In East Hand 2, Miyamori's Kosegawa had a haneman tsumo,
turning her score positive again in one go.
Man.
If this keeps up, there'll be another penalty.
You're pretty hard on Ueshige-san.
It's tough love.
The Nationals
Fifteen months ago
Himematsu High School Osaka
Hand 5: Gods and Demons
Chi.
Suehara-chan!
Do you have a moment?
Sure.
What is it, substitute?
Oh, please don't call me that.
I'm trying my best to become an honest-to-goodness coach!
Himematsu High Mahjong Club Substitute Coach Akasaka Ikuno
Coach Zenno is still in the hospital.
Don't you feel a little wrong about this?
I'm sorry.
Anyway, what I wanted to talk about is...
I'm thinking of making you a regular for the team tournament.
I decline.
What?
Who else is on the team?
For the third years, I have Nakagishi-san, Mino-san, and Umegaki-san.
For the second years,
I was thinking you and Atago-san's older sister could be good.
What about the first year Ueshige instead of me?
Is Ueshige that new girl who gets made fun of a lot?
She's so weak, though!
According to the standard rules we go by, she is.
But if you disregard the ranking bonuses and just go by the number of points won,
she's got a positive score.
And last month, she had the highest score in the club.
Even though she's usually last in the games?
That's bizarre.
When she wins, it happens like an explosion.
She scores higher, like 60,000 points, the stronger her opponent is.
Explosion, huh?
Then maybe I'll put her in the next A - B matches
and see how she does.
As long as she's not the fifth player, she should be fine.
Please don't tell anyone I recommended her, though.
Why not?
Because it's embarassing.
The first players' match
is now in East Hand 3 of the first half.
Himematsu High School is the dealer.
Hey, hey.
When's the exploding going to start?
She never did go off yesterday.
Come on, Suzu-chan.
You'll show us, right?
70 minutes later
First Players' Match Second Half South Hand 4
And we are in the last hand of the first players' match!
Did you fail to go off again?
Himematsu High School (South Osaka) 2nd Year Ueshige Suzu
Iwate and Nagano keep beating me down.
I've lost 24,300 points.
Eisui Girls' (Kagoshima) 2nd Year Jindai Komaki
At this rate, we'll be in last place.
Miyamori Girls' (Iwate) 3rd Year Kosegawa Shiromi
I managed to stay in the lead
throughout the second half.
This is all thanks to my training!
Kiyosumi High School (Nagano) 1st Year Kataoka Yuuki
I got it!
This will seal the deal!
She's going to declare riichi.
She fell asleep?
Oh...
Riichi!
In the first half, it was like something had vanished...
What is... this?
The shrine priestess is back in scary mode.
This is kinda bad.
Kataoka does not get an ippatsu tsumo.
Pro player Kainou, Kataoka has declared riichi
even though she's in the lead.
Would you say this attack is...
Pro player Kainou?
Something's taken over.
Excuse me?
Weird to say it now, but that's scary.
The shrine priestess has become a demon.
Deep in the mountains of Kagoshima,
there is a magical realm where only female sages live.
She might be someone who descended from there.
Pushing through the many layers of clouds
to make his way down from the heavens,
the god descended upon the Kushifuru peak of the mountain Takachiho
of Himuka in Tsukushi.
Ron.
24,000.
The Princess who reigns over the
six female sages of the Kirishima Shrine.
The first players' match is now over!
Eisui Girls' landed a direct sanbaiman hit on the leading
Kiyosumi High in the last hand.
Eisui Girls' (Kagoshima) 1st Player - 2nd Year Jindai Komaki
With that, they leaped from last to second place.
Currently in the lead is Iwate's Miyamori Girls'.
Miyamori Girls' (Iwate) 1st Player - 3rd Year Kosegawa Shiromi
I'm tired.
The fight for the top eight spots now
moves into the second players' match.
Good job!
Welcome back.
I'm back.
Kiyosumi High School (Nagano) 1st Player - 1st Year Kataoka Yuuki
It was a mistake to declare riichi when I was in the lead.
The riichi stick knocked me out of the lead.
What are you talking about?
You did great!
A first year player went up against players from top schools,
and came back with almost no points lost.
That is more than enough.
Leave the rest to us.
The princess is still sleeping, right?
I didn't think she'd fall asleep again.
It's rare.
Maybe Komaki-chan tried hard in her own way.
Do you mean she meant to fall asleep?
I don't think she's ever been able to do it on purpose.
She's never played a public game where
a god didn't come down to possess her.
That's why she's never finished with a loss.
Are you saying that maybe, this time, she was afraid that could happen
and something special got set in motion?
The princess always said that she started mahjong
so she could play with the six female sages
who are with her in the mansion of the shrine.
But now, her feelings are different.
She wants to win.
I suppose she wants to enjoy this
tournament with us as long as she can.
In any case, if we win the tournament,
it means we get to play with her the longest.
That's right.
Awai, it's your turn on camera.
Okay!
Did something good happen to you?
Did you feel it, Senpai?
Feel what?
That there's some interesting people in this competition.
Interesting?
Doesn't that refer to you?
It's nice to have a lot to look forward to.
What are you sneaking around for?
I'm sorry!
