is a Japanese

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

series written and illustrated by Ritz Kobayashi. The story revolves around a first-year high school girl named Saki Miyanaga who is brought into the competitive world of

mahjong Mahjong or mah-jongg (English pronunciation: ) is a tile-based game that was developed in the 19th century in China and has spread throughout the world since the early 20th century. It is commonly played by four players (with some three-play ...

by another first-year, Nodoka Haramura. The manga has been serialized in

Square Enix is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational holding company, production enterprise and entertainment conglomerate, best known for its ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', ''Star Ocean'' and ''Kingdom Hearts'' role-playing video game ...

's ''

Young Gangan is a manga imprint owned by Square Enix Holdings. It originated as a manga imprint for Enix before the company re-branded as Square Enix. It publishes manga in several anthologies aimed at different reader demographic groups in the Japanese mark ...

'' since February 3, 2006 and is licensed in English by

Yen Press Yen Press, LLC is an American manga and graphic novel publisher co-owned by Kadokawa Corporation and Hachette Book Group. It published ''Yen Plus'', a monthly comic anthology, between 2008 and 2013. In addition to translated material, Yen Press ...

. A 25-episode

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

adaptation by

Gonzo Gonzo may refer to: People * Gonzo (nickname), a list of people with the nickname * Radislav Jovanov Gonzo (born 1964), Croatian music video director Radislav Jovanov, also known as Gonzo * Matthias Röhr (born 1962), German musician whose sta ...

aired between April and September 2009 on

TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as and known colloquially as , is a television station headquartered in the Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, owned and operated by the subsidiary of listed certified b ...

. A side-story manga illustrated by

Aguri Igarashi is a Japanese manga artist. She is the illustrator for best selling manga series, ''Bamboo Blade''. Bibliography * (2004, Square Enix); (2009, Yen Press Yen Press, LLC is an American manga and graphic novel publisher co-owned by Kadokawa ...

, , was serialized between the September 2011 and April 2013 issues of ''

Monthly Shōnen Gangan is a manga imprint owned by Square Enix Holdings. It originated as a manga imprint for Enix before the company re-branded as Square Enix. It publishes manga in several anthologies aimed at different reader demographic groups in the Japanese mar ...

'', with an anime adaptation by Studio Gokumi airing between April and July 2012, with four additional episodes airing between December 2012 and May 2013. A third anime series, , also by Studio Gokumi, aired between January and April 2014. A spin-off series to ''Saki'', ''Side story of -Saki-: Shinohayu the dawn of age'', began serialization in ''Big Gangan'' from September 2013. A gag manga series by Saya Kiyoshi, ''Saki Biyori'', began serialization in ''

'' from June 2011, with an

original video animation , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA s ...

released on July 25, 2015. Another spin-off manga illustrated by Meki Meki, ''Toki'', began serialization in ''Big Gangan'' from June 2016. A live-action television series aired between December 2016 and January 2017, and a live-action film opened in Japan in February 2017.

Plot

Saki Miyanaga, a freshman in high school, does not like mahjong because her family would always force her to play it and punish her regardless of the outcome of the game. Due to this, she learned how to keep her score at zero, neither winning nor losing, a skill said to be more difficult than actually consistently winning. However, her friend from middle school, completely unaware of such circumstances, convinces her to visit the school's small mahjong club upon entering Kiyosumi High School. After the club discovers her ability, they recruit her permanently and convince her to win instead of breaking even. She easily does so with her skill and discovers a new love for mahjong, along with a friendship with her fellow club member, Nodoka Haramura. This leads the team to enter the prefecture's high school mahjong tournament with the goal of reaching the national high school competition. The side-story manga, ''Saki: Achiga-hen episode of Side-A'', is based in the area around Yoshino, Nara and follows a girl named Shizuno Takakamo, an old friend of Nodoka's, who used to be in Achiga Girls Academy's mahjong club together. A few years after the club disbanded and the two split up, Shizuno spots Nodoka on television as she makes her stride in mahjong. Wanting to see her old friend again, Shizuno decides to revive the Achiga Mahjong Club so that she can face against Nodoka in the inter-high national championships. The spin-off, ''Shinohayu the dawn of age'', shows the childhood of the various pro mahjong players in the series, focusing on a girl named Shino Shiratsuki who enters the world of competitive mahjong to seek out her mother who disappeared one day.

