[Saiyuki meta] The mahjong game, 1/2
Notes:
- Though I'm mostly following the anime's version of the game, I believe that the script for this scene was lifted almost verbatim from the manga (though given that I don't have raw versions of chapters 50 and 51, I can't be sure). I do know that the anime adds a few things and makes a few mistakes -- I've tried to mark where they happen.
- Both the transcription and the translation are my own, and were written more for reference than for character. Read at your own risk, and feel free to correct me if I got something wrong. Romanji has been left in for verification (though I can't guarantee my spelling).
- I'm pretty sure that the majority of readers aren't really familiar with mahjong, so I've tried to explain as much as I can without writing up a guide specifically on the game itself. If there's anything you're confused or curious about, please, ask!
Key:
anime - events or notes that are specific to the anime
ikkou - things about the characters' behaviours and/or actions
mahjong - explanations of mahjong gameplay, vocabulary, etc.
symbolism - symbolic stuff
oreTACHI no yarikata
Our way of doing things
Dawn
The Mahjong Game: Part One
Preface (ikkou, symbolism)
There are a lot of variations of mahjong. The one played in Saiyuki (and the one I'm referencing pretty much any time I say 'mahjong' from here on in), is modern Japanese mahjong -- also called riichi/reach mahjong.
So why are a bunch of characters from pseudo-Ancient China playing the modern Japanese version? The most likey reason, of course, is that Minekura herself plays by those rules. However, as always, there's possibly a bit more to it than that.
For instance, it's worth noting that this particular variant of mahjong has a slightly infamous reputation. Riichi mahjong was primarily developed in yakuza-run mahjong parlours, so it favours certain aspects of the game that are particularly appealing to professional gamblers (and professional cheats). Hand secrecy is a big one; your score is nearly always higher if you form your hand on your own, instead of relying on discards from other players. It's also more complex and chance-driven than most of the traditional variations, and the focus of gameplay tends to be on more on individual hands and luck rather than on the use of a steady strategy through a number of rounds.
Overall, between the game's focus (independency), history (shady), and attitude (devil-may-care and living for the moment), intentionally or coincidentally, riichi mahjong suits the characters, and the story, very well.
Gk:
[Enters, sets down table, covers it with cloth, opens tiles] Maajan yarou.
[Enters, sets down table, covers it with cloth, opens tiles] Let's play mahjong.
Setup (mahjong)
The cloth that Goku covers the table with serves two purposes. The first is to help protect the surface of the tiles from being damaged by constantly rubbing against the tabletop. The second is to help muffle some of the noise the tiles make.
Tile sets (anime) pic
The box of tiles is shown to contain a season tile; however, season tiles (and flower tiles and American 'joker' tiles) aren't part of the set used in riichi mahjong. We'll just assume that they were taken out and put to the side.
(Thanks to homasse for the edit on this point!)
Gj:
Haa? Omae nani itten --
Huh? What the heck are you talking abo--
H:
Ii deshou. Koko shitsureishimasu yo. [sits to Goku's right]
That sounds good. Pardon me for sitting here. [sits to Goku's right]
Gj:
Ya Hakkai...
Um, Hakkai...
H:
Hora, Gojyo mo.
Come on Gojyo, you too.
Gj:
Baka ka? Nani yuuchuu na koto itten da yo? Nande imasara sonna --
Are you crazy? What kind of easygoing comment is that? And why at this of all times are --
H:
[glares]
Gj:
Che. [sits to Goku's left]
Gk:
Sanzo.
S:
Fuzukeru na. Shikamo doa wo saiten jya nee yo. Dokerou.
Stop screwing around. Moreover, you're blocking the door. Get out of the way.
H:
Oya. Muri ga tatatte koko made koraremasen ka?
Oh really. Are you actually able to make it all the way over here when just standing is all but impossible?
S:
Kisama~~
You bastard~~
Gj:
[bullies Sanzo into sitting down across from Goku] Temee mo ichizuru dai!
[bullies Sanzo into sitting down across from Goku] You've got a place here too!
S:
Baka! Hanasee!
Idiot! Let go!
Seating (ikkou) pic
Normally, who sits where in a game of mahjong is randomly determined through one of half a dozen methods (usually by shuffling and drawing certain tiles or rolling dice), and the seating is changed, again randomly, at the beginning of every new game. There are several conclusions that can be drawn from the fact that the ikkou all take seats informally, and then stay in the same positions for the entire day.
The first, of course, is that they're lazy. I mean, they're also all injured, but while moving with that many wounds can't possibly be pleasant, it hasn't stopped any of them so far. If they wanted to move, they would. The fact that they don't is probably an established pattern -- which brings us to the second conclusion: they're comfortable with each other. And, okay, that sounds even more trivial than 'they're lazy', so let me elaborate a bit.
Randomizing the seating is done primarily to equalize power in a game. See, there are two moves you can make in mahjong to steal tiles: 'pon (or kan)', used to complete sets of identical tiles, and 'chii', used to complete runs. You can pon tiles from any other player, but you can only chii tiles from the player on your left (the player who discards before your turn begins). Randomization balances things out so that you're not always coming after a really defensive player, or always tossing tiles to an aggressive one.
Now at this point in the story, it's pretty safe to assume that they are all familiar with each other's playing styles. Not switching the seating implies not only that they're comfortable playing in the same pattern for an extended period of time, but also that there's not a huge imbalance in skill between any of them. This is the sort of behaviour you see from friends or family who have played together so much that, compared to the total number, a few games in the same pattern doesn't make much of a difference.
It just speaks of a really comfortable familiarity.
It also speaks of Hakkai being a sneaky bastard, for while they might be more or less at the same level, it's still implied that Goku's usually the weakest. Hakkai taking the seat to Goku's right, then, would normally give him a bit of an advantage. Gojyo avoids playing against Hakkai directly by taking the seat to Goku's left, and Sanzo gets the remaining spot, meaning his turn will typically go after Hakkai and before Gojyo.
