Shinohayu 92: My Tankard & Achiga 37: Shooting

Shinohayu. Last chapter... while Shino is playing at the Intermiddle, Kanna goes looking for something. What or who could she be looking for!?

Shinohayu ch92 (Mega) 

Shinohayu ch92 (Mediafire)

 

Achiga. The sergeant match continues. From the end of Saki ch223 to ch226.

Achiga ch37 (Mega) 

Achiga ch37 (Mediafire)

 

 

And also, MakoMeshi ch18 translated by Moyai Subs:

MakoMeshi ch18 (MoyaiSubs)

Saki 239: Joyful

Is it "Myeonghwa" or "Myeong Hwa"? Or even "Myeong-hwa"? Maybe all are fine? Separating it in two words seems to be common usage (sometimes with hyphen) and it works better for spacing so I went with that. Anyway, I hope you will enjoy this chapter. Here it goes...

Saki ch239 (Mega) 

Saki ch239 (Mediafire)

 

Saki 238: Pleasure & Toki 55: Coffee Shop

Sorry if you were worried that Toki wasn't coming out. I first thought maybe I could release it by mid-week but that turned out to be too optimistic. Anyway, now you get to enjoy Saki and Toki together. This was the normal realistic schedule anyway.

 

Saki. The lieutenant match is heating up!

Saki ch238 (Mega) 

Saki ch238 (Mediafire)

 

Toki. One step closer to solving the mystery of Fujishiro Nanami.

Toki ch55 (Mega) 

Toki ch55 (Mediafire)

 

Shinohayu 91: Nationals, Individual Event & Achiga 36: Blessing of the Ancestors

Shinohayu. It's finally time for Shino to prove herself at the Intermiddle Individuals.

Shinohayu ch91 (Mega) 

Shinohayu ch91 (Mediafire)

 

Achiga. The sergeants gather! Covers Saki chapters 219-221, excluding Hisa's accident.

Achiga ch36 (Mega) 

Achiga ch36 (Mediafire)

 

Toki soon...

 

Saki 237: One Arm

Saki is back after two and a half months and next week we should have the spinoffs too. New volumes for all series are being released as well.

Little recap, the sergeant match just ended and we plunge straight into the lieutenant match. Hisa broke an arm in an accident but fear not, her skills are as sharp as ever. Mahjong? No, I'm talking about her flirting skills, of course... 😉

A few no-pan shots in there. Thank Ritz or look forward to the Igarashi Aguri version.

Saki ch237 (Mega) 

Saki ch237 (Mediafire)

 

Shinohayu cover but it's Saki inside.

No chapter this month

Welp, no Shinohayu this month either. All series are on break due to preparations for the upcoming volume releases. Next release should be Saki on November 19th (translation one or two days later).

Toki 54: Cast-off Cicada Shell

I'll be honest, this isn't the most exciting of chapters. It advances the story and that's good but it feels like Mekimeki could have moved a little faster with this whole "Nanami's data" thing. That said, I'm still curious to know what happened to Fujishiro Nanami, especially since we know she will be Senriyama's ace one day.

 

Toki ch54 (Mega) 

Toki ch54 (Mediafire) 

 

 

Achiga 35: Workings of the Heart

There was supposed to be a Shinohayu chapter this month but there isn't. Ouch. Something about Igarashi's vaccine appointment being just before the deadline, leaving not enough time to finish the manuscript. That's too bad but hopefully we'll have Shinohayu next month. All the other spinoffs take a break next month due to upcoming volume releases so instead of having 3 series this month and none the next, it will (hopefully) be 2 this month and 1 the next.

Achiga-hen. This is Kuro's crowning moment of glory. If you are not a fan of Kuro, you might be tempted to skip this chapter BUT! this chapter has a must-see first appearance (only a cameo but still I can't believe that character showed up here). And it covers so much ground.

Achiga ch35 (Mega) 

Achiga ch35 (Mediafire)

 

Toki in a few days. 

Saki 236, Achiga 34, Toki 53

It was more convenient to release these 3 chapters together so here they are. Toki and Achiga were only delayed by a couple of days anyway.

