Catching up to: Saki (20)
nekosasu | August 29, 2009 | 3:57 am
NYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!
Well, it’s that time again, something between the middle and the end of the season, the last quarter… there comes my usually belated Catching up to series. Well, this time I have to admit I was pretty much distracted, so perhaps I have a more viable excuse this time… Ahem. Let’s proceed to the current batch of lesbian mahjong anime episodes.
(Yes, only up to episode 20, because 21 seems stuck in the intertubes…)
The last match proceeded almost exactly as I had expected it to. Koromo going all-out with her hate-filled mahjong, crushing the wills of her opponents, there is no other way but to unite. UNITY IS STRENGTH, said Confucius – I’m sure it wasn’t him but who cares – and Saki heeded those words. Strategically conceding points to the weakened players to ruin the leader’s game, she made sure to destabilize and weaken Amae’s lunacy. Of course, Saki’s friendliness went only to a certain extent, since there can only be one winner, and eventually she did win indeed.
I don’t think that this outcome really came as a surprise, I mean, we’re being fed so many happy endings these days, we can’t help being optimistic, can we? Especially with another long road that is lying ahead of our Kiyosumi girls, and the underlying plot that will be culminate in the reunion between Saki and her overly conceited sister Teru.
I’m slowly giving in to the loli temptations. Just… a little bit more…
The result was obvious, so of course, the focus rested on the interactions within the members of every team, and especially for the last tier, the top pairs were once again underlined: Nodoka x Saki, Mihoko x Kana, Yumi x Momo, Koromo x Touka. They’re going further by the episode; I can’t believe any of these pairs haven’t kissed yet. But beyond the obvious service trap (in a non-futa kind of way), I find it pretty sweet. At least I surprised myself when I noticed that huge smile on my face after Saki and Nodoka held each other in their arms.
Well. In all honesty, I like this anime now more than before. Definitely not for the emphasized curves (or the lack thereof) of our heroines I was abudantly offered in filler epilogue episode 20, no – I like it for the simple fact that the series still keeps the many side characters alive, even after the main competition. Other sports/competition-based series usually tend to dismiss the side cast as soon as they lose/drop out (except for apparent archnemeses), but in episode 20, we still see the other three teams moving on. And they’re all getting along, I like that. …perhaps I’m just happy to see Mihoko, Hajime and Momo again. The chemistry between the teams themselves seems to be working this time (at least none is bearing any hard feelings, unlike in the past when they were beaten by Koromo), and of course, who is to blame? That overly (not to say exaggeratedly) charismatic Saki from the finals. Did you see her smile when she placed her last stone? I almost thought she snapped a wire, endorphin rush style.
Eh, is this series still about Mahjong? Beyond the sugarcoated amalgam of magic and luck, easily labeled as “skill” in here, the game itself will probably lose a little of its charme, especially since there aren’t that many ultra yakuman moves left to pull out. Only power levels of 9000 and above will impress me. So don’t disappoint me, Saki.
YES! THIS IS IT! No more holding back. Let’s start rubbing that ワレメ gently, shall we, Tacos-tan?
But in fact, how will this series move forward now? First it’s the individuals, then the team nationals. So there’s quite a lot to cover, plus the usual obligatory service filler eps… I’d say we’re in for a 39/52-ish series. The question is though, will this season last longer than 26 eps? Apparently not, or improbable. RyanA says that they are running out of manga material[1], and ANN also only says 26 episodes for now.
Of course, they could just create some kind of cliffhanger for episode 26 after the individuals, but that will be pretty much awful. At least my impression of episode 19 was that it was a major highlight or milestone that marked the middle of the story… did they shot the works early? We’ll see.
Notes- http://melative.com/RyanA/item/10891 [↩]
Mihoko x Kana, Yumi x Momo <- yes, I enjoyed thoroughly this sweet/cuteness.
I’m kinda glad they didn’t drag it to 26, some of those episodes mid-teen episodes dragged long enough. It is questionable at this point though. They have to do something, so maybe Gonzo might be able to work something out with the mangaka; overly-optimistic ^^
Whoo Whoo