Gk:
Hai kaishii! [begins mixing tiles]
Okay, start! [begins mixing tiles]
Mixing (mahjong, ikkou)
Before each hand, the tiles are mixed, and then arranged into four 'walls' (rows of tiles two high and seventeen long, one in front of each player). The mixing is one of the really fun parts of the game, and everyone typically gets into it (you kind of need everyone helping; there are 136 tiles to mix, and you have to get them reasonably randomized without making too many of them flip over). Of course, here, only Goku and Hakkai are actually showing any enthusiasm; Gojyo's idly mixing one-handed and Sanzo's just not bothering at all.
Gk:
Ore ga chicha de ii?
Is it alright if I'm chicha?
H:
Ee, kamaimasen yo.
Go ahead, I don't mind.
S:
Kitenee darou hito no hanashi wo.
None of you are listening to a word I'm saying, are you.
Chicha and Oya (mahjong)
'Chicha' is the same as saying 'the starting oya'. Normally, chicha is randomized the same way that seating is, but, again, they're lazy. As oya, Goku goes first, and if he wins the hand, he'll get more points than he would otherwise (he'll also loses more points if he has to pay points out, so it balances).
Goku will remain oya until he loses a hand, and then Hakkai will become the next oya. After Hakkai it will continue counter-clockwise around the table. The game is over when all four of them have each been oya twice (or when one of them runs out of points).
Oya (symbolism)
Literally, 'oya' (親) translates as parent, and the other three players are called 'ko' (子),literally, children. Goku starting as oya and Hakkai granting him the role without argument (especially given that Hakkai is the first to go along with Goku's request to play) makes a nice parallel to the role-reversal we see throughout this episode.
Seat Winds (mahjong, symbolism) pic
Every round, each player has a cardinal direction assigned to their position at the table. This direction, or 'seat wind', is used to determine which of the four 'wind' tiles will earn the player extra points. For the first hand, Goku, as oya, is 'east', Hakkai is 'south', Gojyo is 'north', and Sanzo, sitting there with his head in his hand, is in 'west'.
Man:
Oi oi. Hontou ni hapijimeta yo, ano ko-tachi.
Hey now. They really are playing after all, those kids.
Not quite eavesdropping (mahjong)
Even on a cloth-covered surface, mahjong's not a particularly quiet game. Given that the bar otherwise appears to be empty, the barkeeper probably has no problem hearing the sound of the tiles being shuffled.
H:
[discards chun] Demo, hisashiburi desu ne, nanka.
[discards chun] But really, it's been so long since we've done this.
S:
Che. [discards]
Damn. [discards]
Hakkai's puns #1 (symbolism) pic
The first tile Hakkai discards is called chun, and is one of the sangen-pai, or three element/virtue tiles. The character on the tile, 中 (chuu/naka, 'inside'), read alone, usually means that one is in the middle of something -- for example, 'game-chuu' would be 'in the middle of playing a game. In addition, its readings are homonymous with 仲 (chuu/naka, 'relationships'), the latter of which is used for words like 'nakama' (friends/comrades -- any time Sanzo says, "They're not my friends," he's typically using the word 'nakama').
Chun also, according to one interpretation, represents the virtue of benevolence.
Hakkai putting out that tile, while it probably makes perfect sense with his hand, also sort of serves as a gentle reminder of what they have been (and should be) to each other. Sort of a like saying, "Remember, relax, we're all friends here."
Gj:
Oy. Nani kangaiten da, saru.
Oy. What are you thinking, monkey.
Gk:
Nanmo.
Nothing.
[discards: nan/south wind, roupin/6-pin, nan/south wind]
[hand: suusou/4-sou, paasou/8-sou, rousou/6-sou, ryanzou/2-sou, ryanzou/2-sou; cigarette implies S or Gj]
[draw: uupin/5-pin]
[discards: hatsu, ryanwan/2-wan, rousou/6-sou, sanzou/3-sou]
H:
Nn. Iyou ni kenmaku na moodo desu ne.
Hnn. Strangely, the mood's rather threatening, isn't it.
S:
[discards]
Gk:
Pinfu.
Yaku and fan (mahjong)
Riichi mahjong requires that a hand have at least one yaku in order to be able to go out. 'Yaku' is a broad term that refers to both specific hand patterns (e.g. pinfu is a yaku), and certain ways of completing your hand (riichi, seen in a bit, is also a yaku). Each yaku is worth a certain number of fan; the more fan you have, the higher your score. High value hands typically have several yaku.
Pinfu (mahjong) pic
Goku's claiming the tile Sanzo just laid down to complete his hand (normally Goku wouldn't actually add the tile to his hand, but it's the easiest way to show his hand to the viewer). Pinfu is generally considered the simplest yaku: four runs, and the pair have to be numbers or 'guest winds' (winds that are neither the player's seat wind nor the round wind; since his pair tiles are pei, north wind, and Goku's winds are currently east/east, his hand's valid).
Pinfu is worth one fan.
Complete and utter side note #1
Chin Yisou's name (romanized several different ways, written in kanji as 清一色) is actually a mahjong yaku: chin iisou (commonly shortened to just 清一, 'chin itsu'). Chin iisou is a hand composed entirely of a single suit, and at six fan (five if you've claimed tiles from other players), it's the single higest scoring of al of the standard yaku.
(See the_dw for some more fascinating notes in the comments!)
Gj:
E?
Huh?
Gk:
Pinfu. Sen ten. Aa, oya dakara sen go-hyakku ka?
Pinfu. 1000 points. Wait, I'm oya so it's 1500, right?
Scoring (mahjong)
Pinfu is always worth 30 fu (hand points) when finished by stealing the last tile, and since the only extra fan come from pinfu, he has three fan total (1 hand fan + 2 base). That makes the value of his hand 30 * 2^3 = 240. Since Goku is currently oya and won by discard, the hand is multiplied by six (representing each of the other three players paying double the value), and then rounded up to the nearest 100, giving the total of 1500 points. If he weren't oya, the value of the hand would be multiplied by four (two players paying the base value, the dealer paying double), which gives the 1000 point value he quotes originally). This is amount is payed by the discarding player to the winning player; in this case, since the final tile came from Sanzo's discard, Sanzo loses the 1500 points Goku gains.
Goku and math (ikkou)
As you can see, hand-calculating scores can be pretty tedious (and that was a simple hand, too). Casual players usually just keep a set of reference tables on hand instead, or at least a pad of paper and a calculator. Here, of course, we see neither.
The ease and speed with which Goku calculates his hand scores, both in this hand and others, says a lot about how his math skills have improved. Comfortable with double-digit addition, rounding, and either a good deal of memorization or exponential multiplication -- he's come a long way from counting oranges in Keiun Temple.
Gj:
Che. Magure agari urusai.
Tch. You're making a big deal over a lucky hand (lit.: increase in points).
Gk:
Demo katchi wa katchi darou? Sen go-hyakku.
But a win's a win, isn't it? 1500.
Planning and philosophy (symbolism, ikkou)
A simple pinfu isn't really a planned hand, and a lone pinfu is one of the lowest scoring hands possible. But it is a win, and it's a personal decision as to whether a simple win is better than trying for something more complex, and risking having another player complete their hand first. Here we get our first look at how the ikkou's personalities tend to come out in their playing styles: Goku is very much the kind of person who goes with what's in front of him, rather than complicating things with a possible future that may or may not work out. A win's still a win, small or large.
S:
Che. Tsukiatte yareru ka?
Tch. Do you think I can just stick around for your amusement?
Gk:
Sanzo. Maketa mama de ii wake?
Sanzo. Does that mean you're fine with staying the loser?
Quitting (ikkou)
At this point, Sanzo is the only one who has lost points. If Sanzo walks out now, terminating the game early, he's the one who loses. I'm pretty sure that Goku is deliberately referencing Kami-sama's 'game': there, too, they left halfway through, and though it was a forfit for three of them, Sanzo actually lost. Maten sutra aside, nebulous 'points' aside, right now, Sanzo has lost. And with an almost uncharacteristic subtlety, Goku's telling him so.
S:
[sits, shuffles in hand]
Shuffling (anime, ikkou)
Note that this time, all four of them are participating equally. Feelings and doubts aside, from this point forward Gojyo and Sanzo are paying attention to the game.
Man:
Tsuzukettoru.
They're continuing.
Not quite eavesdropping #2 (ikkou)
Again, the bartender is hearing the noise of shuffling. Part of his surprise (and disapproval) likely comes from the fact that shuffling shouldn't really be an easy or particular painless activity for a group of people with half-healed arm and chest wounds.
Second hand (mahjong)
Because Goku won the last hand, he's still oya, and the directions don't change.
S:
[discards: sanpin/3-pin, ryanwan/2-wan, haku; discarding paasou/8-sou]
Gj:
Sore chii.
That's a chii.
Chii (mahjong)
Gojyo claims the tile Sanzo is discarding; 'chii' means that he's using the tile to complete a run. He takes the other two tiles that make the run out of his hand and puts them face-up beside him, and discards a third tile. Though not shown, the tile stolen from Sanzo will be put with the two beside Gojyo, laid horizontally (to show that it was the stolen tile) and in the leftmost position (to show that it was stolen from the player on Gojyo's left).
Gk:
[draws] [discards: chiisou/7-sou, pei/west wind, chuupin/9-pin; discards shaa/west wind] Riichi. [tosses tenbou/point stick]
Gj:
Choushiin nattan jaa nee zo, saru.
Don't act like you're so well off, monkey.
Tenbou (mahjong) pic
Points during a game are kept track of using tenbou, or 'point sticks'. The pattern of dots on the stick tells you how much each is worth. Typically, the patterns are:
100 - eight or ten small black dots in two rows
1000 - one large red dot
5000 - five small red dots in a 2-1-2 pattern (middle dot may be large)
10,000 - Large black dot (or circle), seven red dots in a 1-2-1-2-1 pattern, large black dot (or circle)
Riichi (mahjong)
Riichi can be called on your turn when your hand is one tile away from being complete, as long as you haven't used pon, chii or kan to claim tiles from other players (i.e. your hand is still closed). Riichi counts as a one-fan yaku, and also means you get to flip over the tiles under the dora tile, and use them as additional dora (for every tile in your hand that's next in sequence after a dora tile, you get one additional fan). There are two downsides to riichi: first, once you call it, your hand is locked -- you can't make any changes to it. Second, you have to take a 1000-point stick from your stock and place it on the table. It goes to whoever wins the hand, whether the winner called riichi or not.
Confidence (ikkou, symbolism)
So Goku calls riichi, places his discard tile horizontal to show when he made the call, and throws a 1000-point stick out with perhaps slightly more enthusiasm than necessary. Normally, the stick is simply placed on the table; Goku throws it out like a challenge.
In a way, that's exactly what it is.
Riichi is a confidence move: Gojyo, Sanzo, and Hakkai now know that Goku's hand is almost complete. Goku's betting that either one of the three of them will discard a tile that will finish his hand, or that he'll draw one himself. Combined with his attitude, he's kind of saying, "I'm going to win. Just try and stop me."
Discards (anime, symbolism) pic
The tile Goku calls riichi on is shaa, the west wind tile.
Complete and utter side note #2
The tenbou that Chin Yisou used as weapons and chew toys were all 1000-point sticks. That was likely a reference to riichi.
H:
[discards]
S:
[discards]
Gk:
Ron. Mentanpin ippatsu sanshoku iipeikou dora-ichi. Ni-man yon-sen.
Ron. Men-tan-pin, ippatsu, sanshoku, iipeikou, one dora. 24,000.
Ron (mahjong)
On Sanzo's discard, Goku calls 'ron' -- claiming the tile to complete his hand (normally, he would have called 'ron' on his first hand as well, instead of saying 'pinfu'). When a player wins a hand by ron, instead of the entire table paying the winning player, the player responsible for discarding the winning tile pays the other player's shares as well. This means that if the player who called ron is oya, the discarding player pays the winner six times the hand's value; otherwise, the discarding player pays four times the hand value.
Yaku and fan (mahjong)
Goku's yaku and their associated fan:
1 riichi (men) - winning after calling riichi
1 tanyao (tan) - only number tiles, no ones or nines
1 pinfu (pin) - four runs, final tile is one of two that can complete a run, no special wind tiles, no virtue tiles
1 ippatsu - winning after calling riichi but before your next discard
2 sanshoku - the same run in all three suits
1 iipeikou - the same run twice in one suit
Non-yaku fan:
1 dora - hand contains a tile that comes next in sequence after the tile turned face-up in the wall.
Limit hands (mahjong)
Because Goku has so many fan, it no longer matters what his fu are, because even at the lowest possible score (20), his hand is over the mangan, or limit, of 2000 points. This limit exists so that the hand value doesn't explode when a player has a large number of fan. When the hand would naturally score over 2000, the hand value is determined soley by the number of fan:
5- 7 fan: mangan (limit), 2000 points
8- 9 fan: haneman (limit and a half), 3000 points
10-12 fan: baiman (double limit), 4000 points
13+ fan: sanbaiman (triple limit), 6000 points
Scoring (mahjong)
Goku has ten fan total (7 (yaku) + 1 (dora) + 2), so his hand value is 4000. Once again, as oya winning by discard, that value is multiplied by six, giving the 24,000 point total. And again, because it was Sanzo's discard, Sanzo gets hit with the entire cost.
Character hands: Goku (symbolism)
Each character has one high-scoring hand that is totally a reflection of their personality. This is Goku's. It's not a complex hand; all of the pattern yaku it incorporates are very basic, and there are no special tricks or tiles. It's just the same run, four times, in three suits. And it's a wonderful example of how things that are exceeding simple, done right, can hit like a truck.
You can kind of read it like this:
Confidence (riichi), a bit of luck (dora), a lot of speed (ippatsu), simply (pinfu) taking the middle road (tanyao) over and over (iipeiko) and over and over again (sanshoku).
Gk:
[drops tenbou] He he he. Saa~tte, tsugi, iite miyou!
[drops point sticks] He he he. Come on, let's see what happens in the next one!
Game end (mahjong)
Assuming that they're playing with standard starting values of 25,000 points each, at this point, two hands in, Goku's claimed all of Sanzo's points: 25,000 - 1500 (first hand) - 24,000 (second hand) - 300 (bonus for winning the second hand in a round) = -700.
Because Sanzo's points are below zero, the game ends. This puts Goku in first (top), Hakkai and Gojyo tied for second and third, and Sanzo last.
That was fast (symbolism)
As is probably obvious from the various expressions, while having a game end in two hands is possible, it very rarely happens. In short, Goku kicked ass hard.
In long, this is the first look at exactly how wrong things are right now. All three of them are highly competent players, however, looking at their scores, Gojyo and Hakkai didn't make a difference at all, and Sanzo was outright killed.
You can't help but think that if the three of them went back to Kami-sama's castle like this, the results would be exactly the same.
[Time passes]
Gj:
Che. Asa kara hanchan jikkai menzoku Goku ga toppu jya nee ka yo.
Tch. Don't tell me that, since this morning, Goku's been in top place for ten hanchan in a row.
Hanchan (mahjong)
A hanchan is a game of mahjong consisting of four east rounds and four south rounds. While you can play longer games (like iichan, which has east, south, west, and north rounds), hanchan is the standard game length in riichi mahjong.
H:
Anata datte soko soko agateru jya nai desu ka?
Aren't you yourself going up bit by bit?
Gj:
Sore wa dareka-san ni kurabe ya na.
Well, yeah, compared to a certain someone.
S:
[discards]
Gj:
Goku no yatsu hakatte yori [discards] Sanzo no tsutehai de agate kara na.
And that's because that Goku, more than playing by strategy [discards] he's winning (lit. increasing in points) by Sanzo's discards.
Current standings (mahjong)
Gojyo and Hakkai talk about where the score sits. After each game of mahjong, each player's game points are converted to score points, with the winner (and sometimes second) receiving a bonus and, depending on house rules, the loser (and sometimes third) incurring a penalty. When playing multiple games of mahjong, the score points are used to determine overall standing (when playing for money, they're used to determine payout).
Judging from the conversation, it seems as though Goku has been consistently in the lead, Gojyo and Hakkai following (judging from Hakkai's irritation, they've probably been see-sawing between second and third for a while), and Sanzo's been constantly last, mostly because Goku keeps calling ron on his tiles.
Gk:
[draws, discards]
H:
[draws]
Gj:
Oy Hakkai. Temee to kono saru to gumu jya nee darou na.
Hey Hakkai. You wouldn't happen to be in league with the monkey, now would you.
H:
Sonna hitoriki warui. Daichi sonna koto shite, boku ni nan no merito ga -- [discards]
What a horrible thing to imply. First, even presuming that I was, what sort of personal benefit would -- [discards]
Gk:
Ron~~! Chiitoi doradora! Roku-sen yon-hyakku!
Ron~~! Chiitoi two dora! 6400!
Scoring (mahjong)
Chiitoi is a hand composed of seven pairs, and is worth two fan. Because it's a non-standard hand (the standard hand has four runs/sets and a pair), chiitoi has a set fu of 25. Combined with the six fan (2(yaku) + 2(dora) + 2), the hand's value is 25 * 2^6 = 1600. As the hand was won by ron, Hakkai is responsible for the entire payout. Here we learn that Goku is not oya this hand, because the payout is four times the hand's value (6400) instead of six (9600).
H:
A ha ha ha ha. [drops tenbou] Goku, sekouchou desu ne~~.
A ha ha ha ha. [drops point sticks] Goku, how very successful~~.
Gj:
Okoteru okoteru. Are maji da yo na.
He's pissed, he's pissed. That's for real, isn't it.
S:
Che.
And meanwhile, back at the ranch
Cut to a brief intermission with Kami-sama. He plays games, but not mahjong, because you need four people to play mahjong and we've seen how well he plays with others.
To part 2
Due to frequent spam, comment notifications have been disabled -- if there's something you'd like to add, I'd love to hear it! Just leave a comment on the second part instead of this one if you'd like me to reply.
- Though I'm mostly following the anime's version of the game, I believe that the script for this scene was lifted almost verbatim from the manga (though given that I don't have raw versions of chapters 50 and 51, I can't be sure). I do know that the anime adds a few things and makes a few mistakes -- I've tried to mark where they happen.
- Both the transcription and the translation are my own, and were written more for reference than for character. Read at your own risk, and feel free to correct me if I got something wrong. Romanji has been left in for verification (though I can't guarantee my spelling).
- I'm pretty sure that the majority of readers aren't really familiar with mahjong, so I've tried to explain as much as I can without writing up a guide specifically on the game itself. If there's anything you're confused or curious about, please, ask!
Key:
anime - events or notes that are specific to the anime
ikkou - things about the characters' behaviours and/or actions
mahjong - explanations of mahjong gameplay, vocabulary, etc.
symbolism - symbolic stuff
oreTACHI no yarikata
Our way of doing things
Dawn
The Mahjong Game: Part One
Preface (ikkou, symbolism)
There are a lot of variations of mahjong. The one played in Saiyuki (and the one I'm referencing pretty much any time I say 'mahjong' from here on in), is modern Japanese mahjong -- also called riichi/reach mahjong.
So why are a bunch of characters from pseudo-Ancient China playing the modern Japanese version? The most likey reason, of course, is that Minekura herself plays by those rules. However, as always, there's possibly a bit more to it than that.
For instance, it's worth noting that this particular variant of mahjong has a slightly infamous reputation. Riichi mahjong was primarily developed in yakuza-run mahjong parlours, so it favours certain aspects of the game that are particularly appealing to professional gamblers (and professional cheats). Hand secrecy is a big one; your score is nearly always higher if you form your hand on your own, instead of relying on discards from other players. It's also more complex and chance-driven than most of the traditional variations, and the focus of gameplay tends to be on more on individual hands and luck rather than on the use of a steady strategy through a number of rounds.
Overall, between the game's focus (independency), history (shady), and attitude (devil-may-care and living for the moment), intentionally or coincidentally, riichi mahjong suits the characters, and the story, very well.
Gk:
[Enters, sets down table, covers it with cloth, opens tiles] Maajan yarou.
[Enters, sets down table, covers it with cloth, opens tiles] Let's play mahjong.
Setup (mahjong)
The cloth that Goku covers the table with serves two purposes. The first is to help protect the surface of the tiles from being damaged by constantly rubbing against the tabletop. The second is to help muffle some of the noise the tiles make.
Tile sets (anime) pic
The box of tiles is shown to contain a season tile; however, season tiles (and flower tiles and American 'joker' tiles) aren't part of the set used in riichi mahjong. We'll just assume that they were taken out and put to the side.
(Thanks to homasse for the edit on this point!)
Gj:
Haa? Omae nani itten --
Huh? What the heck are you talking abo--
H:
Ii deshou. Koko shitsureishimasu yo. [sits to Goku's right]
That sounds good. Pardon me for sitting here. [sits to Goku's right]
Gj:
Ya Hakkai...
Um, Hakkai...
H:
Hora, Gojyo mo.
Come on Gojyo, you too.
Gj:
Baka ka? Nani yuuchuu na koto itten da yo? Nande imasara sonna --
Are you crazy? What kind of easygoing comment is that? And why at this of all times are --
H:
[glares]
Gj:
Che. [sits to Goku's left]
Gk:
Sanzo.
S:
Fuzukeru na. Shikamo doa wo saiten jya nee yo. Dokerou.
Stop screwing around. Moreover, you're blocking the door. Get out of the way.
H:
Oya. Muri ga tatatte koko made koraremasen ka?
Oh really. Are you actually able to make it all the way over here when just standing is all but impossible?
S:
Kisama~~
You bastard~~
Gj:
[bullies Sanzo into sitting down across from Goku] Temee mo ichizuru dai!
[bullies Sanzo into sitting down across from Goku] You've got a place here too!
S:
Baka! Hanasee!
Idiot! Let go!
Seating (ikkou) pic
Normally, who sits where in a game of mahjong is randomly determined through one of half a dozen methods (usually by shuffling and drawing certain tiles or rolling dice), and the seating is changed, again randomly, at the beginning of every new game. There are several conclusions that can be drawn from the fact that the ikkou all take seats informally, and then stay in the same positions for the entire day.
The first, of course, is that they're lazy. I mean, they're also all injured, but while moving with that many wounds can't possibly be pleasant, it hasn't stopped any of them so far. If they wanted to move, they would. The fact that they don't is probably an established pattern -- which brings us to the second conclusion: they're comfortable with each other. And, okay, that sounds even more trivial than 'they're lazy', so let me elaborate a bit.
Randomizing the seating is done primarily to equalize power in a game. See, there are two moves you can make in mahjong to steal tiles: 'pon (or kan)', used to complete sets of identical tiles, and 'chii', used to complete runs. You can pon tiles from any other player, but you can only chii tiles from the player on your left (the player who discards before your turn begins). Randomization balances things out so that you're not always coming after a really defensive player, or always tossing tiles to an aggressive one.
Now at this point in the story, it's pretty safe to assume that they are all familiar with each other's playing styles. Not switching the seating implies not only that they're comfortable playing in the same pattern for an extended period of time, but also that there's not a huge imbalance in skill between any of them. This is the sort of behaviour you see from friends or family who have played together so much that, compared to the total number, a few games in the same pattern doesn't make much of a difference.
It just speaks of a really comfortable familiarity.
It also speaks of Hakkai being a sneaky bastard, for while they might be more or less at the same level, it's still implied that Goku's usually the weakest. Hakkai taking the seat to Goku's right, then, would normally give him a bit of an advantage. Gojyo avoids playing against Hakkai directly by taking the seat to Goku's left, and Sanzo gets the remaining spot, meaning his turn will typically go after Hakkai and before Gojyo.
Gk:
Hai kaishii! [begins mixing tiles]
Okay, start! [begins mixing tiles]
Mixing (mahjong, ikkou)
Before each hand, the tiles are mixed, and then arranged into four 'walls' (rows of tiles two high and seventeen long, one in front of each player). The mixing is one of the really fun parts of the game, and everyone typically gets into it (you kind of need everyone helping; there are 136 tiles to mix, and you have to get them reasonably randomized without making too many of them flip over). Of course, here, only Goku and Hakkai are actually showing any enthusiasm; Gojyo's idly mixing one-handed and Sanzo's just not bothering at all.
Gk:
Ore ga chicha de ii?
Is it alright if I'm chicha?
H:
Ee, kamaimasen yo.
Go ahead, I don't mind.
S:
Kitenee darou hito no hanashi wo.
None of you are listening to a word I'm saying, are you.
Chicha and Oya (mahjong)
'Chicha' is the same as saying 'the starting oya'. Normally, chicha is randomized the same way that seating is, but, again, they're lazy. As oya, Goku goes first, and if he wins the hand, he'll get more points than he would otherwise (he'll also loses more points if he has to pay points out, so it balances).
Goku will remain oya until he loses a hand, and then Hakkai will become the next oya. After Hakkai it will continue counter-clockwise around the table. The game is over when all four of them have each been oya twice (or when one of them runs out of points).
Oya (symbolism)
Literally, 'oya' (親) translates as parent, and the other three players are called 'ko' (子),literally, children. Goku starting as oya and Hakkai granting him the role without argument (especially given that Hakkai is the first to go along with Goku's request to play) makes a nice parallel to the role-reversal we see throughout this episode.
Seat Winds (mahjong, symbolism) pic
Every round, each player has a cardinal direction assigned to their position at the table. This direction, or 'seat wind', is used to determine which of the four 'wind' tiles will earn the player extra points. For the first hand, Goku, as oya, is 'east', Hakkai is 'south', Gojyo is 'north', and Sanzo, sitting there with his head in his hand, is in 'west'.
Man:
Oi oi. Hontou ni hapijimeta yo, ano ko-tachi.
Hey now. They really are playing after all, those kids.
Not quite eavesdropping (mahjong)
Even on a cloth-covered surface, mahjong's not a particularly quiet game. Given that the bar otherwise appears to be empty, the barkeeper probably has no problem hearing the sound of the tiles being shuffled.
H:
[discards chun] Demo, hisashiburi desu ne, nanka.
[discards chun] But really, it's been so long since we've done this.
S:
Che. [discards]
Damn. [discards]
Hakkai's puns #1 (symbolism) pic
The first tile Hakkai discards is called chun, and is one of the sangen-pai, or three element/virtue tiles. The character on the tile, 中 (chuu/naka, 'inside'), read alone, usually means that one is in the middle of something -- for example, 'game-chuu' would be 'in the middle of playing a game. In addition, its readings are homonymous with 仲 (chuu/naka, 'relationships'), the latter of which is used for words like 'nakama' (friends/comrades -- any time Sanzo says, "They're not my friends," he's typically using the word 'nakama').
Chun also, according to one interpretation, represents the virtue of benevolence.
Hakkai putting out that tile, while it probably makes perfect sense with his hand, also sort of serves as a gentle reminder of what they have been (and should be) to each other. Sort of a like saying, "Remember, relax, we're all friends here."
Gj:
Oy. Nani kangaiten da, saru.
Oy. What are you thinking, monkey.
Gk:
Nanmo.
Nothing.
[discards: nan/south wind, roupin/6-pin, nan/south wind]
[hand: suusou/4-sou, paasou/8-sou, rousou/6-sou, ryanzou/2-sou, ryanzou/2-sou; cigarette implies S or Gj]
[draw: uupin/5-pin]
[discards: hatsu, ryanwan/2-wan, rousou/6-sou, sanzou/3-sou]
H:
Nn. Iyou ni kenmaku na moodo desu ne.
Hnn. Strangely, the mood's rather threatening, isn't it.
S:
[discards]
Gk:
Pinfu.
Yaku and fan (mahjong)
Riichi mahjong requires that a hand have at least one yaku in order to be able to go out. 'Yaku' is a broad term that refers to both specific hand patterns (e.g. pinfu is a yaku), and certain ways of completing your hand (riichi, seen in a bit, is also a yaku). Each yaku is worth a certain number of fan; the more fan you have, the higher your score. High value hands typically have several yaku.
Pinfu (mahjong) pic
Goku's claiming the tile Sanzo just laid down to complete his hand (normally Goku wouldn't actually add the tile to his hand, but it's the easiest way to show his hand to the viewer). Pinfu is generally considered the simplest yaku: four runs, and the pair have to be numbers or 'guest winds' (winds that are neither the player's seat wind nor the round wind; since his pair tiles are pei, north wind, and Goku's winds are currently east/east, his hand's valid).
Pinfu is worth one fan.
Complete and utter side note #1
Chin Yisou's name (romanized several different ways, written in kanji as 清一色) is actually a mahjong yaku: chin iisou (commonly shortened to just 清一, 'chin itsu'). Chin iisou is a hand composed entirely of a single suit, and at six fan (five if you've claimed tiles from other players), it's the single higest scoring of al of the standard yaku.
(See the_dw for some more fascinating notes in the comments!)
Gj:
E?
Huh?
Gk:
Pinfu. Sen ten. Aa, oya dakara sen go-hyakku ka?
Pinfu. 1000 points. Wait, I'm oya so it's 1500, right?
Scoring (mahjong)
Pinfu is always worth 30 fu (hand points) when finished by stealing the last tile, and since the only extra fan come from pinfu, he has three fan total (1 hand fan + 2 base). That makes the value of his hand 30 * 2^3 = 240. Since Goku is currently oya and won by discard, the hand is multiplied by six (representing each of the other three players paying double the value), and then rounded up to the nearest 100, giving the total of 1500 points. If he weren't oya, the value of the hand would be multiplied by four (two players paying the base value, the dealer paying double), which gives the 1000 point value he quotes originally). This is amount is payed by the discarding player to the winning player; in this case, since the final tile came from Sanzo's discard, Sanzo loses the 1500 points Goku gains.
Goku and math (ikkou)
As you can see, hand-calculating scores can be pretty tedious (and that was a simple hand, too). Casual players usually just keep a set of reference tables on hand instead, or at least a pad of paper and a calculator. Here, of course, we see neither.
The ease and speed with which Goku calculates his hand scores, both in this hand and others, says a lot about how his math skills have improved. Comfortable with double-digit addition, rounding, and either a good deal of memorization or exponential multiplication -- he's come a long way from counting oranges in Keiun Temple.
Gj:
Che. Magure agari urusai.
Tch. You're making a big deal over a lucky hand (lit.: increase in points).
Gk:
Demo katchi wa katchi darou? Sen go-hyakku.
But a win's a win, isn't it? 1500.
Planning and philosophy (symbolism, ikkou)
A simple pinfu isn't really a planned hand, and a lone pinfu is one of the lowest scoring hands possible. But it is a win, and it's a personal decision as to whether a simple win is better than trying for something more complex, and risking having another player complete their hand first. Here we get our first look at how the ikkou's personalities tend to come out in their playing styles: Goku is very much the kind of person who goes with what's in front of him, rather than complicating things with a possible future that may or may not work out. A win's still a win, small or large.
S:
Che. Tsukiatte yareru ka?
Tch. Do you think I can just stick around for your amusement?
Gk:
Sanzo. Maketa mama de ii wake?
Sanzo. Does that mean you're fine with staying the loser?
Quitting (ikkou)
At this point, Sanzo is the only one who has lost points. If Sanzo walks out now, terminating the game early, he's the one who loses. I'm pretty sure that Goku is deliberately referencing Kami-sama's 'game': there, too, they left halfway through, and though it was a forfit for three of them, Sanzo actually lost. Maten sutra aside, nebulous 'points' aside, right now, Sanzo has lost. And with an almost uncharacteristic subtlety, Goku's telling him so.
S:
[sits, shuffles in hand]
Shuffling (anime, ikkou)
Note that this time, all four of them are participating equally. Feelings and doubts aside, from this point forward Gojyo and Sanzo are paying attention to the game.
Man:
Tsuzukettoru.
They're continuing.
Not quite eavesdropping #2 (ikkou)
Again, the bartender is hearing the noise of shuffling. Part of his surprise (and disapproval) likely comes from the fact that shuffling shouldn't really be an easy or particular painless activity for a group of people with half-healed arm and chest wounds.
Second hand (mahjong)
Because Goku won the last hand, he's still oya, and the directions don't change.
S:
[discards: sanpin/3-pin, ryanwan/2-wan, haku; discarding paasou/8-sou]
Gj:
Sore chii.
That's a chii.
Chii (mahjong)
Gojyo claims the tile Sanzo is discarding; 'chii' means that he's using the tile to complete a run. He takes the other two tiles that make the run out of his hand and puts them face-up beside him, and discards a third tile. Though not shown, the tile stolen from Sanzo will be put with the two beside Gojyo, laid horizontally (to show that it was the stolen tile) and in the leftmost position (to show that it was stolen from the player on Gojyo's left).
Gk:
[draws] [discards: chiisou/7-sou, pei/west wind, chuupin/9-pin; discards shaa/west wind] Riichi. [tosses tenbou/point stick]
Gj:
Choushiin nattan jaa nee zo, saru.
Don't act like you're so well off, monkey.
Tenbou (mahjong) pic
Points during a game are kept track of using tenbou, or 'point sticks'. The pattern of dots on the stick tells you how much each is worth. Typically, the patterns are:
100 - eight or ten small black dots in two rows
1000 - one large red dot
5000 - five small red dots in a 2-1-2 pattern (middle dot may be large)
10,000 - Large black dot (or circle), seven red dots in a 1-2-1-2-1 pattern, large black dot (or circle)
Riichi (mahjong)
Riichi can be called on your turn when your hand is one tile away from being complete, as long as you haven't used pon, chii or kan to claim tiles from other players (i.e. your hand is still closed). Riichi counts as a one-fan yaku, and also means you get to flip over the tiles under the dora tile, and use them as additional dora (for every tile in your hand that's next in sequence after a dora tile, you get one additional fan). There are two downsides to riichi: first, once you call it, your hand is locked -- you can't make any changes to it. Second, you have to take a 1000-point stick from your stock and place it on the table. It goes to whoever wins the hand, whether the winner called riichi or not.
Confidence (ikkou, symbolism)
So Goku calls riichi, places his discard tile horizontal to show when he made the call, and throws a 1000-point stick out with perhaps slightly more enthusiasm than necessary. Normally, the stick is simply placed on the table; Goku throws it out like a challenge.
In a way, that's exactly what it is.
Riichi is a confidence move: Gojyo, Sanzo, and Hakkai now know that Goku's hand is almost complete. Goku's betting that either one of the three of them will discard a tile that will finish his hand, or that he'll draw one himself. Combined with his attitude, he's kind of saying, "I'm going to win. Just try and stop me."
Discards (anime, symbolism) pic
The tile Goku calls riichi on is shaa, the west wind tile.
Complete and utter side note #2
The tenbou that Chin Yisou used as weapons and chew toys were all 1000-point sticks. That was likely a reference to riichi.
H:
[discards]
S:
[discards]
Gk:
Ron. Mentanpin ippatsu sanshoku iipeikou dora-ichi. Ni-man yon-sen.
Ron. Men-tan-pin, ippatsu, sanshoku, iipeikou, one dora. 24,000.
Ron (mahjong)
On Sanzo's discard, Goku calls 'ron' -- claiming the tile to complete his hand (normally, he would have called 'ron' on his first hand as well, instead of saying 'pinfu'). When a player wins a hand by ron, instead of the entire table paying the winning player, the player responsible for discarding the winning tile pays the other player's shares as well. This means that if the player who called ron is oya, the discarding player pays the winner six times the hand's value; otherwise, the discarding player pays four times the hand value.
