As the first monster we met on the series, Koromo will always have a place in my heart. She was the final boss of last season and I must say she played her part marvelously. But, even if she was last season’s boss, Koromo still plays an important part in the continuing story – mostly as a measuring stick for other players. But, to have an accurate measuring stick, one must first understand Koromo and how her power work. This post will attempt to explain that.
Let’s begin with listing Koromo’s power.
1. Haitei Raoyue (to scoop up the reflected moon from the seabed)
Koromo’s signature move. This meant winning when you drew the last tile on the wall.
Personally, this is not really the scary part of Koromo’s power. Haitei is not a very good yaku to aim for considering that its slow as hell. Chances are other players will win before you complete it. But, this power become scary when you pair it with….
2. A Sea with no Bottom or better yet known as No-Tenpai Hell
Its a passive ability that prevents your opponent from reaching tenpai. This is scary because if you can’t reach tenpai you can not win. Besides, Koromo also pairs this with Haitei for maximum psychological damage. Just think, for the whole round Koromo’s opponents will be desperate to get into tenpai knowing that the longer they take is just insuring Koromo will win with Haitei. But, they can’t because of this ability and thus delicious suffering is prolonged.
3. Tenpai sensor
The lesser known ability of Koromo. Koromo can sense whether her opponents are in tenpai or not. To add insult to injury she can also sense the rough values of the hand. This essentially meant that you can’t ron Koromo normally. Unless she is distracted by something.
Beside this, an important mechanic of Koromo’s power is the moon. She is strongest when it is night and the moon is full. This is the main reason why she is Ryuumonbuchi’s captain since there is a chance that the captain match will happen at night if the matches take long.
Take note in an official match, Koromo has only played once at full power (meaning the moon is full and it is night) – it was at the Current Nagano Preternatural Finals against Saki, Yumi and Kana. No where else.
Not the last Prefecture Tournament wherein she dominated Kana.
Not in the National Tournament
Koromo is stupidly hax. But, at least there is a silver lining to this. Since Koromo is tied to the moon she’s not at full power all the time nor can she use all her abilities. For example: Her most potent power no-tenpai hell has a tight restriction. It only works when it is night and the moon is full. Evidence of this abound.
Just take look at the above screen shots. Meticulous Yumi who has Koromo’s official records did not find any evidence of this ability before. Kana who is planning to take down Koromo and played her last tourney has no idea. Both of them are completely flatfooted by Koromo’s no tenpai hell.
This implies Koromo never used no-tenpai hell in an official tournament. I’m pretty sure if Koromo used it; those who looked at the record will find some evidence – players not being able to reach tenpai is a glaring statistical anomaly.
It is also implied that Koromo doesn’t use haitei often. She can use it but as I’ve said it isn’t very effective without her no-tenpai hell. Most of the time, Koromo would just go for high scoring hands.
Despite this, Koromo is still a National Class Monster. She’ll cream you at less than half of her full power.
Take note from Achiga-hen:
She fought in half power. And Koromo still OWNS!
*thumbs up*
I approve. Perhaps you could make one for Saki as well someday?
I will. ^^
ALL HAIL KOROMO AMAE!
"Haitei is not a very good yaku to aim for considering that its slow as hell."
The longer the rounds take, the longer the matches become.
The longer the matches become, the further into the night they go.
The further into the night, the stronger Koromo becomes.
It's a logical yaku for her in that situation, not just because it inflicts maximum despair on the other players.
Yes. You're right. I've never thought of that. Another benefit of Koromo's haitei is dragging the match longer. ^^
I still stand with what I said though. Even with the added benefit, Haitei is an ineffective yaku to always aim for because it was slow as hell. It has been only that effective for Koromo because of iishanten hell. And the sad fact is there has been evidence that iishanten hell is only that effective in the nights of the full moon.
Thus, Koromo's previous records in the Nationals is only a few haitei's. I think Koromo is a smart person. She would rather win with a high scoring hand than lose trying to do her special move. Dragging the match longer might be a good side benefit and Koromo will do her best to do it when possible. But, chances are someone will win before her if she did that and thus the benefit is lost.
and the one she own with less than half her power became someone who will be someone who hype as the one who will beat the one who beat Koromo at her full power, seriously this is why i love side B more than side A, nobody getting ridiculous strong in 1 night, This is epic go Saki beat anyone in your way
he he can't help to feel like Saki and Teru seem similar with Uchiha brothers, well in different context, morever it seem like Teru want more experience to get stronger, and the manga/anime implies that this years tournament favor someone with power, so in my mess up mind i think if it's the is it possible that someone is targeting this kind of player for whatever purpose even if only enjoyment (Saki flashback also result from this, those photo and someone in wheel chair( what if all of them are mahjong player and the target is a coward who chose to run away result in ancident and angry Teru), so if my thought Teru actually have goal to over shadow her sister by being the strongest and at the sametime prepare that sister for un- know to come, so why not, hehe he who know
over imagination while waiting for Saki to come out
The tournament favor power/luck players is technically true for a certain category of luck players…
Occult players in the monster category like Teru or Koromo is not favored by the rules. Longer matches allow them to cause more damage against their opponent and considering they already have the possibility of hitting someone below zero in 2 hanchan. I don't want to think what will happen in longer matches.
Luck or Occult players with a certain gimmick though will be favored with shorter matches because their trick/power will not easily be discovered. Beside that, they can easily cause an upset or use their powers all the time and since the match is short, skill players will not be able to catch up to their one big hand.
Truthfully, I think the rules this tournament is a compromise.
I read your posts on Saki, Koromo, and Awai and I just wanted to say they're interesting and nice. Coincidentally, those three are my most favorite characters, and they just happened to be demon-class players. I hope you'll do more articles on them (waiting on part II for Koromo and maybe more on Awai?).
Just saying here, I personally wouldn't mind Awai getting Daichisei after her "supposed" training. At least the name fits. A lot of people were disappointed and pretty upset about Side A's captain match, mainly due to Shizu's sudden hax and because Awai depiction as a player wasn't great and demon enough compared to Koromo. Also, Awai being sidelined for Shizu. It's because of these reasons that I'm also one of those people who was disappointed and upset, especially as an Awai fan. Even though Awai seemingly won't be the final boss (before true final boss Teru) for Saki anymore because that is now Shizu, I still have hope for Awai and believe she'll be up there with Saki, Koromo, and Teru!
Out of all possible matches, the one I wish to see most is one between Saki, Koromo, Awai, and Teru. The sheer awesomeness and demonic powers going on in that match would be epic, but the cute (Saki & Koromo, Awai & Teru), competitive (Koromo & Awai because I can totally see it) ), and TANOSHII (Saki & Teru) interactions are what I want to see the most. ^
First, thanks for reading. I'm glad you find it informative. And sorry for the late reply. ^^
Regarding Koromo and Awai, I do have some tentative articles planned for them. Koromo especially. But, at the moment I'm a bit busy with covering the season 2 of Saki. I'll try to sneak an article or two though. But, no promises. ^^
As for Daichisei for Awai. I admit that I don't want it to happen, mainly because it doesn't fit her existing themes. Currently, it would be better for Awai to have a Renhou than a Daichisei. Not that I'm praying for that mind you. I'm of the opinion that Awai's power is fine the way it is. Awai just needs some heaping of strategy and tactics and she'll wreak people.
And yeah. A match with Koromo, Saki, Awai and Teru would be a sight to see.
Just realized this but the fisrt caption says no much for Koromo instead of no match