Saki - Episode of Side-A - Episode 6

Kuro might have had a disastrous hand in the first match of Achiga's vital second round game, but there's still a long way to go as sister Yuu steps up to the plate... err, I mean table... as she vows to win back the points her sister has lost to pay her back somewhat for all the times her sibling has helped her in the past.

Yuu certainly gets off to a good start, but this looks set to be short-lived as the other teams, and Senriyama in particular, confirm that just like her sister Yuu has a very clear and easy to counter playing style.  Or does she?  While a cursory look at her statistics seems to tell her rivals everything they need to know, her decision-making is actually stranger than it first seems as she targets only "warm" tiles.  Thus, come the end of her match nobody has quite nailed down Yuu's methodology, allowing her to claw back at least some of the deficit left by the first match.

With two players down, it's up to Ako to lead the charge next - and what a fine job she does of it too, racing away to win a number of hands and pick Achiga up off the bottom of the match leaderboard.  Although she eventually meets her match, once again courtesy of Senriyama as they look set to run away with the lead, come the end of match-up number three we see Achiga promoted all the way up to second place in a game where you could throw a towel over three of the four contenders.  Proverbially that is, not to hide the fact that they aren't wearing underwear.

Given how many weeks I was calling for it and complaining about the decided lack of it, I can only rejoice once again at an episode of Saki that prostrates itself almost solely at the altar of mahjong action.  It still doesn't match the original series in terms of drama and tension, in no small part due to having less interesting characters and individuals with less fascinating gameplay characteristics, but it's still good to watch and fun to follow so I can't help but get excited at it.  This is, after all, what I've been tuning into this series each and every week for, so it would be churlish of me to complain once it finally provides it in spades.