And on stage A, the third of the second round matches has just begun.
Of the top sixteen schools, only two schools remain
for which this is their first appearance at the inter-high.
The strong win and the weak are defeated.
That is the rule of the inter-high.
It is a veritable survival of the fittest.
One of those schools is Nagano's Kiyosumi High School.
It's a young team, with three first years playing as regulars.
Yuuki, their first player,
is one of the first year trio.
With Kataoka as the opening dealer, the game begins!
The Nationals
Hand 4: East Wind
She's...
The one to watch out for in the first players' match is Kiyosumi's Kataoka.
Kiyosumi?
Not Eisui?
Yes.
This dumb-looking girl?
Of course, Eisui is strong, so we can't let our guard down.
But before that, we have to deal with Kataoka.
This creature's record in the regional tournament was frightening.
She holds the all-time high score in the individual tournament,
but only for the East round of the first day.
That's ridiculous.
Since I was curious, I got some statistics I usually don't look at,
and realized that the odds of her being
the opening dealer are high, for some reason.
Isn't there just a one-in-four chance of getting any seat in the dice roll?
That's usually how it goes.
That means we might have
to consider her a being that isn't bound by common sense...
I never thought she'd really be the first dealer.
What will she do?
Riichi!
A dealer's riichi! On the third turn!
Kiyosumi's Kataoka has already managed a riichi as dealer
on the third turn of East Hand 1!
This was pretty quick.
Kataoka did not draw a single useless tile before her riichi.
How will the other three players go up against this riichi?
I guess Eisui's Jindai is out of this hand.
2 of circles.
I'm tired...
How about this?
Straight into unknown territory!
Pon.
Huh?
Weren't you out of the game?
I don't get it...
If it wasn't for that pon, this would have been Kiyosumi's...
Could this be her winning tile?!
Tsumo!
That's 4,000 all!
If not for that pon, she would've gotten
a sanshoku and ippatsu for a dealer's baiman.
That would've been 8,000 all.
Suzu-chan's job is to keep
the gap between us and the top place to within 30,000 points.
That's not going to be easy with this crowd.
You better do it, or it's permanent marker on your forehead!
Shame
She won even though we changed the order.
This is nothing like what I heard.
That feeling in my fingertips...
Didn't Noppo train me so that
having the order changed wouldn't affect me?
They're all... alive!
What's wrong?
You seem worn out all of a sudden.
Huh?
Ever since we entered the South round,
I can't feel your power at all.
It's like when a cloud moves in front of the moon.
It's like, whenever we get into the South round,
I can't seem to concentrate.
I wish it was just an East match...
Hmm.
Then why don't you go on a streak in the East round
and end the match there?
If you do that, then it's always an East match!
She's got a point.
All right. I'm just going to end it here by going on a streak!
Wha—
This game isn't going to have an East Hand 2!
What did she just say?
She's going to end it in East Hand 1?
Even if we'd each started with 25,000 points, you'd be considered crazy.
But here, we've got 100,000 points!
If she actually manages to take
those 100,000 points while she's the dealer,
she'd be one of the most
fearsome monsters the inter-high has ever seen.
The dice?
Oh, yeah!
Was that just some trash talk?
She doesn't really look like someone who could
take 100,000 points from us.
Maybe she's just an airhead...
She's going to be bothersome.
On Stage A, we're in the first half of the third first players' match.
Kataoka has opened the match with a dealer mangan tsumo win.
Pro player Kainou, what do you make of the hand we just witnessed?
Looking at Kataoka's records so far,
it seems that her concentration is quite extraordinary in the early game.
This last win she had was probably par for the course.
Indeed, Kataoka's East round performance is extremely good.
In any case, what's most important in
the first players' match is to bank points while you can.
The other three players also hit quite hard.
The one to watch for among them
is Eisui Girls' Jindai Komaki.
Yes.
I am personally watching her closely.
Very closely.
East Hand 1
Bonus 1
Aw, man, no tenhou!
A tanyao hand with two dora guaranteed.
It looks like I can call and end her turn as dealer quickly.
Chi!
One tile from tenpai!
Come on!
Pon!
Right on.
