Tsumo!
3000/6000!
And that's the end of the first hanchan!
All that's left is the second half! Just one single hanchan!
She's...
...just too powerful!
Hand 17
Nightmare
We will now have a five minute break.
However, what an overwhelming performance!
Ryuumonbuchi's Amae Koromo has now taken an incredible 27 000 point lead
A
Ryuumonbuchi High School 2nd Year Amae Koromo
over Kiyosumi's Miyanaga in second place!
Will Ryuumonbuchi be able to keep this up through the second hanchan?
A
Kiyosumi High School 1st Year Miyanaga Saki
Will the perennial Kazekoshi
A
Kazekoshi All-girls 2nd Year Ikeda Kana
be able to overcome what can only be considered a near-insurmountable point difference?
Or will the two newcomer schools be able to catch the dragon's tail?!
A
Tsuruga Academy 3rd Year Kajiki Yumi
I-I'm heading to the bathroom!
I'm going out for a bit.
Huh? Where's Nodoka going?
Sheesh, you haven't figured that out?
She's going to see Saki.
Nodoka sensed that Saki wasn't playing as her usual self before, and it looks like she's worried.
She can tell just by watching her play?
Two people in love with each other can sense even the smallest change in one another!
You can't go to sleep at night because you're so infatuated with my every slightest move! Isn't that right, jerk?!
No, not at all.
Kana...
Understand, Captain?
When it's my break, don't come to see me.
If I'm winning I'll be in my groove, see...
But if by some chance I'm losing, I'll probably just make you cry, so...
When it's all over, please just praise me all you want!
Kana.
Captain.
I broke my promise, and came to see you.
But, I can't find the words.
Is it okay if I just stay here together with you?
Yes, please...
I've gone and made her cry again...
Senpai!
I brought you another one.
Thanks.
Ryuumonbuchi seems really strong.
This far exceeds my expectations.
Honestly speaking, I don't see any way to turn the situation in our favor.
Perhaps stopping Kiyosumi's momentum in the beginning was a mistake.
Don't worry!
Senpai, you can do it!
As the match went on, I started thinking that maybe I should have let you be the taishou.
I thought that maybe if it was you, Momo, you'd be able to come up with something.
Maybe I'm not fit for playing in the final round.
I can't believe that!
Tsuruga's got only one taishou, and that's you, Kajiki-senpai!
I bet Kanbara would say the same thing.
Yeah, it seems I've started to doubt myself.
That trick of Ryuumonbuchi's Amae has gotten to me, without me even realizing it.
Thank you, Momo.
What's with you, Momo?
Hey.
Fujita!
Why, aren't you in the groove this year?
Whether I'm "in the groove" or not, you seriously think I'd lose to someone like them?
And since the sun will have fallen in the second hanchan, all the more!
And what does the sunset have to do with it?
You're always so fascinating.
In that case, afterwards how about you and me play...
Don't pet me, you perverted pro!
Look here, it's about time you played mahjong.
I'm playing right now.
That's not you playing.
You're being made to play.
Miyanaga-san isn't in the nap room or in the bathroom!
Where did she go?
She seemed like she was about to cry back then.
Could she have run away because she's scared of who she's up against?
I cannot believe that Miyanaga-san, of all people, would do such a thing!
I got lost again...
I guess I should have gone toward the nap room. At least I know how to get there.
And there wasn't even a bathroom over this way...
Miyanaga-san!
Haramura-san!
What are you doing?
You're in the middle of the final round!
I got lost trying to find a bathroom.
You got lost again?
Yeah...
Miyanaga-san...
Do you remember the first time we played mahjong together?
You crushed my pride as the reigning middle school tournament champion to dust.
But, I wasn't...
Did you forget about the training camp?
You were really amazing then.
Where did the person from that day go?
Where did all your confidence go?
Confidence?
Weren't we going to the nationals?
We promised each other, right?
Promised...
The second half of the final round will begin shortly.
Will the participants please return to the playing room.
Let's hurry.
I still haven't gone to the bathroom!
You didn't go before the match?
Because... I was watching your game the whole time...
A-Anyway, let's hurry up and get back in time!
Right!
We promised to go to the nationals.
Would you like me to stay here a little longer?
No, I'm okay now...
Kana, good luck.
