Shinohayu 63: Pechvogel

This chapter's title page seems connected to the one from the last Saki chapter. Since Shino used to live in Yokohama and Uta is also from Yokohama, I guess it's possible they crossed paths at some point without noticing each other. It's also funny to compare the same Shino drawn by Aguri and drawn by Ritz.

The chapter's title, needless to say, was already like that in the original. It literally means "bad luck bird" in German. Hmm... bird, huh?

Shinohayu ch63 (Mega)
Shinohayu ch63 (Mediafire)

I like putting chapter's notes here because it's easy for me to edit them if I need to. And if this helps someone notice some extra little detail or understand something that wasn't clear enough in the chapter, then I'm glad.

Saki 198: Awe

Continuing with the series of younger versions of random characters, in this chapter's title page we have... Shino! (back during her elementary school days). Also, judging by the kimono, I'd say that's Uta in the background. Otherwise, it's hard to say.

As for the title, I think the most accurate translation is "awe" although it could also be called "fear". But fear of something grand and sublime like God or a very important and powerful person. It's not the same word that would be used to describe "fear of spiders" or "fear of ghosts", for example.

The horror begins!
Saki ch198 (Mega)
Saki ch198 (Mediafire)

I'd like to add a few additional chapter's notes but to reduce the risk of spoilers I'll put them after the break.

Saki 197: Defense

Counting the first 3 chapters, which had different numeration, this is the 200th Saki chapter!
 

The girls on the title page (which has no relation to the rest of the chapter) appear to be the girls from Kentani High School wearing their winter uniform. Miyuki Tsubakino (left), Kozue Furuzuka (right) and the one in the background is probably Sumiko Yorifuji.

Saki ch197 (Mega)
Saki ch197 (Mediafire)
EDIT: changed the note on page 7.

Toki 27: Necklace 2

The original version doesn't say if Hamumu is a 'he' or a 'she', but it felt a bit weird and forced to see Ryuuka calling Hamumu 'it' all the time so I went with 'he'. It probably doesn't matter anyway.

Toki ch27 (Mega)
Toki ch27 (Mediafire)

Shinohayu 62: Black Kite Eyes

Long chapter! 50 pages!! Wow! And a bunch of glimpses and teases in the middle. First appearance! (probably still a long time till she plays any role in the story though).

About the chapter's title: 'black kite eye(s)' in Japanese is the same as 'eagle eye(s)' in English. It means sharp visual skills, keen eye for detail, etc. But since the "bird element" is important in Shinohayu, I'm leaving the literal translation.

There was also a minor error in page 26. It was pointed out in Ritz's blog. The wrong tiles were highlighted. It's been corrected in the translation.

Shinohayu anime when?
Shinohayu ch62 (Mega)
Shinohayu ch62 (Mediafire)

Saki 196: Growth

The chapter looks complete and no delay for the next one either. Yay! Let's pray this lasts (not likely).

Saki ch196 (Mega)
Saki ch196 (Mediafire)

Saki 195: Wholehearted & Toki 26: Necklace 1

There was a new Ritz's blog post but no answers to readers questions or anything really interesting. Mostly an apology for unfinished pages and that sort of stuff. Oh, and Shinohayu and Toki volumes are getting additional printings (must have sold more than expected, I guess).

Saki chapter 195:

Saki ch195 (Mega)
Saki ch195 (Mediafire)

Toki chapter 26 Ryuuka chapter 1:
Toki ch26 (Mega)
Toki ch26 (Mediafire)

Shinohayu 61: Half-day guest under the flowers

This chapter's title is the first half of a proverb that goes like this: "Half-day guest under the flowers, all-night friend under the moon." It means that when two people share a common interest or hobby, even if they've only known each other for a very short time, a deep bond can be formed between them. By the way, "under the flowers" is usually understood as "under the blooming trees".

Also, since the color pages in this chapter come near the end of it, the title page also appears near the end so don't be surprised if you don't see the title at the beginning.

Finally, it seems there was a misprint in page 6, where the dora indicator wasn't shown correctly (a 4s instead of 5s). I went ahead and fixed it for the translation.