Media

Manga

Written and drawn by Ritz Kobayashi, the ''Saki''

series is serialized in

's biweekly

seinen manga is an editorial category of Japanese comics marketed toward young adult men. In Japanese, the word ''seinen'' literally means "youth", but the term "''seinen'' manga" is also used to describe the target audience of magazines like ''Weekly Ma ...

magazine, ''

''. Serialization began on February 3, 2006. Square Enix has collected the chapters in ''

tankōbon is the Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or cultur ...

'' volumes. The first volume was released on December 25, 2006, and as of 2021, 22 volumes have been released.

have licensed the series in English for digital release. A 4-koma series written by Saya Kiyoshi, , was serialized in ''Young Gangan'' between the June 17, 2011 and August 17, 2012 issues. It was also serialized in ''Big Gangan'' between the October 25, 2011 and March 24, 2018 issues. The first volume was released on March 24, 2012; seven volumes have been released as of March 24, 2018. A spin-off manga series written by Kobayashi and illustrated by

, , originally ran in Square Enix's '' Shōnen Gangan'' magazine between the September 2011 and April 2013 issues. It was compiled into six volumes released between March 24, 2012 and August 24, 2013. It resumed serialization on March 23, 2020 and has added 2 new volumes in 2021, for a total of eight as of November. Another spin-off manga titled ''Side Story of Saki: Shinohayu the Dawn of Age'' began serialization in ''Big Gangan'' from September 25, 2013. As of November 2021 it has 14 volumes published. A spin-off of ''Achiga-hen'' illustrated by Meki Meki, , began serialization in ''Big Gangan'' on June 25, 2016. There have been eight ''

'' volumes as of November 25, 2021. A series of parody one-shots titled , which detail the fictionalized backstory behind Kobayashi's serialization of ''Saki'', have been written and illustrated by Hideki Owada and published in ''Young Gangan''. Another spin-off by Meki Meki, titled , began serialization in ''Young Gangan'' on June 7, 2019. ''Saki to Final Fantasy XIV'', a manga drawn by Saya Kiyoshi in collaboration with the ''

Final Fantasy XIV ''Final Fantasy XIV'' is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed and published by Square Enix. Directed and produced by Naoki Yoshida, it was released worldwide for Windows and PlayStation 3 in August 2013, as a rep ...

'' video game, will launch on Square Enix's ''Manga Up!'' app on January 22, 2021.

Anime

adaptation of ''Saki'' was announced in the 24th issue of ''Young Gangan''. The series was adapted by

, directed by Manabu Ono, and written by Tatsuhiko Urahata, From episode fifteen onwards, animation production was done by Picture Magic. On January 31, 2009, a 105-second promotional video began streaming on the anime's official website. The series aired on

and its affiliate stations between April 6 and September 28, 2009. A 12-episode anime adaptation of ''Saki: Achiga-hen'' aired in Japan between April 9 and July 2, 2012. Ono and Urahata return as director and writer and animation production is done by Studio Gokumi. Four additional episodes aired on AT-X between December 24, 2012 and May 25, 2013. A short anime was included with a Blu-ray boxset released on March 18, 2015. A third ''Saki'' anime series, titled , aired 13 episodes between January 5 and April 6, 2014. Ono and Urahata again return as director and writer under Studio Gokumi. Each of the series are simulcasted by

Crunchyroll Crunchyroll is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Sony through a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex. The service primarily distributes films and tel ...

. An

of ''Saki Biyori'', also animated by Studio Gokumi, was bundled with the 14th manga volume of ''Saki'' on July 25, 2015.

