If you want to watch Saki this month with your fellow club members, will this be your first time?
First time watcher.
45.8%
11
Rewatching.
54.2%
13
24 votes
| Welcome to the first I<3Y&SA Monthly Spotlight Show. Each month a new entry added to encourage members of this club to discover a show they haven't seen, to rewatch an old favorite or to give one a second chance. The shows may be Yuri (implied or explicit), Shoujo Ai or even shows that don't quite qualify for either of those, but we feel our members would like. This December of 2013, the Spotlight is on Saki! What is it?  It's about to go down. Saki is a show about a school Mahjong club, training and competing to become the best. It features a very girl rich cast, from major to minor characters. It's a funny, intense and heartwarming ride that never lets up. Why should I watch it?  I wasn't prepared to answer this. If the prospect of watching a show about a game you don't understand (it's not that game that comes with Windows Vista) doesn't sound that exciting, allow me to assure you that this show's depiction of a game of Mahjong is akin to how an episode of Pokemon depicts a battle compared to watching someone playing with their Pokemon trading cards. There's hidden powers, crazy animations and edge of your seat drama accompanied with every match. Games are a thrill from start to finish and not really understanding what's going on will be on the back of your mind. More points = better, there's your lesson. But the Mahjong is just one aspect of the show and not even the most important.  Pictured here: Characters of the Saki Universe. Not Pictured: About 400 more girls. As I mentioned before, Saki has a girl rich cast. What I didn't mention was that this cast is both very large and nearly flawless. While the show is focused on one club of five girls (and some guy), it manages to maintain your interest in several other all girl clubs, each with 5 unique characters a piece and not one of them too similar to another. There are so many girls in this show and even the most minor of them manage to get their time to shine and be memorable. I genuinely believe it's impossible to pick just one favorite from this show. In the latter portions of the story, you even start to see more and more unique powers and skills these girls possess that will always keep you guessing at what's next. Saki also keeps a strong pace throughout. In 25 episodes, you'll get introductions, drama, friendship forming, bonding, lots of training, pinky swears, more drama, two tournaments and still plenty of time for hotsprings and festivals, while never spending too much time in any one area. Finally, you should watch it because it's really good and because next month, you can jump right into season 2. Unlike the people who watched it the first time around, who had to wait 5 years :o Will there be Yuri?  And just what do you think this Banana is for? Some would describe Saki as a show with strong Yuri implications and recommend you to bring your Yuri Goggles. I wouldn't and I say keep your Yuri Goggles in the Yuri Goggles Bag. That's because Saki IS Yuri.  You seem to be running a fever. Constantly. Now, Saki might not be a show about girls making out with each other but Nodoka and Saki's "that way" interest for each other is so clear, that not only should there be no need for Yuri Goggles but I think it would take Yuri Visors not to see it. The highs and lows of their relationship might not always involve romantic interest but their mutual growth is the most important part of the show, even more so than Mahjong. If either of these characters were male, nobody would even question that there is clear chemistry and yes, some lusting for each other. It doesn't stop there either, there's plenty of pairings amongst the cast throughout, including one that is outright confirmed as confirmed can be in the sister show, Episode of Side-A.  Behold, your new moe overlords. What else to look for? 1.) The main ending animation for the first half of the show is the most pleasant thing ever. If you can watch it without smiling, congratulations, you are Satan. Wai Wai! 2.) Wahaha! That's not a laugh, I'm just making clever observation using the greatest sound ever. 3.) You might learn something about Mahjong? Probably not. So that's this December's Spotlight Show. Use this thread to talk about Saki if you wish. Since this is the first spotlight we've had, I'm not really sure how we should approach this thread, since I want it to be for people watching for the first time and for people wanting to rewatch it. How about we play it cautiously and mindful of using spoiler tags for major things now. I'd love to see your favorite promo, fan art and videos for the show. Have suggestions about the Spotlight threads or what shows should be featured in the future? PM me or send me a message on my wall. |
