1st Half of the Vanguard Finals – Mysterious Cousins and Rare Yakumans

Half a year had passed and there are ten chapters of Saki I haven’t read!

Reading the chapters in one go, the Vanguard Final is really starting with a bang. They dropped two rare yakuman in one hanchan! It helped my mood that Ritz finally revealed the mysterious cousin’s name as well.

So for the first post of the year (yeah I know its March now, my 2019 writing is hideously unproductive), have some bunch of trivia to help you appreciate the Vanguard match.

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Semifinals Side-B Vanguard Match Analysis Part 1 – Shenanigan and Some Setting Exploration

I’m quite pumped for the finals but it is moving slowly for my taste so I’ve decided to slowly start analyzing the semifinals. Unlike the quarterfinals which can stand on its own, I believe the semifinals and the finals should be taken as one whole, instead of piecemeal. The latest vanguard match just increased my opinion.

Thus, while we wait for the finals to end, let’s begin the analysis. (Though, there isn’t much analysis on this post and more setting exploration)

East 1 and you already can see some shenanigans going on…

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Chapter 190 – Yuuki, Looking Back at Gambling Mathematical Waves

So, the finals are starting and we received some interesting information regarding Yuuki’s ability.

As always, TO ANYONE WHO WANTS TO AVOID BEING SPOILED ROTTEN AVOID THIS POST! 

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Saki : The Conclusion of the Fifth Place Team Match

So after nearly two years, we finally get the conclusion of the fifth stage match. And as you all know, I made two posts regarding how the fights would be like. 1 2  

Let’s see how much did I get right? ^^

<ANIME WATCHERS AND THOSE WHO DON’T WANT TO BE SPOILED STAY AWAY FROM THIS POST>

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Rewatching Saki Episode 1 – Miyanaga Siblings Introduction to Mahjong in Parallel Part III

Chapter 171 is up as well as the leaks for the next chapter. I think that I’ll be covering that in my next post since the two are interconnected. For now, since I’m already covering the first episode of Saki, I might as well continue it? This time with some actual mahjong analysis!

I would also like to give special thanks to Katreus for his mahjong expertise. Without him, this post would have come out sometime next year?

….Or not at all.

…..Probably.  The writing muse is a fickle mistress.

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Rewatching Saki Episode 1 – Miyanaga Siblings Introduction to Mahjong in Parallel Part II

To most of the fans’ joy, Teru’s flashback is continuing in the manga. The current chapter 170 is great at clarifying some new information and adding a few question marks.

Still, I think, I’m going to wait for a few more chapters before I comment on  it again. Instead, I would like to go back to the beginning tackling the first episode and looking for parallels there.

To those not up to date with the manga. Note that this is not a mere rewatch post. It has a few spoiler up to Chapter 170. 

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Saki 168-169: Miyanaga’s Siblings Reintroduction to Mahjong in Parallel

To my eternal joy, the main manga is continuing the Teru flashback!

And it’s a compelling thing, how Teru is characterized in the past two chapter – as someone who is similar to Saki while retaining subtle and distinct difference. It got me curious enough that I went back at the beginning and reread the first chapters.

And the parallels are interesting.

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Saki 167 – In Which Our Preconception of Teru is a bit shattered?

Late Merry Christmas to you all.

Finally, the holidays are over and I have finished my socialization quota for the year. Its time to imitate a reticent cavemen and go enjoy my introverted tendencies. Meaning time to catch up on my reading. And of course Saki is in the list since I know that’s its updating this December.

…. On one hand, its freaking nine pages. On the other hand, I could probably cheerfully forgive anything since its about the Saki-Teru plotline.

MANGA SPOILERS BELOW HERE

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Saki Manga 166 – Miyanaga Family Mystery

Every three years or so, we receive some morsel of information regarding the biggest plot of the series and the driving motivation of its titular character.

And every single time, it leaves me wanting for more as it become increasingly clear that whatever happened in the past  is more complicated than, “Teru is definitely still angry at me– Saki’s stated reason [circa chapter 4]. 

*MANGA SPOILERS BELOW THIS*

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Saki Nationals: Fifth Place Match-up Prediction Part 1

The latest chapter of the main manga is up, with the Fifth  Place match officially starting… Which I guess answers our previous question if we will see it in the upcoming Toki spin-off or not. I expect the finals to be delayed by at least a year. Sigh…

On the positive side, Ritz appears to be setting plot hooks (Nishida is investigating the Miyanaga connection, Awai practicing with Teru in the dark; it looks like my last post have some merit after all ^^). So long as the Fifth Match follows in this vein, I’m finding myself not despising the latest chapter.  After all, if we are going to have this match, it better be good and has a connection to the main plot.

Anyway,  here are my two cents regarding the match-ups. Think of it as an estimated power level thing. Mahjong is a four-way battle, even if a player is clearly stronger than the other three –  ganging up, making a temporary alliance, or even a stronger one helping a weaker player to eliminate a troublesome team may shake the results. Like what is happening in the latest chapter. ^^

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