BSJapanext Sponsors 9th M-League Team

On May 26, 2023, M-League and BSJapanext announced in parallel news releases the creation of a new M-League team owned by BSJapanext.

The team’s name and logo will be announced in a BSJapanext special broadcast on May 31, 2023. The team social media account will also be created on this date.

It was also announced that the team will be hosting a competition to decide one of the four players on the team. On May 26 at 13:00 JST, the team released a website accepting applications and detailing the process of this competition. Prospective players must submit a 1-minute video of themselves and some information about themselves. On May 31, the player will receive a phone call on live TV saying that they have been chosen for the top 8. These top 8 will then play a series of games (with the last games being on June 17), with the overall winner being chosen for the draft.

BSJapanext is a subsidiary of Japanet Broadcasting Co., Ltd created in March 2022 specializing in satellite broadcasting. The company broadcasts various programs, such as quiz and travel shows, as well as the only free broadcast of the PGA Tour in Japan.

The CEO of Japanet Broadcasting Co., Ltd, Satou Takamitsu, said that the increasing popularity of mahjong and their desire to broadcast mahjong programs were some of the reasons why they chose to join M-League.

This is the newest team to join M-League since the Kadokawa Sakura Knights were created in the 2019-20 season.

More information will be added to this article as it becomes available.

Kondo Seiichi Steps Down As A Player, Replaces Yoshino Shinichi As Team Manager

Kondo Seiichi of the Sega Sammy Phoenix has retired as a player on the team and is now the team’s new manager.

On May 25, the Sega Sammy Phoenix announced that Kondo Seiichi would be stepping down as a player.

In his retirement news release, Kondo stated that over the course of the M-League seasons, he was unable to play as well as he would have liked and chose not to continue because he did not see it improving. Even when the Sega Sammy Holdings company requested that he stay, Kondo explained the situation and the team understood.

At around the same time, it was announced that team manager Yoshino Shinichi would be stepping down as team manager and would be replaced by Kondo.

In the manager news release, Kondo stated that he initially declined the manager position as well, but the improved contract conditions changed his mind and the he will help lead the team to victory.

Kondo receiving his 4th-place avoidance medal at the 2019-20 awards ceremony

Kondo Seiichi was the the Sega Sammy Phoenix’s 2nd-round pick in the inaugural M-League Draft in 2018. In the 2019-20 season, he had the third-highest total score in the regular season and won the 4th-place avoidance award. With his help, the team finished 2nd place in the finals that year. The team was able to get another 2nd place finish with his help in the 2021-22 season.

There were so many people looking at the news that their server crashed and the team had to post a screenshot of the news releases on Twitter.

On the same day, the team also announced that Uotani Yuumi, Kayamori Sayaka and Tojo Rio would renew their contracts for the 2023-24 season.

With the vacancy in the Sega Sammy Phoenix roster, the Sega Sammy Phoenix will need to draft one player in the upcoming M-League draft. Due to the mixed gender team rule established in the 2019-20 season, the team must pick a male player since their other three players are female.

The M-League Watch team would like to wish Kondo Seiichi good luck in his new position.

M-League 2022-23 Finals: Games #15-16 and the Awards Ceremony

This is it. The final day of the M-League 2022-23 Season. After countless hours of tile tossing, players posing and yakuman yearning, the results of these last two games will decide who will be the new M-League champion. There are two games and an awards ceremony to go through, so let’s get right into it, shall we?

Before the Games

For the final day of the season, the classic duo of Hiyoshi Tatsuya and Tsuchida Kousho did the commentary

At the M-League public viewing, a crowd gathered at the Bellesall Roppongi to watch all the action.

After the final recap of the season, we took a look at the standings going into the last day.

The battle for 3rd place between Team Raiden and the EX Furinkazan is hot with the next two game deciding it all. And though the Konami Mahjong Fight Club are far away from the 1st place Shibuya Abemas, they have one more day to pass them.

With the stage set and the players ready, the games began!

Intro | Game #15 | Game #16
Awards Ceremony | Final Thoughts

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M-League 2022-23 Finals: Games #13-14

Thursday marks the penultimate day of the M-League 2022-23 Finals. In Games #13-14, we saw players battling as hard as they can, trying to invade while defending their own territory at the same time. We also saw a timely urasan, some very quick limit hands and an action by a certain player that gained them the respect of all. Let’s not take up your time and get right into it, shall we?