Music

''Saki'' uses five pieces of theme music, two opening themes and three ending themes. ''Saki: Achiga-hen episode of side-A'' uses four pieces of theme music, two opening themes and two ending themes. ''Saki: The Nationals'' currently uses one opening theme and two ending themes, one of which has variations featuring different artists. ;Opening themes :"Glossy:MMM" by

Miyuki Hashimoto is a female Japanese singer from Saitama Prefecture. She is signed to Lantis, a label which contribute songs to anime and video games. Discography Singles * ''Koko ni Iru kara...'' (Released August 25, 2004) # Koko ni Iru kara... — anim ...

(''Saki'', episodes 2-14, ending theme of episodes 1, 25, ''The Nationals'' ep 13) :"Bloooomin'" by Little Non (''Saki'', episodes 15-25) :"Miracle Rush" by

StylipS Stylips (stylized as StylipS) is a Japanese pop idol group, specialized in performing anime soundtracks. Career In 2011, four voice actresses: Arisa Noto, Yui Ogura (from the pop idol group YuiKaori), Kaori Ishihara (also from YuiKaori) and Mah ...

(''Saki: Achiga-hen'', episodes 2-12, ending theme of episodes 1, 16) :"TSU・BA・SA" by StylipS (''Saki: Achiga-hen'', episodes 13-15) :"New Sparks!" by Miyuki Hashimoto (''Saki: The Nationals'', episodes 2-13, ending theme of episode 1) : by StylipS (''Saki Biyori'') ;Ending themes : by

Kana Ueda is a Japanese voice actress and singer represented by I'm Enterprise.Doi, Hitoshi"Ueda Kana" ''Seiyuu Database''. June 11, 2010Archivedby WebCite July 6, 2010. She is a graduate of Kobe College's department of General Culture. She is best known ...

Ami Koshimizu is a Japanese actress and singer. She has voiced many different types of characters, from young girls to adult women, as well as boys and animals. Her roles include leads such as Ryuko Matoi in '' Kill la Kill'', Kallen Stadtfeld in ''Code Geass ...

Rie Kugimiya is a Japanese voice actress and singer. She is best known for her voice performances in anime, which include Alphonse Elric in the ''Fullmetal Alchemist'' series, Kiana in ''Honkai Impact 3rd'', Kagura in ''Gin Tama'', and Happy in ''Fairy Tail ...

Ryōko Shiraishi is a Japanese voice actress and singer from Kashiba, Nara. She is affiliated with Aoni Production. Possessing a husky voice, Shiraishi voices young to teenage men as well as young girls and teenage women. However, in a break from tradition, one ...

, and

Shizuka Itō is a Japanese voice actress and singer from Tokyo, Japan. She is represented by Ken Production. She won a "Best Actress in Supporting Roles" award at the 10th Seiyu Awards for her roles in ''Prison School'' and ''Sailor Moon Crystal''. She is ...

(''Saki'', episodes 2-6, 8-9, 11-14) : by Kana Ueda and Ami Koshimizu (''Saki'', episodes 7, 10, 16, 18, 22) : by Kana Ueda, Ami Koshimizu, Rie Kugimiya, Ryōko Shiraishi, and Shizuka Itō (''Saki'', episodes 15, 17, 19-21, 23-24) :"Square Panic Serenade" performed by

Aoi Yūki , better known by her stage name , is a Japanese actress, voice actress and singer represented by Aoni Production. She voiced Komachi Hikigaya in '' My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected'', Rita Rossweisse in ''Honkai Impact 3rd'', Tany ...

Nao Tōyama is a Japanese voice actress and singer affiliated with the agency Intention. Before joining Intention, she was affiliated with Arts Vision. She debuted as a voice actress in 2010, and played her first leading role as Kanon Nakagawa in ''The Worl ...

