Like you mention in point 2), I expect that no "planned game style change" can throw Teru off. Top players in this universe can often switch between playstyles mid-match, and we know it was never enough against Teru. What she sees in the mirror is not your current playstyle but your true nature as a person. So what you need to throw her off is mid-match character development - growing as a person.

If Hisa wants to overturn that with a crazy gambit, she has to have left a "seed" in Yuuki's mind. Like finishing a strategy meeting with a: "Oh, one last thing. When push comes to shove, I allow you to have fun playing mahjong." And Yuuki is like "Huh?" at the time. Then, when Kuro discards a dora and everyone's hand values shoot up like crazy, Yuuki looks at her dora 5 iishanten opening hand and realizes: "It's okay if I have fun with this, right prez?" Or something like that xD.

I agree that for Yuuki, it is number of games. The question mark here is that she "had to" start adjusting during (or even before) the semis. This is obviously suboptimal - you underperform during one important game AND lose the element of surprise. You would much rather adjust during throwaway games just like Haru does with Kuro.

I see two possible answers:

1) The number of games involved is so tremendous that there is no way to get them done between match days + trying to slip in one game of a different style would ruin the entire thing.

2) The "weight" of a true tournament game is different for Yuuki. Kuro's drawback is like a single player game (her personal relationship with the dora/her mother's teachings), so it doesn't matter who or what style she plays when reviving her ability. But Yuuki might need to play games with real stakes to get the adjustment done.

Yes. Either way Yuuki was too slow during the semis - Satoha was consistently in tempai before her. So she was not properly tapping into whatever boost was available at the time because of the style adjustment. (Some magical tug-of-war in Yuuki's heart where the tiles want her to have both speed and power in closed hands, while Yuuki forces them into speed-only called hands.)

While extreme speed can turn into points (double riichi, tenhou), most of the time what Yuuki wants for the finals is probably suboptimal for her style. It only becomes optimal because of the power level of Teru and Satoha being significantly above Yuuki's average and the nature of Teru's power (deployed over several consecutive hands, can be cut short).

So Yuuki really did well during the semis with something that felt unnatural to her and messed up her luck. Notice that her biggest achievements in the semis all revolve around not playing into a hand or only playing into a cheaper wait - skill reliant things moreso than luck.

Yeah, I noticed during the semis Yuuki wasn't getting faster, she actually seemed slower than during the quarters despite switching to the faster-on-average calling style.

But she was already in double-riichi territory in the quarters, so there is only one way to go faster, that being tenhou/chihou.

It seems like Yuuki was naturally going to peak during the semis, but Hisa prevented that. Normally, you would be satisfied with her at top condition during the semis, and then slightly slower during the finals, but Hisa does not think like that. She readjusted (delayed) Yuuki's curve with that forced playstyle change and put a lot of strain on Yuuki during the semis in hopes of getting a double bonus during the finals - Rinkai pick up on that suboptimal choice for the semis and realize that somebody in Kiyosumi is "already looking at the finals".

And while Hisa rightly recognizes that she needs every weapon and advantage possible against Shiraitodai, Teru and the other finalists, you would not usually risk messing up everything with the forceful change and losing both Yuuki's speed curve AND comfortable playstyle in the finals, as well as putting the entire team at risk in the semis. However, for Hisa, this super greedy and risky plan is essentially a "bad wait", and thus a no-brainer for her.

If you see the first East of the finals as Hisa's peak in the three years' bad bet on the finals layered on top of Yuuki's peak in East and curve, then even a tenhou might not be impossible.

We're almost sure to get at least one positive "reveal" in the next episode, since information tricks are one of the show's constants. We can hope there is some plan brewing in the background. Many scenes this episode were left ambiguous for that purpose, I believe.

Let's just wait and hope everything turns out alright >_<.

2) The final clash will involve and be decided by all of team White Pigeons

From my perspective, the staff made a commitment when they aired Wired Liar as the first episode. We meet the girls as a fully-formed and functioning team. Yes, Ange is the MC if you have to point to one. Yes, Ange and the Princess share a secret which is central to the plot and can make or break the team. But this is a story of the five White Pigeons, and it can only be ended by all five of them making their moves.

