saki

I finished Saki this week.

I've been surprised by how much I enjoyed it if I'm honest. I still don't know the exact ins and outs of Mah-jong, and while a full knowledge didn't prove necessary in order to enjoy the show, I think if you know the game you'll probably get on better with some of the stuff.

One of the odd things about Saki is it's a mix of tournament manga where the characters are involved in battles against each other and high-school romcom. For me the blending sort of worked, although the romcom element is a bit weaker than the tournament side.

Also, as I mentioned before, it seems like any girl interested in Mah-jong is basically a lesbian, which although not something I'm entirely against, it gets a bit repetitive in a way. And it'd be nice if there were more complicated relationships in there - love rivals or love triangles for example. But then the sexual stuff is more an undercurrent than an explicit thing, so I guess that'd be going too far really.

The other odd thing is the pacing of the show.

There's quite a lot of prep stuff that builds logically into a regional tournament situation involving teams. This all works fine, but the problem is that doesn't represent the end of the show.

Instead, after this you get a lull and then it's into a second regional tournament involving individuals. Again, this builds to a climax, but then yet again, you get another lull and then you're launched into the nationals.

Except you aren't, because that's where the show ends.

It even goes to the slightly odd extreme of having highlights of 'what happens next' across the end credits and a final card saying "the adventure has only just begun".

Even though it's the end of the series.

And given the manga is only at 6 volumes and Gonzo has pretty much folded, it seems unlikely the story will ever continue. Which is a bit of shame really as it'd be nice to reach a proper conclusion. Maybe the manga will get licensed and I'll be able to follow it there.

Plans for the weekend currently revolve around Modern Warfare 2. In a typically impatient bit of planning, rather than add it to my pile of un-played games I installed it and started playing. As such, I'm not actually sure how much there will be left for me to play over the weekend, but then if I finish it I'll have to catch up on all the telly I've skipped in order to make room for me to watch it, so I won't be lacking things to do.