Links:

Shinohayu ch61 (Mega)
Shinohayu ch61 (Mediafire)

Saki 194: The Genuine Article

Saki returns after a break. It's kind of a short chapter though. It seems Ritz barely made it with all the special illustrations and stuff for the new volumes. You may have seen it already but Hayari is going to be on the cover of the new Saki tank. It seems that after drawing the first draft of that picture, Ritz thought 'Did I make her breasts too big?' and reduced them significantly before submission. 'That's unusual for me' she adds.

And here's the chapter:

Saki ch194 (Mega)

Saki ch194 (Mediafire)

Saki Achiga-hen Live-Action Movie Subs

It's finally done. In collaboration with Dong Meu Quy Toc Translator, we have created subs for the Achiga live-action movie. This time, the subs have been encoded into the movie for your convenience. You can find the subbed movie on Nyaa.

Below, you will find a link to the subs file, in case someone wants to add it to their own raws or something. But if you just want to watch the subbed movie, it's probably better to get the video file from Nyaa. Enjoy!

Subs file:

Achiga Live-action Movie (subs file)

UPDATE: it's been announced on Ritz's blog that there will be no Shinohayu chapter this month. It's due to the work on the new volumes to be released next month. This is the first time Shinohayu takes a break after 60 chapters. Since Toki is taking a break too, that means no new chapters this month 😞. Oh, well. More time to watch or re-watch the Achiga movie, I guess.

Toki 25: Challenging

The 'challenging' in the chapter's title is meant as 'asking someone to stop and reveal themselves'. Like, for example, an intruder being challenged by a guard or someone being challenged at the border. 'Questioning' would also be appropriate in the context of the chapter. There is also a pun in the original. The word used for 'challenging' (suika) also means 'watermelon' (written differently but pronounced the same).

Chapter 25:

Toki ch25 (Mega)
Toki ch25 (Mediafire)

Just to let everyone know, there is work in progress to provide subs for the Achiga live-action movie. This should be the next release. Maybe a week from now, maybe two, I can't say for sure but before the next Shinohayu, I hope.

Shinohayu 60: Love and Respect

Now the long-awaited match truly begins!
Shinohayu ch60 (Mega)
Shinohayu ch60 (Mediafire)

Saki 193: Dragon King & Toki 24: Dignity

It's time for another Saki / Toki double release.

A couple of small errors that Ritz pointed out in her blog have been corrected in the translation.

Also, since Saki Volume 18 is coming out in October, the manga is taking a little break to give Ritz more time to make corrections, draw special illustrations and all that jazz. Yeah, bummer I know but we are used to it by now.

Saki:

Saki ch193 (Mega)

Saki ch193 (Mediafire)
v2: modified a sentence in page 8.

Toki:

Toki ch24 (Mega)

Toki ch24 (Mediafire)

Shinohayu 59: Birds of a feather

Birds of a feather. This chapter's title was already originally in English, which is unusual. The thing is there's a similar saying in Japanese which literally translates to "badgers of the same hole". But of course Shinohayu is about a little bird not a badger!

A warm and fluffy chapter:
Shinohayu ch59 (Mega)
Shinohayu ch59 (Mediafire)

Saki 192: Extreme Speed & Toki 23: Mahjong

It's a Saki / Toki double release!!

A little update from Ritz: since the previous chapter was 100% done (unlike this one), she'd like to use the schedule she used that time as a reference.

Saki ch192 (Mega)
Saki ch192 (Mediafire)

More Toki goodness! Pretty exciting chapter in many ways. I just finished it a couple of days ago so I thought let's wait to release them together. Enjoy!

Toki ch23 (Mega)
Toki ch23 (Mediafire)

Shinohayu 58: Unexpected Turn

Shimane Individual Tournament: Start!
Shinohayu ch58 (Mega)
Shinohayu ch58 (Mediafire)

Saki 191: Tenhou

So just to add a little trivia, Tenhou 天和 is written with the kanji for "heaven" and the kanji for "winning a hand", so it basically means "Heavenly Hand" or "Blessing of Heaven".

