Saki – The Nationals Episode 1 | TFP Review
Jun Kuga: That was a lot of character introductions, and reintroductions.
Even though nothing really happened, I couldn’t help but get swept away with the whole excitement of the show. From the stupidly tall Toyone, to the obvious forshadowing of Komaki Jindai and Hiroe Atago. And the thing that brought it all together was the continued madness of Kouko and Kokaji’s commentary.
stardf29: So yeah, this was definitely an introductory episode. Still lots of fun, though, especially with all of the characters we’ve already seen before thrown in as well.
Funniest part is when Saki got lost and ended up walking past the Achiga girls, and felt that menacing aura from them, especially Shizuno… completely unaware that she gave off a menacing aura of her own to them. 
Edit: And just because I could, I put various parts of that scene from both series side-by-side for comparison. It’s like they can’t sense the other’s fear, just their power.
Hitsugi Amachi: All set up with no compromises for anyone wanting to wade into this new. That’s pretty much to be expected as there’s just way too much backstory to have to fill in. But I do wonder how much time is going to be wasted on the fluff before the first match, though I have a very strong feeling they’re going to copy Side A in terms of execution: that is, the show won’t actually end at the end of the season and you’ll have to wait for three OVA episodes to finish off the Finals.
