We haven’t seen much in the mahjong themed anime department in quite a while now, probably because everyone has given up. After all, the greatest mahjong anime of all time has already been made, so why try any more, right?

That said, there appears to be this awesome new show about mahjong which avoids altogether the challenge of trying to top Akagi, and instead takes an entirely different approach to the “unnecessarily intense boardgame playing anime” genre. And that show is called Crazy Loli Yuri Mahjong!

(whispering)

.

.

…orrrrr it’s called Saki. Yeah.

…I still like my title better.

Anyway, for those of you who have been reading our blog for a while, you may remember that I awarded the manga for Saki the “Best New Manga of the Year” title in our 2007 Awards. Since I’m lazy, I’ll go ahead and just copypasta what I wrote back then, as it applies just as well to the anime as it did to the manga:

“I randomly stumbled across this manga while browsing through the Book-Off store in Harajuku earlier this year, and bought the first couple tankouban on a whim.

It’s kind of a fanservice series, which is a genre that I generally find exceedingly boring and trite, but this one is about mahjong. I happen to love playing mahong, and was also a big fan of Akagi, so I’ve enjoyed this manga quite a bit. Basically take Akagi, but replace all the ugly pointy nosed men with cute lolis, replace the yakuza gambling dens with highschools, and replace the badassery with moe fanservice, and you’ve got Saki.”

So far the anime seems to be reproducing the manga faithfully, almost to a fault (if you look at some of the manga scans, you’ll see that they basically took pages right out of the manga and just put them into animation. Hopefully it’ll stay that way, because the manga is really fun, with a story more involved than you might initially assume after seeing the first couple episodes.

Compare this image to the one up above and below, for example.

Yeah, it’s good to be watching another show with mahjong. There has been precious little to enjoy in this persuasion since Akagi ended, with the exception of the brief but hilariously memorable appearance of the game in xxxHolic’s second season. I’m not sure if things can get much more awesome than Mokona attempting to build a legendary 13 Orphans hand. Perhaps that irresponsible amount of win was why they had to limit this exposure to one episode.

Let’s be clear on one thing before we delve too deeply, not that such a delving would be even possible as the plot is more a babbling brook than a vast ocean. Saki is an exercise in fun. If you want Mafioso treachery, brooding psychological intensity, and ruthlessly cutthroat gambling action, well, that series has already been made and it is called Akagi.

If you haven’t already, you should go watch it right now. No seriously.

However, if you would like to watch a series with an entertaining cast, and don’t begrudge the occasional loli fanservice shot or the borderline yuri…

…wait, you mean people watch the show for some other reason?

…if you don’t begrudge that, then Saki (sorry Crazy Loli Yuri Mahjong) is definitely your cup of tea.

*ahem*

.

OK OK, I’ll stop with the fanservice pics.

Anyway, some of the mahjong in the series is actually pretty interesting from a strategic point of view, for those of you who enjoy actually playing mahjong. For the most part, though, it’s all completely over the top, dramatized to the point of ridiculousness. Not Akagi style, hardcore badass ridiculous. More like “Everlasting Combination Giant Robot Gattai!” shounen-y ridiculous.

That’s right. Saki is the Kamina of the mahjong world. Except with boobs.

…sort of.

Oh what I would give to have been in the room when they were brainstorming this “ron” sequence…

“OK everyone, I’ve compiled a checklist of every single clichè anime effect, camera angle, and protagonist pose. How many of these can we pull off in 10 seconds? I say let’s shoot for at least 7. OK, let’s make this happen people!”

(furious scribbling ensues)

“All right, let’s see what we’ve got! Earthquake when the tiles fall… check! Dramatic victory pose… check! Discard with authority… check! Needless lens flare… check! Determined expression with obligatory eye gleam… check! Aaaand… how about we throw in some lightning too, you know, just for kicks?

Shoot, that’s only 6. OK, people…suggestions?”

“Sir, you forgot the dramatic wind!”

.

.

“Of course, the dramatic wind! How could I forget? All right team that’s a wrap, let’s make it happen! Go go go!”

I’m not sure if my fondness for mahjong overrides my better judgment or if the series is just too goofy to even bother with any kind of serious critique.

Either way I’ll be watching Loli Mahjong until my dignity surfaces (highly unlikely). If I can make a drink analogy, I’d say that Saki is an ABC Pousse Café, while Akagi is more like a draught of Lagavulin 16 straight up. Just like the drink, watching the show is a pleasant experience, if rather emasculating.