Enjoy:
Saki ch191 (Mega)
Saki ch191 (Mediafire)

Toki 22: Cornered Rat

The Mahjong Club President and the Secret of the Twins... *suspense*

Toki ch22 (Mega)
Toki ch22 (Mediafire)

Shinohayu 57: Two School Years of Difference

Lots of foodstuff mentioned in the early part of the chapter, but all these dishes have articles on Wikipedia and elsewhere, so I didn't think it was necessary to add footnotes. The hot plate for teppan-yaki, Shino found it in chapter 54.

Gotsu, mentioned later in the chapter, is the city where they have the prefectural tournament. It's also the home of Komosawa Middle.

Shinohayu ch57 (Mega)
Shinohayu ch57 (Mediafire)

Saki 190: Final

Ritz made a brief blog update to apologize once more for some of the panels on this chapter... but hey, at least we have a chapter and it's already amazing we made it this far.
After all these years, final(ly):

Saki ch190 (Mega)
Saki ch190 (Mediafire)

P.S.: notice the shape of Yuuki's pigtails...

Ritz-sensei's blog post 18.05.07

Ritz has just updated her blog and Himeko's winning hand is this:

San'ankou (2), Menzen Tsumo (1), Riichi (1), Dora (3), Uradora (3) and Red Dora (1): 11 han. If we also assume Haitei Raoyue (1), it's 12 han like the Reservation Key said.

The high out with the 9-sou would have given her Sanshoku Doukou (2) and Ippatsu (1) but removed 1 Dora and Haitei: so 13 han, a counted yakuman.

However, there's a problem with this hand! At the beginning of chapter 189, the announcer says "even one Uradora would have been enough", which implies Himeko had zero Uradora, but in the hand above she has 3!! I rechecked the original sentence and it's clear the announcer implies Himeko didn't have any Uradora. I also checked some japanese sites and anyone who tried to guess the hand is surprised because naturally everyone was assuming zero Uradora. So that's a contradiction that will have to be corrected in the tank.

After Saki Biyori ended, Kiyoshi Saya came up with 5 ideas for a new work. One of them was a new Saki spin-off and Ritz initially wanted Saya to do that one. However, the other 4 were for original works and Ritz thought that Saya would have more freedom to create jokes and stuff with an original work. So Ritz restrained herself and pushed for an original work. She's looking forward to it.

Tajihi Mayuko in the anime.

In the latest Saki cover, some pros (Hayari and Uta) have come to visit the peninsula of Izu. For some reason, Hayari is wearing her high school uniform. Also, Ritz confirms that the girl on the cover of Saki 188 is Tajihi Mayuko (who was defeated by Awai at the West Tokyo qualifiers). She went to Kyoto to visit her family home on her mother's side.

Toki 21: Rush

Lots of mystery in this manga...
Toki ch21 (Mega)
Toki ch21 (Mediafire)

Shinohayu 56: Jack of all trades, master of none

Shino, be careful of UFOs at night... 😜
Shinohayu ch56 (Mega)
Shinohayu ch56 (Mediafire)

Saki 189: Succession

Someone uploaded the translated Saki chapters to MangaDex. Thank you~ I've been wanting to do that for weeks but always kept leaving it for later. Too many chapters. The other series too.

Saki ch189 (Mega) v2
Saki ch189 (Mediafire) v2

It's like the cover from a future Shinohayu chapter
many years from now or something, not that I know though.

v2: OK I've made a change to the joke in page 7. After Sawaya asks if she can drop the honorific, instead of calling Kyouko by her name or surname, she suddenly makes up a name for her as a joke. On top of that, it's not even a girl's name, it's "Saburou" which also means "third son". It's so obvious now but it took me some time to figure out Sawaya makes up that name out of the blue. I kept thinking "Who the hell is Saburou?" 😅

Saki Biyori 75-76 End

The last two chapters of Saki Biyori, the second one in color!

It was fun but now it's over 😢. Saki Biyori lasted for roughly 100 chapters (counting the ones from YG) and was published for almost 7 years, quite a long time for a spin-off gag manga. 

I can think of quite a few totally hilarious chapters but one of the most memorable things that came out of this manga (at least for me) is Koromo's birthday song (short version) ~Koro tan yay~. I will always remember that. 

Biyori 75-76 (Mega)
Biyori 75-76 (Mediafire)

Saki 188: Resolution

I wrote something below but it contains spoilers so don't read it before reading the chapter!

