After a whole month of waiting, the semifinals are finally here! With so much at stake, there was stress and pressure everywhere. This week, we had two expensive dragon hands, two yakuman chances and some nice South 4 wins. We had some shifts in the standings and teams catching. I won’t keep you waiting too long, so let’s get to it, shall we?
Abema Premium Changes
With the start of the semifinals, there have been a few changes to the viewing options. All previous games and highlights are now under paywall. This means the only way to watch the M-League games for free is to watch them live. In order to view past games and highlights, you must have Abema Premium.
Being the only team to make the finals in both the 2018 and 2019 season, the Shibuya Abemas want to make the third time a charm. Ever since the week 5, they have only gone up and even since week 13, they have been in 1st place. From Matsumoto’s Suuankou to Hinata’s 3rd to 1st comeback to Ooi’s closed chinitsu even when he was already at 44,300, all the team members have been solid. Even in the 2nd last game of the season, Shiratori didn’t take his foot off the gas pedal and won the game for +76.4pts.
Going Into the Semifinals: +327.4pts
In 2019, the 4th place cutoff was -3.5pts when there were two teams in the negatives (6th place had -101.1pts to start the semis) going into the semifinals. This year, there are currently 4 teams in the negatives that are going into the semis with the lowest team being -105.2pts. With that, it can be safely assumed that the cutoff will be below 0pts. As long as they don’t get an unreasonable number of 4ths, they are certainly going to make the finals for the 3rd year in a row. All the team has to do is not play recklessly and avoid dealing in when all the other teams are being very aggressive.
2. Kadokawa Sakura Knights
Uchikawa Kotaro
Uchikawa Kotaro (内川幸太郎)
+468.7pts (12-4-5-5)
Hori Shingo
Hori Shingo (堀慎吾)
+275.6pts (9-9-5-5)
Okada Sayaka
Okada Sayaka (岡田紗佳)
+33.6pts (4-4-3-4)
Sawazaki Makoto
Sawazaki Makoto (沢崎誠)
-280.6pts (3-4-7-7)
Regular Season: +497.3pts (24/20/22/24)
For the first half of the season, the Kadokawa Sakura Knights were at the bottom half of the standings for the first half of the season and were even in last place at almost -300.0pts. From there, Uchikawa went all out. Since the halfway point of the season, Uchikawa went ham. In the 2nd half, Uchikawa earned 432.1pts and went 9-2-3-2, one of the best records for all the players. Along with some really good playing from newcomer Hori, the team ended up in 2nd place and is challenging the 1st place Shibuya Abemas. Some highlights for the team includes Uchikawa’s dealer haneman to put him over 80,000 and Hori’s rinshan suuankou yakuman.
Going Into the Semifinals: +248.7pts
Though their regular season performance was good, the Kadokawa Sakura Knights don’t do too well in elimination stages. In the finals last year, they had a 0-2-3-7 record and fell from 1st going into the finals and ending up 4th. If they want to do well this playoff season, they need to make sure it doesn’t happen again. However, with Uchikawa’s South 4 performance this season, things are looking up for them.
3. Akasaka Drivens
Murakami Jun
Murakami Jun (村上淳)
+122.9pts (8-4-10-4)
Suzuki Taro
Suzuki Taro (鈴木たろう)
+6.5pts (7-5-8-6)
Sonoda Ken
Sonoda Ken (園田賢)
-28.7pts (7-9-2-10)
Maruyama Kanako
Maruyama Kanako (丸山奏子)
-103.9pts (2-2-2-4)
Regular Season: -3.2pts (28/21/20/21)
At the start of the season, the Akasaka Drivens were doing really good. For the first 6 weeks, they were always between 1st and 3rd place. However, starting week 7, everything just went downhill. The team just kept dropping and dropping and dropping, eventually getting down to last place in week 19. For the last three weeks, they pulled it together and started to rise up. With all the other teams so low, they were able to surpass the other teams and eventually get to 3rd place.
Going Into the Semifinals: -1.6pts
As the team that won the whole thing in 2018 and was in 7th in the 2019 season, this will be their time for redemption. Their performance in the 2018 finals and the last 3 weeks of this season shows their strength in high-pressure situations. This is also the time for Maruyama to show how well she plays in these important games. Playing the minimum number of games this regular season, the team needs to give this Saikouisen Women’s League A1 player more chances to show her strength.
4. EX Furinkazan
Takizawa Kazunori
Takizawa Kazunori (滝沢和典)
+2.0pts (8-6-10-7)
Nikaido Aki
Nikaido Aki (二階堂亜樹)
-37.5pts (6-7-9-6)
Katsumata Kenji
Katsumata Kenji (勝又健志)
-73.3pts (6-9-6-10)
Regular Season: -108.8pts (20/22/25/23)
From the start of the season, the EX Furinkazan were doing really well. They were the first team to get over +400.0pts, doing so by the end of week 6. From week 10-14, they were in 1st place. It wasn’t until week 18 that they dropped into the negatives. From there, they continued to struggle, but managed to hold out until the end of the regular season.
Going Into the Semifinals: -54.4pts
The EX Furinkazan have really upped the stakes for themselves. On Twitter, the team announced that they imposed the following conditions:
If the team gets 4th place overall, they will replace the lowest ranked player as well as get a 4th player
If the team fails to make the semifinals, they will be replacing ALL of their players and get four new players next season
With the high-pressure situation and all players at risk of being kicked, they really need to bring their a-game. As long as the team can replicate what they did at the beginning of the season, they will make it out just fine.
5. Konami Mahjong Fight Club
Sasaki Hisato
Sasaki Hisato (佐々木寿人)
+494.1pts (13-6-6-5)
Fujisaki Satoshi
Fujisaki Satoshi (藤崎智)
-164.8pts (3-6-5-5)
Takamiya Mari
Takamiya Mari (高宮まり)
-246.0pts (3-4-7-6)
Maehara Yudai
Maehara Yudai (前原雄大)
-251.8pts (4-5-4-8)
Regular Season: -168.5pts (23/21/22/24)
This regular season was all about Sasaki Hisato. From start to finish, he played almost flawlessly and his score reflected it. From his Riichi/Rinshan/Tsumo/Sanankou/Dora 7/Aka 1 and record-breaking game to the South 3 4th to 1st comeback, his play was truly incredible. With Fujisaki, Takamiya and Maehara having a difficult season, Sasaki’s +494.1 helped keep the team in playoff position.
Going Into the Semifinals: -84.2pts
Historically, the Konami Mahjong Fight Club hasn’t done well in the playoffs. They placed 4th in the finals in 2018 and fell from 3rd to 5th in the semis to be eliminated in 2019. Being in 5th position, they are already in elimination range. 4ths must be avoided and as the team with the highest deal-in rate, the will have to strike a balance between being aggressive and defensive.
6. Team Raiden
Kurosawa Saki
Kurosawa Saki (黒沢咲)
193.3pts (10-6-9-6)
Setokuma Naoki
Setokuma Naoki (瀬戸熊直樹)
57.0pts (9-7-9-7)
Hagiwara Masato
Hagiwara Masato (萩原聖人)
-460.8pts (3-8-4-12)
Regular Season: -210.5pts (22/21/22/25)
There are two stories within Team Raiden. The first story is the rivalry between Kurosawa and Setokuma. The two of them had been consistently near the top of the individual standings, often within points of each other. With each game, they tried to one up one another. The other story is one of Hagiwara’s struggle. Hagiwara consistently got 4ths and had quite a few deal-ins. Even when he was on the cusp of getting a good result, he would either deal in or someone else was able to make a comeback. It wasn’t until around Christmastime that Hagiwara managed to win a game. However, the work that his two teammates has kept the team from sinking too deeply.
Going Into the Semifinals: -105.2pts
Being in 6th place going into the semifinals could be good for Team Raiden. The past two championships were won by teams that were the lowest ranked going into the playoffs. With Hagiwara’s aggressive playing, it may be his time to shine.
Games will take place every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from April 12 to April 30. All games will start at 19:00 JST.
Week 1: April 12, April 13, April 15, April 16
Week 2: April 19, April 20, April 22, April 23
Week 3: April 26, April 27, April 29, April 30
Qualification for the Finals
The top 4 teams with the highest score after the semifinals will move on to the 12-game finals, where they will compete to win the 50 million yen grand prize and the M-League championship plate.
When Kondo received news that he had received the title, he wasn’t surprised. “They don’t call me ‘Sexy Seiichi’ for nothing!” he told the media.
