Saki was the latest
very silly, brainless anime I enjoyed. I always like to have at least one of
these on the go (the other one I currently have being Inazuma 11), which
I can put on in any mood, no matter how tired, and enjoy myself. And Saki episodes
are compulsive fluff – they’re stupid, the way the game at the centre of the
story is played is largely irrelevant, and the fanservice is often tedious, but
the fact is that it’s extremely enjoyable nonetheless.
There are some odd choices
with this second season. Firstly, it’s a complete side-story. The first season’s
main characters are seen only in glimpses and flashbacks. Instead, we follow
some of Nodoka’s childhood friends as they see her on TV, revive their Mahjong
club and make their way to the national competition to be reunited with their
old friend. Of course, this involves placing highly their regional tournament,
which as ever means confronting girls with mahjong super-powers.
The powers here are even more
extreme than the last season’s ability to disappear from view or mess people up
with ultra-beginner’s-luck. Here, we have girls whose bonds are so deep that if
one wins a hand in a round having placed imaginary bondage restraints on
herself, her partner is guaranteed to win that hand on the next round – after having
a rather erotic reaction. We have a girl who can see into the future after a
near-death experience, who can grant that ability to her best friend by rubbing
her head on her thighs. Yes. And one of our main characters spent a long time
deep in the mountains, which has bestowed her with the gift of claiming any
territory she can perceive as a deep mountain as her own – including going up
against formidable opponents, who are like mountains, and being deep into the
tiles lined up in front of her. What even more absurd abilities await in the
next season I am eager to know, and the way the absurdity is racked up and up
reminds me in a good way of Yakitate!! Japan
However, one of the problems
here is that there are so many interesting, colourful characters. There’s Saki’s
strangely indifferent sister, who is an indomitable monster held off only by
another player’s bizarre ability to never lose all of her points, even if she
is not very strong. There’s the adorable tomboy who gets embarrassed when she
has to wear a skirt – always my preferred character type. There’s the
sharpshooter who makes people feel she’s an archer as she shoots them down with
targeted mahjong hands, and the angler who can always pick out what she needs.
Beside all these, the core group of five, who have character quirks like feeling
cold all the time and having been keen on bowling, just don’t stand out very
much. I ended up much more invested in the teams trying to get in their way
than the main characters themselves, and that’s a bit of a problem. They were
just relatively uninteresting.
And of course, the whole
endeavour seems a little pointless. Presumably, these are going to be
sacrificial lambs in the end, losing to Saki’s sister so that they can have a
big showdown at the end. I may be wrong, and the final may be between two teams
we’re supposed to root for, but that just doesn’t seem likely. That probability
in the back of my mind just makes it harder to feel very engaged with these
side-story characters.
Still, for all it seemed like
a strange diversion, the actual journey was extremely enjoyable and I shall
certainly progress to the next season. And as for the change of studio, as
Gonzo staffers split to form Studio Gokumi? Well, honestly it made no
difference at all.
No comments:
Post a Comment