I'm in tenpai.
Ron!
I didn't have to wait for a new hand after all.
8,000!
I was told that in the East round,
Kataoka declares riichi as soon as she can.
Suehara-senpai, this isn't the way you said it'd be!
Just calm down.
The game has just begun.
I was a regular at a strong school in my first year, too!
This is just the start.
East Hand 1
Bonus 2
Double riichi!
She's unfazed?
Seriously?
Fast riichis...
I've heard some superstition about them.
There's no way to know for sure.
I'll just play my regular.
If that's her tile, it'll just be like an accident.
Ron! Ippatsu!
Is that seriously her winning tile?!
7,700 plus the two bonuses... That's 8,300!
This is Kataoka's third consecutive win since the beginning of the East round.
And that's twice in a row
Himematsu's Ueshige dealt into Kiyosumi's hand.
Yuuki-chan's amazing!
That's her third consecutive win!
Well, I guess she's not doing too badly.
Is it so hard to just admit that she's doing good?
With her, it's always from this point that things change.
That's right.
And her opponents know that Yuuki's only strong in the East round.
Even so...
Himematsu
This is getting off to a pretty bad start!
Ueshige-san... are you going to be okay?
No worries.
Everything thus far was accounted for.
Just do your job, Suzu-chan.
Damn...
Now she's got a 48,600 point lead.
East Hand 1
Bonus 3
I guess even she doesn't get consecutive double riichis.
My hand stopped at a point where I would normally never hesitate...
Discarding the 5 of characters would leave
the most possible ways to get into tenpai.
But I'm concerned about the player across from me,
Eisui's Jindai.
She's so quiet, there's something not right about it.
Li'l time out.
Here she goes.
"Li'l time out."
Next, we have Miyamori's Kosegawa.
Watch out for when she's not sure what to discard.
That's typically when she's building a really expensive hand.
What's weird is that it doesn't look like
she's hesitating on how to make her hand more expensive,
but like her hand gets expensive because she hesitated.
If she hesitates, her hand gets expensive.
Kosegawa Shiromi.
I've made up my mind.
This is kinda weird, but here goes.
I'm sorry. I fell asleep for a bit.
What?!
You've been playing with your eyes open this whole time!
My score has gone down...
I'm sorry, this happens sometimes when I'm tired.
I'm really sorry, but from here out,
I'll be playing with more than my full strength.
Suddenly...
This is looking bad!
Ah.
Hey, which game should we go watch?
Kiyosumi
Huh?
What's wrong?
Nothing...
I just had a feeling like a new power was...
not appearing, but more like disappearing...
Himematsu High School (South Osaka) 2nd Year Ueshige Suzu
She was asleep?
Is she joking?
Miyamori Girls' (Iwate) 3rd Year Kosegawa Shiromi
I don't want things to get bothersome.
Kiyosumi High School (Nagano) 1st Year Kataoka Yuuki
For a moment, she felt like Saki-chan does.
Eisui Girls' School (Kagoshima) 2nd Year Jindai Komaki
This shrine priestess scares me a little.
But I've got a triplet of dora, and I'm one tile from tenpai.
I can still put the pressure on.
A dora...
I'm in tenpai for a dealer mangan in the third turn.
This hand is mine, too!
Tenpai...
Bamboo, eh?
I managed to get a head start against these players...
This could work.
Riichi!
Huh?
She's discarding one of those already?
She's discarding her draw, too?
Wait... could these two be in tenpai, too?
But then I might deal into one of their hands again...
Oh, that! Ron!
Menpin, ippatsu.
[Menpin: menzen (closed hand) + pinfu]
With two ura dora and three bonuses, that's 8,900.
Y-Yes!
Huh?
I thought Eisui's player was gonna get serious.
Wow, it looks like the princess is completely awake now.
She woke up early this time.
Once Komaki-chan is awake, she works really hard.
I feel like this is the first time
she's woken up this early in a match that wasn't against us.
Doesn't look like she's going to fall back asleep, either.
I think we should be prepared for about a 30,000 point gap.
Even if it's a 60,000 point gap, I'll handle it.
If the gap gets to 90,000,
shall we cut out all snacks for today?
