Short, easy chapters like this take very little time to translate. That's nice but I think I'd prefer longer, more eventful chapters even if they took a bit more effort on my part.
Next will be Toki but that won't be until... um, next year?
This chapter... is in pretty rough shape sadly. Several pages with missing ink and tones and all that. We hadn't had a chapter like this in a while now. Looks like Ritz desperately needed a "break", like the title says.
Every volume of Saki Biyori contains one extra chapter at the end with new stories that did not appear in the magazine issues. This is a collection of all of them, 32 pages in total.
I was a bit reluctant to do this at first but after I started reading, I was smiling all the way through. Some of the stories at least are pretty funny. On top of that, it's been fun doing some Biyori again after all this time and maybe you will enjoy reading it as well.
The results of the character contest were announced. You will find the page with the results in the zip file at the end of the chapter. The page is not translated but you can easily see the ranking by looking at the numbers. Only the top 10 characters were announced.
Also, the translation for the Saki Biyori omake chapters will be released next weekend.
Saki. There are monsters and then... monsters!
After a short trip to a timeless dimension, it's time to return to the mahjong match...
A very short chapter where not much happens. The only unusual thing about it is that the title is an English idiom (a little bird told me). It appears like that in the original, no translation needed.
Toki will be next and then perhaps the Saki Biyori omake chapters...
Saki. The battle for control of the deep wall has begun...
Someone asked me if I could translate the Saki Biyori omake chapters. That's the extra chapters published in the tankobons. They are not too long and it seemed like a fun little project so I decided to do it. I expect it will be ready some time in November. Anyway, something else to look forward to.
In the mean time, Shinohayu...
Saki. The original title for this chapter (星行 seikou) is one of those poetic words with a very specific meaning that are never used in normal conversation. Ritz often uses these kind of words for chapter titles. In this case, it means something like "to leave the house very early in the morning when it's still dark and the stars shine overhead". The only thing that matters here is the word "star" since, in case you didn't know, Oohoshi means "big star" and Ritz usually uses star-related words for anything Awai-related.
Also, Ritz pointed out a scoring mistake which was corrected in the translation.
The Saki characters poll has ended. The final results are not out yet but halfway through the voting, Toki (not Saki) was leading. The halfway results were like this: 1st Toki, 2nd Saki, 3rd Nodoka, 4th Hisa, 5th Teru, 6th Hiroe, 7th Ako, 8th Koromo, 9th Shino, 10th Kasumi.
There was also a blog post by Ritz saying she's not too fond of popularity rankings but could not refuse a request from SquareEnix. And if it helps with sales and publicity and such then one can only be grateful. Ritz asked that ALL characters be included, which is why there were as many as 300 different characters to vote for. Ritz apologizes to the staff for the trouble it must have been to set this up with so many characters. Still, Ritz notes that about 50 characters or so were left out including, most notably, the mysterious Hikari-chan. Ritz will also strive to make special illustrations, not just for the top 9, but for any character in the top 50, to be distributed for free with the volume releases.
P.S.: Mekimeki refrained from voting for any Toki-related characters and voted for Yoshiko Kainou and the MaiHime combo (Mairu & Himeko).
Shinohayu. The chapter's title is an expression used when talking about something or someone that experienced a significant change. It comes from an ancient believe that said when the cold arrives and sparrows are less numerous is because they jump into the sea and become clams.
I hadn't listened to it in years but as the chapter ends, Futuristic Player begins to play...
This month, we have both Shinohayu and Toki. As usual, Shino comes first and Toki will be ready some time next week.
The first direct confrontation of this captains match: Saki vs Awai!
But don't miss the even greater struggle in page 11: those tiles sure are strong... (Ritz had some fun).
As expected, the "character contest" that was recently announced will be a popularity poll to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Young Gangan magazine where Saki is published. Additionally, the 9 most voted characters will enter some kind of lottery to receive special art drawn by Ritz. Nine characters is because of the Nine Gates yakuman. Voting is in September so the results won't be known until at least October.
Also, no Toki chapter this month. Mekimeki might be busy with Comiket or something...
Saki. The end of the chapter has an announcement about a "character contest". It's not exactly clear what that's going to be but a character popularity poll, maybe? But in that case, I wonder why they didn't just say popularity poll. More details on the next issue, but unfortunately next issue doesn't have a chapter. Anyway, if it's something like a character poll, we'll probably provide a translation when it gets published.
Shino's skills are being tested at the match of the three champions. What kind of player is last year's Interhigh winner Muguruma Sui?
I hope no one gets confused by the title lol. The chapter is not delayed. "Delay" is the chapter's title.
Anyway, the captains match begins!!
This is a very short chapter but that's what we have. Ritz assumed responsibility for not submitting the draft sooner but also, every series had new volume releases this month, so it's not entirely unexpected.
On top of that, there is no Toki chapter this month. It seems that the Mekimeki duo have been very busy with other works lately (not related to Saki) so Toki is skipping this issue.
Finally, this chapter's original title is buranku, which is a borrowed word from the English 'blank'. In Japanese, this is often used to mean 'time without doing something'. So 'gap' would be a better translation, in this case, than the literal 'blank'.
It's all been leading up to this moment. The captains match is finally here. Shizuno, Awai, Nelly, Saki... Who will come out on top in the end?
And here's Toki. Double release because it's not a long chapter.
Last chapter, I didn't think of making a note of Kokoro's message in page 23. The text is barely readable and mostly hidden behind a speech bubble so it's just disconnected bits, but it appears to say that Kokoro repeatedly talking about Shino in front of the prefectural governor is what led to Shino's invitation. It also mentions someone from a TV channel. None of that is really important but it gives a bit more context.
Only one chapter left now. To be released either later this month or early the next, perhaps jointly with one of the other series.
As expected, Toki is skipping an issue this month so normally it would be just Shinohayu, but another MakoMeshi chapter has been completed so it's a double release. Next will probably be more MakoMeshi around mid-April.
Toki is facing an uphill battle against Ryuuka at the district individuals. And that memory... Is that a sign of "reawakening"...?
Toki is a bit long this time, no time to finish before the weekend so next release most likely will be Saki and then Toki next week. Meanwhile, enjoy Shinohayu...
It's been a while since the last one but finally found the time to do another chapter of MakoMeshi. This one is about Hisa and Mako and The Niku!
The individual tournament begins! How far can Toki go? Or is she already doomed?
As already said, there will be a new MakoMeshi next week, probably on the weekend, maybe sooner if I have time.
Getting closer and closer to the captain match! Or at least to some story events in between matches...
A very short chapter of just 10 pages. Apparently, Ritz was very late in submitting the rough draft. Toki isn't too long either so there might be time for a MakoMeshi chapter sometime in February.
When drawing Saki characters, the one Ritz likes to play around with the most is definitely Awai. Definitely, definitely Awai. And there are lots and lots of characters in Saki but for some reason Ritz has a thing for Awai in particular. Sometimes other characters too a little bit, but none like Awai.
Happy New Year!
First chapter of the year, it's Toki!
Ryuuka wants to have an honest conversation with Nanami but...
