Saki #01 — Get A Bra, Nodoka

April 5th, 2009

  

Because, damn… you desperately need one.

New Season Disclaimer:

I prefer to give every show a chance. You never know when your dream-eating insect wielding Mai HiME knockoff will turn out to be a psychological romantic thriller, or the strange moeblob show will be full of wit and urine jokes. However, my preferences are still my preferences, and while I’ll endevor to at least convey why I do or do not like things, there are genres of shows that I just plain don’t particularly enjoy. My opinions are based on nothing more than a gut reaction to what I watched literally 10-15 minutes prior and should be construed as nothing more and nothing less than that.

Like many of their shows, Gonzo’s sticking this one up with subs online so you can better ogle Nodoka’s melons. Thanks Shio.

Impression:

As much as it pains me to say this, Gonzo actually did a really good job here. The art’s good, they get all the CG out of their system with the mahjong tiles, and while there are the occasional bouts of hilariously overdramatic overanimated mahjong tile declaring (complete with a lightning strike to the eye), this was still a charming little mahjong show. The mind is free to wander through the mahjong parts, confident that something is happening and there are silly pictures of whatever it is being tossed at you during it. Of course, I don’t particularly like mahjong, nor watching other people play it, but I think that people who were looking forward to this will be ecstatic with the first episode. Well… maybe a little bored since the only thing they added or changed was Nodoka bra size and the inertial limits of her wildly flailing breasts, but you know… for Gonzo… making only one breast implantation change to the source is kind of a big deal.

At any rate though, it’s being put up with subs immediately, so even if I do follow along, I probably won’t cover it. It’s no Kaiji, but if you just want a happy little show to watch some rude titties mahjong, Saki looks like it should be pretty good.

 

Preview:

Tricking Saki into winning plus valkyries.

Posted in Anime | 22 Comments »

22 Shouts From the Peanut Gallery

  • Haesslich says:
    April 5, 2009 at 2:22 pm

    … so they added the bouncing which couldn’t be added in the manga? Well, it sounds like they’re sticking to the manga (itself fanservice laden, and this looks like the first two or three chapters) so far. I guess I WILL be subbing this, much to Impz’ dismay.

    Also, dead Internet is dead.

  • Aroduc says:
    April 5, 2009 at 2:24 pm

    You could call it bouncing. Or maybe the shifting of the glacial shelf.

  • shio says:
    April 5, 2009 at 2:25 pm

    Gonzo really plays up the fan service, but it’s all in good fun. For example the scene where Saki gets jealous of Nodoka’s chest in the beginning wasn’t in the manga.

    And TimeIndex 11:49 pretty much says the rest…

  • Ravage says:
    April 5, 2009 at 2:40 pm

    Hmm, a pretty faithful adaption so far, that is already much more than one can possibly hope from Gonzo.
    Nodoka was already pretty well-endowed in the manga, and although it’s a tad excessive in the anime it is something I already expected Gonzo to do, so whatever.

    I’m happy so far at least.

  • Haesslich says:
    April 5, 2009 at 7:32 pm

    shio: No, she wasn’t jealous of her chest originally – but there was that sense of ‘like’ from Nodoka towards her, so… they’ll undoubtedly play that up.

    Aroduc: How about ‘the tumblin of rocks which precedes an avalanche of epic proportions?

    • shio says:
      April 6, 2009 at 9:33 am

      Yeah, and to be fair the manga itself has a lot of fan service. But heck, their goal is to get people interested in an old Chinese board game, so there’s not much point in ragging on them for it.^^

  • Rawr says:
    April 6, 2009 at 12:44 am

    Sorry, wait… Let me pause for a second… did you just praise gonzo, Aroduc? This episode seriously didn’t invoke the cynic in you once? The world must be coming to an end.

  • Yue says:
    April 6, 2009 at 1:58 am

    Mmmmm… Mahjong has never been this exciting. ^_^

  • Bob says:
    April 6, 2009 at 8:49 am

    i think i want to play Mahjong now…

  • Rawr says:
    April 6, 2009 at 11:54 am

    You guys probably just want to grab those THIGHS and those BOOBS.

  • Kresnik says:
    April 6, 2009 at 12:34 pm

    Those are inflatable boobs.. >_>

  • anon says:
    April 6, 2009 at 2:04 pm

    meloooons

  • redbible says:
    April 6, 2009 at 10:30 pm

    I do not understand this hostility by the boobs. The most important thing is the story. You must not to judge a book by its cover.

    • Yue says:
      April 7, 2009 at 6:35 am

      Yes, the most important thing here is the plot. Nodoka’s *ahem* [boobs] are just a coincidence plus she breaks some cliche that most well~endowed female characters are bimbos. ^_^

  • Nanaya says:
    April 7, 2009 at 3:47 am

    My neck still hurts from the whiplash of me cringing at Yuuki’s introduction. Dear God, that was painful…

    That said, I like this series so far.

    You were right, it was hilarious/awesome how the mahjong sequences were so over-the-top dramatic, but still played entirely serious (complete with effects you’d expect from Nanoha, if the preview means anything).

    And did anyone notice that the actual *absence* of fanservice, aside from the obvious (and even that wasn’t focused on half as much as I expected)? It’s nice to have a non-dark-neo-gothic series that can stick to a story without flashing us every 30 seconds.

    • Yue says:
      April 7, 2009 at 6:47 am

      Yep, yep. Same here, mahjong can be pretty awesome in anime. Just look at those scoring bouts, the drama is fun to watch. ^o^

  • Saki expectation management session one | hontou ni sou omou? says:
    April 10, 2009 at 11:07 am

    […] the issue of GONZO, Aroduc grudgingly gives credit. Like Kurogane, I’m still ‘having reservations‘ but not WRT animation QUALITY […]

  • Raven says:
    April 10, 2009 at 8:51 pm

    Play mahjong
    http://www.gamedesign.jp/flash/mahjong/mahjong_e.html

  • Nyanko-sensei says:
    April 12, 2009 at 3:10 pm

    am I the only one here who thinks that Nodoka’s bust is not cool at all? whenever I see her I’m thinking that she has some mammal glands disease

  • GYST says:
    August 2, 2009 at 11:23 pm

    Considering that Nodoka is supposed to be an elementary genius with the ability to CALCULATE all the pieces/placements/moves for the game (unlike Saki, who seems to do it instinctively…ever notice that 90+% of the time she doesn’t even LOOK at the tiles she draws???), she obviously needs a lot of calories to operate her brain…and Nodoka’s got to store them SOMEWHERE!!! : )

    Somewhat more seriously, I really enjoy this series…the drama level, tension, etc. is just right…so much so that the fan service is pretty much irrelevant. I honestly didn’t think I’d enjoy watching Mahjong so much…