Getting down to business, Saki's story is actually quite formulaic. Not that I dock points for that. Its all about the Mahjong tournaments. The preparation, the climax and the conclusion is logical. It makes sense since its an anime about Mahjong and what better way to see it being played than in a tournament. For me it was a foregone conclusion, but that is exactly why they made the journey tense, eventful and generally thrilling from how the game is taken so seriously. Sadly however, outside the game there really isn't that much there for me. There's comedy/fanservice here and there but nothing really spectacular or as moving as when playing Mahjong itself. The attempts at drama are laughable and most of it can be easily skipped without doing much harm to the main plot or character motivation. Then there's the ending. It is screaming for a sequel and I cry foul play. They could have tied it up right there and then with the end of the tournaments instead of hanging on for some cooldown filler just to reach that 24 episode mark.
Most of the 25 episodes you will be treated to are of high standard. That said, coming in to the final stretch, there are bad art shifts. So much that I can't believe were deliberate choices to have such jarringly low quality. Otherwise though, there are good are shifts and probably would not stop the likes of Koromo from being even cuter than this other blond haired, weird eyed little lady with incredible power I know. On a side note, Nodoka could be a real rich landlady with those huge tracts of arable land. The animation is smooth and the 3D art doesn't stand out like a sore thumb. Well okay, maybe I still think those tiles are made of some weird otherworldly material and looks so very unnatural, but that really is just a triviality. Though if you pay enough attention to the scenes you may catch glimpses of reused animations, something I didn't really catch during the first run through. On the second run, they started appearing but at that point I didn't care any more because it certainly didn't do anything except indicate that production is a bit cheap; mostly harmless.
Now the sound, that is something of a treat. The background music is exactly the reason all the action on screen is so great. Nothing less would get you pumped when that miraculous draw from the dead wall happens. Heck, most of the tunes would spice up any of the scenes regardless. Even the music for the openings and endings are catchy and cheery pop tunes, going on about Mahjong I reckon. As for the sound effects, I can't say they're anything special, though I am a bit partial to the clicks of the tiles. Then we come to the voice talents. Its a great pool of names you may already know or have heard of which you should be able to judge for yourself.
In an anime so steeped in Mahjong, you need characters to actually play it. And play they do, with relish I might add. Their character really comes out when they play and sometimes this is pretty literal. Alter-egos, superpowers and godly/demonic luck aside, the characters are not much more than that. Each of the players are given some sort of motivation from flashbacks when they are in a tight spot and give it their all but mostly, that's it. There is a lot of staring, blushing and hugging. Yes they're a lovable bunch and yes, the anime does like heavy-handed subtext. Maybe the staring and hugging has something to do with telepathy but I doubt it was going to open up anything special. Very few of the characters that speak do not get characterisation though, which is a pretty good thing, considering the varied cast (from phase-shifting butler to average salary man father to aloof big sister) is upwards of twenty, maybe thirty of them running around on screen.
I was generally amused and entertained though. The Mahjong is over the top, with enough comedy and fanservice to not have my mind dulled by certain other parts. Even the small details like the fact that Hagiyoshi plays a mean game of Mahjong online. I'll see if after watching this, I can improve my own game a bit :p
