Highlights
Public Viewing
December 18, Game 1, E1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3024
In E1-0, Uchikawa sits in the south seat to start the game, hoping to impress the fans at the Kadokawa Sakura Knights viewing at Tokyo Tower.
Uchikawa starts out the hand 2-shanten with a secured red 5p and 9p dora. With his draws, he shifts to have pinfu added and the potential for ittsuu. In the second row, he forgoes the pinzu ittsuu to secure the 1p pair and switch to a 678s iipeikou chance. On turn 8, Uchikawa gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 58s ryanmen, hoping for the 8s. On turn 11, he draws the 8s and wins the hand. Uchikawa wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Iipeikou/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 3,000/6,000.
Headbump
December 21, Game 1, E2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s60_p2418
In E2-0, Mizuhara is in 4th place and Sugawara is 3,000 ahead of her in a 2nd place tie.
At the start, Sugawara starts out the hand 5-shanten with a pair of south yakuhai while Mizuhara is 4-shanten with a loosely connected red 5s. In the first row, Mizuhara creates sequences near the edges and gets to 2-shanten. During the same amount time, Sugawara calls pon on the south and gets to iishanten. After a few turns of waiting and adjusting, Sugwara is the first to tenpai and waits on a 4p/6s shanpon.
Two turns later, Mizuhara gets to tenpai and stays dama on a 36s ryanmen, guaranteed a mangan if she wins because of her 123 sanshoku.
With two players tenpai on the 6s, there is a chance for a headbump. If Uchikawa discards the 6s, Sugawara will win. If Matsumoto discards the 6s, Mizuhara will win. Right after Mizuhara gets to tenpai, Uchikawa draws and discards the 6s.
Mizuhara is about to reveal her hand when she realizes that Sugawara also called ron and headbumped her. Sugawara wins with South/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 3,900, becoming the sole 2nd place player.
Separating From the Pack
December 18, Game 1, S1-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5524
In S1-1, Mizuhara is the dealer and tied for 2nd place with Matsumoto with 18,500. A win during her dealership will both get separate her from the pack and get her closer to Uchikawa.
Mizuhara starts out the hand 3-shanten for chiitoi (4-shanten for a standard hand) with pairs of 1m, 6s and 8p. On her second turn, she pairs up the 3s to push her a bit closer to seven pairs. After quite a few turns of waiting to advance, Mizuhara draws the red 5p at the end of the second row to make her fifth pair and get her to iishanten. As she waits to get to tenpai, Matsumoto makes a call on the 2s to get to honitsu tenpai on a 4s/south shanpon.
Near the middle of the third row, Mizuhara calls riichi and waits on a 1p tanki.
Two turns after Mizuhara calls riichi, Sugawara does the same and waits on a 47s ryanmen, guaranteed a mangan if she wins.
To avoid the ippatsu and keep a safe tenpai, Matsumoto makes a call off Sugawara’s riichi tile and switches a 69s ryanmen. Right after, Mizuhara draws the 1p and wins the hand. Mizuhara wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Chiitoi/Aka 1 for 4,000+100 all plus two riichi sticks, bringing her above 30,000.
Beast Mode
December 18, Game 2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p6026
In S2-0, Sarukawa is the dealer in 2nd place, 12,700 behind 2nd place Shiratori and 21,800 behind 1st place Uchikawa.
Sarukawa starts out the hand with a cool 2-shanten hand with a triplet of green dragons, a pair of red dragons and a loosely connected red 5m. On turn 2, he pairs up the 5m to secure it. On turn 3, he fills in a ryanmen to get to iishanten. On turn 4, he makes the 5m into a triplet and calls riichi on a 47s ryanmen. At the start of the second row, he draws the 4s and wins the hand. Sarukawa wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Green Dragon/Aka 1 for 4,000 all, moving him into 2nd place.
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p6027
In S2-1, Sarukawa is in 2nd place and now just 5,800 behind Uchikawa.