Captain...
I'm off.
I'll be waiting for you.
Senpai! When this is all over...
The finals of the prefectural qualifiers!
The second half of the final round!
This hanchan match will be the final one of the tournament!
Miyanaga-san.
Haramura-san.
Only one of these schools will be going to the nationals!
I've got to remember!
Remember!
I've got to remember the reason I'm fighting here.
And remember how I felt the final day of the training camp.
I've got to remember.
Remember the confidence that Haramura-san saw in me!
After making it through the long two days of these prefectural qualifiers, it's finally the critical moment!
The final game!
Whether it ends in tears of joy or sadness, everything will be decided when this battle is over!
Start the second half!
A
2nd Hanchan East 1st Round
If you include this turn, I have two more chances as dealer.
A
Sitting East Kazekoshi All-girls 2nd Year Ikeda Kana
If I think about a coming back normally, I'd just fall into despair.
But that's exactly why I've got to make this turn as East count!
Here I go!
A
Sitting South Ryuumonbuchi High School 2nd Year Amae Koromo
A
Sitting West Kiyosumi High School 1st Year Miyanaga Saki
Now...
I haven't seen any signs of Amae Koromo's Haitei since I dealt into Kiyosumi's hand.
A
Sitting North Tsuruga Academy 3rd Year Kajiki Yumi
During the last hand of the first hanchan, Amae went for a swift attack by calling tiles.
The change of pace was just too much.
It didn't just disturb the tiles, it was as if it even affected my feelings.
So this is how Amae plays the game?
She's started right up again in the second half.
And Koromo will continue to rule the field.
I almost feel a little sorry for her opponents!
E-Everyone is staying concealed?
At this rate, the one who'll draw the last tile is...
Riichi.
Tsumo! 6000/3000!
Th-That's the third haitei! Could this be truly national-level play?
Again?
Calling riichi and discarding the tile you just picked up on the 17th turn...
I cannot believe this.
And so this is the third time that Amae has won with a haitei.
It's extraordinary.
Not just the haitei... Everything is extraordinary.
Everything?
If you consider the starting hands and draws of the three other players,
none of them could get in tenpai unless it was with a kokushi musou.
A near-perfect "iishanten hell".
And the game went on without many chances to call, either.
In other words, there wasn't any way to defend against Amae's haitei?
Not really, no.
Even so, there was one way to defend against the haitei.
Kiyosumi's 4 sou.
Yes, it is true that if Kiyosumi broke up her 4 sou, Tsuruga could call and break the flow.
But she didn't discard it.
You wouldn't normally know that someone could call something.
And it's far from certain that Amae would win with a haitei.
Suppose so.
From Kiyosumi's perspective, there was still a chance for a rinshan kaihou.
But no one would place their faith in such a tiny chance.
If you just remove that one person...
Be careful, Koromo!
She's not dead yet!
Now, it's east 2nd round, with Amae's being dealer!
Yes! It's the Koromo's turn to be dealer!
Spin, little dicey!
Oh, yes... Fujita spouted that peculiar thing to me before...
"Koromo is being made to play" she says?
Preposterous!
Isn't the Koromo playing at this very time, in this very place?
In that case, I'll show you...
I'll show you the true meaning of darkness!
These cursed starting hands and draws can only be a disadvantage, but I just can't break free of this curse!
It's like a nightmare...
Ron.
Tanyao, sanshoku, dora 2!
12 000!
Ryuumonbuchi, with a direct hit of a dealer mangan on Kazekoshi!
A
East 2nd Round Bonus 1
Ron.
7700 with one bonus is 8000!
This is bad. Kazekoshi is in serious danger.
With this many hands left and only that many points...
Not only does she have to try for big hands, but she's at the point where she can't afford to defense.
But that's so easy for Amae to read.
At this rate she'll be strangled to death!
A
East 2nd Round Bonus 2
Ton.
Tsuruga discarded it the last turn,
and Amae hasn't changed her hand since two turns ago.
So there's no chance I'll be playing into her hand with this!
Ron!
Double ton, dora 2. 12 000 with two bonus is 12 600!
H-How?
Thanks!
She doesn't win off of my discard, and instead aims directly at Kazekoshi?
She's trying to knock Kazekoshi out?
No, that's not it!
