Saki (manga)

Saki
Cover art of the first Japanese manga volume featuring the title character Saki Miyanaga
咲-Saki-
Genre	Sport
Manga
Written by	Ritz Kobayashi
Published by	Square Enix
Demographic	Seinen
Magazine	Young Gangan
Original run	February 3, 2006 – ongoing
Volumes	8
TV anime
Directed by	Manabu Ono
Written by	Tatsuhiko Urahata
Studio	Gonzo, Picture Magic
Network	TV Tokyo
Original run	April 6, 2009 – September 28, 2009
Episodes	25
Game
Saki Portable
Developer	Alchemist
Genre	Mahjong
Rating	CERO: C
Platform	PlayStation Portable
Released	JP March 25, 2010
Manga
Saki Biyori
Written by	Saya Kiyoshi
Published by	Square Enix
Demographic	Seinen
Magazine	Young Gangan
Original run	June 17, 2011 – ongoing
Manga
Saki Achiga-hen Episode of Side-A
Written by	Ritz Kobayashi
Illustrated by	Aguri Igarashi
Published by	Square Enix
Demographic	Shōnen
Magazine	Monthly Shōnen Gangan
Original run	August 12, 2011 – ongoing
TV anime
Saki Achiga-hen Episode of Side-A
Directed by	Manabu Ono
Written by	Tatsuhiko Urahata
Studio	Studio Gokumi

Saki (咲-Saki-) is an ongoing Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Ritz Kobayashi. The story revolves around a first-year high school girl named Saki Miyanaga who is brought into the competitive world of mahjong by another first-year, Nodoka Haramura. The manga has been serialized in Square Enix's Young Gangan since February 3, 2006, and has been collected into eight tankōbon volumes in Japan as of June 2011. A 25-episode anime adaptation by Gonzo aired between April and September 2009 on TV Tokyo. A spin-off manga, illustrated by Aguri Igarashi, Saki Achiga-hen episode of Side-A, began serialization in the September 2011 issue of Monthly Shōnen Gangan and will also be adapted into an anime by Studio Gokumi in spring 2012.

Plot

Main article: List of Saki characters

Saki Miyanaga, a high school first-year student, hates mahjong because her family would always force her to play it and punish her regardless of the outcome of the game. Due to this, she learned how to keep her score at zero, neither winning nor losing, a skill said to be more difficult than actually consistently winning. However, her friend Kyōtarō from middle school, completely unaware of such circumstances, convinces her to visit the school's small mahjong club upon entering into high school. After the club discovers her ability, they recruit her permanently and convince her to win instead of breaking even. She easily does so with her skill and discovers a new love for mahjong. This leads the team to enter the prefecture's high school mahjong tournament with the goal of reaching the national high school competition.

The side-story manga, Saki: Achiga-hen Episode of Side-A, follows a girl named Shizuno Takakama, an old friend of Nodoka Haramura, who used to be in Achiga Girls Academy's mahjong club together. A few years after the club disbanded and the two split up, Shizuno spots Nodoka on television as she makes her stride in mahjong. Wanting to see her old friend again, Shizuno decides to revive the Achiga Mahjong Club so that she can face Nodoka in the inter-high national championships.

Media

Manga

See also: List of Saki chapters

Written and drawn by Ritz Kobayashi, the Saki manga series is serialized in Square Enix's biweekly seinen manga magazine, Young Gangan. Serialization began on February 3, 2006, and is still ongoing, with a new chapter in every issue. Square Enix is also collecting the chapters in tankōbon volumes. The first volume was released on December 25, 2006, and as of June 25, 2011, eight volumes have been released. A 4-koma series written by Saya Kiyoshi, Saki Biyori (咲日和), began serialization in Young Gangan from June 17, 2011. A spin-off manga series written by Kobayashi and illustrated by Aguri Igarashi, Saki Achiga-hen episode of Side-A (咲 Saki 阿知賀編 episode of Side-A), launched in the September 2011 issue of Square Enix's Shonen Gangan magazine sold on August 12, 2011.

Anime

See also: List of Saki episodes

An anime adaptation of Saki was announced in the 24th issue of Young Gangan. The series was adapted by Gonzo, directed by Manabu Ono, and written by Tatsuhiko Urahata, From episode fifteen onwards, animation production was done by Picture Magic. On January 31, 2009, a 105-second promotional video began streaming on the anime's official website. The series aired on TV Tokyo and its affiliate stations between April 6 and September 28, 2009. It is also streamed with English subtitles on Crunchyroll. A second anime project was announced in June 2011 and was later revealed in October 2011 to be an adaptation of Saki: Achiga-hen. Ono and Uruhata will return as director and writer and animation production will be done by Studio Gokumi. The series will air in spring 2012.

The series has five pieces of theme music; two opening themes and three ending themes. The first opening theme is "Glossy:MMM" by Miyuki Hashimoto used between episodes 2 and 14; this was also used as the ending theme in episodes 1 and 25. The second opening theme is Bloooomin'" by Little Non used between episodes 15 and 25. The first ending theme is "Netsuretsu Kangei Wonderland" (熱烈歓迎わんだーらんど) by Kana Ueda, Ami Koshimizu, Rie Kugimiya, Ryōko Shiraishi, and Shizuka Itō used in episodes 2-6, 8-9, and 11-14. The second ending theme is "Zankoku na Negai no Naka de" (残酷な願いの中で) by Ueda and Koshimizu used in episodes 7, 10, 16, 18 and 22. The third ending theme is "Shikakui Uchū de Matteru yo" (四角い宇宙で待ってるよ) by Ueda, Koshimizu, Kugimiya, Shiraishi and Itō used in episodes 15, 17, 19-21, 23-24.

Video games

A mahjong video game was unveiled at the 2009 Tokyo International Anime Fair, and later released on April 22, 2009. Gonzo collaborated with Sega in developing the arcade mahjong video game based on the series, and it is based on the MJ4 Ver.C network mahjong game. The game includes a Saki Single Mode, where the player can play with Saki characters instead of matching-up with opponents online. Another mahjong video game was developed by Alchemist for the PlayStation Portable, and was released in March 2010 in Japan under the name Saki Portable.

External links

• Manga official website (Japanese)
• Anime official website (Japanese)
• Saki anime at TV Tokyo (Japanese)
• Saki (manga) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia