This site is designed for accessibility. Content is obtainable and functional to any browser or Internet device. This site's full visual experience is available in a modern browser that supports web standards. Please consider upgrading your browser.
ファイト／ステイナイト 
I'd guess that the only way I can fully enjoy this episode is if I have a full understanding of the games' rules. Otherwise, it feels like I'm only watching half of the story since I have no idea why certain things seem funny to the characters. This also makes me realized that there are several Japanese cultures that I can't connect with on a personal basis. Mahjong is one of them and Shougi, which I mistook as mahjong last week, is another. I think the same thing can be said about Pachinko. I remember sleeping at a nearby chair while my friends were busy trying to get more money out of Pachinko machines at an arcade in Japan. I do wonder if it's wrong that I don't want to understand them a bit more. It's just not in my interest to do so even though in general, I do like Japanese cultures. I just think that just because you like a culture, it doesn't mean you have to pretend that you like every single facet of said culture.
Episode 6
Watanuki is forced by Yuuko and Doumeki to play Mahjong despite the fact that he has no idea of the rule. After Watanuki endures 4 rounds (where one of the 4 players, which includes Mokona, gets to be the dealer in each round) of failure and confusion, Mokona dumps a bunch of mahjong book on Watanuki so he can learn some tricks. Watanuki understands the basic, where there are 9 tiles for each of the 3 groups: pin-zu (coins/circles), sou-zu (bamboos/sticks), and man-zu (chinese characters). He also understands that there are 7 sub-division for the characters, Ton (East Wind), Nan (South Wind), Shaa (West Wind), Pei (North Wind), Haku (White Board), Hatsu (Green Prosper), and Chun (Red Middle). Despite understanding the basic, Watanuki still can't beat Yuuko, Mokona, and Doumeki and he keeps racking up negative points after negative points, reducing the poor guy into a blabbering mess.
Under the pretense of wanting to help Watanuki, Yuuko and Doumeki insists on looking at his Pai (tiles/cards). After seeing the Pai, however, they realise that Watanuki really doesn't know what he's doing. This means it's time for them to make fun of him. Watanuki, however, is distracted when Himawari comes over. Much to his disappointment, she's just there to return a book to Doumeki and give him a cake. Watanuki thinks it's hand-made by her but she tells him that it's her friend who made it. Because he gets too excited thanks to Himawari watching him playing, Watanuki foolishly puts a decisive Pai into a stack, thereby giving points to everyone else's set except his. Himawari then goes home and takes her bad-luck carrier self away from the place. This, however, does not improve Watanuki's luck because he inadvertently causes a done deal for Mokona's "Yakuman". This means, he's just given 32000 points to Mokona from his own points.
After a while, Mokona racks up 63,200 points, Yuuko racks up 83,900 points, Doumeki gets a paltry 58,300. Watanuki, however, loses 105400 points. This reminds Watanuki that he has no idea why they are suddenly playing mahjong but Yuuko simply tells him that Mahjong is essential for spirit. In the last round, Watanuki somehow manages to get 13 green tiles. This means Watanuki only needs one more to actually reach "Ryuu-iisou" (pure green) win. Doumeki, on the other hand, gets two alternatives of "Sanshokudoukoo" (3 suits of the same triple). But he also only need one more tile to win. Mokona is close to "Suu-ankou" (four closed triples). Yuuko, on the other hand, is close to obtaining "Shou-suushi" (a combination of three melds and four winds) or "Suu-ankou". She too needs one more tile to win. Yuuko, Mokona, and Doumeki then declares "Riichi" (reach) and presents a 1000 unit counter. When Watanuki is about to put one of his tile, Ame-Warashi appears behind him.
She suggests that Watanuki discards another tile instead but Watanuki insists that he can do it himself. In retaliation, Ame-Warashi hits him with her umbrella, pointing out that if he discard that tile away, he can't do "Riichi" anymore. To make things worse, Zashiki-Warashi comes and loudly tells everyone that Watanuki gets a nice all-green tiles. This causes the other three to realise that Watanuki has "Ryuu-iisou" tiles. When it comes to draw a new tile, however, Watanuki gets the tile that he needs so he thinks that he wins. But as it turns out, he just gets 48000 points to reduce his already negative points. After everything else has been calculated, Watanuki's point is still -91700. Yuuko tells him that the loser must strip. Much to Watanuki's surprise, the spirit of the dead woman departs after touching him. Yuuko explains that mahjong helps spirit to be on their way. As a punishment, Watanuki doesn't have to strip but he has to prepare dinner for everyone. Since Doumeki was the one who requested Yuuko to help the spirit, he has to pay. Yuuko requested his grandfather's sake.
