NリーグとARML： アメリカの麻雀をお楽しみください | The 2023 Guide to Spectating Mahjong
Hey yall! I hope you're all doing well. Me? I find myself wishing I had more hours in the day. There's not enough weekend time! Not enough time in the day! Everyone should just be able to not work and play mahjong 24 hours! I'll run for president of the world on this platform, and I am sure I will get elected. This blog is going to be a long one, but for mahjong enthusiasts you can either skip the first half since you already have abema, or the second half since you already know about what we're doing in the west. and if you're new to both sides of the content featured in this blog, well then you have a lot to read! I hope my writing is not toooooooooooo boring~
One of the reasons I feel like i need more time is that i've really gotten into enjoying mahjong as a spectator, as well as a player. Watching fighting game tournaments on stream and cheering for the homies has been a pass time for a while, and I was incredibly happy to find out that I don't have to retire being a stream monster! What I've discovered, however, is that there's not a lot of knowledge about streaming mahjong. I know there are many casual mjs players in the states, just climbing the ladders quietly. There's more to it than that! I want to try and get people interested in where pro mahjong is going, and hopefully get them synced up to enjoy the ride. I also want to spread awareness to maybe some native JPN readers of the streaming efforts in the states, to try and get some more eyeballs on what dedicated fans are trying to make happen right here in the ol' US of A!
The Benefits of Watching Mahjong
When I watch mahjong passively, it is almost the same as watching a prize fight, or a horse race. Most of the high grade stuff will let you follow along with everyone's hand. Pick a player you want to root for, and watch as they win and lose! What I think is really good about watching offline play is you get a sense of added immersion by being able to see how people are reacting. I know you're making all sorts of faces behind your keyboard while you're playing online, and that really makes for an entertaining broadcast. The pressure builds as the game develops, and watching your favorite players in writhing agony as well as blissful elation (subdued of course, because these are professionals most of the time) makes it much easier to become fans of these players.
When I watch mahjong actively, I am studying how to become a better player. Just imagine yourself in the situation that your favorite player is in. What would you discard? Was it different from what they discarded? If it was, why do you think they decided on a different tile? I know I have learned some lessons about both offensive and defensive play by reviewing the footage. It's a skill I think we all need to get better at, myself definitely included. In this way, you can also find playstyles that you vibe with, even ways to handle and discard tiles.
Either way, mahjong is great to have on the tv, whether you just need a passive thing to have on that can be exciting at times, whether you want to crack the notebook out and review and re-review the clips, or whether you got your foam fingers out, ready to cheer out loud for your favorite player or team. Let's start with where the most people go to watch their live mahjong, the Abema live TV service.
If You Want To See The Strongest Mahjong from Japan, Consider a 6-7 Dollar A Month Abema Premium Subscription
So lets first get this out of the way: Most of the top mahjong requires a subscription. Don't groan! I don't wanna hear it! Most of our American streaming services don't deserve your money in light of the recent writer and director strikes, so maybe try out Abema Premium instead? But Adam, you say, I don't live in Japan! Well obviously I do not either! Another thing that is generally helpful here, as well as wherever you are on the internet, is a VPN service. So lets start out with what is probably closest to your one stop shop: AbemaTV!
(A word: I am not trying to make any trouble here. I only watch mahjong on AbemaTV, i am not trying to feast on any other content or thumb my nose at anyone who actually does have to care about things like licencing and things like that. Abema . If you become a true fan of the game, it's only natural to want to watch the best play. This content is not available any other way practically for someone in the US other than to use a VPN and sign up for Abema premium to watch archived videos. I want to help others discover what you already know: that the mahjong ecosystem is compelling television. I would much rather watch M league on a platform that's made for international viewers more robustly, with in my case English subbed PR videos, and maybe even international commentary for M or English educational mahjong programs! I'd pay to watch on that style of platform! hint hint. please don't ban me ❤️)
Getting Signed Up For Abema Premium
Abema is kind of a weird site to navigate for me. I want to make a little guide for getting set up on this thing. When you visit the website, you'll get a little survey pop up asking your age and what you like to set you up with preferred channels and stuff. That's not important for our purposes so just click on whatever.
Click on Viewing Plan to get to the splash page for Abema Premium.
