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Saki and Riichi?

Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 9:04 am
by Pekepan
I was curious... Has there been an influx of mahjong players since Saki started airing? A lot of my friends have asked me to teach them since that anime came out, even though they refused when I tried before :angry:

Although, I have to admit that I only fell into the riichi world after watching it too ^^;

Re:Saki and Riichi?

Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 11:19 am
by TropicSmoothie
Maybe not a huge influx, but there have to be new players due to it. Anime are a great way to spark an interest in people. For example, I was never interested in American Football until I was introduced to it in Eyeshield 21.

Akagi is more of my taste though, when it comes to mahjong anime. Has a more sinister and serious feel to it.

Re:Saki and Riichi?

Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 3:59 pm
by Spdwagon
Since the Second episode we have a huge boost on the IRC channel, daily threads on a certain image board that is dedicated to everything Japanese that\'s not anime or manga, and almost continuous playing in tenhou\'s 7447 lobby.

There was a time (iirc after the second episode) when there were 6 live tables and around 30-35 people in that lobby.

I must say, Saki WAS a huge boost.

Re:Saki and Riichi?

Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 8:52 pm
by Tang
I came into IRC to ask for recommendation on a lan program to use for me and my friends when we can\'t get together, I was totally ignored. Before my asking, I tried to say hi, twice, and was ignored. Every time I came to see what they were talking about, they were just arguing and using quite vulgar language that seemed pointless. Oh, except the first time when they were discussing ... quadruple yakumon?!

But back on topic, I think it created a difference. I was not even close to interested in MJ until Saki came in. Now there are 4 of us that are trying to learn it, giving up a few hours playing online to memorize all the yaku and properly calculate the points. We\'re hopefully meeting up next week for our first full 10 round game. I\'ve already made excel sheets for scoring, though that didn\'t take long. Saki was a big influence! TSUMO AFTER KUNG, SAKI!

Though, I\'m not trying so hard simply because of the anime, it\'s because Riichi IS fun, really fun.

Re:Saki and Riichi?

Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 11:50 pm
by hirohurl
This is interesting info. I only became aware of Saki when a customer asked me about it.

I\'m going to go and check out the Japanese manga. It sounds like a lot of people first heard of Saki when the anime came out (in English I guess). Is that right, or were people already into Saki manga translated into English?

Also, what was the appeal of Saki for people who were not previously into mahjong?

Re:Saki and Riichi?

Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2009 12:29 am
by July
Actually, I was playing someone on Tenhou who used the handle \"takochan\". ^_^

Well, the more the merrier. Hopefully it brings a lot of novices so I can win more~

Re:Saki and Riichi?

Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2009 12:29 am
by Spdwagon
The translators are slow, or maybe dropped the project.
There were only a few people(English speaking as you guessed) into it when the anime was not even announced.
hirohurl wrote:Also, what was the appeal of Saki for people who were not previously into mahjong?
Just to list a few: young girls, no panties, famous Voice actors, and Studio Gonzo(yes, negative advertising is also advertising).

Re:Saki and Riichi?

Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2009 2:27 am
by wyce
mm most of the ppl that i taught was just curious about riichi MJ. Currently, I believe i am the sole riichi teacher in Edmonton, AB, Canada! I have over 20 students XD.
Come to think of it, Akagi was the reason why i play Mahjong!

Re:Saki and Riichi?

Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2009 1:32 pm
by Tang
Spdwagon wrote:The translators are slow, or maybe dropped the project.
There were only a few people(English speaking as you guessed) into it when the anime was not even announced.
hirohurl wrote:Also, what was the appeal of Saki for people who were not previously into mahjong?
Just to list a few: young girls, no panties, famous Voice actors, and Studio Gonzo(yes, negative advertising is also advertising).
What do you mean no panties? There is no basis for that fact!

Aside from the general fanservice and the odd pseudo-lesbian portrayal, oh and oddly enough, constant flushed faces and/or...flushed knees?! It\'s the animation and over-the-top style of Saki that makes it so appealing. Regular MJ looks boring, but when you add in random lightning/flowers/wings/effects/boom, girls and a big tournament, that just sets up a good environment for excitement! Also the unbelievable plays, that obviously don\'t really work in real life, that make it crazy! But fun to watch. I found the episodes where Takei Hisa (President!) played VERY entertaining.

The anime makes the viewer want to watch more, simply to see how the tournament ends up. Or what the next crazy move/power is from the next player, as it seems all players have a certain specialty in their Riichi style.

