hontou ni » Saki

Saki Review

Zyl — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 10:14:22 +0000

When I started out with this series, I had great fun with taking all those Saki x Nodoka red cheeks, shiny thighs, blushing knees and magnifying the yuri goggles to the max. But this became somewhat redundant as the series progressed, with the yuri subtext - more or less - coming to the fore. Due to time pressures and being somewhat bored with the tournaments, I slacked off in terms of the timeliness of posting and then, when I did catch up, slacked off on the actual content before shifting to incorporate large elements of Kabitzin's posting style (which I will reflect on in a later post). The slacking off caused readership to suffer, that is, some bailed out and those who stayed didn't really get what they expected/wanted.

Characters

Within moments of the first episode, I decided that I liked Saki - mainly for her very male gaze as she once-overed Nodoka. But it was also within the next few moments that I became somewhat uneasy with the fanservicey chara-design of the other main heroine. Like Havoc, I love boing too but Nodoka's is just... too much. Erica hits the nail on the head wrt why OTT fanservice gave an ick factor to Saki x Nodoka which Yumi x Momo was spared and thus ascended to Best Couple position. There were so many interesting side characters who could have used more screentime such as Satomi Wa~ha~ha Kanbara and I would have looked to see more Hisa x Mihoko.

Story

How the power of yuri love gives you mahjong mojo was a LOL theme for great entertainment but sadly the Saki vs. Koromo battle only showed how the series could do great mahjong drama but couldn't be bothered with most of the time; wrt those who compared it unfavourably to Kaji - well, apples and oranges. A characteristic which also applies to comparing Saki with Hikaru no Go. I would liked to have learnt more about riichi mahjong via this series but as there's no rookie chara (and by extension no ghostly mentor), it's not quite possible. Saki's Oneechan angst clearly underlies her motivations but it's also buried for most of the middle period; it reminded me somewhat of Angelic Layer where the heroine quests to be reunited with a familial loved one - though wrt to Saki, due to the yuri subtext, I'm wa~ha~ha hoping that Nodoka's love will allow Saki to let Teru go and, by doing so, re-establish the sisterly relationship but via a revaluation of all values at the great noontide.

Eye/Ear Candy

GONZO has the power to do yuri - the strongest besto impression they left on me was the Burst Angel manga (not the anime) and they certainly delivered lots of yurilific LOL entertainment in this series. Also good job on confining CG to the mahjong mechanics. Casting Kana Ueda in the lead role almost seems obvious especially when there's oppai play involved. I was rather surprised at Ami Koshimizu's performance of Nodoka since it's her shoutier roles like Kallen (Code Geass), Nina Wang (My Otome) and Megumi (Muteki Kanban Musume) that left an impression on me. But now I can't hear Mio talk without going: Haramura Nonoka!

Judgment

Entertaining but not something I'd rewatch. It helps if you understand mahjong rules but not a major impediment if you don't - in fact, it would be better not to be too keen on mahjong because the show is really more about yuri blushing (of all the girls, Yuuki is probably the only one who has an active interest in guys - take what you can, Suga-kun!).

Zyl's Rating: 3/5

Saki 25 (Final)

Zyl — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 09:22:39 +0000

Summary:

The four schools arrive at the training camp venue and proceed to the hot springs. Hisa and Yumi-chin's attempt to get things going, training menu and intel respectively, hit several snags with various players being incapacitated due to playing around too much beforehand. A morning dip in the outdoor springs turns into an impromptu meeting. Saki is IN DESPAIR when Mihoko relates Teru's denial of her existence and leaves the scene with Nodoka in hot pursuit and proposes they pray at a shrine, exchange little trinkets and call each other by their first names - much blushing ensues. Returning just in time for training to get underway, they are joined by Fujita Pro. The National Tournament gets underway and we get a glimpse of the various school teams, including a miko contingent!

Reaction:

As a final episode of the season, it was hardly climatic in terms of mahjong - will they be having another whole 25 episodes just for the Nationals and its aftermath or just a half cour? But given how, except for the Saki versus Koromo duel, one could breeze through the mahjong technicalities, this series has really been about the girls and their relationships. So it's fitting that there was a significant milestone on the Saki x Nodoka front - though it seems they also swiftly took a step back on calling each other by their given names. Given that the friendship is still somewhat unbalanced and unstable (premonition in the form of sad souvenir facedown in the rain in the ED), perhaps that's fitting too (for a moment, I thought Nodoka was going to go Chikane on Saki). In lieu of hot lesb0r s3xx0r, the marker of coupledom will probably have to be this name calling thing.

Momo x Yumi remains my favourite couple and I was well pleased with the cute moments of Momo proposing their onsen date and Yumi-chin's embarrassment at being interrupted by Saki x Nodoka were really sweet. And never understand beginner's luck! I had a Jade Dragon tsumo on the second last hand of the North round and cleaned everyone else too. Wah~ha~ha!

Saki 24

Zyl — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:42:31 +0000

Summary:

Hisa arranges for a joint training camp between Kiyosumi and the other three top schools. Ryuumonbuchi and Tsuruga quickly agree but Kazekoshi's Mihoko takes a while to decide. Meanwhile Nodoka and Saki attempt to tutor Yuuki for her math makeup test, failing which she will be called up for summer classes and will have to miss the training camp. Somehow she manages to pass. Mihoko is eventually persuaded by her juniors and uses the opportunity to hit on Hisa who then invites her to watch summer festival fireworks from the roof

Reaction:

Ah sweet Nodoka tsundere for Saki - it's revealed that she's actually terrified of thunder but Saki recalls that she still dashed out to try and persuade her to join the mahjong club after their initial duel. And a nice trip and catch between N x S resulting in Saki face planting into Nodoka's chest - did she remember to take a deep breath while she was there!?

I can't believe we're having yet another setup episode just when the second cour is coming to an end. The next episode is entitled 'Nationals' but what about the training camp? I'm not entirely sure if it will be a good thing to squeeze both into one episode especially since the training camp seems so rich in yuri orgy potential. And I'm wondering if this cour will end with a cliffhanger like all of Saki's dreams of making up with Teru-oneechan being shattered when they finally meet face-to-face at last.