This ridiculous yet impressive talent lays dormant until Saki's friend Kyou invites her to the Mahjong club of which he is a member - At first, her unspectacular play and results seem pretty normal, until the school council president (and another member of the club) realises that something is afoot, and ends up devising a plan to test her theory once and for all.
If this opening episode of Saki taught me one thing, it's that I don't have a clue about how to play Mahjong. If it's taught me two things, it's that not only do I have no clue how to play it, it appears to be so fiendishly complex that the mere thought of playing it now terrifies me. With all of the jargon being flashed around by this episode, I would wager than my complete lack of knowledge of this game is something of a handicap while watching this series, making me look stupid as well as feeling it.
That aside, it's difficult to get a handle on where this series is headed - From its opener, it seems to be playing its plot in a rather straight-faced fashion despite its occasional jokes, some cutesy behaviour from the characters and (this being anime) sparks coming off the tiles as they're thrown atop the table. Now, I don't know much about Mahjong, but I'm guessing a typical set doesn't have tiles that spark. Indeed, this episode even seemed to try and pull some heartstrings slightly with the behaviour of the reigning Mahjong expert Nodoka, which seemed slightly incongrous for a series about a board game.
Still, I can't help but be somewhat intrigued by this series - I may not have a clue what's going on when they're actually playing, but Saki and her "disorder" have roused a strange curiosity in me, and if nothing else I just want to see where the show plans to head next. I think I might need to read a book about Mahjong to avoid smoke spewing forth from my brain by the end of the series however....
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I agree that the episode had interesting elements. For me, it was just all-around confounding. There were parts I totally loved (like those sparks you mentioned) but a lot of things I completely hated (like, say, all of the dialog.)
There goes my hopes about "Saki" gently breaking viewers into the game of Mahjong. Kind of hard to appreciate the nuances of expert strategy and the mastery of skills presented when we don't even know the first thing. Being one of the series I had my eye on following, now I have to decide whether to learn the game, trudge along with no remote idea what's going on, or pass this over for now.
I think this episode is a prime example of when translation notes should be separate from the actual subtitles/video - It would probably have made watching the thing far easier, as a lot of said notes were running against fast-paced sequences which left you either pausing the video (and interrupting the flow) or missing them.
Saki's Mahjong game rules
http://www.crunchyroll.com/forumtopic-490271/how-to-play-japanese-riichi-mahjong/
Play mahjong
http://www.gamedesign.jp/flash/mahjong/mahjong_e.html
Yes, while I do agree that I do not have any idea how to play japanese mahjong and it is sometimes very frustrating not to know if they are close to or having a a horrible hand, I love this show nonetheless. The first episode, in my opinion, does not attract as much attention as it should. I was not going to continue with the series if it wasn't for the fact that I was so bored. But after continueing and further analyising of the storyline I find this story quite amusing and very addictive. To the point that I wait in ernesty for teh next episode to come out. Although I do not know how to play mahjong watching this anime is still, to me, a joy.
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