Saki. Good story progress but... since there's a new volume to be released in November, Saki takes a two-month break for the usual pre-release work: corrections, covers, special illustrations and so on. On the other hand, the spinoffs continue for at least another month.

Saki ch236 (Mega) 

Saki ch236 (Mediafire)

 

Achiga. A single page in Saki 205 is expanded into a whole chapter with lots of background information. Focus on Kuro and Achiga, obviously.

Achiga ch34 (Mega) 

Achiga ch34 (Mediafire)

 

Toki. We are still in the match with FunaQ. It seems like things are about to change though.

Toki ch53 (Mega) 

Toki ch53 (Mediafire)

 

Shinohayu 90: Garnish

Good news! MoyaiSubs have taken the translation of MakoMeshi. They have just released chapter 17 which you can find below. Check it out if you haven't yet:

MakoMeshi ch17 (MoyaiSubs)

 

In Shinohayu, we were in the middle of the team tournament semifinal: Komosawa vs Naoko/Chiyoko's team! The sergeant match had just finished. What next?

Shinohayu ch90 (Mega)

Shinohayu ch90 (Mediafire)

 

Toki and Achiga will follow in a few days as usual.

Saki 235: Duty

I'm having some trouble with Mediafire right now. You can still get the file from Mega. I'll try adding the second link later...

Okay, the Mediafire link is working now.

Saki ch235 (Mega)

Saki ch235 (Mediafire)

 

Achiga 33: Slash Attack & Toki 52: Monster

As expected, Shinohayu is on break this month. Igarashi made a little joke-apology saying that for the tanks to be released at the same time, Achiga was lacking pages. In any case, Shinohayu should be back next month.

Achiga. Notice how Satoha sometimes holds the katana with her right hand or the left. Inconsistency? Not really. Many years ago, when asked about left-handed characters, Ritz revealed in a blog post Satoha is one of the few ambidextrous characters in the series (with Shino being another one).

Achiga ch33 (Mega) 

Achiga ch33 (Mediafire)

 

Toki. They forgot to put the chapter's title? was my first reaction. Then suddenly it appears on page 6 for no apparent reason.

Toki ch52 (Mega) 

Toki ch52 (Mediafire)

 

 

Saki 234: Prostration

Hisa & Mako, before Kiyosumi... but if you are going to insert a flashback, a little bit more info would have been nice... especially, about Hisa's mysterious past... maybe during the lieutenant match...?

Saki ch234 (Mega)

Saki ch234 (Mediafire)

 

Achiga 32: A Second Time & Toki 51: Hiroko

Achiga. More or less equivalent to Saki chapter 203.

Achiga ch32 (Mega) 

Achiga ch32 (Mediafire)

 

  

Toki. Some pages in this chapter really had a lot of text. Hiroko sure can talk!!!

Toki ch51 (Mega) 

Toki ch51 (Mediafire)

 

Shinohayu 89: Answer

Shinohayu only for now. Toki and Achiga will be up in a few days as usual. Probably together this time.

This one has a nice mahjong gamble:

Shinohayu ch89 (Mega)

Shinohayu ch89 (Mediafire)

 

Saki 233: Short Break

Make note of Sumire's hand and discards in page 5. It's furiten riichi. I wonder in which order she got the other tiles, especially the 3p. She seems to be making a huge effort stepping out of her comfort zone to stop Hao's dealership (not every player dares to do something like that). She fumbles it a bit but props to her for daring.

Saki ch233 (Mega)

Saki ch233 (Mediafire)

 

Saki 232: Misreading

Continuing from last chapter, Hao is last dealer and lagging behind in points. She needs to make the best use of this last dealership to recover some ground but if someone else wins, the hanchan is over.

Saki ch232 (Mega)

Saki ch232 (Mediafire)

 

Toki 50: Real Ability

Toki has reached 50 chapters! Seems like yesterday that it started. Will it get to 100?

Magazine cover features Toki&Ryuuka and it is included in the file.