removed-userSep 2, 2015 9:22 PM
| My friend has been recommending me to watch this since he first watched it. I might pick this up, maybe even as soon as today or tomorrow since I seem to have some free time coming up. Pretty good timing to remind me of this as I was just thinking about what to start watching next.w Just the yuri parts of Saki should be enough to keep me interested but I've heard it's pretty good overall. I have played mahjong myself so I know most of the rules, maybe not advanced stuff though. So following along with the mahjong parts shouldn't be too much of a problem for me. In any case, signing up for this as a first time watcher! I like the idea of a monthly show in here, I have a tendency to save yuri shows for later so I need some kind of a push to start watching them. I'm afraid I might keep pushing them in front of me forever otherwise... I think keeping it to yuri/shoujo-ai might be a good thing for this club. Maybe not as main genre, but maybe if there is some implications etc. Maybe I'm just bad at noticing but there wasn't a link to the MAL-page in the first post, here it is for anyone interested: http://myanimelist.net/anime/5671/Saki The side-stories/sequels: http://myanimelist.net/anime/7759/Saki_Picture_Drama http://myanimelist.net/anime/16123/Saki:_Zenkoku-hen (not yet aired) http://myanimelist.net/anime/10884/Saki:_Achiga-hen_-_Episode_of_Side-A http://myanimelist.net/anime/15989/Saki:_Achiga-hen_-_Episode_of_Side-A_Specials |
| Whoa! Nice thread, will watch. |
| Normally, I would not pick up this series, but for the club I will. Are we watching this as a club or individually? |
| I just finished the first episode. Very interesting chars, I think I will love this. |
| I'm now on 5th ep. and you're right. You don't need Yuri Goggles :D I'm watching this with subtitles in my native language (but there are only to 12th xD) so thanks to it I can better understand what they talkinkg about Mahjong BUT even it's in my language I don't really get these rules so I watching this and believe them on word that they're are winning/loosing/being on critical situation xD I really like Hisa - she's great! |
| Oh I definitely love this. I finished ep 2 but I'm gonna take a break for now and maybe do some kind of watchathon later tonight. About the show so far: I forgot to ask this earlier, is Achiga-hen part of this or just the first season? |
| Will rewatch it. |
| I'm curious as to how many of these spotlights will interest me, seeing how much I have backlogged already =P Saki is incredibly entertaining, but not worth a rewatch for me. But I'll surely be enjoying reading everyone's reactions ^^ |
| "The view from the bottom of a well may not be much, but you can see the sky and the stars really well. My world is small, but since I'm looking up at space night after night, you could say I'm a frog on a universal scale. When you gaze up at space all alone like that, the back of your mind goes quiet, and you feel as though you've gained an extraordinary amount of wisdom." |
| Yea, I was curious to see if the direction would be similar to a book club format, where people watch/complete a show/episode(s) then discuss (except without delicious food or drink). I understand, it makes sense to keep a free form environment where people can come and go as they please with the discussions. It would be hard to have a set schedule with the different time zones and schedules of each person. Sweet, jumping in and enjoying the saccharine filled ride. Just finished the first episode and all I can say is fluffy warm KAWAINESSNESSNESS, using some of the wise words of MrScwiggles. Working on the second. |
| Been planning to watch it for a while now, but I forgot about it :P Gonna watch it as soon as I can |
| I just finished 19 ep ^^ And some funny stuff. When they play - you know, when are these "animations"/special effect/etc. on board it's reminds me... Jumanji :D floating water, mahjong's stones are like electric fence... It has one big disadvantage... I'm watching this too fast xD so propably I will start reading manga. Can someone tell me is anime differ from manga or it is accurate adaptation? So I could skip some volumes and start reading after action from anime? |
| Man, this is actually pretty good. It's sorta sad how I'm so used to the over the top mahjong already. I blame Inazuma Eleven. Also...the waiwai...is too much...medic... |
| Will rewatch it |
 |