Sarukawa starts out 3-shanten with the red 5s double dora, a red 5m and a hand primed for tanyao. On turn 2, he draws another 5s to create a 36s ryanmen. On turn 5, he makes the 5m into a triplet to get to iishanten, having two pairs and a ryanmen to call with. After calling pon on the 7m soon after, Sarukawa gets to tenpai and waits on a 36s ryanmen. Two turns later, he gets the 6s and wins the hand. Sarukawa wins with Tanyao/Dora 2/Aka 2 for 4,000+100 all, moving him into 1st place.
Shaa Tanki
December 18, Game 2, S4-2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3027
In S4-2, Uchikawa is in 1st place with his last dealership, holding a 13,700 lead over Sarukawa. After winning the previous game, he wants to leave no doubt that he will win this one too.
Uchikawa starts out the hand with a messy 5-shanten for both chiitoi and a standard hand. Still, there are hints of a pinzu honitsu visible. In the first row, he pairs up the south and 9p to go along with his 2p and 1p pairs, pushing him closer to a flush hand. On turn 7, he pairs up the east to get to iishanten. As Uchikawa waits, Sarukawa pursues. At the same time as Uchikawa gets to tenpai, Sarukawa fills in a kanchan to get to iishanten as well. In the middle of the second row, Sarukawa gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a south/white dragon shanpon. Though a haneman tsumo is unlikely for him, it is still possible with a kan for more dora or an ura 3.
During the ippatsu round, Uchikawa makes a pair of the 4p dora and stays dama on a west tanki, the legendary wait that Uchikawa has history with. Soon after, iishanten Nakabayashi draws and discards the west and deals into Uchikawa. Uchikawa wins the hand with Chiitoi/Honitsu/Dora 2 for 18,000+600 plus one riichi stick, bringing Uchikawa above 70,000 and in contention for the best score of the season.
Dora Menagerie
December 19, Game 1, E2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3534
In E2-0, Date is the dealer tied for 2nd place after Sonoda won a cheap yakuhai hand to start the game.
Date starts out the hand 4-shanten with a secured red 5s and a 1s dora needing a 3s to secure a sequence. In the first row, she draws tiles to create sequences and sequence candidates, but not the 3s to secure the dora. She is, however, able to draw the red 5m and secure it to get to 2-shanten by the end of the row. At the start of the second row, she creates a 456s sequence to get to iishanten and makes a 789p sequence two turns later and calls riichi on a 3s penchan.
With the dealer riichi, both Tojo and Katsumata make evasive maneuvers. However, Sonoda has a pair of 1s in his hand and keeps pursuing. In the third row, he gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 58s ryanmen.
Though Sonoda has the two-sided wait, Date is waiting on the 3s. On Sonoda’s second-last draw, he draws and discards the 3s and deals into Date. Date wins the hand with Riichi/Dora 1/Aka 2/Ura 1 for 12,000 plus one riichi stick.
Katsu
December 19, Game 1, S2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2530
In S2-0, Katsumata is in 2nd place and 4,600 behind 1st place Date.
Katsumata starts out the hand 3-shanten with two ryanmens and two penchans. On turn 2, she fills in a 3m penchan to get to 2-shanten. On turn 4, he pairs up the 5m with a red one to give him shanpon options or to switch his pair. At the end of the row, he fills in the 7m penchan to get to a ryanmen-ryanmen iishanten with pinfu guaranteed. On his very next turn, he gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 47s ryanmen. After many turns of waiting, Katsumata draws the dora 4s in the middle of the third row and wins the hand. Flipping one uradora, Katsumata wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Dora 1/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 3,000/6,000, moving to top spot.
Phoenix Rising
December 19, Game 2, S4-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4523
In S4-1, Tojo is in 3rd place and has one more chance to move into 1st. Being 4,500 behind 2nd place Taro and 6,700 behind 1st place Takizawa, she needs a 3/40 tsumo or direct hit or a mangan ron to finish as the winner.
