History Manga / SakiShinohayuDawnOfAge

''Saki Shinohayu -dawn of age-'' is an ongoing 2013 prequel spinoff of mahjong manga ''{{Manga/Saki}}'', written by Ritz Kobayashi and illustrated by Aguri Igarashi (of ''Manga/BambooBlade'' fame), this time focusing on the pros, or rather, their teenage years.

* SwitchingPOV: The pilot chapter focuses on Harue's mini-reunion with Sukoya, Hayari and Risa, then the first three chapters switch to Shino, before moving onto to Kanna for four chapters, both of which are set before their fateful finals match against Hayari and Yuuichi during the Matsue children's finals. Chapter 8 onwards is in turn dedicated to Hayari not long after her second match with Kanna.

* SwitchingPOV: The first three chapters have focused on Shino, before switching to Kanna, both of which are set before their fateful finals match against Hayari and Yuuichi during the Matsue children's finals.

* DecoyProtagonist: It seems that this will be Harue's story... nope! The main character, at least so far, are Shino and Kanna, who would one day become Hayari's junior high teammates.

* WhatTheHellHero: Kousuke decides to pawn off the family mahjong set, as he's convinced that it reminds Shino too much of her mother. In fact, this makes her even ''more'' unhappy when she hears what he did.

It is the night after the semifinals of the 71st National Inter-High Mahjong Tournament, and Team Achiga is celebrating their advancement to the finals. Despite the celebratory mood, their adviser, Harue Akado, excuses herself for a night out with old friends... who happen to be fellow professional players of course, but this is the first time in a long while that Harue herself has seen any of them after becoming adviser, or much more than that, when she quit the game altogether after a disastrous loss at a National semifinals match ten years ago.

Yes, there's a bit of irony in how the "friends" she's spending the evening with are the very same ones she faced at the mahjong table during that fateful match -- IdolSinger Hayari Mizuhara, perpetually scowling Risa Noyori... and color commentator Sukoya Kokaji, the same girl who badly defeated Harue into an early retirement and then went on to start a phenomenal career that saw her placed as high as 2nd on the world rankings. And while they're all pros now[[note]](in Harue's case, she just recently announced her entrance into the pro scene for the reason that will be obvious soon)[[/note]], back then, they were just high school students too, all vying against each other for a chance to stand at the top. Much like what the current generation is doing, in fact.

Among them is Shino Shiratsuki, who has been playing mahjong since childhood, hoping to see again her mother Nana, who suddenly disappeared the day after their first mahjong match together with her maternal uncle Kousuke.

* AdultFear: In effect as Kousuke frantically searches for Shino. Take note, she disappears on him on a trip to a place that's at least ''twelve and a half kilometers'' away from where she left him.

* DecoyProtagonist: It seems that this will be Harue's story... nope! The main character, at least so far, is Shiratsuki Shino, one of Hayarin's teammates.

* FantasyForbiddingFather: Kousuke tells Shino (his niece) to get over mahjong, believing that it only serves to give her pain by reminding her of her MissingMom. He even sells (claims to sell, anyway) the set which they used to play mahjong together with -- and by "they", this includes Shino's mother. On the other hand, after noticing how happy Shino seems in the tournament he apologizes to her and returns the set.

* ForegoneConclusion: Sukoya will lead her school to victory in the 61st Inter-High, and Harue was so traumatized by her encounter with Sukoya (and the catastrophic loss the last incarnation of Team Achiga suffered as a result) that she stops playing mahjong for several years.

* ParentalSubstitute: Following the disappearance of Shino's mom, Shino lives with her uncle.
* SwitchingPOV: The first three chapters have focused on Shino, before switching to Kanna before her loss to Hayari.
* SympatheticPOV: Kanna comes off as a {{Jerkass}} in Shino's POV chapters, but her own POV chapters indicate how much CharacterDevelopment she has gone through, and show her as in the process of [[TookALevelInKindness taking levels in kindness]]. For example, Shino's first chapter shows Kanna turning her away merely because she doesn't like how Shino enjoys mahjong, while Kanna's POV indicates that she also doesn't want her friends to feel excluded.
* TheOneGuy: Yuuichi Sakamura is the only male finalist, and, so far, the only male character shown playing mahjong in a tournament with an actual chance of winning (unlike Kyoutaro).

* WhamLine: Midway through the first chapter, after a happy game of mahjong with Shino, her mom and her uncle.
-->'''Shino narrating''': "The next day, my mom disappeared."

''Manga/SakiShinohayuDawnOfAge'' is a prequel spin-off of mahjong manga ''{{Manga/Saki}}''.

Yes, there's a bit of irony in how the "friends" she's spending the evening with are the very same ones she faced at the mahjong table during that fateful match -- one of which is the legendary Sukoya Kokaji, the same girl who defeated her and went on to start a phenomenal career that saw her placed as high as 2nd on the world rankings. And while they're all pros now[[note]](in Harue's case, she just recently announced her entrance into the pro scene for the reason that will be obvious soon)[[/note]], back then, they were just high school students too, all vying against each other for a chance to stand at the top. Much like what the current generation is doing, in fact.

Another collaboration between Ritz Kobayashi and Aguri Igarashi (of ''BambooBlade'' fame), this time around it's the pros' turn, or rather, their stories when they became pros.

* EmbarrassingNickname: "Richardson" for Shino's uncle, since he would rather not be reminded of how he used to be in that band.
* FantasyForbiddingFather: Shino's uncle, who tells her to get over mahjong, believing that it only serves to give her pain by reminding her of her MissingMom. He even sells (claims to sell, anyway) the set which they used to play mahjong together with -- and by "they", this includes Shino's mother. On the other hand, after noticing how happy Shino seems in the tournament he apologizes to her and returns the set.

It is the night after the semifinal match of the Nationals, and the Achiga team is celebrating their placement in the upcoming finals. Despite this celebratory mood, their adviser Akado Harue excuses herself for a night out in the town with old friends... Said old friends just happen to be other professional players of course, but this is the first time in a long while that Harue herself has seen any of them after becoming Achiga's club adviser, or much more than that, when she quit the game altogether after that disastrous loss at the Nationals ten years prior.

Yes, there's a bit of irony in how the "friends" she's spending the evening with are the very same ones she faced at the mahjong table during that fateful Semifinal match. And while they're all professional players now[[note]](in Harue's case, she is just recently announced her entrance into the pro scene, for the reason that will be obvious soon)[[/note]], back then, they were just high school students too, all vying against each other for a chance to stand at the top as champions. Much like what the current generation is doing, in fact.

Another collaboration between Ritz Kobayashi and Aguri Igarashi (of ''BambooBlade'' fame), this time around it's the pros turn, or rather, their stories before they all became pros.

* CallBack: In the prologue, Sukoya greets Harue, and says that they recently encountered one another. This is a reference to the ending of Achiga-hen, in which Harue encounters Sukoya in the playing room for the finals earlier that night, and declares her resolve to go pro one day.
* ContrastingSequelMainCharacter [=/=] {{Foil}}: Shino can be considered one to Saki. Both hope to reunite their families through mahjong, but while Saki never enjoyed mahjong until playing with Nodoka and the rest of the club, Shino has fond memories of her family playing mahjong. Interestingly enough, while Saki initially upsets Nodoka by playing for +/- 0 when she could win by playing seriously, Shino upsets Kanna by playing for fun rather than competitively.

* DownerBeginning: The first chapter involves the main character's mother disappearing, and her and her uncle moving away.

* FantasyForbiddingFather: Shino's uncle, who tells her to get over Mahjong, believing that it only serves to give her pain by reminding her of her MissingMom. He even sells (claims to sell, anyway) the Mahjong set which they used to play Mahjong together with-- and by 'they', this includes Shino's disappeared mom. On the other hand, after noticing how happy Shino seems in the tournament he apologises to her and returns the set.

* ForegoneConclusion: Sukoya will lead her school to victory in the 61st National Tournament, and Harue was so traumatized by her encounter with Kokaji (and the catastrophic loss Achiga experiences as a result) that she stops playing mahjong for several years.

-->'''Shino narrating''': The next day, my mom disappeared.

* ParentalSubstitute: Following the disappearance of Shino's mom, Shino lives with her uncle. And he's a HotShoujoDad.

* DecoyProtagonist: It seems that this will be Harue's story... nope! The main character is Shiratsuki Shino, one of Hayarin's teammates.

* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: The first three chapters are titled "Shino" followed by the chapter number. It remains to be seen whether it will switch to other points of view.

* AdultFear: In effect as Kousuke frantically searches for Shino. Take note, she disappears on him on a trip to a place that's at least ''twelve and a half kilometers'' away from their home.

* FantasyForbiddingFather: Shino's uncle, who tells her to get over Mahjong, believing that it only serves to give her pain by reminding her of her MissingMom. He even sells the Mahjong set which they used to play Mahjong together with-- and by 'they', this includes Shino's disappeared mom. On the other hand, he seems to be coming around after noticing how happy Shino seems in the tournament.

* AdultFear: In effect as Kousuke frantically searches for Shino.

* WhatTheHellHero: While Shino's uncle plans on selling the mahjong set to avoid causing his daughter pain, she's quite unhappy to see almost all the tiles gone, and even more unhappy when she hears what he did.

* FantasyForbiddingFather: Shino's uncle, who tells her to get over Mahjong, believing that it only serves to give her pain by reminding her of her MissingMom. He even sells the Mahjong set which they used to play Mahjong together with-- and by 'they', this includes Shino's disappeared mom.

* FantasyForbiddingFather: Shino's uncle, who tells her to get over Mahjong. He even sells the Mahjong set which they used to play Mahjong together with-- and by 'they', this includes Shino's disappeared mom.

* ParentalSubstitute: Following the disappearance of Shino's mom, Shino lives with her uncle. And he's a HotShoujoDad.

* DecoyProtagonist: It seems that this will be Harue's story... nope! The main character is Shiratsuki Shino, one of Hayarin's then-teammate.
* FantasyForbiddingFather: Shino's uncle, who tell her to get over Mahjong. He even sell the Mahjong set with which they used to play Mahjong together-- and by 'they', this includes Shino's disappeared mom.

Another collaboration between Ritz Kobayashi and Aguri Igarashi (of BambooBlade fame), this time around it's the pros turn, or rather, their stories before they all became pros.

* OriginsEpisode: For the professionals in present-day ''Saki''.

Yes, there's a bit of irony in how the "friends" she's spending the evening with are the very same ones she faced at the mahjong table during that fateful Semifinal match. And while they're all professional players now, back then, they were just high school students too, all vying against each other for a chance to stand at the top as champions. Much like what the current generation is doing, in fact.

Another collaboration between Ritz Kobayashi and Aguri Kobayashi (of BambooBlade fame), this time around it's the pros turn, or rather, their stories before they all became pros.

* ForegoneConclusion: Sukoya will lead her school to victory in the 61st National Tournament, and Harue was so traumatized by her encounter with Kokaji (and the catastrophic loss Achiga experiences as a result) that she stops playing mahjong for several years.

Yes, there's a bit of irony in how the "friends" she's spending the evening with are the very same ones she faced at the mahjong table during that fateful Semifinal match. And while they're all professional players now, back then, they were just high school students too, all vying against each other for a chance to stand at the top as champions.