If you're looking for anime similar to Saki: The Nationals, you might like these titles.
Forget track and field! At Oorai Girls Academy, they practice Shensha-do, the art of tank combat! But Miho transfers there believing it to be the one school where Shensa-do isn't offered. She's in for a rude awakening, however, when the student council president demands her participation in the sport. Together with four friends, she learns to face her fears, find herself, and have a whole lot of fun along the way. Get ready for tank fighting mayhem in Girls Und Panzer!
1 vote
These shows both gave me the same vibe; they both focus around a talented girl who joins a high school club and enters in a competative tournament with a rookie team. Although the types of tournaments are really different the huge female casts and small amounts of fan-service make me think if you enjoyed one you might enjoy the other.
Move over, solitaire! Cardfight Vanguard is the card game that all the kids these days are playing. Using carefully prepared decks, players battle it out for fame and glory – the first to receive six damage points loses. After a bully takes Aichi's special card, the boy learns Vanguard to win it back and finds himself inexplicably drawn into the sport. Now determined to prove his skills to himself, as well as to the legendary player Toshiki Kai, Aichi climbs the ranks of Vanguard, making new friends and challenging fierce competitors along the way.
1 vote
While Vanguard definitely has a more shounen/kiddy feel, both of these titles have an extremely similar format, and will likely appeal to the same kind of person. Each watches a group of students take on others in a tournament setting, with a single match usually drawing out over multiple episodes, with plenty of commentary from a pair of announcers.
[note: I usually don't recommend a later franchise title as a two-way rec, but I haven't seen the original Saki series, just Nationals]
After being evicted from her family home, Nashiko Jippensha discovers that her father’s old mahjong club has fallen into disrepair. Determined to bring it back to life, she sets about renovating it with her two friends, Pai and Izumi. Between fiery games of mahjong and moments of relaxation over tea and sweet delicacies, the three young girls transform the club into a veritable refuge where they can blossom.
When Kogoro drags Ran and Conan with him to the Mahjong parlor one day, he soon becomes irritated at their interference at the table. Deciding to leave him to it, the pair retreat to another table, but when a man brings in a bamboo in readiness for Tanabata, Ran begins to reminisce about an incident that happened with Shinichi during their time in elementary school…
This time, you will see quirky Jyanshis trying out live streaming, two guys traveling together, unfortunate(?) fights against gangs, and more situations where the charm of the Jyanshis comes to shine.
Not a lot of people know that one of the most talented and ruthless Mahjong players in the city is a young high school boy. Kei is a teenager of few words, but his observation skills, unwavering will and experience in the game allows him to survive in a world full of powerful, rich and dangerous characters. Kei is currently hiding a girl named Amina who has entered the country illegally and protecting her from being deported. He spends his days sleeping through class and his nights playing high-stakes Mahjong, waiting for when a worthy opponent arrives.