Toki ch50 (Mega)

Toki ch50 (Mediafire)

 

Shinohayu 88: True Taste & Achiga 31: Offshoot

Shinohayu. I have the theory that Chiyoko, Naoko, Kokoro, Chihiro and Yuzuha could be all part of the same team in high school. And they are all strong players but clearly some are much stronger than others. Some of them will never be a match for Shino but they could still be a worthy opponent for someone like Kanna or Yue. I could be wrong though...

 

Short chapter but story progress, yeah!

Shinohayu ch88 (Mega)

Shinohayu ch88 (Mediafire)

 

Achiga. After Teru's Chuuren Poutou... Roughly equivalent to Saki chapter 201.

Achiga ch31 (Mega) 

Achiga ch31 (Mediafire)

 

 

As usual, Toki will be up in a few days or so.

Saki 231: Compassionate Heart

For this chapter, it's important to remember that 'riichi' is exclusive to the Japanese version of mahjong, so non-Japanese players like Hao and Myeonghwa would need to adapt when playing in Japan. Of course, playing without riichi could also be an advantage when everyone expects you to play with it.

Bikini shots in color but, for Ritz standards, this is a mild one:

Saki ch231 (Mega) v2

Saki ch231 (Mediafire) v2

v2: fixed a sentence in page 7.

 

Toki 49: Unrecognized Talent

This chapter's title has a double meaning: 1) a dragon lying dormant at the bottom of a lake waiting to ascend into heaven or 2) a metaphor for a person of great talent who remains unknown to the world. Both meanings seem to apply here. The first kanji in Ryuuka's name means 'dragon' and her mahjong ability stays hidden or dormant until she "ascends". Since she doesn't play in tournaments, her talent remains unknown to most people (in the Toki series, at least).

In page 20, the girl to the left of FunaQ looks a bit like Tsubakino Miyuki from Kentani High School. Both Hiroko and Kentani HS are from Hyogo prefecture and the big kanji behind Hiroko says 'Hyogo'. The one with the flower in her head could then be Yasufuku Riko. By that logic, the girls to the right of Sera should be from Osaka but no idea who might they be.

v2: small correction in page 27.

Toki ch49 (Mega)

Toki ch49 (Mediafire)

 

Shinohayu 87: Sweet and Sour

There was no Shinohayu last month, so this time we get an extra long chapter, 49 pages! It was no easy task apparently and Igarashi Aguri thanked all those who contributed drawing backgrounds. Translation also took a bit longer than usual but it would be wonderful if all non-mahjong chapters were like this.

Shinohayu ch87 (Mega)

Shinohayu ch87 (Mediafire)

 

Saki 230: Furious Advance

It's this thing Ritz does that we end up cheering for almost every character at one point or another, even the supposed "antagonists"...

Sumire!!

Saki ch230 (Mega)

Saki ch230 (Mediafire)

 

Saki 229: Target Shooting

Ritz apologizes for the mishap with the screentone in this chapter. You'll notice that the dark surfaces in some pages look odd and some kind of Moiré pattern is visible in the sky of the title page.

 

Also, in page 7, Awai is wearing something that look like panties but probably aren't. Most likely, those are short pants. It would make no sense if they were panties.

Saki ch229 (Mega)

Saki ch229 (Mediafire)

 

Shino and Hayari in their high school uniform.

Achiga 30: Nine Gates

Unfortunately, this month's chapter of Shinohayu was not published. According to both Igarashi Aguri and Kobayashi Ritz, due to a combination of factors it was impossible to complete the chapter in time. The reasons being: an unexpected increase in the number of Achiga pages (24 to 36), a huge load on the amount of drawing involved and Igarashi falling sick shortly before the deadline. Since Toki was already expected to be taking a break, it's only Achiga this month. Epic chapter though.

Let's wish Igarashi a swift recovery and let's look forward to next month's Shinohayu which should be a little longer than usual, according to Ritz.

This chapter covers material from Saki 198 to the very beginning of chapter 201:

Achiga ch30 (Mega) 

Achiga ch30 (Mediafire)

 

 

Saki 228: White-Hot

This chapter contains a rare editor's note about the meaning of "live tile". Why the editor thought it necessary to explain this particular mahjong term but not all the other ones is beyond me. Anyway, it was translated without erasing the original one to make it clear it's not just a translator's note.

