History YMMV / Saki

* OvertookTheManga: The last match of the Nagano finals ended in the manga some time after Season 1 of the anime.

* RootingForTheEmpire: A noticeable portion of fans root for Kiyosumi's opponents in the tournament, especially Tsuruga, which, like Kiyosumi, is also an underdog in-universe and also has a great deal of LesYay between [[SenpaiKohai Yumi and Momo]].

** [[PeekABangs Naruka]]: [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Gardevoir]].

*** The nature of Teru's [[MundaneMadeAwesome special effects]]? [[LightNovel/FateZero ENUMA ELISH!]]

* AuthorsSavingThrow: One criticism of the semifinals was that all four contenders remain in the same place for much of the round, particularly with Rinkai having an overwhelming lead and Usuzan being dead last. Possibly in response, the fifth round shakes things up a bit more, with Usuzan even briefly taking second place.

* FoeYay: Touka's obsession with defeating [[strike:Nodoka]] Nodocchi is [[PsychoLesbian quite blatantly sexual]] at times.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: Yuki's accusing Nodoka of [[VictoriasSecretCompartment hiding tiles in her breasts]] becomes somewhat less funny when you get up to the prefecturals and hear Hajime's backstory- she did, in fact, cheat in a game of mahjong in the past (through sleight of hand), and feels guilty about doing it.

* WinTheCrowd: The [[WordOfGod author's]] [[WordOfGay confirmation of the manga's universe as a lesbian-dominated society]] has made many of the yuri fans happy.

* MemeticMutation: [[BeYourself Mahjong is tanoshii]]. This has been adapted to other (schoolgirls + activity) anime: ''Anime/GirlsUndPanzer'' has panzer is tanoshii [[note]]Miho even asks whether tankery is "tanoshii", using the Japanese term, in the last chapter of the Little Army prequel manga[[/note]]. ''[[Manga/TokureiSochiDantaiStellaJogakuinKoutoukaC3Bu C3-bu]]'' has airsoft is tanoshii. (Contrast: [[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica being a magical girl is suffering]].)

* HolyShitQuotient: Most didn't expect the author to confirm that their universe is dominated by same-sex relationships, and many of the female characters are actually born through IPS cells breeding.

* TheScrappy: Teru has quite a few haters in the wake of her [[spoiler:declaring that she has no sister, signifying that she's essentially disowned Saki]]; while Saki still wants to reconcile with Teru, many fans instead want to see Teru get her comeuppance.

* EarWorm: The opening themes. Some people may refer it with the WAAAI WAAAAAI or TENPAI SOKURI KAIKAN TSUCHARAKA song.

** Teru's [[spoiler:saying that she has no sister]] is typically seen as [[KickTheDog a cruel act]] that is proof that she's a JerkAss who [[BrokenPedestal is not the sister Saki remembers]]. But implications at [[spoiler:a tragedy in the Miyanaga family's past]] suggest that Teru might have been emotionally affected in some way, and their estrangement may not be due to her hating Saki. A [[http://randomwalloftext.com/2013/03/04/saki-and-teru-and-rinshan-kaihou-drama-cd/ drama CD]], admittedly one published before the anime was released, seems to indicate that the happy memory Saki had of Teru talking to her about what her name means happened while their parents were in the process of separating, and might have been intended as parting words of some sort.

* CounterpartComparison: The series is often compared with ''Anime/GirlsUndPanzer'', in that the main character, who hates the game their family plays because of their [[SeriousBusiness attitudes]] [[StopHavingFunGuys toward]] [[SecondPlaceIsForLosers winning]], ends up being a key player in her new school's efforts to win the championship, and rediscovers her love of the game in the process. Several parallels are drawn between characters, such as [[AloofBigSister Teru and Maho]], although in their case, while Teru has [[IHaveNoSon denied having a sister]], Maho not only has not done so, but [[spoiler:bears the responsibility of being Nishizumi heiress so that Miho will be free to live and do tankery her own way]].

** Koromo too. While at first she may seem like nothing more than a villainous mahjong demon, she masks what she truly feels with her own arrogance and ego, though in reality, either way you look at it, she's just fragile young girl looking to make friends, end her loneliness and cope after her parent's death. Awww.

-->'''Yumi''': We got along well last night.
-->'''Momo''': Last night!? Got along well...!?
-->'''Hisa''': Let's do it again today.

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: Touka's character song.
** The opening, "Glossy: MMM", is fairly popular, especially when it plays for the previews of upcoming matches at the end of the 2009 anime and Zenkoku-hen.

** Saki is either an optimistic young girl doing her best to reconcile with her sister or an unstoppable demon who gleefully destroys the dreams of other young girls just so she can get back at Teru. To be fair in this game there's always loser and winner, and Saki is determined to win all the way to final when she saw Shiraitodai is in different block.

* RonTheDeathEater: Some fans like portraying Teru as far more cruel to Saki, as well as emotionally unstable.

* JerkassWoobie: It's possible to feel sorry for Teru if the awful past is true.

* JustForFun/XMeetsY:
** ''Manga/{{Akagi}}'' Meets ''Manga/{{Hitohira}}''. Saki can be seen as a CaptainErsatz of Mugi, for one.
** ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'' meets mahjong.
** Retroactively, ''Anime/GirlsUndPanzer'' has been called "Saki on tanks".

** [[MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha You're gonna get tanoshii'ed.]]

* BaseBreaker: