Hi, people. I'm back! It was a tiring, satisfying and fun holiday trip. I will be on holiday once again in December. Anyway, I had a hard time deciding which anime I wanna review. Several drafts are lying there for me to choose. I had narrowed it down to two and I choose...
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| LOLIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
...the post about Saki Achiga Hen!!!! It's been since I have talked about the Saki anime series or any other merchandise derived from it. Anyway, it's time for another round of fiery Riichi Mahjong once again! OH YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WARNING:-
SPOILER ALERT!!! If you haven't watched it and plan to watch it without anyone being the spoiler, please DON'T CONTINUE READING!!!
P.S. If you want to be spoiled, well, go ahead and read it. You HAD been warned. Don't blame me for being spoiled if you INSIST on continuing to read this post.
Introduction
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| Anime cover |
OK, I did mention this anime briefly before. This anime is adapted from a spin-off manga of the same name. It is quite a fun anime...OK, I will stop here. As for any further details, you can check it out from my previous Saki post in the Introduction section from
here (or you can go to search the internet. It's not that hard). Anyway, let's move on.
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| Manga cover |
Plot
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| That flashback...Nodoka and the girls from Achiga... |
The anime starts off with a flashback to the past. Well, we can know the relationship of this spin-off story and the main story. Why? In Nodoka's past where she moves from place to place very often because of her father's job, she once was attending Achiga Girls' Elementary School for a short while and bonded with the girls who would eventually challenge her in the National High School Mahjong Tournament.
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| Nodoka on TV...sparks a new movement. |
Anyway, with Shizuno seeing Nodoka (and yes, that Nodoka. Haramura Nodoka,
Saki's gay partner. Just kidding.) on television the following year as the national middle school individual mahjong champion, she decides to revive Achiga's mahjong club. And once, another Love Live story...just kidding. Not really, they did successfully recruit people with relative ease although it met slightly difficult recruitment of Sagimori Arata because of the person who is recruited as the team's coach, Akado Harue.
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| That regional tournament...was a shocker to the previous champions. |
Anyway, the Achiga Riichi Mahjong battle squad has been assembled. They are Takakamo Shizuno (of course), Atarashi Ako, Matsumi Kuro, Matsumi Yuu and of course, the one has just mentioned, Sagimori Arata. They have beaten up the regional mahjong powerhouse Bansei High School just like the Achiga Girls' Academy of old. With that, they advanced into the national school mahjong champion, which consists of a lot of "monster class" player from different schools, especially one player named Teru.
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| Team Achiga assembled!!! |
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| Teru, the monster. Probably one of the most OP character in the series |
I'm not gonna elaborate the story beyond here because it is mostly about different mahjong matches and not much of any fun part. It is basically a hardcore mahjong action. Of course, there are really cute and light-hearted moments. Oh yeah, one thing, I have planned to write the special post on this anime series but I have no idea on what to write yet. Why? Well, I can't be writing all of the rules and regulations of it as it is much better if you search it from the internet. Plus, I can't actually write any learns learnt post for this because what can you learn from a tournament is the same for every type...Wait, that gives me an idea! Anyway, putting that aside, let's move on.
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| More intense tournament scene... |
Anime Rating
Story (Rating: 8/10)
Similar to Saki's main story anime, the story revolves around playing Riichi Mahjong and Riichi Mahjong tournament. And like the main story, it has the same intensity magic dust to the game of Riichi Mahjong. BUT, like the main story, there is a ton of Japanese Mahjong terms and aspects to know, which makes it a little harder to understand if you dun know the rules and the gameplay. Well, it does elaborates and explain the circumstance to the viewers who don't know Japanese Mahjong. The pacing is quite well-paced. This anime gives us the curiosity to know the mahjong a bit on my own.
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| The rare cute moments...Oh, this is Arata btw. |
Art and Animation (Rating: 9/10)
Just like the main story, the anime's animation is really good and have the same intensity as the main anime. And also, the characters look pretty good and cute, just like in the main story. Hehe...I really like the exaggeration of mahjong gameplay, which obviously will never look like what happens in real life.
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| This is part of the tournament scene. Is this even a mahjong tournament now? |
Sound and Music (Rating: 6/10)
Decent, to be honest. The opening theme song BUT the BGM contributes to a lot of the intense moments in the anime. Woah! Anyway, the music of this anime is overall decent. Oh, the voice acting? They are good, I admit.
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| A scene from the opening song... |
Characters (Rating: 8/10)
There are much lesser cute interaction and more emphasis on the tournament. I really dun mind that because of the intense mahjong animation and scene. The characters' will and fight are great to watch even without much cuteness. Not that much of any growth in character or in mahjong skill to be seen though. Oh, you asked about the relatability? Well, probably not, unless you are a Riichi Mahjong player with OP powers.
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| Not the most OP but still really intense. Wait, is this even a mahjong match at this point? |
Enjoyment (Rating: 10/10)
I enjoyed the mahjong gameplay because of the special effects (that will never exist in real life). Just like the main story, the characters are quite well-designed and have a well-structured storyline even though it's mostly about the mahjong tournament. Anyway, I enjoy this side story, just like the main story!
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| Quite an intense moment... |
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| Some cute childhood moments... |
Overall Rating: 8.2 (7.75)/10
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