry, you’ll have to check out Zanibas’ posts for alt-text. I don’t feel like writing 39+ pictures worth of short comments when few people would remember to read them, heh 😛

      Stilts
      Reply

      1. Oh onii-chan, after I fix up your post pictures for you, this is what I see? I am a sad little trap…*brings out the bonesaw* 🙁

        Btw tendo: I am the only one who does alt-text on this site. I’m glad you’re one of those “few” onii-chan mentioned that read them! <3

        Zanibas
        Reply

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