Enjoy:

Saki ch188 (Mega)
Saki ch188 (Mediafire)

By the way, I'm working on the last two chapters of Saki Biyori but didn't have time to finish them. They'll be done in a week or so I hope. Sorry for the wait.

Toki ch20: Test

As in previous chapters, there are times it seems "Malefic Star" is used to refer to a group and other times it's just one person. The text is a little ambiguous on that part. I'd say "Malefic Star" might be a group after all, but it seems a member of that group can also be called/call herself "Malefic Star".

In any case, it's a nice chapter:

Toki ch20 (Mega)
Toki ch20 (Mediafire)

Shinohayu ch55: In Hot Pursuit

Our monthly dose of Shinohayu:
Shinohayu ch55 (Mega)
Shinohayu ch55 (Mediafire)

Saki ch187: Imitation

This is one of those chapters where if you take the time to look at the player's tiles and each of their moves, you can understand a lot more than what transpires by reading the text. I love chapters like that. Of course, a certain knowledge of the rules of riichi mahjong really helps. Sometimes I wish that the characters would explain more, it's usually up to the reader to figure most things out. But it's also great when you notice such things on your own.

Also, I wonder if we'll see Limitless Heaven in the Toki manga at some point.
Saki ch187 (Mega)
Saki ch187 (Mediafire)

Saki ch186: No-self

This chapter's title is a bit complicated to understand. The original term is 無我 muga, which means "no-self". It can be used to mean a "state of complete self-effacement, free from obstructive thoughts". Even "trance" or "spiritual awakening" aren't too far off. It can also be used to refer to the Buddhist concept of Anattā (non-self). The chapter also contains a reference to Maitreya (a future Buddha). I suggest you look up pictures of sitting statues of the bodhisattva Maitreya to have a clear picture of Kasumi's words in the chapter.

Enjoy:

Saki ch186 (Mega)
Saki ch186 (Mediafire)

Biyori ch74 & Shinohayu ch54

Sadly, Saki Biyori ends next month. It's been confirmed by the author, Kiyoshi Saya. According to Saya, the reason is simple: she run out of ideas for new jokes so she decided it was best to put an end to it. The last chapter was to appear this month but, since Saya is busy preparing the final volume, it's been postponed until March. The translated chapter below is the one from January.

Saya will continue to be involved with Saki by supervising any lines spoken in the Saga dialect (spoken by Mairu and Himeko in the original) and by providing swimsuit designs when necessary (like those from Saki ch119).

Eisui's Story 4:
Biyori ch74 (Mega)
Biyori ch74 (Mediafire)
EDIT: changed divine mirror > shrine in pages 2 and 3. See comments for details.

On the Shinohayu front, Chihiro's friend and Komosawa's vanguard Yukinaga Yuzuha will be the next cover character. And it looks like she's also a future Senriyama student, like Chihi herself!

Enjoy:
Shinohayu ch54 (Mega)
Shinohayu ch54 (Mediafire)

Saki Achiga-hen (Live-Action) Special Episode Subs

The special episode that comes after the four TV drama episodes. Done in collaboration between Dong Meu Quy Toc Translator and Akio Translations.

Important: these subs were timed with the TBS version. The only difference between versions is a movie teaser in the middle but, if you use the wrong version, the subs in the second half of the episode will be out-of-sync by 30s. So use the TBS version.

Link:

Achiga-hen Special (live-action)

  

How to watch

1) Put the subs file in the same folder as the raw video file.
2) Rename the files so they both have the same name.
3) Play the raws with VLC and the subs will automatically appear.

We'll probably do the movie in June or July, after the DVD release. No promises, though.

Happy watching!

Saki chapter 186 delayed

Just a heads up. No Saki chapter this week 😞. It's been announced on Ritz's blog. Apparently, the magazine advanced the non-appearance in print to this issue (Feb 16 issue) and told Ritz to draw more color pictures. Not sure if she means color pages in an upcoming chapter or just special illustrations for the Shinohayu/Toki/Biyori volume release next month. She does mention drawing Hajime-chan's butt, though 😅.