Click on the big gold button, to set up your account.
The site will email you a confirmation number which you have to enter in. After that, it will take you to the page where you will enter your credit card information.
Once that's confirmed, you can start watching some mahjong!
Watching Content on Abema: Learn to Love My List
When you click on Mahjong (it's right above HIPHOP) on the side bar, this is what you get:
If you click on a video, you'll see this screen. The writing on the thumbnail says 'not available in your region' so if you see that, you need to make sure to turn your VPN on. What you're looking for is the Little Plus in the bottom left. Click it to add the broadcast to "My List".
Since Abema is mostly a live TV service, previous broadcasts are not really the main function of the site. That's why we as foreigners have to fork over the Premium so that we can access previous broadcasts. That's fine for me though, I'm glad to pay for stuff I like when it's accessible and affordable. So, where do you go to watch the old stuff? You have to add things to "My List". This lets you go into your my list and turn the broadcast on. Enjoy!
This is good for UPCOMING stuff, but what about the stuff that's already on the platform?
A List (Not Exhaustive) Of The Content on AbemaTV.
Here's a list of what I have kicking around on my My List. You can also add whole series, so that every broadcast is on your My List. Hopefully these links will work and you can follow them to the series pages of all the things I'll cover. First, lets cover the big kahuna, the team league that has taken on a life of it's own.
The M League
Series Page: https://abema.tv/video/title/444-1
M League is an Abema original that treats mahjong like a sports broadcast. There are 9 teams, and each team has 4 professional players from the various professional organizations. Following this, picking a team to root for, and following the players on that team creates a real compelling sports/reality tv social media experience. This year a new team is joining the league, and interest is at an all time high! If you can't think of any team to pick, my favorites are Team RAIDEN and SegaSammy Phoenix!
As a bonus, in the offseason, M is doing an elimination tournament featuring M Leaguers and other pros, called M Tournament. You can find that here: https://abema.tv/slot-group/9HeE6TbrueDXps
Mahjong Saikyousen
Series Page:https://abema.tv/video/title/68-36
Before M, I kinda felt like this was the big all stars style event. Kindai Mahjong (the manga magazine) Holds a single elimination bracket of pro/amateur players from all over. The initial tables, from my understanding, are a combination of invitational spots, spots from open qualifying events, even spots awarded via fan poll! Then, it's into THE CAGE. 2 people advance off each table, until you get to the last table and crown the winner. I'd say this is the Japanese mahjong scene's EVO for the FGC readers out there. There's a movie on amazon prime (jpn) about the drama surrounding last year's saikyousen, even though I can't really understand it I feel like i'd probably still get something out of watching it!
In addition to these 'all organizations welcome' style events, Many of the professional organizations do a first run of their highest ranked leagues on Abema, really great viewing if you want to learn more about the mahjong ecosystem in Japan! Here's the ones that I have on my My List~
Saikouisen A1 League
Series Page:https://abema.tv/video/title/69-48
I'll start with my favorite league, Saikouisen. They show their A1 and A2 leagues up on Abema. For me, I really enjoy the way their broadcast looks, and I am a fan of many of the players. They even have a pretty great opening!
Japan Professional Mahjong League Houou Battle
Series Search:https://abema.tv/slot-group/8xKYSctuuBpmg3
The top league for the most popular organization in japan, the JPML. Most of the M Leaguers, including everyone from my favorite team RAIDEN, are from the JPML. Occasionally they'll put up other tournaments or events, so be looking for that logo!
Nihon Pro Mahjong Janoh Battle
Series Search:https://abema.tv/slot-group/8xRSzAzpRk2XMh
The NPM also runs their top league first on Abema. Some of the greats play here! They also have a cool opening for their broadcast that's very different than the Saikouisen one. You can kind of get a feel for the fact that the different organizations have different vibes. It can be confusing at first to think about all of these different mahjong organizations, but I look at them like pro wrestling companies. All the organizations have stars, faces, even heels, all of them great performers. Trying to compare them objectively is kinda like comparing apples to oranges, missing the point. You just find the one you vibe with, and understand that no matter which one's you're favorite, you know that you're going to be watching some of strongest bouts! There are two other organizations worth mentioning here, RMU and the Mahjong Union (or μ!), they just do not put their content up on Abema very often as far as I can tell. They are pretty cool too!
So, there's what you can find on Abema. Enough Mahjong to watch 24/7 if you wanted to, all for only 6-7 bux a month! All the streaming services in the US are gonna run out of new shows until they pay the writers and actors a fair wage, so how about spending some money on Mahjong instead?
Mahjong American Style: English Language Mahjong Spectating
Now, of course, maybe you don't want to spend money. We're all feeling the crunch from you know…. being alive…. but you're not out of luck if you don't wanna sub to a site. Or maybe you stumbled across this from Japan. Hi there! Thank you for scrolling through this blog! I -REALLY- want to show you this stuff. There's a lot of very talented, very dedicated mahjong heads out here, and they're working hard with the resources they have to try and expand the game as fiercely as possible. I hope that you subscribe to some of these channels and cheer on those that are putting in a lot of effort. Thank you very much. You can see and hear how the game is played around here, and these streams need an audience.
I just feel like there aren't many people aware in the west that watching mahjong is a thing that you can do that's actually fun, so I don't want to end this blog without showcasing some of the best Mahjong content that's already in English! Now I cannot talk with knowledge of anything Canada, South America, or Europe is getting into, except that I know they all have strong players and strong clubs. I'm gonna go through 3 of my favorites!
Proast with Jenn and Garthe
So Jenn and Garthe are both JPML pros that have been in the game for a very long time (we're all forever young!), and Jenn has started a new series where they bring in another pro from the JPML and review a hand from a player aspiring to improve. A really good way to hear how JPML pros think about the game, and honestly a good method for how you should maybe review your own games! I am looking forward to episode 4 with one of my favorite players! Who is it? I guess you'll just have to subscribe and turn your notifications on! (Don't expect to see ME on this program, if any of these pros took one look at my discards they'd send agents to crack all my fingers and confiscate my tiles…)
Now Jenn and Garth are JPML Pros, but in addition to that, they play in another league that I am also in. A league that I feel is dedicated the MOST to building stronger competitive mahjong players in the United States.
In my Humble Opinion, the Pinnacle of American Mahjong: the American Riichi Mahjong League (ARML)
An idea that's really kind of come to fruition very recently, I believe this was created because COVID was making offline mahjong tournaments hard to attend. A side benefit is that I can compete and talk shop with some of the strongest players in the US without having to travel because I'm always broke! I definitely believe that most, if not all of the strongest players we have play in this league. Me? I joined this season, and I'm playing my hardest in C1. It seems like there's a lot of new applicants this year, to the point that we're currently in a beta league to see if we move up to B2, stay in C1, or get relegated down to the newly created C2 league. Playing mahjong in these league conditions feels like the shortcut to becoming a stronger player. The way that the staff have integrated discord into the league is a sight to behold. ARML allows league participants to flexibly schedule their matches online, with coordination from an expertly designed discord bot. I hope you'll check this one out. But this is online mahjong, do we have anything that's offline?
The N League: Like M League, But With More New York Accents
Riichi Nomi NYC, probably the defacto largest mahjong club in the US, is coming back for a second season of their M league homage, the N League. Local NYC players come together and battle it out on a real AMOS REXX 3! This is of course, an amateur broadcast, but Riichi Nomi has done a LOT to try and maximize the readability of the broadcast. By the end of their first season, it looks really great!
I've got my ear to the ground and I'm hearing that the production for season 2, which will begin airing in September, is already going to be a step beyond! While I imagine the true focus is not on the streaming audience, but as a fun club activity for the local crew, There's nobody else doing it like Riichi Nomi! I hope that when the next season starts, there will be enough excitement around mahjong out there that we can see a growing interest in this sort of broadcast experience here in America.
So that's just a smattering. There are plenty of streamers and I know there are a few streaming leagues as well around here. I hope that if you're here at the bottom of this article, that you've found a mahjong stream or broadcast that you've never heard of before. No matter the language, these broadcasts represent a huge undertaking by dedicated fans, who love mahjong and want to project that love to the entire world. It's my hope that eventually, thanks to the people who work hard right now, that eventually their enthusiasm will riichi the whole world~ Thank you very much for reading!