I thought that after the last four episodes, we'd continue in a better direction. And while we were finally playing mahjong with 4 (3 in one case) people again, the matches still felt completely inconsequential. Shiraitodai has interesting powers, as do the final pair, but everyone else's are vague bullshit. It doesn't feel like the main characters are doing much at all. It certainly doesn't feel like Shizuna won the final round. Just because Awai's 'heart of the cards' was delayed a few turns? Because she played in the mountains. How does Shizuna still have zero characterization? It feltmore like 5 girls from the other schools collectively chipped at that lead until Shizuna could finally make a play or two. Notice that they completely stopped tracking the score after the first round.

They beat out Toki's school, and the other school Nodoka had history with. Far more interesting schools. Now we won't see her face Hanada. Defeating Shiraitodai should have been narratively impossible too. That really kills the impact for the final round. I know we already beat the final boss, but I swear he has a second form this time! >_>

It really strikes me how mahjong was played in this spin-off. It was almost entirely quick, cheap hands. Girls in Saki had powers that involved manipulating tile spawns for themselves or others, and achieving a certain winning hand. Many things involved feeling the flow, being difficult to notice, counter-attacks, etc. Soft manipulation that can still be strategized around by manipulating the turn order or ending rounds quickly. But aside from Shiraitodai, the powers here involve hard manipulation. Kuro holding onto bonus tiles is an obvious disadvantage for high-level play. But now other girls are literally seeing the future or just manifesting winning hands. It just feels lazy.

The girl who could be possessed by mahjong demons is a good example. Her powers essentially locked her into a single suit, which is a double-edged sword. She can get very expensive winning hands, but once other players realize what's happening, it becomes very difficult fot her to win if she doesn't draw the exact tiles she needs. In contrast, Shizuna blocks other people's abilities entirely until she magically wins. There's no real-life strategy parallel. This skill would be better suited for a later super-boss rather than a main character. Mind you, WE STILL ONLY HAVE TWO CHARACTERS!

I'm glad I'm finally done with this series. I'm quite disappointed in the spin-off, and I'll probably never watch it again. 3/10