In case someone is left wondering after reading this chapter, who are the other three players who also played in last year's final? They should be Teru, Sumire and... Takami? This last one can only be deduced by process of elimination. It can't be another Rinkai because it was said, way back in chapter 56, that Megan is their only returning player. And Kiyosumi and Achiga are of course on their first participation.
Until now, it was not clear if Takami and/or Seiko were part of last year's team. Awai obviously couldn't be because she's a first year. Two of the players chosen by Teru during Shiraitodai's flashback (Unozawa Shiori and Tanahashi Natsuki) were 2nd years, so most likely they were still in the team, but the 5th member was not known. According to this, it must have been Shibuya Takami, while Matano Seiko is a new recruit.
EDIT: Alternatively, Ritz is including Satoha in last year's individual final. But that would mean forcing the meaning of the sentence. To say that there are 4 players playing in the final for second consecutive year and then it turns out one of them was in the individual final, not the team final...? It feels odd...
Thanks for the chapter. Regarding that comment, in chapter 14 of Achiga Ako mentions Takami joining the roster just this year having few game records. Also in 15, FunaQ mentions the two Shiratodai players becoming regulars this year. Well, Ritz might elaborate more eventually in a Q&A or she included individual finals which is a little weird.
ReplyDeleteYes, I also thought Satoha in the individual final but that would be forcing it. Otherwise, Takami is the only option.
DeleteAlso in Achiga Awai says smth "this newcomer had only 7 tiles last round so was unable to win but now she has 11, let's see how she does" - which means that Takami wasn't a regular last interhigh.
DeleteThat may be a translation thing. In both translations I've seen (manga and anime), Awai said that Takami got 7 tiles so the first year newbie was able to get a hand first. So Ako was the newbie.
DeleteThe line in Achiga chapter 14 is:
Delete渋谷尭深（しぶやたかみ）は
今年からレギュラーで
参考になる牌譜が
少なかったんで
確証はないけど
So, yeah, not a translation issue. She was not a regular until this year, and presumably there weren’t any shenanigans like “she was a substitute but got to play because a regular fell ill”, either.
I don’t have the raw for the newest Saki chapter at hand, but could it be that it’s something like, “the last of the 4 returning players to play in this final”, meaning, of all players who are currently in this final, these four are “returning players”, as in were at the Interhigh before, but not necessarily in the finals (team or individual) at all? That could more naturally include Satoha.
The quote above is from the break between Ako’s two hanchan, when she comes back to Achiga’s waiting room to consult Harue.
The 7-tile vs 11-tile thing is a separate, later place (early chapter 15), when it is already the start of South 4 of the second hanchan. Shibuya didn’t get her yakuman in the first hanchan, and here they explain that it’s because she only had 7 tiles that time, but now with 11 tiles it will be different. Except hang on, why do they say she had only 7 if we were specifically shown (in chapter 14) that Sera went on dealer repeat and Ako scolded her for it? Mistake? FWIW it’s unchanged in the volume edition.
For reference, the raw line is this:
Delete2年連続で決勝戦に立つ4人のうちの最後の一人
Every Japanese blog I checked assumes it's talking about 4 characters playing in the Interhigh team final for second consecutive year. And they all deduce it must be Takami but I suppose that, just like me, they forgot about what was said in Achiga.
Perhaps the easiest explanation is that Ritz was counting Satoha but the line came out ambiguous and kind of confusing. Simple as that.
Still, if not Takami, who was Shiraitodai's missing member during last year's Interhigh I wonder.
Right, thanks; that does seem quite hard to interpret differently. Oh well.
DeleteSeems like a poorly-worded reference to Satoha is the only option that doesn’t contradict other things we’ve been told before, then.
Or maybe just another mistake or typo, and it was actually meant to be “3 people”.
Oh, here’s another outlandish idea that just came to me. What if Satoha actually played in last year’s team final? It’s, like, really weird that it’s never been mentioned before, but I think it’s technically possible.
Myeonghwa said that this was Satoha's first time in a team tournament in ch 219, so if it references her, it has to be about the individuals.
DeleteThanks for the chapter. Or maybe someone transferred to Shiraitodai?
ReplyDeleteThank you!
ReplyDeleteI was expecting Nodoka to also use her left hand to better replicate how it feels on her computer.
That might still happen. In the 2nd hanchan or something.
DeleteHmm, but would it even feel similar to being on her computer? Remember how she had to specifically train her drawing motion earlier, precisely because real-life mahjong was too different from computer mahjong. I doubt she trained that with both hands. Then again, of course, one could argue that she was only bad at it because she had to use her non-dominant hand…
Delete