Saki

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Ritz Kobayashi's mahjong manga is a relatively simple concept that has been executed well. The title character Saki Miyanaga is a genius player whose ability to manipulate her own score develops from being bullied while playing with members of her family. Despite her hatred for the game, Saki is drawn into her high school's mahjong club and soon aims to help take the club to the national tournament in order to reunite with her older sister who is member of the reigning national team champion.

Artistically, Saki is very clean and easy on the eye. The art does not occupy the reader with individual detailed panels ... and makes it easier to read at a faster pace. One initially wonders how Kobayashi would be able to vary the drawings of her characters each time they declare mahjong, but she pulls it off by using different points of view and creative action shots. The reader can almost see the tiles come alive with the players' movements. Depending on reader interest in fan service material, one will find the occasional suggestive angles either distracting or refreshing.

Kobayashi presents her readers with a multitude of named characters that sometimes it becomes difficult to provide an equal amount of development. At one point during the height of the national tournament, the total number of characters introduced doubles from the number of characters in the prefectural tournament. If there is one conclusion readers can draw from this is that each girl has her own reasons for aiming at the national title. This makes it easy to attach oneself to a particular character because she has peculiar characteristics or manners, whether it be her love of tacos, her ability to remain hidden from her opponents, or simply her monocle. Unfortunately, this also means the title character is more easily forgotten than readers will originally expect.

Readers will enjoy this manga for more than its impressive display of mahjong skill (or luck, as some will say). The anticipation of seeing certain characters interact with each other is enough for fans to create multiple relationship pairings, which are abundant. Although readers who do not understand mahjong terminology may find the reading slow in the beginning, it becomes easier to not get caught up in reading explanations and proceed with a general understanding of each match outcome.

There is much similarity between the manga and its anime adaptation. While the two mediums approach the concept of the story differently, they complement each other well and can enhance each other's enjoyment.

Saki is like a case study in how to make a manga fall apart completely. The first ~8 volumes or so (which correlate roughly to the first season of the anime) are amazing, an easy 9 out of 10. After that it goes downhill fast though, and at some point the art & writing just fall of a damn cliff and eventually it feels like the story barely takes place in the same world as it started anymore.

It's a true shame because had you asked me 10 years ago I would have recommended this to just about anyone based on where it was at ... back then, but the way it is now I can't in good conscience recommend it to anyone. The only reason I'm even sticking with it myself is sheer stubbornness, since it at least feels like it'll be over somewhat soon.

A 5 out of 10 at this point feels generous, and the only reason it's even getting that is because of how great it used to be.

I’ll be honest here, I only came to read the manga for the tits. I was looking at this like a hentia, but I thought, “Maybe the story will keep me here.” It didn’t.

Characters, pretty boring. Saki just hates Majong because she would lose money when she lost and make her family member mad when she won. So she decided to always achieve a 0 score to ensure no lose or money or angering family members. Overall a good reason to hate the game and get good at it, in my opinion. But that’s where praise ends. Everything else is whatever, characters don’t have any ... depth honestly. You got second big booby character, she’s ok. She had a reasonable reason to hate Saki at the beginning but kinda annoying. You got taco girl who I think is useless. Big sister character is just there to be there. There’s sprinkles of borderline nudity which makes me uncomfortable because it’s usually the little girls showing partial nudity. Didn’t even get as much big boobs so I hoped for so I didn’t get what I wanted.

They didn’t even explain the damn game in the story unlike normal sports manga, but I eventually found out they had laid out the rules in 2 pages. Who does this? Explain the game during the story! It’s way more engaging and interesting!

Overall, pretty meh manga. I came in as a degenerate looking for breasts and possibly a good story. Only got the first thing and some uncomfortable panels in addition.