10 Second Anime - Saki - The Nationals - Episode 4

Saki - The Nationals - Episode 4

Even deep into heavy mahjong action, we have time for no-pan, ki presence, and puns on names.

With the first round of Kiyosumi's match, that means it's time for Yuuki to shine. Using the expository device of a different school using their research notes on the other schools, we're reminded of Yuuki's strength as the first dealer, but we're also shown how much she's matured as a player. She still relies on huge points during the first few hands, but now she throws in some surprise wins, has learned to break up hands when they can't get any points that round, and can get some more wins even when she's not in the dealer position.

Through Suzu, we also learn of the other girls' supposed powers. One gets better and better hands when she begins to hesitate on her discards. The shrine maiden plays strong defense while she sleeps through early hands, and then awakens. We haven't seen what her awakened power is yet.

Of course, this wouldn't be a Saki episode without some jokes and no-pan thrown in. One thing that threw me was the character written on Suzu's forehead. It's a name-only character, but two of its pronunciations, shin and nobu, involve concepts of "shame." That's a very specific cultural pun right there. The ki power-ups have only been hinted at, but we're starting to see them build up. Next episode is going to explode with some massive point totals!