As long as she doesn't go bust, who cares?
That's true.
Let's just sit back and see how it goes.
Jun, hurry up!
Yuuki's match is going to be over!
You're the one who asked me to go to the restroom with you.
Yeah, because going alone is sca—
I mean...
Never mind.
I guess it's more than your short stature that makes you a kid.
She's huge!
Compared to that person, you're a kid, too!
Now, hold on. Seeing a woman taller than me is quite rare.
But then, I've never seen a teen smaller than you, either.
Who is that?
Miyamori Girls'
I'm back!
Welcome back, Toyone.
How's Jindai-san doing?
Don't ask about the enemy. Ask about Shiro, who's on your team.
But... Jindai-san is really great.
Miyamori Girls' (Iwate) 3rd Year Anetai Toyone
Last year, she totally dominated Fujiwara Risa
from Kyuushuu's Sekizan High School.
Then why don't you get her autograph?
Miyamori Girls' (Iwate) 3rd Year Kakura Kurumi
Miyamori Girls' (Iwate) 3rd Year Aislinn Wishart
Yes, I'll do that...
Miyamori Girls' (Iwate) 3rd Year Ususawa Sae
After we've defeated Eisui and taken first place.
On Stage A, the third of the second round matches.
After three consecutive wins by Kiyosumi's Kataoka, the first dealer,
Eisui Girls' Jindai dealt into a
mangan hand from Himematsu High School's Ueshige.
This ends the long East Hand 1. We're now moving into East Hand 2.
Now for the current point totals.
Kiyosumi High School's Kataoka is
currently in the lead with 128,300 points.
Following her is Miyamori Girls' Kosegawa with 96,000 points.
Himematsu High School's Ueshige has 88,600 points.
And Eisui Girls' Jindai has 87,100 points.
And now, East Hand 2 begins.
My turn as dealer... my precious turn as dealer is gone!
But we're still in the East round, and that's all that matters!
I can still fight!
All right!
My starting hand is already one tile from tenpai!
No way...
It happened!
If I discard the same wind to get to tenpai, the hand will be a draw.
And I had such a good hand...
If I break it up, I'll kill my momentum...
As if. That's just stupid.
If my momentum would disappear just from that,
I don't even want it!
To avoid a draw, Kiyosumi's Kataoka breaks up her tenpai.
Turn 8
And I'm back in tenpai!
Riichi!
I'm not going to stay quiet here!
There's something odd about this riichi.
She should've just stayed quiet.
Now that she's declared riichi,
everyone could have dropped out.
I wonder about that.
For one second,
it looked like Kosegawa was hesitating about which tile to discard.
Be careful, Suzu-chan.
Ippatsu, it is not.
Mayoiga...?
It feels like something's about to happen.
Yes.
The more Kosegawa Shiromi hesitates,
the more expensive her hand gets.
Almost like...
...the ancient folk tale from the Touno region.
The legendary house that bestows riches upon all who visit it...
Mayoiga, "house of the lost."
Finally.
She discarded a strong one...
I have a bad feeling about this.
A traveler on a mountain path
wanders along, lost, until...
Within a black gate...
He finds a mansion with a courtyard overrun with white and red flowers.
This one was pretty deep.
Tsumo.
3,000. 6,000.
In East Hand 2, Miyamori's Kosegawa gets a haneman tsumo!
She turned her score positive again in one go!
Finally, a Shiro-like win!
Looks like the second round match should go okay, too.
Yeah!
Man, she got her chance snatched from her twice now.
Yuuki...
Is Suzu going to be okay?!
This is still within our expectations.
The problem starts from here on out...
Hit 'em hard, Suzu-chan!
Just when I thought the momentum Kiyosumi had was gone,
now it's with Miyamori?
There's no telling how big the gap will get.
Yeah...
When we came down from the mountain,
it may have just been a coincidence that they were coming down
from a mountain at the same time.
What do you think, Komaki-chan?
Next time
Gods and Demons
Hey, did you know...
the biggest producer of kiwi fruit
isn't New Zealand, but Italy?
For real?!
New Zealand is actually the third biggest.
Good to know.
Please Watch Again