Taco and her powerful and quick east rounds, Nodoka with her extraordinarily logical plays, Takei (my favorite) and her hell waits(!), the glasses girl with her amazing memory that somehow memorized countless situations/discards/hands over the years and to react accordingly to what the results were in the past, Saki and her demon luck, Amae and her demon luck, that man/girl from Ryuumunbuchi academy that has insane instincts and can seemingly read the flow of a game, Touka and her over-the-top antics (not really play style but hilarious to watch), Momo and her invisible plays, Ikeda and her catness(lol), Kezekoshi\'s Ace with the combination of logical play, intuition and knowledge of the game (technically the best real life style, hand-to-hand with Nodoka) that blew away the first round of the finals, the pro players (only one has been introduced, her style seemed to be tile manipulation, mind games!) and the not-yet-revealed players that lurk in the shadows for the upcoming national tournament! (It is foreshadowed, literally shadowed in an episode, that these not-yet-revealed characters have some of the same traits as the previously mentioned characters, but even better or with a slight variation, which makes it exciting to see which style is better!) When combining their different styles and their personalities, it makes for interesting matches! Minus that all-glasses match, though the amateur not knowing what to do was comedy! ("I know what to do! I\'ll call Riichi!" ... other girl: "So uh, where\'s your stick?" ... "EYYHHH?!" then follows up in a later seat afterwords with a four concealed pungs, "Let\'s see...4 sets and a pair, I win?" ... other girls: "FOUR CONCEALED PUNGS?!" ... "...What\'s that?" etc etc)

I\'m bored in the morning with free time, so I hope that wasn\'t too much of a read. Basically, it\'s more than just the fanservice that gets its popularity, though it helps, Saki makes Riichi look exciting! Then when the excitement catches the eyes of anime watchers, they give Riichi a chance, find out how fun it is, and viola, a lot of new players!

Personally, if the animation wasn\'t actually good and the fun stuff that happens in games, I wouldn\'t be watching it. An anime about a bunch of girls playing MJ would be boring without what I previously mentioned! Yes, EVEN with the fanservice it\'d be boring!

Re:Saki and Riichi?

Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2009 2:26 pm
by Spdwagon
I just simply listed a few things that appeal to people who were previously not interested in mahjong without that wall of text you just demonstrated...

Re:Saki and Riichi?

Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2009 2:48 pm
by July
Obviously I object to you saying that you need to add all these ridiculous things to make mahjong interesting. For instance, even in Ten or Akagi the mahjong is quite a bit more realistic, and they still manage to make it exciting.

When I read Saki, it\'s more about suspending disbelief.

Re:Saki and Riichi?

Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2009 3:36 pm
by Tang
July wrote:Obviously I object to you saying that you need to add all these ridiculous things to make mahjong interesting. For instance, even in Ten or Akagi the mahjong is quite a bit more realistic, and they still manage to make it exciting.

When I read Saki, it\'s more about suspending disbelief.
Oh dear, I didn\'t mean to offend anyone. You don\'t NEED to have those things to make MJ interesting, but as you can clearly see, those things make it exciting and interesting to watch. Akagi nor Ten spiked up the Riichi MJ population as much as Saki has, from what I have noticed.

The game in itself is fun, but you need incentive for people to try it. It\'s marketing for the game, if anything. The general population rarely watch any professional sport simply to watch amazing mechanics of the game, they watch it for the showmanship. I can very easily just say that polo or golf is interesting, and it is, there is very much technique and mechanics involved. However, both are very unliked sports for watching and it\'s hard to really get into it if the portrayal seems boring.

I started typing this and then went to do some things, now I forgot where I was going with this. I\'ll just end it by saying, I didn\'t say you NEED that stuff, but it\'s fun and gets people into learning.

Re:Saki and Riichi?

Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2009 9:17 pm
by July
No worries, I\'m not angry or anything.

Re:Saki and Riichi?

Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2009 10:07 am
by Pekepan
Speaking of which, I just watched all of Akagi today :side: It was one of those, \"I\'ll just watch ONE more,\" situations...

The ending sort of left you hanging, though. :angry: Won\'t spoil it for the people who haven\'t watched it. But my feelings on in can be summarized as \"ARRRRRGGGGGHHHH!!\"

Re:Saki and Riichi?

Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2009 2:14 pm
by Spdwagon
All I can say, Pekepan for you is to read the manga.