Highlights
* Watanuki flails his hands around like a madman. This is very amusing because his hand moves around like a Kabuki player while a Kabuki music plays in the background. Plus, Fukuyama Jun sounds like one of those Kabuki performer here saying "Hai, hai, hai, sotto, hai, hai, hai, sotto". XD
* Watanuki reads a book called "Those who are blessed with luck...." only to hear Yuuko and Doumeki teasing him by saying "Those who aren't", referring to his unlucky self. XD
* Watanuki looking happy when Himawari comes until he finds out that she's just there to return a book to Doumeki. He starts to sulk in a corner like Tamaki from Ouran Host Club.
* Yuuko telling Watanuki that the loser has to strip. I find this amusing because Watanuki looks horrified that someone as hot as Yuuko orders him to strip in front of her. He should be so lucky that he receives that order.
Impression
*sigh* Even after watching this twice, I still don't understand how mahjong actually works. I tried to read the explanation on how to play from an English website but that just gives me an even bigger headache. Come to think of it, I have never been a big fan of a board game. Not chess, not snake and ladder, not even Monopoly. When my friends and I visited another friend who lives in England, she showed me a room full of board games collection and asked us to play with her. I feel really bad now because I probably showed the same kind of enthusiasm that I showed on my face when I have to go to the dentist. Throughout the game, I kept thinking when can I stop playing this and go back to my PSP. I think it's because with video game, all I need to do is to watch the visual cues and follow accordingly. It's very interactive with little to no wait in between the interaction. With board games, however, one needs to be patient and wait until someone else make their move. A person also have to follow the rules of the game, something that I've never been good with. Anyway, the purpose of this episode seems to show how bad Watanuki is at playing the game but after trying to read the explanation on that website, I think Watanuki did the best he could. If that were me, I would have quit in the first 5 minutes since I can't be bothered figuring out the different possible combinations required to win the game.
Poll: Do you prefer board games or video games? When was the last time you play a board game?
Preview
Next Week: Himawari arc is starting already? I thought it'd be a few more episodes before that happens. Unless that last preview screenshot is something else.
i'd have to say video games. But board games are also fun to play. And I also think it stimulates the mind better than video games do.
I hope all the majhong scenes won't keep me from enjoying this episode ^^ but i guess it won't. Xxxholic after all has never failed to entertain and amuse me.
The only person that I know who can play mahjong is my grandma... so I'm not sure I'll enjoy this either. It seems like an elderly game.
I'm not into board games either but I remember liking snake/ladder when I was a kid. :)
I'd say video games, though I used to be really into board games when I was a kid.
I also used to play mahjong a lot (its quite addictive when you get into it. No wonder it's a gambling game) but it's been so long now that I think I've forgotten the rules. Even so, I don't think an episode mostly about mahjong will keep me interested.
hmm, not too sure about the Jap mahjong rules. Actually for mahjong, there are various rules - as per "nationality" that you are playing. For example, Taiwan Mahjong is different from HK one.
I don't watch this series, btw, just jumping in here because of ur poll! :)
I would have to say video games. I had a similar experience to yours, where I went over to a friend's "party".... great food, but after the food part, they started playing board games from his ridiculously huge collection..... Even though I played, I was...uh... quite bored.
See, logically speaking, both are "games", so if you like games in general, you should like both. But the main thing that gets me is the rules, or the preposterousness (sp??) of the games they got. For example, there is this game we played is like this: you are a movie maker, and you want to make movies that make lots of $$. Obviously. So you gotta collect the best actors/cameramen/director/script.
Umm. Ok.
Or this other game involving u, with a camel, and u got to transport stuff from one mountaintop to another, while staking out land (???).
........
I just couldn't care less what the outcome is.
