History Manga / Saki

** According to a recent blog post by Kobayashi, the male champion is on the level of Izumi[[hottip:note:Who made it onto the prestigious Senriyama team as a first year, but in her semifinals round, ended up coming in last after Yuu, Yoshiko and Sumire, losing 30,400 points in the process]], which implies that the male tournament is completely devoid of mahjong monsters. Seems this trope is back in full force.

* OlderThanTheyLook: Hatsumi, Yuuki and Koromo are probably the biggest examples in this series, partly as a result of not always acting their age, as does the diminutive Sae of Miyamori. None of them look to be no older than 10 years old, when in fact they are about 16 or 17.

* CainAndAbel: [[spoiler: Teru and Saki. While it was made clear fairly on that they were not on good terms, as Teru's refusal to speak with Saki resulted in Saki wanting to challenge her to Mahjong as another form of communication, Saki doesn't realize until after the prefecturals that Teru has essentially disowned Saki, telling everyone who asks that she has no sister. Saki loses hope, at lest for the moment, in the possibility of anything changing between her and Teru]].

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters
** Justified to a T as one match for team required 20 peoples.

* OlderThanTheyLook: Hatsumi, Yuuki and Koromo are probably the biggest examples in this series. Neither look to be no older than 10 years old, when in fact they are about 16 or 17.

** Yuuki has fallen victim to this [[spoiler:four times now - In her first match against Jun and Mihoko, her match against Nanpo, her match against Jindai (The latter of which when she was A HAND AWAY from victory), and now against Satoha and Suzu... Poor, poor Yuuki.]] From an in-universe perspective, this is largely the result of teams often putting their aces in the vanguard position, and Yuuki, who's good but not the best in Kiyosumi, faces those who are often the best in their teams. From a story perspective, this ensures that the protagonists begin with a disadvantage, which they have to overcome in the latter rounds.
** Subverted in case of 'Cold Touka' as at first Saki heard there's people who could deal with Cold Touka in National. Turned out Megan Davin who won that match avoided direct confrontation with Touka and dropped a weaker school to zero.

Coinciding with the announcement of schedule for ''Manga/{{Saki Achiga-hen}}'s'' extra episodes, a new season for the main series, entitled ''Saki: Zenkoku-hen'' (National Tournament), has been greenlit. The sequel will air in 2014, this time animated by Creator/StudioGukumi.

Coinciding with the announcement of schedule for ''Manga/{{Saki Achiga-hen}}'s'' extra episodes, a new season for the main series, entitled ''Saki: Zenkoku-hen'' (National Tournament), has been greenlit. The sequel will air in 2014.

Coinciding with the announcement of schedule for ''Manga/{{SakiAchiga-hen}}'s'' extra episodes, a new season for the main series, entitled ''Saki: Zenkoku-hen'' (National Tournament), has been greenlit. The sequel will air in 2014.

* CainAndAbel: [[spoiler: Teru and Saki]].

** According to a recent blog post by Kobayashi, the male champion is on the level of Izumi, which implies that the male tournament is completely devoid of mahjong monsters. Seems this trope is back in full force.

** Yuuki has fallen victim to this [[spoiler:four times now - In her first match against Jun and Mihoko, her match against Nanpo, her match against Jindai (The latter of which when she was A HAND AWAY from victory), and now against Satoha and Suzu... Poor, poor Yuuki.]]

* FootFocus : Seems kind like this would be an obvious trope [[spoiler:being a plot point and all.]]

Yet another spinoff was confirmed for the series. Officially titled [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Manga/SakiShinohayuDawnOfAge ''Side story of -Saki- Shinohayu: The dawn of age'']], it will focus on one of the generations that produced some of the pros of the setting, specifically [[IdolSinger Mizuhara Hayari]], [[TheAce Kokaji Sukoya]], [[BrokenAce Akado Harue]], and [[{{Tsundere}} Noyori Risa]].

Yet another spinoff was confirmed for the series. Officially titled ''Side story of -Saki- Shinohayu: The dawn of age'', it will focus on one of the generations that produced some of the pros of the setting, specifically [[IdolSinger Mizuhara Hayari]], [[TheAce Kokaji Sukoya]], [[BrokenAce Akado Harue]], and [[{{Tsundere}} Noyori Risa]].

Yet another spinoff was confirmed for the series. Officially titled ''Side story of -Saki- Shinohayu: The dawn of age'', it will focus on one of the generations that produced some of the pros of the setting, specifically [[IdolSinger Mizuhara Hayari]], [[TheAce Kokaji Sakuyo]], [[BrokenAce Akado Harue]], and [[{{Tsundere}} Noyori Risa]].

