Saki and Mahjong Feelings

The fictional story of Saki has some real life connections.  I am not referring to the magical plays, that characters are able to pull at the drop of a hat.  People do make such miraculous plays once in a while.  However, we lack the capability and insight to do them on command, regardless of our skill levels.  When it comes to the characters, most everyone focuses on either their looks or their mahjong abilities.  If you look deep enough, you can see more to them.  Some of their background stories and their feelings either during a mahjong game or regarding mahjong overall are very much relatable.

Here, the greater focus stems on the emotional connection to the mahjong experience depicted by the characters.  I shall highlight some characters:

• From the very first episode, I remember Saki Miyanaga declaring to Nodoka Haramura about her dislike of mahjong.  Stunned, Nodoka just stared in the rain.  Early on, I did not understand what Saki meant.  These days, I understand how she feels.
• Nodoka herself represents the general attitude of digital players.  She's devoid of superstition and looks at the game with a pure data perspective.
• Coincidentally, I refer myself as "Captain" to my own mahjong club.  This itself needs a separate blog entry.  Anyways, Mihoko Fukuji is referred to as captain by her own club in Kazekoshi.  She does all the things needed to keep her club operating.
• Touka Ryuumonbuchi depicts the prideful behavior towards mahjong, where a player may walk into a game with expectations only to be disappointed.  Yet, she's still able to trod on because of what she has: a close group, whom she can rely on.
• At times, mahjong can put us in despair as we are in games with an exceptionally low score.  Kana Ikeda portrays our reactions to that situation, where we can get desperate and even produce some miracle hands.  The psychedelic effect from that is very powerful.
• Toyone Anetai has a somewhat - "sneaky" - approach to the game.  Along side that, she has a somewhat childish behavior, which prevents her from true mahjong despair.
• The teams Achiga and Tsuruga consist of relatively "weak" characters, who each pooled together to form mutual strength.  Without their bonds, they cannot stand.
• From Kentani, Riko Yasufuku dealt in a 1pin, that cost her team the position to move on a Side B quarterfinal.  She shows the instantaneous shock from mahjong upon the realization of a result.
• Teru Miyanaga is marked as the ultimate monster player of the series.  She has a stoic and dominating, by which no one aside from her own close circles are allowed to even have casual discussion.
• Hisa Takei is the personification of the improbable.  She places even a slim chance of hope towards the formation of her team, such that she risked two years of her high school mahjong life to be without a team.  As a trade off, she gets a team in contention for the National title.
• Harue Akado, Achiga's coach, suffered a mahjong trauma from her younger years.  It is nasty when emotional connections from the past still has an effect on the present.
• The south dominating player in Kozue Nanpo has the go-it-alone attitude, with everything to prove.  Unfortunately for her, she comes short of her goals.
• The lonely Koromo Amae has a vindictive yet childish approach to mahjong.  Yet, she seeks company through mahjong while having a supportive group.
• Then there's Momo Touyoko.  I generally do not understand, what she is all about.  She represents the "unnoticed".  However, I cannot relate to this aspect as of yet.

Some general examples:

• Some of the schools in Saki waited for the one player to complete the team.  Eventually, they did.  Well, we have the common feeling of finding that fourth player among three people.  Sanma is a playable game, but it is not the same.  With three people, one chair is empty.
• In terms of aspiration, everyone wants to be at the top.  At the very least, the featured schools want to showcase their best mahjong.  In the competitive scene, we wish to do the exact tame.  Granted, this sentiment is universal regardless of activity.
• With tournaments, someone always loses.  This is another universal fact.  With mahjong, this is a guarantee.  Someone always loses, whether it be an individual game or tournament play.  However, at the end of the day, the characters nad players alike still have the ability and option to play again in the future.
• Mahjong players support each other.  At least, I hope for this to be true everywhere.  Here we can all relate feelings from the game: win or lose.  

And so on so forth.  I can go on with the rest of them.  Hopefully, you get the idea.  A lot of it comes from their character backgrounds and their connection to mahjong.  The series then ties all of their their individual stories as they all interact with each other, through the game and beyond.  With that, mahjong has personally impacted all of them, by which they have their different reasons in their game involvement.

With that said, we all have our real "fictional" mahjong stories.  We decide how we live our mahjong life.

What is your mahjong story?