The western media magazines aren’t the only ones taking advantages of Kondo’s hotness. Kindai Mahjong will now be featuring Kondo at the front of their magazines instead of women in bikinis. This change is expected to increase their sales, as people buying it will no longer be embarrassed or be considered weirdos.
When M-League Watch reached out to People Magazine about its expansion in considering people outside of the western world and breaking with tradition in announcing it in April instead of November, they gave us this:
Just like how many companies release new products, we chose April 1st as the day to break the news and expand our horizons. And what better place to expand our horizons than the “Land of the Rising Sun”?
Ishibashi is suing Sonoda for 10,000,000 yen for copyright infringement after Sonoda had used Ishibashi’s signature “Red 5 Discard Trap” on December 3, 2020. The maneuver, which was done in S1-0, cost Ishibashi 5,500 points and was one of the contributing factors in the stress he experienced in S4-0 of the same game.
“He stole my signature move,” Ishibashi told reporters in front of the courthouse, “He was the last person I expected to steal from me.”
Sonoda was very confident that he was going to win the case, just like how he won that game against Ishibashi. “It’s mahjong! Any discard is legal. What’s next? Someone copyrights the act of discarding genbutsu? Selling yaku cards that change every year for 850 yen?”
M-League Watch has found an old patent with the alpha-numeric ID dQw4w9WgXcQ which indicates that Ishibashi is the rightful owner of the move.
The National Institute of Public Health of Japan has released a statement regarding the statements said and actions of Ishibashi Nobuhiro on December 14, 2020.
The second incident detailed in the account was a statement made by Mr. Ishibashi. When being interviewed, he was asked about what he would do if he drew the green dragon. He replied, “I would eat it.”
Since then, the “Green Dragon Challenge” has been circulating on social media. The institute reiterates that this is very dangerous activity. “Attempting to eat mahjong tiles may block your airways, which may lead to choking or even death. You only have one shot at life. Don’t end it short with one hatsu.” Still, even a professional mahjong player has attempted to eat mahjong tiles.
The institute clearly reminds people to “have some common sense and to think before you act.”
Kobayashi Go of the U-Next Pirates has been caught cheating during M-League games.
Authorities say that they found a microchip embedded in his left hand and a device that vibrates when he places his hand over the best tile to discard.
Reports of suspicious activity started to come in after Kobayashi switched from being a right-handed player to being a left-handed player in the middle of the season.
Kobayashi’s performance this season was one of the best in the league, with +337.5 and a 6/14/10/1 record. Kobayashi also has the best last-place avoidance rate of this season and of all time.
When passed through a metal detector, Kobayashi’s whole body had registered as metal, indicating that he might just be a robot. Local insiders say that the injury in his right hand was caused by a bug while trying to update his operating system.
When Kobayashi was asked about these allegations, he told reporters, “01000001 01110000 01110010 01101001 01101100 00100000 01000110 01101111 01101111 01101100 01110011.”
There are similar reports that say that Sasaki may not be human either and that he’s a god. No investigations are planned because everyone already knows that it’s true.
This is it. The last week of the regular season. Four games for each team and then it’s over. For two teams, these four games will be the last games they will play this season. There were surprises around every corner and fans at the edge of their seats. We had fans heartbroken and cursing the mahjong gods. There were so many things that happened that you just just have to read it and see it. So, without further ado, let’s get right into it!
The first week of March means it’s the second last week of M-League. The second last week of M-League means teams will be vying for position. Teams vying for position means that we see some amazing plays and exciting games!
In this 21st week of M-League, we had many of these amazing plays and exciting games! This week, we say a 70 fu open hand, two yakuman tenpai and an ura san. We also saw a strong winning streak, some riichi battles and a closed chinitsu. We even had an amazing play with a 7m, an amazing play with a 7m and an amazing play with a 7m (No, that’s not a typo. And they were all done by the same person!). So, with that, let’s take a look, shall we?
It’s the end of the month. Midway through next month, the regular season is over. For some teams, it will be the start of the playoffs. For others, it will be the last game they play this season.
In the 20th week of M-League 2020, we had a lot of movement in the standings. We had one team make their way into playoff position, another who is struggling to make it out and yet another who has almost certainly booked their ticket to the semis.
There was also a lot of movement on the game front. This week, we saw an amazing haitei shift, an expensive hand from the person everyone expects, an urasan and two very important dealer mangan wins. With all that, let’s get to it, shall we?
M-League Watch 