Speaking of Biyori, it seems the next volume will be the last one. I guess that means Saki Biyori is about to end? It's sad if it happens but I guess after all these years, it gets harder to make new funny gags. I wonder what Kiyoshi Saya will be doing next. By the way, I still have the previous chapter pending to translate. I haven't forgotten but I've been busy lately. I'll get to it soon. Work on the Achiga-hen special is also under way.

Saki ch185: Overheat

I don't know if it's better to translate wakkanne as 'dunno' or just leave it as wakkanne because everyone knows what it means already. This is a translation so I translated it but for some reason I like the sound of wakkanne~ better. Not that I know, though.

Links:

Saki ch185 (Mega)

Saki ch185 (Mediafire)

Who'll be the winner? Wakkanne~

Toki ch19: Malefic Star

As I was waiting for Saki raws to come out, I finished this, so Toki it is. Nice chapter too.

Links:
Toki ch19 (Mega)
Toki ch19 (Mediafire)

Shinohayu ch53: Solidarity

For convenience, I used the Chinese scans for this one but the text was translated from the original Japanese version as usual.

Links:
Shinohayu ch53 (Mega)
Shinohayu ch53 (Mediafire)

Saki Achiga-hen (Live-Action) Episode 4 Subs

Done in collaboration between Dong Meu Quy Toc Translator and Akio Translations. This is the fourth and final episode of the TV drama. After this comes a special and a movie. The special we will do, the movie I don't know.

Important: these subs were timed with the MBS version. The MBS version has a movie teaser in the middle which makes it 30 seconds longer. If you use the subs with the TBS version, the subs in the last part of the episode will be completely off-sync. So use the MBS version.

Link:

Achiga-hen (live-action) 04

I'm waiting to see what raws are available for Shinohayu and the rest. It'll be done soon, just a little later than usual probably.

Ritz's impressions on the Achiga movie

The Achiga-hen live-action movie was released on the 20th and Ritz just made a new blog post with her impressions. It seems she liked it. Here's a translation.

*Edited the last part a bit.

Ritz-sensei's blog post 18.01.23

The Achiga-hen movie!

I'm too self-conscious to go to an advance screening, so I first watched it on January 20. In fact, I was planning to secretly go to the advanced screening on the 11th but I had a deadline coming so I didn't.

Last year, when I secretly went to book a reservation for the advanced screening I was discovered by the producer so I was like "Gyah!" but this time it was ok.

The movie was wonderful as always. I think that if the serialization of Saki was allowed to continue, it was thanks to a good anime. Now, on top of the anime, I have been blessed with a good live-action.

Is this a spoiler?

Saki ch184: Surprise Attack

The original had a mistake in page 5. It said Mairu won in South 4 Bonus 2. That's wrong because FunaQ won that hand. It's clearly a typo from the magazine and it meant to say Mairu won in South 4 Bonus 1. It has been corrected in the translation. Other than that, a pretty complete chapter.

Links:

Saki ch184 (Mega)

Saki ch184 (Mediafire)

Saki Achiga-hen (Live-Action) Episode 3 Subs

This episode contains a lot of original material. It's more like a complement than an adaptation of the Achiga-hen manga. Normally, I'd like an adaptation to be more faithful to the manga but, let's be honest, there were things in the Achiga-hen manga/anime that were barely mentioned in the beginning, then turned out to be super important. So I think this is good in this case. Just kidding but an anime adaptation of this episode would be nice. ^_^

Done in collaboration between Dong Meu Quy Toc Translator and Akio Translations. This is the same file that has been released on nyaa.

Subs file:
Achiga-hen live-action 03

Happy watching.

Saki 184 may be ready in a day or two.

Saki Achiga-hen (Live-Action) Episode 2 Subs

Done in collaboration between Dong Meu Quy Toc Translator and Akio Translations. The same file will soon be released on nyaa (or has been released, depending on when you read this).

This is the subs file:

Achiga-hen live-action 02

Happy watching.

Toki ch18 & Biyori ch73

Hopefully, some time next week or so we can release more subs for the Achiga live-action.
But today is the time for more Toki and Biyori!
Toki ch18 (Mega)
Toki ch18 (Mediafire)

Ryuumonbuchi's Story 9:

Biyori ch73 (Mega)
Biyori ch73 (Mediafire)