History Manga / Saki

* TheMerch: Exists in RealLife, and gets some lampshading in-series. In ''Saki Biyori'', Teru buys some chocolates with mahjong-themed package. When Awai reads its packaging blurb, it's read "Approved by the renowned Miyanaga Teru".

* SittingOnTheRooftop: A few cases. Chapter 6 of the Big Gangan version of Saki Biyori features Saki and Nodoka eating on the roof. In Chapter 128, Awai finds Teru on the roof and gets her to admit that Saki is her sister.

* TheWorfEffect: Happens with startling regularity.
** Ritz will often hype up a team or a player for ''years'', only for the said team or player to crash and burn during their own turn on the table. The following are some of the more glaring examples:

** Another thing that's noticeable is how certain aspects of some girls gradually grew... [[BuxomIsBetter larger]], as series went on. While this could normally explained away by the onset of puberty, the short time frame of the Nationals (less than a full week had passed since it started) eliminates it as a probable cause. Nodoka's is especially noticeable, but then there's Awaii and Ako from ''Achiga-hen'', who went from somewhat petite the first time they appeared in the main series (Ako especially, as she's only supposedly a little bigger than almost-flat Shizuno), to "porn-star jigglies" over the course of a few chapters.

* XMeetsY: ''Manga/{{Akagi}}'' Meets ''{{Hitohira}}''. Saki can be seen as a CaptainErsatz of Mugi, for one.

** Also from ''Zenkoku-hen'', ''everything'' related to Team Eisui outside their games in the National quarterfinals qualifies for this. In this case however, Ritz gave Gokumi her blessing to expand on their characterizations, as she wasn't able to properly do so in the manga, where one of the main complaints was how Team Eisui, both as a team and as individual players, lacked personality.

** Team Kiyosumi's Yuuki fell victim to this four times now -- against Jun and Mihoko, against Nanpo, against Komaki (the latter of which when she was ''a hand away'' from victory), and now against [[spoiler:Satoha and Suzu]]. This is largely the result of most teams putting their aces up as Vanguards (to the point at which the otherwise skilled Team Shindouji focuses on survival), and Yuuki [[CripplingOverspecialization overspecializes in point-farming at the East Wind]]. [[DavidVersusGoliath From a story perspective, this ensures that Team Kiyosumi will always have to scrape back to victory come the later rounds.]]
** Hayari suggests Usuzan is a strong newcomer with high chances of winning the big game, but its players have so far lost so many points the main question as of current chapters is whether they'll even make it through the Lieutenants' match, much less recover, and show what ace players Sawaya and Maya, positioned at the very end, can do.

* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: An analysis, based on the study of a calendar (shown only in a single frame, so its easy to miss) and on the possible dates of a full moon during the prefecturals, concludes that the only possible year for the series to take place in is '''2050'''. It's no wonder why Nodoka's so interested in IPS reproduction...Cu

* XMeetsY: ''{{Akagi}}'' Meets ''{{Hitohira}}''. Saki can be seen as a CaptainErsatz of Mugi, for one.

* TheWorfEffect: Happens with startling regularity. Ritz will often hype up a team or a player for ''years'', only for the said team or player to crash and burn during their own turn on the table. The following are some of the more glaring examples:

** Mihoko actually avoids this trope by coming away with the most points in her round while messing with Jun. In fact, she was pretty much the {{chessmaster}}(giving some easy points to Yuuki then dominating the match), subjecting Jun to this trope. Every time her right eye open, she seems to {{curbstomp}} her opponents.

''If you were looking for the author with the pen name Saki, go [[Creator/HHMunro here.]]''

Besides the main manga, ''Saki'' also has four spinoff comics -- ''[[Manga/{{Saki Achiga-hen}} Achiga-hen -episode of Side A-]]'' ("Achiga's Story" / 2011-2013, illustrated by Aguri Igarashi, mangaka of ''Manga/BambooBlade''), which focuses on Nodoka's childhood friends from Achiga Girls' Academy in Nara Prefecture who are gunning for the Nationals for the first time in ten years, hoping to play with Nodoka again; ''Biyori'' (2011-present, illustrated by Saya Kiyoshi) and its follow-up ''Biyori -- Otona no Maki'' ("Adults' Story"), a pair of 4-koma gag strips focused on the hijinks of the various major teams; and ''[[Manga/SakiShinohayuDawnOfAge Shinohayu -the dawn of age-]]'' (2013-present, also illustrated by Igarashi), which focuses on the generation that produced some of the pros of the current timeline -- playing idol Hayari Mizuhara, color commentator Risa Noyori, Team Achiga adviser (and alumna) Harue Akado, and multiple-time national champion Sukoya Kokaji, as well as Hayari's old teammates Shino Shiratsuki and Kanna Ishitobi.