Yaku and fan (mahjong)
Goku's yaku and their associated fan:
1 riichi (men) - winning after calling riichi
1 tanyao (tan) - only number tiles, no ones or nines
1 pinfu (pin) - four runs, final tile is one of two that can complete a run, no special wind tiles, no virtue tiles
1 ippatsu - winning after calling riichi but before your next discard
2 sanshoku - the same run in all three suits
1 iipeikou - the same run twice in one suit
Non-yaku fan:
1 dora - hand contains a tile that comes next in sequence after the tile turned face-up in the wall.
Limit hands (mahjong)
Because Goku has so many fan, it no longer matters what his fu are, because even at the lowest possible score (20), his hand is over the mangan, or limit, of 2000 points. This limit exists so that the hand value doesn't explode when a player has a large number of fan. When the hand would naturally score over 2000, the hand value is determined soley by the number of fan:
5- 7 fan: mangan (limit), 2000 points
8- 9 fan: haneman (limit and a half), 3000 points
10-12 fan: baiman (double limit), 4000 points
13+ fan: sanbaiman (triple limit), 6000 points
Scoring (mahjong)
Goku has ten fan total (7 (yaku) + 1 (dora) + 2), so his hand value is 4000. Once again, as oya winning by discard, that value is multiplied by six, giving the 24,000 point total. And again, because it was Sanzo's discard, Sanzo gets hit with the entire cost.
Character hands: Goku (symbolism)
Each character has one high-scoring hand that is totally a reflection of their personality. This is Goku's. It's not a complex hand; all of the pattern yaku it incorporates are very basic, and there are no special tricks or tiles. It's just the same run, four times, in three suits. And it's a wonderful example of how things that are exceeding simple, done right, can hit like a truck.
You can kind of read it like this:
Confidence (riichi), a bit of luck (dora), a lot of speed (ippatsu), simply (pinfu) taking the middle road (tanyao) over and over (iipeiko) and over and over again (sanshoku).
Gk:
[drops tenbou] He he he. Saa~tte, tsugi, iite miyou!
[drops point sticks] He he he. Come on, let's see what happens in the next one!
Game end (mahjong)
Assuming that they're playing with standard starting values of 25,000 points each, at this point, two hands in, Goku's claimed all of Sanzo's points: 25,000 - 1500 (first hand) - 24,000 (second hand) - 300 (bonus for winning the second hand in a round) = -700.
Because Sanzo's points are below zero, the game ends. This puts Goku in first (top), Hakkai and Gojyo tied for second and third, and Sanzo last.
That was fast (symbolism)
As is probably obvious from the various expressions, while having a game end in two hands is possible, it very rarely happens. In short, Goku kicked ass hard.
In long, this is the first look at exactly how wrong things are right now. All three of them are highly competent players, however, looking at their scores, Gojyo and Hakkai didn't make a difference at all, and Sanzo was outright killed.
You can't help but think that if the three of them went back to Kami-sama's castle like this, the results would be exactly the same.
[Time passes]
Gj:
Che. Asa kara hanchan jikkai menzoku Goku ga toppu jya nee ka yo.
Tch. Don't tell me that, since this morning, Goku's been in top place for ten hanchan in a row.
Hanchan (mahjong)
A hanchan is a game of mahjong consisting of four east rounds and four south rounds. While you can play longer games (like iichan, which has east, south, west, and north rounds), hanchan is the standard game length in riichi mahjong.
H:
Anata datte soko soko agateru jya nai desu ka?
Aren't you yourself going up bit by bit?
Gj:
Sore wa dareka-san ni kurabe ya na.
Well, yeah, compared to a certain someone.
S:
[discards]
Gj:
Goku no yatsu hakatte yori [discards] Sanzo no tsutehai de agate kara na.
And that's because that Goku, more than playing by strategy [discards] he's winning (lit. increasing in points) by Sanzo's discards.
Current standings (mahjong)
Gojyo and Hakkai talk about where the score sits. After each game of mahjong, each player's game points are converted to score points, with the winner (and sometimes second) receiving a bonus and, depending on house rules, the loser (and sometimes third) incurring a penalty. When playing multiple games of mahjong, the score points are used to determine overall standing (when playing for money, they're used to determine payout).
Judging from the conversation, it seems as though Goku has been consistently in the lead, Gojyo and Hakkai following (judging from Hakkai's irritation, they've probably been see-sawing between second and third for a while), and Sanzo's been constantly last, mostly because Goku keeps calling ron on his tiles.
Gk:
[draws, discards]
H:
[draws]
Gj:
Oy Hakkai. Temee to kono saru to gumu jya nee darou na.
Hey Hakkai. You wouldn't happen to be in league with the monkey, now would you.
H:
Sonna hitoriki warui. Daichi sonna koto shite, boku ni nan no merito ga -- [discards]
What a horrible thing to imply. First, even presuming that I was, what sort of personal benefit would -- [discards]
Gk:
Ron~~! Chiitoi doradora! Roku-sen yon-hyakku!
Ron~~! Chiitoi two dora! 6400!
Scoring (mahjong)
Chiitoi is a hand composed of seven pairs, and is worth two fan. Because it's a non-standard hand (the standard hand has four runs/sets and a pair), chiitoi has a set fu of 25. Combined with the six fan (2(yaku) + 2(dora) + 2), the hand's value is 25 * 2^6 = 1600. As the hand was won by ron, Hakkai is responsible for the entire payout. Here we learn that Goku is not oya this hand, because the payout is four times the hand's value (6400) instead of six (9600).
H:
A ha ha ha ha. [drops tenbou] Goku, sekouchou desu ne~~.
A ha ha ha ha. [drops point sticks] Goku, how very successful~~.
Gj:
Okoteru okoteru. Are maji da yo na.
He's pissed, he's pissed. That's for real, isn't it.
S:
Che.
And meanwhile, back at the ranch
Cut to a brief intermission with Kami-sama. He plays games, but not mahjong, because you need four people to play mahjong and we've seen how well he plays with others.
To part 2
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