Tojo starts out the hand 4-shanten, but has two completed souzu sequences and a firmly secured 6s dora. In the first row, she extends her souzu shapes and shifts her hand to have tanyao. By the end of the row, she is 2-shanten and needs just one more sequence shape. At the start of the second row, she gets to iishanten, a 2m away from a 234 sanshoku and a 3p away from pinfu. A turn later, she draws the 3p and calls riichi on a 25m ryanmen, guaranteed to have at least a mangan and hoping for the 2m for haneman. A few turns later, 4th place Rumi discards the 2m trying to keep her good shapes and deals into Tojo. Tojo wins the hand with Riichi/Pinfu/Tanyao/Sanshoku/Dora 1 for 12,000+300, ending the game in 1st place.
Takame
December 21, Game 1, E3-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5526
In E3-0, Yu is in 2nd place and 13,600 behind 1st place Daigo.
Yu starts out the hand 2-shanten with a red 5p and a dora 8p as part of a 245678p group. Early on Hori tries to play the hand quickly by making two calls and getting to iishanten. At the same time, Yu draws a 3p to widen his pinzu shape. With a 9p soon after, he gets to iishanten and is a 1p away from ittsuu. Near the end of the first row, Hori makes a third row and gets to tenpai on an 8s kanchan.
Right after Hori gets to tenpai, Yu draws the 8s to make a triplet and calls riichi on a 147p, again hoping for a 1p for the full straight. On his very next draw, Yu gets exactly that and wins the hand. Yu wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Ittsuu/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 3,000/6,000, moving into 1st place.
Tsumo
December 21, Game 1, S3-1
In S3-1, Yu is in 1st place during 4th place Sonoda’s dealership.
At the start, Sonoda is 2-shanten with a ryanmen, a secured red 5p and a connected dora 3s, while Yu is 2-shanten with slightly worse shapes. On turn 2, Sonoda makes another ryanmen to advance to iishanten and guarantee pinfu. On turn 3, Yu makes a 4s triplet to get himself to iishanten. On his next draw, he draws a 2s and creates a 123s sequence. Yu is tenpai, but has no yaku and a less than ideal 56s shape. To not risk his lead, Yu stays dama. Right after, Sonoda gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 14s ryanmen for mangan minimum.
Though the riichi by Sonoda is worrying for Yu, Yu doesn’t have to stress for long as he draws the 5s on his next draw and wins the hand. Yu wins with Tsumo/Dora 1 for 500+100/1,000+100 plus three riichi sticks, moving the game into all last.
Houtei
December 21, Game 2, E4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2031
In E4-0, Futoshi is in 2nd place and 1,900 behind 1st place Shibukawa.
At the start, Shibukawa is 2-shanten with a secured 9s dora and Futoshi is 2-shanten with a connected red 5s. In the first few turns, both players clean out the incoming trash, still sitting at 2-shanten by the end of the row. In the second row, both of them advance to iishanten, needing to convert a kanchan to have a good wait. At the end of the second row, Futoshi makes a successful conversion to a ryanmen and calls riichi on a 36p ryanmen, hoping for a 6p for iipeikou.
In the third row, Shibukawa is unable to covert the kanchan, but does get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 7p middle wait.
Turn after turn, each player wanting to draw their winning tile. With one tile left for each player, each player has one last hope. Futoshi draws and discards. Kobayashi draws the last 7p, leaving Shibukawa with no more winning tiles. Uotani discards safely, leaving Shibukawa with the last tile. Hiyoshi comments that there is still a 3p in the wall. Sure enough, Shibukawa draws and discards the 3p and deals into Futoshi. Flipping two uradora, Futoshi wins the hand with Riichi/Pinfu/Houtei/Aka 1/Ura 2 for 12,000 plus one riichi stick, easily moving ahead.
Shortcut to Haneman
December 21, Game 2, S2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3028
In S2-0, Shibukawa is in last place after dealing into a houtei haneman two hands ago. Sitting 9,200 behind 3rd place Kobayashi and 11,100 behind 2nd place Uotani, a haneman will set him up for a positive score.