Himematsu High School (South Osaka) 1st Player - 2nd Year Ueshige Suzu
Oh, don't worry about it.
That's how it goes.
Don't worry about it.
Oh, my! I forgot to bring the permanent marker.
Huh?
Oh, well.
I guess I'll use a normal marker.
Seriously?!
Suehara-chan, you prefer a permanent marker?
I think I brought one!
You did?!
All right.
It's my turn.
Yuuko.
It's okay!
The exchange student from Iwate, right?
I know.
I've got the countermeasure
for the Kiwi covered!
Huh? Not going to talk to her?
Well, I'm not really good with foreign languages...
But they speak English in New Zealand!
Maybe my English isn't so good, either!
Shiro!
Switch.
Carry me.
Does that mean, "Get real"?
I'm tired.
All right.
I'm heading off, then.
Good luck!
Do your best.
I've got this.
This time, I'll really avenge you.
Okay!
Promise!
The second players' match has started!
The starting dealer is first place Miyamori Girls'
Aislinn Wishart.
The second player for the seeded school Eisui is Karijuku Tomoe.
Eisui Girls' is currently in second place.
That Wishart-chan...
She's kind of strange.
Her play records didn't show anything strange.
Captain, are you blind?
Her play records are pretty ordinary and her wins are, too,
but she wins almost every hand.
She had the highest win ratio in the nation
in the regional tournament.
That's pretty amazing.
No matter how well you play,
hands that never get into tenpai are bound to happen.
But she has an abnormally high rate of being in a closed tenpai
by the 13th turn.
Her rate doesn't even compare to the normal average.
Go A-chan!
Can I go home?
Of course not.
Aislinn's gonna win, anyway.
Aislinn materializes her own dreams, her ideal tiles, onto the table.
She looks like she's having fun!
Looks like her regular pace.
Well...
When I passed them in the hall before,
I didn't get that weird feeling that I got with Jindai.
I don't think any
of those three can beat Aislinn.
Chi.
She threw away a tanpin iipeikou hand one tile from tenpai
to go for a double-sided wait.
Normally, it's unthinkable.
Huh?
Tsumo!
300, 500.
She called for that hand?
This is weird!
I had to do it.
I had this feeling like the dealer might win.
I've rarely ever been wrong
when I've had this kind of feeling.
East Hand 2
Dealer: Mase Yuuko
I got this!
Yup!
Again it seems like the exchange student is about to win.
Huh? And why the red one?
Pon!
That's a lot of dora!
What was the name of the school with the sailor outfit again?
Kiyosumi!
It's the same school as Haramura-san.
Kiyosumi, huh?
Turn 10
I don't want to pay 18,000,
and the hand's almost over.
All the 2 of circles are visible anyway...
I guess I can get away with the dealer's safe tile, the 3 of circles.
Ron.
But she discarded a red 5 earlier!
2,000.
Why is she winning with a hand like that?
I don't get this at all!
I probably would've been beaten
if I'd played my regular game just now.
Yup, I could already tell.
It's not that Mako remembers all of the outcomes.
It's more that she can remember
the overall layout of the table in the same way you'd remember someone's face.
A face?
Yeah.
I think of the discards, or more like the entire table, as a person's face.
If it's a face I don't like,
that is to say, if it's disadvantageous to me,
I just have to make it into a face I like.
It's just a matter of changing the table's layout.
Whether it's superstition or something else...
If they can only make faces that Mako knows all too well...
Why?
I forgot to take off my glasses.
Mako won't lose that easily.
The second players' match has now moved
into the last hand of the second half.
Kiyosumi started the match in third place, but is now in the lead.
Wait!
Chi.
Why?
One more time!
I can still do this.
Pon.
Ron.
3,900.
And that's it.
The second players' match is over!
Kiyosumi High School's Somiya ends the last hand with a 3,900 win.
Her team will start the third players' match in first place.
Kiyosumi High School 2nd Player - 2nd Year Somiya Mako
Good game.
She did it!
Somiya-senpai!
Though Miyamori Girls' Aislinn was overtaken by Kiyosumi,
A-chan...
they are now in second place with 103,500 points.
Miyamori Girls' 2nd Player - 3rd Year Aislinn Wishart
Eisui Girls' Karijuku falls one place to third.
Good game, everybody.
Eisui Girls' 2nd Player - 3rd Year Karijuku Tomoe
It looks like we mustn't underestimate Kiyosumi High School.
We're counting on you, Haru-chan.
I got it.
Good job, everyone!
Himematsu High School 2nd Player - 3rd Year Mase Yuuko
Himematsu High School's Mase
has played consistently well throughout the match.
While they are still in last place,
the distance between them and third place has shrunk.
Good ol' Mase-senpai.
You can count on her.
All right!
Unripe
Looks like they've warmed things up well for me.
Now I'm going to show them something from another league!
Here I go!
Sis, wait!
What is it, Kinu?
You don't have to worry.
Just trust me and let me handle this.
No, I mean...
The lunch break is starting now.
Huh?
Next time
Withering
Brown sugar is a pretty incredible thing, ma'am.
Another random trivia show?
The body absorbs it quickly,
so it is excellent for refueling during a match.
Not only that, it also keeps you full longer,
making it a great diet food.
I'll have some, too!
Watch Again!