** In a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment in ''Zenkoku-hen'', the fact that, for some reason, Mihoko's uniform is mixed in with the rest of Team Kiyosumi's uniforms in their closet.

[[caption-width-right:350:Mahjong is fun... and it's also SeriousBusiness.]]

* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: An analysis, based on the study of a calendar (shown only in a single frame, so its easy to miss) and on the possible dates of a full moon during the prefecturals, concludes that the only possible year for the series to take place in is '''2050'''. It's no wonder why Nodoka's so interested in IPS reproduction...
** It's actually confirmed in ''Manga/SakiShinohayuDawnOfAge'', as it's stated that [[spoiler:Mafuka Kasugai died]] in 2037, more than 10 years before the start of the series.

** Four members of Ryuumonbuchi immediately realized that Saki was a strong player simply by walking past her. In fact, they mistook her for Nodoka.

* OldSchoolBuilding: The location of Team Kiyosumi's mahjong club (in the attic).

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Nodoka's father thinks "Mahjong Pro" isn't the most secure career aspiration for his daughter, but lets her keep at it as long as she keeps winning.
** On the other hand, he derides mahjong as a game purely based on luck, scoffs at Nodoka mentioning that she was able to make friends through it ("just what use would any friends you make be in a hick town like this be?"), and halfheartedly decides to "consider" letting her stay if she wins the nationals. He might be giving her a chance, but it could be [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation interpreted]] that he does so because he doesn't think she can manage the improbable task of winning the nationals.

* StoryBreakerPower: And there's so many in the place!

* VaporWear
** Shots of Nodoka's [[WetSariScene wet uniform scene]] from Season 1 Episode 1 bore wild theories that Nodoka, and maybe the other girls, did not wear any underwear.

* SuperDeformed: Used during the exposition bits and in the ending credits.

** Senriyama was said to have some of the best point-gatherers in Japan. While both Sera and Hiroko performed decently, everyone else unwittingly sabotaged their chances to eke a win -- Toki forewent point-farming just to give Teru the proverbial middle finger, and Izumi's misplaced pride in her abilities blinded her to the fact that she's ''easy pickings'' for the third-years she was pitted against. Ryuuka, in spite of her newfound ability to use some of Toki's future sight, failed to get the points she needed.

* CainAndAbel: While it was made clear that Teru and Saki were ''never'' on good terms, as Teru's refusal to speak with Saki made the latter opt to [[TalkingThroughTechnique communicate with mahjong]], Saki doesn't realize until after the Nagano finals that Teru publicly disowned her. Saki loses hope, at least for the moment, in the possibility of anything changing between her and Teru.

* GagBoobs: How do you know when you've made your character too ridiculously top-heavy?

* ShowerScene
** ShowerOfAngst: Nodoka takes one after her loss to and argument with Saki. Saki takes one after she's unable to bring herself to go to see her sister's semifinals match.
* ShownTheirWork: Every single game portrayed so far has been perfectly valid. No extra tiles, no impossible hands, every last game conforms to the rules. The hands and wins may be ''wildly'' improbable, but still possible.

** Team Kiyosumi would definitely count, with the freshmen (Saki, Nodoka and Yuuki, and to a lesser extent Kyoutaro) sharing a tight bond.

''Saki'' (咲-Saki-) is an ongoing 2006 manga written and illustrated by Ritz Kobayashi under Creator/SquareEnix's ''Young Gangan'' compilation, based around the game of {{TabletopGame/mahjong}}, with two anime adaptations by Creator/{{GONZO}} and Creator/StudioGokumi (the latter as ''Saki: Zenkoku-hen'' ["The Nationals"]). The anime has been licensed by Crunchyroll and can be viewed for free on [[http://www.crunchyroll.com/saki their site]] (unless you're in Japan).

Besides the main manga, ''Saki'' also has four spinoff comics -- ''[[Manga/{{Saki Achiga-hen}} Achiga-hen -episode of Side A-]]'' ("Achiga's Story" / 2011-2013, illustrated by Aguri Igarashi, mangaka of ''Manga/BambooBlade''), which focuses on Nodoka's childhood friends from Achiga Girls' Academy in Nara Prefecture who are gunning for the Nationals for the first time in ten years, hoping to play with Nodoka again; ''Biyori'' (since 2011, illustrated by Saya Kiyoshi) and its follow-up ''Biyori -- Otona no Maki'' ("Adults' Story"), a pair of 4-koma gag strips focused on the hijinks of the various major teams; and ''[[Manga/SakiShinohayuDawnOfAge Shinohayu -the dawn of age-]]'', which focuses on the generation that produced some of the pros of the current timeline -- playing idol Hayari Mizuhara, color commentator Risa Noyori, Team Achiga adviser (and alumna) Harue Akado, and multiple-time national champion Sukoya Kokaji, as well as Hayari's old teammates Shino Shiratsuki and Kanna Ishitobi.