Kana Hanazawa is a Japanese actress, voice actress and singer. A prolific voice performer in anime, she has amassed several film and television credits since her debut in 1990. She won the Seiyu Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2015, and won the Newtype ...

Mako , better known by the mononym name Mako (sometimes stylised MAKO), is a Japanese voice actress, singer and a member of the band Bon-Bon Blanco, in which her prominent role is as the maraca player. She has also performed in a Japanese television ...

and Yumi Uchiyama (''Saki: Achiga-hen'', episodes 2, 5-7, 12) :"Futuristic Player" by Miyuki Hashimoto (''Saki: Achiga-hen'', episodes 3, 4, 8-11, 14-15) :"True Gate" by Miyuki Hashimoto (''Saki: The Nationals'', episodes 2, 7, 9) : :* by

Juri Nagatsuma is a Japanese voice actress and singer. She is affiliated with Pro-Fit and signed to ZERO-A. For eroge works, she goes by the name . Filmography Television animation *''Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai!'' (2011); Tsubame Matsunaga *''Fantasista ...

, Mariko Mizuno, Moe Toyota,

Rina Satou Rina or RINA may refer to: __NOTOC__ People and fictional characters * Rina (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Kento Rina, Indian politician * Mahfuza Rahman Rina, Bangladeshi politician * Tongam Rina (born 1979), Indian j ...

, and

Maaya Uchida is a Japanese voice actress and singer who works for I'm Enterprise. She won the Best Rookie Actress Award at the 8th Seiyu Awards. She is best known for her roles such as Rikka Takanashi in ''Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions'', Ranko Kanzaki i ...

(''Saki: The Nationals'', episodes 3, 8) :* by

Saori Hayami Saori (written: 沙織, 早織, 佐織, 砂織, 沙保里, 沙緒里, 紗央里, 紗央莉, 左多里 or さおり in hiragana) is a feminine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: * Saori (television personality) (born 1981) ...

Chinatsu Akasaki is a Japanese voice actress affiliated with 81 Produce. Biography Akasaki graduated from Kagoshima Prefectural Kinkōwan High School and Tokyo Gakugei University. She studied Italian as a second foreign language. She won the Nippon Cultural Broa ...

Kaori Mizuhashi is a Japanese voice actress who is employed by Arts Vision. Her major voice roles include Mami Tomoe in '' Puella Magi Madoka Magica'', Kuki Shinobu in ''Genshin Impact'', Lava and May in ''Arknights'', Vivio Takamachi in ''Magical Girl Lyrica ...

, Ayumi Tsuji, and

Sayaka Ohara is a Japanese voice actress affiliated with Haikyō. Her major roles include Alicia Florence in ''Aria'', Milly Ashford in ''Code Geass'', Erza Scarlet in ''Fairy Tail'', Irisviel in the '' Fate/Zero'' and ''Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya'' s ...

(''Saki: The Nationals'', episodes 4, 6, 10) :* by Arisa Date, Haruka Yoshimura,

Satsumi Matsuda is a Japanese voice actress from Takatsuki, Osaka, affiliated with Arts Vision. She is the twin sister of Risae Matsuda. Both were the 4th and 5th Anisong Grand Prix Finalists with Marina Kawano (4th) and Konomi Suzuki (5th). Filmography Televi ...

, Mariko Nakatsu, and

Minako Kotobuki is a Japanese actress and singer. She played Tsumugi Kotobuki in the anime series ''K-On!'' about a high school girl band. The show launched her music career as she performed the opening and ending themes, and joined three other voice actresse ...

(''Saki: The Nationals'', episodes 5, 12) : by

Kaori Fukuhara is a Japanese voice actress and singer. She worked on the music group Bohemian Quarter's album "Blister Pack Voices". She and Emiri Kato were in a duo music group called Kato*Fuku, which sang theme songs for ''When Supernatural Battles Became ...