Saki ch228 (Mega)

Saki ch228 (Mediafire)

 

 

Toki 48: Deal

The future Senriyama five regulars together for the first time! How did that first meeting go?

Toki ch48 (Mega)

Toki ch48 (Mediafire)

 

Shinohayu 86: Jogging & Achiga 29: Signal Arrow

Shinohayu. Similar to the last few chapters, it's mainly slice of life with the national tournament happening in the background. I kinda wish it was the other way around but, oh well... Still looking forward to Shino's participation at the InterMiddle.

Shinohayu ch86 (Mega)

Shinohayu ch86 (Mediafire)

 

 

Achiga. Speaking of "slice"... Pretty cool wins here! It covers material from Saki ch196 to 198 if you'd like to compare. The original title koushi means "a whistling arrow used to signal the start of battle". More generally, it means "the start of things, the beginning". I was almost tempted to call it "So it begins..." A fitting title but maybe a little too removed from the original one.

Achiga ch29 (Mega) 

Achiga ch29 (Mediafire)

 

If you are waiting for Toki, it should be ready some time next week.

Saki 227: Raging Waves

The cover is Shinohayu-based but other than that it's a normal 16-page chapter, although it may feel shorter because of all the double pages. Mahjong, stealth and dramatic wind!

Saki ch227 (Mega)

Saki ch227 (Mediafire)

 

Shino and Rui in Yokohama.

Saki 226: Line of Fire

This chapter is heavily focused on mahjong. Half the story is in the tiles.

Saki ch226 (Mega)

Saki ch226 (Mediafire)

 

Toki 47: Short Hair

It's BBQ time with Toki and her friends! TokiMeshi?

Toki ch47 (Mega)

Toki ch47 (Mediafire)

 

 

Shinohayu 85: Middle School National Tournament & Achiga 28: Pictures

Shinohayu. Despite the title, there's very little National Tournament in this chapter but we are getting there. It's more of a fun chapter with Kanna.

Shinohayu ch85 (Mega)

Shinohayu ch85 (Mediafire)

 

Achiga. You may remember that Harue played for a corporate team in Fukuoka for a while before coming back to Achiga. She worked for that same company too. For the most part, this chapter takes place right after she came back but before the Kuro's Birthday Special.

Achiga ch28 (Mega) 

Achiga ch28 (Mediafire)

 

 

Toki's translation should be out in a few days and Saki returns on February 5th.

New Spinoff: Saki & Final Fantasy XIV

There is a new Saki spinoff manga (how many is that now? 8?) called Saki & Final Fantasy XIV. As the title indicates, it's a collaboration project with the FFXIV game. Main story seems to be Saki, Nodoka and Tacos travel to the world of FFXIV (as their game avatars) to play mahjong.

The author is none other than Kiyoshi Saya, author of Saki Biyori, and it's released through the MangaUP! phone app (not the same app as Saki re but a different one). First two chapters were released this month and from now on it will be one chapter each month. Both Saki and Final Fantasy are owned by Square Enix and there was some mahjong in FFXIV already so it's a natural collaboration.

Currently, there are no plans for a translation but who knows, if Saki takes another long break or something, I might do it someday. Or maybe someone else will.

Ritz's blog post January 18th, 2021

There was a new post on Ritz's site. The first since March of last year so it's been a while. It's pretty long and covers a wide range of topics. I'll write a translation summary here.

 

New Volumes

First, a reminder that new volumes for all 6 series and Ritz's book of Illustrations are going to be released on January 22nd.

 (Covers for some of the new volumes)

Commemoration exhibit for the 15th anniversary of the Saki series

Ritz made some drawings specially for the exhibit, but then worried that the legs of the 8 appearing characters were a little too long. When submitting the pictures, Ritz asked the editor about making some changes but the editor said "no, you're too slow, there's no time, this is fine".

 

(See the promo picture for the exhibit a few posts back. Back then, someone already commented the legs were too long. Ritz agrees lol...) 

 

Continues after the break...