From the start, Shibukawa draws a fifth pair to instantly get to iishanten. Holding a lone 8s dora, Shibukawa has the framework for a haneman. All he has to do is wait. After a few turns of fishing for a pair, Shibukawa pairs up the north on turn 5 and calls riichi on an 8s tanki. If he wins by tsumo, he will get at least a haneman. With everyone folding, Shibukawa has time to try and get it. Near the end of the second row, Shibukawa gets the 8s and wins the hand. Shibukawa wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Chiitoi/Dora 2 for 3,000/6,000, enough to move up two ranks.
Ura Ura
December 21, Game 2, S3-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s60_p2435
In S3-1, Futoshi is in 1st place and just 3,900 ahead of 2nd place dealer Kobayashi.
Futoshi starts off the hand 3-shanten with a secured dora 6p. On turn 3, he creates a ryanmen to guarantee pinfu and a good wait. On turn 4, he advances to iishanten, waiting on 258m for tenpai. At the start of the second row, Futoshi draws a 5m to fit right in the middle and calls riichi on a 258m sanmenchan. During the ippatsu round, Uotani discards the 5m trying to take a mangan tenpai and deals into Futoshi. Flipping two ura (just like he did in E4-0), Futoshi wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Pinfu/Dora 1/Ura 2 for 12,000+300.
Daisuke’s Drive
December 22, Game 1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p6028
In E2-2, Daisuke is in 1st place after winning the previous hand with three hand. With his team in last place in the standings and him having his dealership, he wants more.
Daisuke starts out the hand 3-shanten with the workings of either chanta or honitsu. On turn 2, he makes a triplet of 9p, advancing him on both yaku options. On turn 3, he draws an 8p to create a 7p kanchan. Drawing a 5p and a green dragon over his next two turns, he confirms his pursuit for honitsu by breaking his 12m block. Just after the start of the second, Daisuke gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 47p ryanmen, guaranteed at least a mangan and hoping for the 4p to upgrade it to a haneman. During the ippatsu round, Ooi tries calling riichi by throwing the 7p and deals into Daisuke. Daisuke wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Honitsu for 12,000+600.
Skipping to E4-0, Daisuke is a mangan away from 50,000.
He starts out the hand 3-shanten with four ryanmen options, destined for pinfu. In the first row, he replaced one of those ryanmens to one that uses the 6m dora and fills in a few. By the end of the row, he is iishanten. After dealer Honda gets to tenpai in the second row on a shanpon, Daisuke gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 14s ryanmen. During the ippatsu round, Honda draws and discards the 4s and deals into Daisuke. Daisuke wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Pinfu/Dora 1 for 8,000.
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p6029
In S2-0, Daisuke is again the dealer and again just under 50,000.
Daisuke’s hand starts out 3-shanten with a connected dora 2p. but none of his shapes are good. In the first row, he creates a triplet of 1m and a bunch of kanchans to get to iishanten. In the second row, he draws the 5s to create a 47s ryanmen despite being furiten. On turn 8, Honda gets to tenpai first and calls riichi on a wide 369m wait.
During the ippatsu round, Daisuke gets to tenpai, confirms pinfu and calls riichi on his furiten 47s ryanmen, guaranteed at least a mangan if he wins. Two turns later, Daisuke draws the 4s and wins the hand. Daisuke wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 4,000 all plus one riichi stick, bringing him above 60,000.
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p6030
In S2-2, Daisuke is just a mangan away from passing this season’s score record.
He starts out the hand 3-shanten with three ryanmens and a floating 8p. Daisuke may have a good hand but so does Ooi, who holds a 2-shanten hand with a secured 5p and a floating 8p. By turn 4, Ooi is already tenpai and calls riichi on a 3s/6s shanpon.