| Episode 3, completed. Yay.... well, definitely a long way off from 19. I am slowly getting there, can't stay awake all night anymore. :) |
| Nice idea, specially with Saki. I don't remember why I watched it the first time (I think I didn't know about it being yuri-stuff) but I loved it immediatly. I have my problems with Saki herself, but other than that I think the characters are fantastic (Hisa and Mihoko are my favorites), specially the treatment of the other schools was very nice (everyone got his time to shine). The matches are also very cool and the music catchy as hell. I will be rewatching it without a doubt, probably before Season 2. The Achiga-Series was also nice, but way too rushed and because of that significantly weaker but also quite enjoyable. |
| Episode 3. (spoiler for those who whatch Saki first time! - don't click on the spoiler button) |
Sora_92Dec 4, 2013 8:58 AM
Sora_92 said: Episode 3. (spoiler for those who whatch Saki first time! - don't click on the spoiler button) I watched this once again and I also didn't see this for the first time xD And... I finished all episodes! It was quick... Hmm I'm not going to repeat myself from last posts so I just make a conclusion. "Saki" is... diffrent kind anime that I usually watching. Firstly I wasn't sure what should I expect but now I'm happy that I saw this :D 8/10 Hisa is my favourite char XD |
AlextashaDec 4, 2013 3:19 PM
| I just can say that a agree, perfect resume of the very few flaws of Saki (not just the character Saki, I mean the series as a whole). ;-) |
| So I looked up the game of Mahjong and it is similar to Rummy, which I do love to play. After watching a couple of episodes, I now have a desire to play this game. Does anyone else have the desire to play mahjong after watching the episodes? Ok, now off to work. |
| Mahjong is a very fun game to play. If you ever get the chance to play with real mahjong tiles I recommend it, learning the rules will take a while however.. I'm sure there is a possibility to play it online though. As of ep 4: |
| There are plenty of Mahjong games for smartphones, some of which are translated to Engrish. After Saki I learned the basic rules and played for a bit, but I'm too lazy to learn the points system in depth, still don't even know what gives a han and what doesn't =S But after Chihayafuru I always want to play karuta, so it's not so much about the game of mahjong but more about the series xD When it comes to board games I prefer chess, but I like video games better anyways. |
| "The view from the bottom of a well may not be much, but you can see the sky and the stars really well. My world is small, but since I'm looking up at space night after night, you could say I'm a frog on a universal scale. When you gaze up at space all alone like that, the back of your mind goes quiet, and you feel as though you've gained an extraordinary amount of wisdom." |
| About Mihoko... Don't lynch me xD I don't like her. I don't like toooo sweeeet characters. She is too kind for everyone. and also IMO Kazekoshi Girls' High School is the most pallid school. The only person with character is Kana, rest are just typical bacground. And when I heard "Capitan" I was like this. Ehh... They just set my teeth on edge... |
| Looking for Fujita graphics - finding this xD |
| @ TheAyaya and Lazhward, cool I will see what I can find online and check it out. @Lazwahrd, have you ever played Go? Never played any TCGs, although I have played tabletop RPGs. As for the PSP version of mahjong, if it works with a classic game boy then I am all for it. :) Episode 6, completed. Movin on up. |
lectitoJun 29, 2017 6:20 PM
| 7 to 8 :D more people are rewatching Saki xD we will see at the end ^^ |
| Completed through episode 9... Hugs for everyone. |
| I finished episode 8 yesterday. I hope these threads doesn't get closed immediately as the month ends, I'm not sure if I can finish Saki in time. These days are xmas-busy after all. |
| Alright. Finished. As expected, I didn't understand what the hell was going on during the mahjong, but it was still enjoyable. Definitely worth the watch.Two things that really hurt it for me were the constant fanservice shots and Yuuki. God, I hated Yuuki. I probably won't watch Achiga-hen, but I will watch Season 2. Thanks for putting it in the spotlight(guess you could say it was the 'light' choice). Lookin' forward to the next one. |
| Just finished Saki. Yay. It almost feels like I just won a game of Mahjong. Good series overall, will definitely watch the second season. edit: I Fixed your urls. |
lectitoDec 17, 2013 10:05 PM
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