Diagram of hands or "yaku" (right)

© Ryumon Juzo　2010    riichiryumon–contact@yahoo.co.jp

Diagram of hands or "yaku" (left)

 

Too big to show the entire picture so that I have to add another page which has the right part of this diagram.
If I hit upon a better idea to show you the picture, I will upgrade the page.

Official Site of Anime Saki

Sorry, no English version is available.
Still you can feel the atmosphere of the site.

Original Comics of Saki

Saki comics

Anime Saki is based on comic series of Saki authored by Ritz Kobayashi on the Young GANGAN magazine published by SQUARE-ENIX, famous for the maker of the game soft "Dragon Quest" and "Final Fantasy".

Although TV series is terminated, the story of Saki on the magazine continues.

You can enjoy the comics even if you are not familiar with Japanese or/and mahjong because you have already watched the story on TV.
The latter half of comic #7 may be hard to read becaused the part of the comic is not televised yet.

*Try riichi-mahjong! It's totally FREE! (introduction)

http://www.saki-anime.com/special_game.html

Click OK to begin.

*Experience riichi-mahjong, like Saki plays!...maybe you will find a lot to demand but you know it's just FREE :P

*You play as "Saki": Your score is on the box located leftest: 21100

*You are a non-dealer: COM1 is the dealer, gaining one and half times higher score than non-dealer's when winning.
*The tile you draw is shown on the rightest.: 9 character.
*Discard what you don't need by clicking the tile.
-You can declair riichi by clicking the button next to the icon of the speaker which is the switch of the sound.
-You can make kong within your hand ('ankan' or concealed kong) anytime by clicking the button below the riichi button.
-Or you click the rightest button just for going forward without bothering kong.

This game is "tonpu-sen", east round only: you may remember what Kataoka "Tacos" Yuuki explains in Saki episode 1.

CONGRATS ! Press YES to go out: You can press NO if you need to.

Note: the tile indicated in the center of the field is dora, a bonus tile.

 If you have one dora, your yaku will step up one.

 And if you have two doras, your yaku will step up two.

In this game, the dora is the identical tile indicated in the center of the field. 4 Character is the dora now.

CAUTION: Today the dora is usually defined as THE NEXT TILE OF THE INDICATER.

 In this case, the dora is considered not as 4 Character but as 5 Character.

You will find further explanation including dora on this blog with "sakigame" label.

Best way to learn riichi-mahjong

I think the best way to learn riichi-mahjong is to obtain riichi-mahjong PC software sold in Japan and play it while consulting certain manual of riichi-mahjong.

I recommend you to visit the page of this blog to play riichi-mahjong with your PC.
*Simple but FREE experience of riichi-mahjong! (introduction)
http://riichimahjong.blogspot.com/2010/05/simple-but-free-experience-of-riichi.html

Problem: I don't think there are software of riichi-mahjong in English so that you have to "decode" Kanji characters to understand directions including various hands or "yaku".

I will make a list of yaku and upload on this blog so that at least you can understand the concept of each yaku easier: I promise I will show you a software of English version, if available someday.



If you live in Kanto Area in Japan, Tokyo, Chiba, Kanagawa or Saitama, I will visit and instruct you how to play riichi-mahjong, thirty-minute lecture plus exercise on PC, with a reasonable fee.
Mail me for further information.

*DVDs offer what TV series didn't

http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm10033970

Here's a link for Amazon:
Saki DVDs

So that still you have enough reason to buy original DVD packages
even if you have watched the series several times to memorize whole story:

CAUTION: these DVDs are released in region 2 so that you might need to watch DVDs with your PC which has already been installed of region-free patch, which is available on the net.

Furthermore, each first-edition package contains a booklet including rough sketches of charcters.

*"Nikodou" or "Nikoniko douga" : YouTube?

"Nikodou" or "Nikoniko douga" is a movie feed service similar to YouTube.
http://www.nicovideo.jp/
The feature of Nikodou is you can directly "comment" on the scene of the film.

I recommend this site not because urging you to comment: Since this site is in Japan, few people understand slang except few, for instance, "wow" or "cool".

The charm of this site is full of MAD(imo:Mashup Anime Douga), some of which will entertain you, I swear.

Before you enjoy watching MAD, you have to register your minimum personal information.

What I introduce here are, really just a few of fun titles, as follows:
Note: You can watch flicks without displaying comments by clicking a baloon icon shown on the rim of the screen.

*with Evangelion
http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm8555161

*with NARUTO
http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm8359087

*with Railgun
http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm8974371


















*with Akagi
http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm8699697

*with Godzilla
http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm8395951

Again, this list represents just the tip of the iceberg of marvelous MADs!

A tip to find articles related to anime Saki

The word "saki" means "blooming". Since it sounds impressive, Saki as a female name is popular. Also there are variations including Ito Misaki and Shibasaki Kou, both are popular TV actresses in Japan. Even characters in another anime have names related to Saki: for example, Sakuya.

So that if you intend to find articles related to anime Saki with search engine, hiring one word "Saki" is almost useless: too many noises will be accompanied with your results.

Try this:

咲 saki

I'm sorry the results will be written in Japanese, though.

Saki anime mahjong

may helpful for you.

Key words including "Saki" in Kanji for search engine

咲 saki

You can use the words mentioned above by copy and paste on the window of the search engine on the page written in Japanese.

*Saki PSP: introduction

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1YazSTwxC0

link to Amazon:
Saki PSP

I'm afraid this software is Japanese only and the key layout between "o" and "x" are exchanged. Wait for my further explanation with graphics.

Note: this software is designated as "C" by CERO; i.e. recommended for age 15 or over.
I don't know why but I suppose regulator coundn't find the characters' underware :P

Here is a promotion movie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1YazSTwxC0

I myself didn't have any portable game machine including Sony PSP.
I bought PSP just for playing this software LOL

What's "riichi-mahjong (Reach Mahjong) ?"

Riichi-mahjong (Reach Mahjong) is of course transformed from China-origin-mahjong but something different as follows:

1. The player who discards the winning tile pays ALL for the winner: so that discarded tiles must be displayed in order.

2. Players must secure at least one hand or "yaku" to declare winning: each player requires a knowledge of yaku. Thirty or more yaku exist.

There are other differences so newbies had a hard time in learnning riichi-mahjong, especially yaku, until datsui-mahjong, or arcade strip mahjong game appeared in early 1980s.

*Preview of Saki(on YouTube)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONdYqyv-i90
Made by Gonzo.
Story: Miyanaga Saki is a Kiyosumi High School's freshman who can play mahjong but doesn't like it. One day her classmate brought her to the school's mahjong club and she happens to play mahjong three rounds with the score of even, plus minus zero. All of the members think Saki's score is just a coincidence except the president of the club who tries to invite Saki again to inspect her hidden power...

Difference between mahjong and shanghai(Mahjong Solitare)

Perhaps you may have seen tiles piled like a pyramid and a player trying to remove tiles by choosing any of a pair of tiles bearing same design: Yes, such game uses mahjong tiles but it's NOT a mahjong- it's shanghai or another game.

Mahjong requires FOUR players...sometimes three, in certain area (group) with altered rules called "samma".

The interesting thing is...even my "sponsor" introduced by AdSense calls it in the very same way \(^ o^)/ So don't be angry. I will introduce you the links related to riichi-mahjong (reach mahjong) in the body of the blog, OK?