Minori Chihara is a Japanese voice actress and former singer who has had roles in several anime series.Doi, Hitoshi"Chihara Minori" ''Seiyuu Database''. January 3, 2011. Retrieved January 10, 2011. She is well known for her voice role as Yuki Nagato in '' The ...

Ai Shimizu is a Japanese voice actress and professional wrestler. She has a career as a singer, signed to Lantis. She has released 14 singles (including joint and character singles) and four albums. She covered Yumi Matsutoya's " Toki o Kakeru Shōjo" as ...

Ayuru Ōhashi , formerly known as , is a Japanese voice actress and singer from Tokyo. Some of her major roles are Aoi in ''Wish Upon the Pleiades'' original net animation (ONA) and its anime adaptation, Eila Ilmatar Juutilainen in '' Strike Witches'', Adele ...

, and

Yuko Kaida Yuko may refer to: * Yuko (judo) (''yūkō''), a score in judo competition * Yuko (Ukrainian band), a Ukrainian band * Yūko, a Japanese female given name (including a list of persons with the name) * Yuko, a Belgian band * Yuko people Yukpa is ...

(''Saki Biyori'', ep 1) For the PSP game, the respective opening and ending themes are and , both performed by Little Non. For the ''Achiga-hen'' PSP game, the opening theme is "Moment of Glory" by

Live-action

A four episode live-action television series began airing in Japan on December 4, 2016, and a live-action film debuted in Japan on February 3, 2017.

Video games

mahjong video game A Mahjong video game is a video game that is based on one of the many ways to play mahjong. The majority of mahjong video games are developed and released in Japan and use the rules for Japanese Mahjong, although several have also been made for A ...

was unveiled at the 2009

Tokyo International Anime Fair The Tokyo International Anime Fair also known as was one of the largest anime trade fairs in the world, held annually in Tokyo, Japan. The first event was held in 2002 as "Tokyo International Anime Fair 21". The event was held at Tokyo Big Sigh ...

, and later released on April 22, 2009. Gonzo collaborated with

Sega is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, r ...

in developing the arcade mahjong video game based on the series, and it is based on the MJ4 Ver.C network mahjong game. The game includes a Saki Single Mode, where the player can play with ''Saki'' characters instead of matching-up with opponents online. Another mahjong video game was developed by

Alchemist Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscience, protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in Chinese alchemy, C ...

for the

PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 2005, ...

, and was released in March 2010 in Japan under the name ''Saki Portable''. A sequel, ''Saki Achiga-hen episode of Side-A Portable'', was released on August 29, 2013. Another sequel, ''Saki Zenkoku-hen'', was released by

Kaga Create Kaga Create Co., Ltd. was a Japan-based video game developing and publishing division of Kaga Electronics. The company initially released games for the PC Engine (known as the TurboGrafx-16 in North America). It later released titles for a wide ...

on September 17, 2015 for

PlayStation Vita The PlayStation Vita (PS Vita, or Vita) is a handheld video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 17, 2011, and in North America, Europe, and other international territo ...

. On December 22, 2016,

Entergram TGL, Inc. (Technical Group Laboratory, Inc.) (株式会社テイジイエル ''Kabushiki-gaisha Ti Ji Eru'') is a Japanese company dealing with developing, constructing and planning of various computer systems and software. This company supports t ...

re-released the game as ''Saki Zenkoku-hen Plus'', with the latest update folded into it.

References

External links

''Saki''''Saki Achiga-hen episode of Side-A''
an
''Saki Biyori''
official manga websites
Anime official website

''Saki'' anime
at

* {{Studio Gokumi 2009 anime television series debuts 2012 anime television series debuts 2014 anime television series debuts Anime series based on manga Gangan Comics manga Gonzo (company) Mahjong in anime and manga Manga adapted into films School life in anime and manga Seinen manga Square Enix franchises Studio Gokumi Yen Press titles Japan-exclusive video games PlayStation Portable games PlayStation Portable-only games Japanese drama films

Plot

Media

Manga

Anime

Music

Live-action

Video games

See also

References

External links