Saki: Achiga-hen - Episode of Side-A

[mirkosp]

The Achiga Girls' Academy in Nara once defeated regional mahjong powerhouse Bansei High School. It advanced into the national team semifinals but lost to the eventual champion, and the mahjong club was later disbanded.

Six years later, elementary school student Takakamo Shizuno befriends transfer student Haramura Nodoka. The two eventually enter Achiga Girls', but Nodoka transfers out of the school in the second year.

When Shizuno sees Nodoka on television the following year as the national middle school individual mahjong champion, she decides to revive Achiga's mahjong club.

[mirkosp]

A thread for Saki already exists, but as this is more of a spin-off of sorts than a proper sequel, I think a thread on its own is more appropriate.

[ibabrak]

So am I the only one watching this one? I've followed it since ep 1 and I've somehow even understood the game The anime's great. The author may have put too much tension from the start so it seemed kind of boring since there was tension no matter who the opponent was and it was kind of dull. But the clashes with the champion and the one with Senriyama were definitely awesome.

[Jasta85]

problem is I know nothing about Mahjong so while there have been a couple good looking series about it I always am lost when they get down to the strategy and talking about the awesome hands they are getting and stuff, I should learn the rules some time.

[mirkosp]

I don't really know much about Mahjong either, but hasn't stopped me from enjoying the sheer awesomeness of Akagi. Saki otoh... it was too much of a superpower/magic thing to really get me, felt way too ridiculous because it was trying to hide it all as if it actually was just normal. Didn't bother checking this spin-off after I dropped the first series. Badly done GONZO moe crap imho, shouldn't really be marketed as Mahjong animu (actually, I'm not sure if it really is). It's more about mahjong than K-on is about music, though.

[ibabrak]

I too have no knowledge of mahjong but it's fun to watch. I didn't actually even know that this wasn't the first season of Saki since it seems like it's irevelent to the first one... I just thought that it had a really cliché title

[mirkosp]

Well as I said, more than a second season, it's like a spin-off sequel thing. New characters and all, old characters are mostly cameos from what I gathered.

[Magicflier]

A thread for Saki already exists, but as this is more of a spin-off of sorts than a proper sequel, I think a thread on its own is more appropriate.

CORRECTION(?): Rather than calling this series a spin-off, I would just label it as a side-story along with how other people are labeling it too. A spin-off series usually doesn't have any connection or relation to the original series, but this series has plenty of connections so it's being called a side-story for a reason. This side-story series deserves it's own thread though

I don't really know much about Mahjong either, but hasn't stopped me from enjoying the sheer awesomeness of Akagi. Saki otoh... it was too much of a superpower/magic thing to really get me, felt way too ridiculous because it was trying to hide it all as if it actually was just normal. Didn't bother checking this spin-off after I dropped the first series. Badly done GONZO moe crap imho, shouldn't really be marketed as Mahjong animu (actually, I'm not sure if it really is). It's more about mahjong than K-on is about music, though.

I actually like Saki over Akagi.. Though some people love the serious mahjong gaming in Akagi, others enjoy Saki as a mahjong anime because of how lighthearted it is (and this is one of my reasons why I like Saki more as well). If you think this anime is ridiculous because there are too much superpower/magic, then you haven't seen enough anime.
Sorry to break it to you by the way, but Saki is getting more and more popular in Japan especially the manga so you will not see the last of Saki
http://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=460003

[mirkosp]

It's less a problem about superpower/magic and much more about willing suspension of disbilief (there's many superpower/magic shows I enjoy, I'm a mahou shoujo fag to boot... a guilty pleasure of mine, I suppose ). The setting seemed to be very realistic to me, but then we got hints of supernatural elements which I thought were unfitting to the show itself. So yes, it's not like I automatically dislike superpower/magic animu, it's just that I thought they didn't fit in here. But overall the show took a direction that wasn't to my taste.
There's people that like it, I know, that's fine, they did this side-story for them. I'm sure fans are happy and appreciated it and I am glad for 'em.
But Saki just wasn't what I was hoping it would be, my own fault for searching in it something that it wasn't trying to be. Doesn't mean I should like it for what it is regardless, though.
I'm not the first to be hating on Saki either, though I'm quite aware of the fanbase. Still isn't my cup of tea for various reasons. That's about it.

Re: side-story: that's really what I meant to say, I just didn't find the words to express it, so I went with "spin-off of sorts" to say it. It indeed is a side-story and not a spin-off, though, yes.

[ibabrak]

hmm.. two weeks in a row without a new episode. Has this ended? I mean there was no end they left it totally open at the beginning of another match just waiting for another season..
It was my monday passion :,(