Saki

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Ritz Kobayashi's mahjong manga is a relatively simple concept that has been executed well. The title character Saki Miyanaga is a genius player whose ability to manipulate her own score develops from being bullied while playing with members of her family. Despite her hatred for the game, Saki is drawn into her high school's mahjong club and soon aims to help take the club to the national tournament in order to reunite with her older sister who is member of the reigning national team champion.

Artistically, Saki is very clean and easy on the eye. The art does not occupy the reader with individual detailed panels ... and makes it easier to read at a faster pace. One initially wonders how Kobayashi would be able to vary the drawings of her characters each time they declare mahjong, but she pulls it off by using different points of view and creative action shots. The reader can almost see the tiles come alive with the players' movements. Depending on reader interest in fan service material, one will find the occasional suggestive angles either distracting or refreshing.

Kobayashi presents her readers with a multitude of named characters that sometimes it becomes difficult to provide an equal amount of development. At one point during the height of the national tournament, the total number of characters introduced doubles from the number of characters in the prefectural tournament. If there is one conclusion readers can draw from this is that each girl has her own reasons for aiming at the national title. This makes it easy to attach oneself to a particular character because she has peculiar characteristics or manners, whether it be her love of tacos, her ability to remain hidden from her opponents, or simply her monocle. Unfortunately, this also means the title character is more easily forgotten than readers will originally expect.

Readers will enjoy this manga for more than its impressive display of mahjong skill (or luck, as some will say). The anticipation of seeing certain characters interact with each other is enough for fans to create multiple relationship pairings, which are abundant. Although readers who do not understand mahjong terminology may find the reading slow in the beginning, it becomes easier to not get caught up in reading explanations and proceed with a general understanding of each match outcome.

There is much similarity between the manga and its anime adaptation. While the two mediums approach the concept of the story differently, they complement each other well and can enhance each other's enjoyment.

I tried to like Saki, I really did.

I'm a sucker for mahjong manga and will gobble up anything to satisfy my passion for it, but this manga is just unreadable.

For starters, the characters:
the titular character, Saki, is extremely boring and there is very little to like about her. She has near no personality, and is either frustrating to watch when she decides not to win on purpose, or very boring when she just wins by virtue of being the main character. Everyone acts like she's a genius for scoring big wins but we never get much insight into her strategy or logic. She's not built ... up as a particularly lucky person either so her wins really have no impact.
As for the rest of the main cast, well, they're all boring (often bordering on irritating) one-dimensional, one-note characters. You've got the busty girl, the taco-eating girl (not a joke), the cheerful girl, the big sister character, etc.

At the beginning of the manga there seemed to be some big family drama stuff brewing but 100 chapters later literally nothing has happened and the characters are still as boring. The story could have gone somewhere but not only is nothing really moving, but also the art is ruining any kind of tension the story could have.

Now, onto said art. The artist here has undeniable talent- a very good grasp on perspective and composition, clean lines, etc. But by god, the "fanservice" (if you can even call it that) is out of god damn control. The main cast is mostly 11 year old girls, who are either drawn with 1. three-inch long miniskirts 2. humongous triple G breasts 3. "juicy" thighs & no panties, or all of those combined. And that's not even talking about the numerous half-naked characters and ass/tit shots punctuating the entire manga, which make the whole thing an absolute horrendous piece of fiction to read through.
I'd like to take a short pause here to remind everyone that this is a manga about 11 year olds playing mahjong. Neither of those main two components warrant the manga's overwhelming saturation with creepy shots, nudity and bad anatomy. I just want some tiles, bro.

All in all, unless you're a creep into half-naked little girls (in which case I advise therapy) or you are a masochist (therapy needed there also) there are no good reasons for you to read this manga.

Saki is like a case study in how to make a manga fall apart completely. The first ~8 volumes or so (which correlate roughly to the first season of the anime) are amazing, an easy 9 out of 10. After that it goes downhill fast though, and at some point the art & writing just fall of a damn cliff and eventually it feels like the story barely takes place in the same world as it started anymore.

It's a true shame because had you asked me 10 years ago I would have recommended this to just about anyone based on where it was at ... back then, but the way it is now I can't in good conscience recommend it to anyone. The only reason I'm even sticking with it myself is sheer stubbornness, since it at least feels like it'll be over somewhat soon.

A 5 out of 10 at this point feels generous, and the only reason it's even getting that is because of how great it used to be.