Cover art of the first manga volume featuring its title character Saki Miyanaga
Saki (咲－Saki－) is a seinen manga series written and illustrated by Ritz Kobayashi. The series follows the title character Saki Miyanaga who plays competitive Japanese Mahjong, also called Rīchi Mahjong, for her high school club.
Saki is published in the twice monthly Square Enix manga magazine Young Gangan and began serialization in its June 16, 2006, issue.[1] Kobayashi previously placed the series on hiatus for several weeks in 2009 and 2011.[2][3] The series is published in Taiwan by Tong Li Publishing under the title Tiāncái Májiàng Shàonǚ (天才麻將少女, literally "Genius Mahjong Girl").[4] Yen Press publishes an english digital version.[5] The series has two spin-off manga series. Saki Biyori is a 4-panel manga series written by Saya Kiyoshi, which began serialization in Young Gangan from June 17, 2011. Saki Achiga-hen episode of Side-A is a side-story written by Kobayashi and illustrated by Aguri Igarashi, which began serialisation in Monthly Shōnen Gangan from August 12, 2011. The story follows Nodoka Haramura's former classmate, Shizuno Takakamo, who revives her school's mahjong club with the dream of facing Nodoka in the inter-high national championships. Saki was adapted into an anime television series by Gonzo which aired in 2009 while an anime adaptation of Saki Achiga-hen by Studio Gokumi began airing in 2012.
Round 0. Chapter 3. "Victory or Defeat" (勝負, "Shōbu")
Round 1. "Confrontation" (対立, "Tairitsu")
Round 2. "Motive" (理由, "Riyū")
Round 3. "Mahjong Parlor" (雀荘, "Jansō")
Round 4. "Humiliation" (翻弄, "Honrō")
Round 5. "Crushed" (惨敗, "Sanpai, Zanpai")
Round 6. "Determination" (決意, "Ketsui")
Omake. "Fruit Milk and Unseen Stars" (フルーツ牛乳と見えない星, "Furūtsu Gyūnyū to Mienai Hoshi")
First-year Kiyosumi High School student Saki Miyanaga is invited by childhood friend Kyōtarō Suga to visit his mahjong club. Believing Saki to be an amateur player, Kyōtarō and fellow first-year club members Nodoka Haramura and Yūki Kataoka play several games with her. Nodoka, who won the national middle school individual tournament the previous year, wins all three games before Saki leaves. However, club president Hisa Takei observes that each game ended with Saki's total points unchanged; Hisa believes Saki is able to manipulate her own score. Nodoka confronts Saki, who reveals that the habit is a result of playing mahjong with family members who would become angry if she wins and confiscate her New Year's gift if she loses. On the following day, Hisa lends Saki a book that was missing from the library; Saki must play several more games with the club in exchange. In the first game Nodoka, Yūki, and second-year member Mako Someya unsuccessfully attempts to prevent her from manipulating her points. Saki wins the second game when Hisa assigns her an imaginary scoring handicap. Saki's first experience in winning convinces her to join the club, and its members soon begin preparing for the preliminaries of the national high school team tournament several weeks away.
