Saki - Episode 1

It's funny the kind of odd foibles and almost obsessive-compulsive habits your family can breed into you, isn't it? Such is the case with Saki, the star of... err... Saki. This high school girl hates the game Mahjong on account of playing it as a child - She'd be told off for winning too often, but wouldn't get any sweets if she didn't winning, leaving her conflicted to the point where she somehow ended up with the near-impossible ability to ratchet up a ±0 score in every single game.

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....