Before the Games

The commentators for the second-last day were Hiyoshi Tatsuya and former Konami Mahjong Fight Club member Fujisaki Satoshi. After a review of Tuesday’s actions, we looked at the standings.

The Shibuya Abemas were far ahead and time was running out. After a commercial break and the player entrances, Game #13 got started.

Intro | Game #13 | Game #14

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M-League 2022-23 Finals: Games #11-12

As the M-League anthem played, fans ran to their screens to see Games 11 and 12 of the M-League 2022-23 Finals. And on those screens, we saw players running away with games. We also saw a ura madness, some flushes and a rare event that hasn’t happened in the finals since the 2019-20 Finals! With so many things to go through, let’s get right into it, shall we?

Before the Games

For this last Tuesday, Matsushima Momo is doing her final commentary of the season alongside former U-Next Pirates member Asakura Koushin.

After the previous day’s digest, we took a look at the standings.

After the usual introduction routine, it was time for the games!

Intro | Game #11 | Game #12

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M-League 2022-23 Finals: Games #9-10

We are into the last week of the M-League 2022-23 Finals and this season! This Monday is the last M-League Monday until the fall. During the 9th and 10th game of the M-League 2022-23 Finals, direct hits on the competition were the name of the game. From flushes to hanemans, we saw some great point swings. We also saw a very exciting hand filled with passed wins and a furiten riichi! Let’s minimize the preamble and let’s get right into it, shall we?

Before the Games

For this final Monday of the season, Kobayashi Misa and Saikouisen’s Kouno Naoya were the commentators of the day. After a review of Friday’s action, we checked on the standings once again.

After the usual player introductions, the game started!

Intro | Game #9 | Game #10

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M-League 2022-23 Finals: Games #7-8

With Games #7-8 of the M-League 2022-23 Final Series over, we are officially through one week of the finals. Just as quickly as the finals started, so will it end. As we get closer to the end, there is more desperation, bigger hand are attempted and bigger risks are taken. With a lot of big moments to see, let’s get right into it, shall we?

Before the Games

This Friday’s main commentator was Kobayashi Misa, with Kadokawa Sakura Knights players Okada Sayaka and Shibukawa Nanba as our guest commentators.

Taking a look at the stangins, the Shibuya Abemas seem to be ahead, but we knew that the next two games could change all that. After the four players for the first game were introduced and they came into the arena, the first game of the day began!

Intro | Game #7 | Game #8

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M-League 2022-23 Finals: Games #5-6

On the third day of the M-League 2022-23 Final Series, there was a great amount of transformation. In the games, we saw hopeless hands creating pretty profits. In the standings, we saw a team rise above the others. In the commentary booth, there was simply a lot more excitement than ever before. There are a lot of highlights for us to tread through, so let’s dive right into it, shall we?

Before the Games

For this Thursday, our main commentator was the boisterous Hiyoshi Tatsuya and our guest commentators were the UK duo of the U-Next Pirates, Suzuki Yu and Nakabayashi Kei (we would find out during the games that they are just as loud as Hiyoshi). After some shots of the championship plate, we saw the state of the standings going into today.

With the stage set, we were off!

Intro | Game #5 | Game #6

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M-League 2022-23 Finals: Games #3-4

After 30 hands, 35 riichi calls, 4 interviews and almost 5 hours of content, the second day of the M-League 2022-23 Finals has come to a close. With last tile claims and last tile draws, we had moment that seemed hopeless suddenly break expectations. With riichi after riichi, we wondered which player would win the battle. There are so many things that happened today that I can’t fit it all in the introduction, so let’s just get right into it, shall we?

Before the Games

Our commentators for this fine Tuesday are Matsushima Momo and former U-Next Pirates member Ishibashi Nobuhiro.

After we saw the standings going into today, were introduced to our four players to start the day. After a quick commercial break, the third game of the finals commenced!

Intro | Game #3 | Game #4

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M-League 2022-23 Finals: Games #1-2

The M-League 2022-23 Finals have begun! 4 teams. 16 games. 1 winner. By the end of next week, we will know which team will be crowned the newest M-League champion. Of the 16 players playing in these finals, only three of them have won before. We were treated to some exciting action in the first two games, so let’s get right into it, shall we?

Before the Games

For the first day, we were greeted by commentators Hiyoshi Tatsuya and Tsuchida Kousho. Before the games started, we saw montage of clips from the semifinals highlighting the top plays during the round. After the montage, we were shown the standings going into the first day.

After being introduced to the players for the first game, the game was set and we were ready to go!

Intro | Game #1 | Game #2

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