Saki 3: I guess it's more about the story than the game

With a rather anticlimactic win against Keido in the regionals, Achiga’s mahjong girls are going to the finals. In preparation for the nationals in Tokyo, the group travels Japan to practice their skills against 2nd place regional winners, as well as a training camp before departing. In Tokyo, the girls see the grandeur of high school mahjong for themselves, to be honest, I’ve seen children’s card game tournaments with less to offer…

I was kinda hoping to learn a bit about mahjong, but I guess that’s not the point of the series (which is a good thing, but I’m a little disappointed now that I’ve decided to try to learn how to play). Saki sticks to character development and appears to want to focus the series around the national competition, and the group’s eventually reunion with Nodoka.

Other than introduce the final’s scene and a few more characters, not much plot development that couldn’t have been guessed at. Aside from the loss to the school of initially frightening mahjong players (seriously, I was curious how they came in second, I hope they really show off whoever beat them). I expect the plot’s timeframe to slow down and the action to speed up next episode as the nationals get underway.

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