Though a riichi this early may seem concerning, Ooi has discarded the dora 8p and Daisuke has two of them in his hand. With a pon of the dora, Daisuke advances to tanyao 2-shanten with a mangan minimum. On his next draw, he gets a 4m pair to get to iishanten. In the middle of the second row, he calls chii and gets to tenpai on a 69m ryanmen, only allowed to win on the 6m. The 9m passes by at the end of the row and Daisuke isn’t allowed to win on it. In the third row, Daisuke draws a red 5m to switch to a 6m kanchan and draws a red 5s to upgrade his hand to haneman. Soon after, Ooi draws and discards the 6m and deals into Daisuke. Daisuke wins the hand with Tanyao/Dora 3/Aka 2 for 18,000+600 plus two riichi sticks, taking Daisuke all the way to 84,500
Daisuke would go on keep most of his large score and finish the game with 84,400, the Beast Japanext’s first 100.0+ game and the highest score so far this season.
Ura Ura
December 22, Game 2, E2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4033
In E2-0, Hinata is tied for 2nd place and 10,000 away from 1st place dealer Hagiwara.
Hinata starts out the hand with a very nice 2-shanten for both chiitoi and a standard hand, holding two ryanmens and a pair of 3m dora. On turn 5, she makes a triplet of 6m to get to iishanten and guarantee a good wait tenpai. On her next turn, she fills in one of the ryanmen and calls riichi on a 47p ryanmen, wishing for the 7p for iipeikou. In the middle of the second row, Daisuke discards the 7p trying to advance to iishanten and deals into Hinata. With a flip of the uradora, the 7p also becomes dora and Hinata’s hand is upgraded to a haneman. Hinata wins with Riichi/Pinfu/Iipeikou/Dora 2/Ura 2 for 12,000 and the lead.
Hagiwara Master
December 22, Game 2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5037
In S1-3, Hagiwara is in 2nd place and chasing after Hinata who is ahead by 8,200. Hagiwara starts out the hand by pairing up the double south. Holding a secured red 5p and a loosely connected 5s, his 2-shanten hand has the makings of a mangan. At the first opportunity he gets, he calls pon on the south and advances to iishanten. As Hagiwara waits, Hinata (who has called pon on a yakuhai of her own) gets to tenpai first and waits on a 2s kanchan for just one han.
As Hagiwara keeps adjusting his hand, Matsugase also gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 5s dora kanchan.
With the riichi and drawing a dangerous 3s, Hinata switches her wait to a 3s/north shanpon. After drawing the dangerous 8p, Hinata folds. At the end of the second row, Hagiwara calls chii and gets to tenpai on a 14p ryanmen. Soon after, Matsugase draws and discards the 4p and deals into Hagiwara. Hagiwara wins the hand with Double South/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 8,000+900 plus a riichi stick, taking Hagiwara above 40,000.
In S2-0, Hagiwara is now the dealer and starts out 4-shanten with a secured 6p dora and a pair of souths. In the first row, he makes pairs of 2s and east to get to 2-shanten. At the end of the row, he draws a third east to get to iishanten. On his very next turn, he draws the south and waits dama on a 2s/3s shanpon. Within the first go-around, Daisuke tries to call riichi by discarding the 3s and deals into Hagiwara. Hagiwara wins with East/South/Dora 1 for 9,600.
Getting Close
December 22, Game 2, S3-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4034
In S3-0, Hinata is in 2nd place and 24,200 behind 1st place Hagiwara.
Hinata starts the hand off 4-shanten with no value in sight while Hagiwara 2-shanten with a pair of north yakuhai and west. Quickly, Hagiwara calls pon on both of them and gets to iishanten. Before the end of the row, Hagiwara is tenpai on a 3m wait.
By this point, Hinata’s hand is doing a lot better, holding a connected red 5m and likely pinfu. After Daisuke calls kan and makes the 5s a dora, Hinata draws the red 5s double dora to get to iishanten. A turn later, she gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 47m ryanmen. In the middle of the second row, she draws the 4m and wins the hand. Hinata wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Dora 1/Aka 2 for 3,000/6,000.
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