The last thing she took out of her hand was a 1 pin.
If she'd kept it, then she'd get another dora and an iipeikou, giving her a haneman!
There's no doubt she would have knocked out Kazekoshi.
And yet, she purposefully lowered the value of her hand?
Why?
Take a look at the points, you piece of trash!
Wh-What?!
Peons! Your lives are mine!
I-Incredibly, after playing into that hand, Kazekoshi has zero points!
Kana!
Kazekoshi has exactly zero points.
Say what? So you don't get knocked out with exactly zero points?
In this tournament, you keep going.
Although it's got to feel like hanging on by the skin of your neck.
However, if anyone tsumos, then Kazekoshi would drop below 0 points,
and just like that the game would be over.
Ryuumonbuchi's victory would be complete.
If you can't win on a tsumo, then she's sealed Saki's rinshan kaihou.
Oh, goodness!
Here comes Koromo's bad habits again!
So she discarded that 1 pin to adjust the points just so?
Indeed. If she'd kept that 1 pin, we'd be the winners and the match would be over.
But Koromo is playing like this to completely crush the hearts of her opponents.
To place the stamp of "loser" right on their self-confidence; that nothing they can do can touch her.
To show them she's in a different league.
That despair I saw back then is still within me...
Nodo-chan?
Why does it look like Saki has been smiling since that last win?
Saki is smiling?
The second half of the final round has just been unbelievable from the very start!
Last year's champions, Ryuumonbuchi High School's Amae Koromo has won four times in a row!
A
Ryuumonbuchi High School 2nd Year Amae Koromo
If you include the previous half, that's six times in a row!
What a rush! Could this keep continuing while she's dealer?!
On the other hand, in last place, Kazekoshi All-girls has just exactly 0 points!
A
Kazekoshi All-girls 2nd Year Ikeda Kana
Still alive, yes, but bordering right up against death!
If Kazekoshi plays into someone's hand, or if anyone else wins on a tsumo,
Anything Goes
Can't Tsumo
that will instantly clinch the win for Ryuumonbuchi!
In other words, Kiyosumi and Tsuruga can only win off of someone other than Kazekoshi!
This situation is really difficult, even putting aside the points!
It's 74 700 points between first and second place.
And what's more, she can only take points directly from Ryuumonbuchi's Amae or Tsuruga's Kajiki?
Those are some tough conditions.
If it's a double yakuman, then even if she tsumos, she'd kick that little brat's butt right outta there!
Not possible.
For real?
Yes.
In this year's rules, there are no double yakuman.
So there's no way to turn the tables on Ryuumonbuchi in one tsumo.
There's four red dora but no double yakuman?
These rules are weird.
Why don't you try reading the rules beforehand?
'kay.
They're talking as if getting a yakuman itself isn't nearly impossible.
A
2nd Hanchan East 2nd Round Bonus 3
So cold...
That last hand, she went easy on me.
She could have killed me, but she didn't.
I'm so pitiful...
Even though I haven't yet managed to get in tenpai once so far,
here I am on the 3rd turn, tenpai with 4 dora.
Although it's a wait on the 6 pin, I don't have any point sticks so I can't declare riichi.
At least this way I won't die from being in noten at a draw.
The 6 pin!
But I don't have any yaku, so I can't win!
Although there are still three of them left.
If I can just draw one of them...
Pon!
Now there's only one left!
Where is it?
Please, be one of the tiles I draw!
Kan!
All right! Rinshan kaihou!
What are you, nuts?
If she wins with that, we'll lose immediately, remember?
Oh, right...
No winning for you.
If you dare do it, you'll destroy yourself immediately.
And another kan.
What?
Ron!
Chan-kan, dora 7!
16 900!
Here.
K-Kazekoshi gets a baiman!
With this win, Kazekoshi escapes the ultimate predicament!
And what's more, we've now seen the second chankan at the table of this year's tournament!
She couldn't have...
Kiyosumi and your damn rinshan!
That couldn't have been on purpose just now?!
Why, you...
Next Episode
Link
You see, I get better at mahjong the closer it is to a full moon!
There's no such thing as those superstitions.
And anyway, what does the moon have to do with mahjong in the first place?
As the draw of gravity gets stronger, so do my draws!
It's just "luck", though...