* ExpressiveAccessory: [[GenkiGirl Yuki's]] cat-belt

* UnderestimatingBadassery: Some of the players on Eisui All-Girl's School's team didn't think much of Kiyosumi because the regional tournament they won only featured twenty schools, but still give them some respect because they managed to beat Koromo and the rest of Ryuumonbuchi. [[spoiler:Then Hisa won Kiyosumi's first match by dropping one of the other schools below 0 points. In the third match. Before Nodoka and Saki even got to play.]]
** This happen too in final of regional, as Kana didn't even give Saki a second glance as she is focusing on Koromo. It's not wrong per-se as Koromo is the one she has unresolved revenge against, and then Saki outrun her many times that she lost her chance for comeback victory. And her comeback from 0 point is facilitated by Saki.

* VisualPun: The third ending sequence has an octopus (''tako'')[[hottip:note:a pun that became a minor plot point in a match, when Yuuki realized the lunchbox Mihoko gave her had octopus in it]] holding a taco.

Yet another spinoff was confirmed for the series. Officially titled ''Side story of -Saki- Shinohayu: The dawn of age'', it will focus on one of the generations that produced some of the pros of the setting, specifically [[IdolSinger Mizuhara Hayari]], [[TheAce Kokaji Sakuyo]], [[BrokenAce Akado Harue]], and [[Tsundere Noyori Risa]].

Yet another spinoff was confirmed for the series. Officially titled ''Side story of -Saki- Shinohayu: The dawn of age'', it will focus on one of the generations that produced some of the pros of the setting, specifically Mizuhara Hayari, Kokaji Sakuyo, Akado Harue, and Noyori Risa.

* BadassNormal: Nodoka certainly fits the bill.

* BuxomIsBetter: The first thing that Saki notices about Nodoka is that she's "beautiful," which refers to her extremely well-endowed, {{Gainaxing}}, [[VaporWear braless]] chest.

* GrayRainOfDepression

** However, in Saki's case the game was taken so seriously that her entire family literally tore itself apart.

** Subverted in the case of Mihoko and Hisa.

* DefeatMeansFriendship: Nary a harsh feeling from the lambasted. Represented best by Yumi, who provided battle data of the national monsters for the Kiyosumi. She collected the data herself.

* ImprobablyFemaleCast: Justified, as the male and female tournaments are separated. Given that this anime's main character is a girl, it makes sense they'd focus on the girl's tournament and its all-female CastHerd.

** 'I did?' Considering this is her response, it's probably bootlegged.

** Subverted in case of 'Cold Touka' as at first Saki heard there's people who could deal with Cold Touka in National. Turned out Megan Davin who won that match avoid direct confrontation with Touka and drop weaker school to zero.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: "Banana?! Banana..."

** Yuuki has fallen victim to this [[spoiler: 3 times now - In her first match against Jun and Mihoko, her match against Nanpo, and her match against Jindai (The latter of which when she was A HAND AWAY from victory)...Poor, poor Yuuki.]]

** 'I did?' Considering this is her response, it probably bootlegged.

Hisa, the student council president wakes up from her nap just in time to see the last round of Mahjong. She notices that Saki wasn't playing to win in her last round and was just playing for a draw. She also notices that in all of the rounds Saki had scored a +/-0 score every time and to get that, a Mahjong player would need unreal skill and luck.

** Considering that one character causes a localized power-outage by ''concentrating really hard'', the show probably crosses the line from CharlesAtlasSuperpower to legitimate supernatural abilities.

* NoblewomansLaugh

* OlderThanTheyLook: Yuuki and Koromo are probably the biggest examples in this series. Neither look to be no older than 10 years old, when in fact they are about 16 or 17.

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: The president of the mahjong club is usually also one of the most skilled members.

* InsistentTerminology: Student ''Congress'' President.

* VisualPun: The third ending sequence has an octopus (''tako'') holding a taco.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: When Saki faces the Koromo, she begins her comeback with an utterly trash hand that kicks off a winning streak, and completes it with a counted yakuman direct hit. [[spoiler:This is exactly how Teru's special ability, the [[ShoutOut Absolute]] [[NeonGenesisEvangelion Teru]] Field, works.]]

* BrokenPedestal: [[spoiler: Saki's discovery that Teru publicly disowned her.]]

* SinisterSilhouettes: Subverted, [[CoolBigSis Teru]] appears clearly in the first opening and during Saki's {{flashback}}. Played straight for most other top-tier players.