Perhaps it's just the genre of games that they had didn't appeal to me. But it's also the randomness of stuff that occurs... in a video game, you have much more control of the outcome of the game. For example, I have a choice whether or not to let Leon get decapitated by a chain-saw guy in RE4. :P There is a strong motivation to win :P But in a board game, the outcome is really random, so there is no deterministic way to play.
If I really want to play a multi-player game that is based on randomness, I'd just play cards. At least the learning curve isn't very high, and I don't have to deal with setting up the board, or learn new rules every single game. Even card games like hearts require more skill than the average board game, in my opinion.
...and......that's probably waaaaaay more text than you really cared for!! :P
Even so, I don't think an episode mostly about mahjong will keep me interested.
That sounds like a reverse of what my friend once told me. I once said that I love baseball movie but he said I wouldn't love watching the actual baseball game since it's boring.
For example, there is this game we played is like this: you are a movie maker, and you want to make movies that make lots of $$. Obviously. So you gotta collect the best actors/cameramen/director/script.
There's a video game that also does this. I think it's called "Stuntman", IIRC. Not sure if it's as boring as the board game you mentioned but it involves the player doing stunts after stunts until you get a perfect movement captured on film.
...and......that's probably waaaaaay more text than you really cared for!! :P
No, I actually like reading that. Thank you for writing that much of a response. :)
Stretched filler-padded episode but I enjoyed it anyway. The original was short and sweet but this one managed to keep me interested with its antics. ^^
Video games for me! I like visuals. Board games are too draggy for me. Played them when I was a kid and haven't touched one for more than a decade. Card games are fun though.
Btw... LOLOL at the caption for Zashiki and Ame. XD
You have to play mahjong to get it. It's actually a very fun game, and it's not a board game. =_= I actually played it with my teacher awhile ago...lotsa fun. XD
But board games for me all the way! 8D Video games are fun, but I get sore after awhile. =_=;;
i must say video games.. but playing monopoly or other board game with bunch of crazy friends is fun too :D
No clue about Majong, but the last board game I played was Scrabble... more recent than the last video game , which was Assassin's Creed maybe, dunno. :)
Board games. Playing with Monopoly with friends is a lot fun. Mainly that's because I always win at Monopoly and force everyone to pay up whenever they land on my square. Mwahaha.
About Himawari's story arc...
When yuuko gets serious, it's really hilarious. Not that she's funny when she talks about serious issues, but when she becomes serious over simple, meaningless things (eg, Mahjong). Yuuko is the BEST! I think she's one of the VERY few female character that no one can ever beat... think russian fry face, but cooler and even more formidable.
Concerning mahjong, I don't think you should necessarily call it a facet of japanese culture only. More like an asian thing. Mostly due to the fact that if you switch your focus upon China, Korea, and many of the other Asian countries not including India or the middle east, the game is also played in those countries. :x Sorry I really wanted to say that.
That and no matter how many times I play mahjong with friends, I don't understand the rules or what s suppose to happen. Only you pick up a tile, if you don't need it you throw it back into the middle place. And your main goal is basically to get three of the same tile, or three consecutive tiles, with the last 2 tiles being a pair.
Scoring is where it's extremely different in different asian countries. :P
@Garten:
That video game you mentioned is probably way more interesting to play than the moviemake board game. The board game just involves you randomly picking up x number of tiles when it is your turn. The tiles you get is the name of some actor/actress/cameraman/costume designer. And at the beginning of the game, you get handed these cards that have the title of certain movies on it, with blank spaces for those tiles you get. Then at the end of the game, you look at how many movies you were able to "complete" (by filling it w/ tiles in all categories) and tally up the score...
I think I would enjoy the Stuntman game though.... anything that requires "perfecting" certain moves probably require skill :)
Note:
Please be aware that the following type of comments will be deleted from now on: spam, comments containing rudeness, l33t speak, all caps or nonsensical sentences. Check Animesuki and Tokyo Toshokan before asking where to find a series. If you want to post spoiler, please use <spoiler>write your spoiler here</spoiler> tags.
The comment area allows post without email address. However, all posters have to fill out the name field. To minimise spam, posts without name attached will be automatically deleted. If you have a question unrelated to the particular entry, please email: designchronicle@yahoo.com.