This can work in several patterns. One would be the "Ange's masterplan" angle you propose. Ange's increasing desperation this episode is a suffocating experience, but conveniently, it develops in stages over several days. Ange gets a final conversation with Dorothy, and then one with Chise. There is no obligation for the staff to show us everything that went down over the span of those several days or explain the significance of certain actions. For all we know, all or most of the members might be well prepared for Day X.

However, it is also possible that the joint battle is NOT part of Ange's plan. And as she attempts to carry out her all-or-nothing backup plan, probably ready to kill herself if it means the Princess survives as a result, the team's involvement might be what changes a bittersweet ending into an all-out victory. This path would address Ange's biggest character flaw - her stubborn attempts to shoulder anything and everything by herself. Everyone on the team except Ange herself already knows that Ange is very much human and has emotional burdens to carry, much unlike a robot or a black lizard would. And just as Ange aids them with her great skill and abilities, they could be there to return the favour when she gets carried away.

The above possibilities get further complicated by the possibility of several Batman Gambits at work. It is possible to get somebody involved in a plan without manipulating them or giving them any special information. Beato and Chise in particular are (ironically) very honest people - as long as you are their friend, you can easily predict how they will react when placed in a given situation. So it is enough to adjust to that and prepare the right situation, and no previous communication is necessary. And whether Ange admits it or not, she is friends with those people, though those relationships are still weighed down by secrets and lies.

And for all that I wrote, I would love a second season as long as that was the original intent and the staff have something solid planned. There are many cases missing chronologically, and the nation won't be changed overnight regardless of the finale's outcome. So there are many ways the story and cast could still be developed. In Chise's words: "I don't know if they stand a chance, but I want to see them victorious."

(Btw, I had to divide this in two for the server not to time me out, didn't even know there was a character limit to comments xD.)

Glad to hear your impressions on this episode. Ange will surely still be involved in the final episode (assuming next week is the last), so it is a matter of whether she switches to a Plan B, or whether everything was part of a greater plan all along.

Your "all according to the plan" interpretation does leave two questionable scenes: Ange's internal self-admission that she may be unable to protect the Princess as well as her emotional reaction right after the two have a fight and part. Nobody is watching (much less mind-reading) during those scenes, so it does not make sense for Ange to act at those times. However, you could challenge this with Ange's "I will deceive even myself" lines.

So, for my bold predictions.

1) There will be a happy (or at least bittersweet) ending.

PuriPuri kept the threat of a tragic ending alive through a series of close calls and character deaths. However, the current developments would not make for a good downer ending. For a tragic, "it was always going to end that way" ending, you could show the characters about to achieve something great only to be crushed by the size and power of what they are up against. However, with the last episode putting the good guys at a tremendous disadvantage, a tragic development would not come as a shock, but only a depressing experience. Right now, the Duke could let the Queen die, and then immediately announce the Princess's involvement, marking her as a traitor to the crown. He would then step in to "stabilize" the situation and either put himself or a puppet in power. The Princess would quickly be killed either by the Duke's men or by Zelda once the agent deems the Princess no longer useful. All the other spies could be either killed off one by one, or left unaware of what even went down.

To keep the narrative twisting and turning, I rather expect a comeback from the girls, and a huge one. It might still be possible for the girls to start fighting back and somebody (Ange or the Princess) getting shot as they are a step away from victory, but I would expect something great achieved in return for the sacrifice, like exposing the Duke and his co-conspirators and the Princess (or Ange) gaining more political influence for it - a kind of ending which would allow the characters left behind to look towards the future.

Yep, still loving the same shows. Somehow I'm not surprised.

Saki and awkward/difficult pacing have gone hand in hand since season one. In the first season the production side had more prep time and breathing room, so they did manage to produce a balanced two-cour series by applying several tricks. The strain was much more apparent in Achiga and Zenkoku.

That said, with the manga's pacing being what it is, there is really no perfect solution.

There is also the theory that the manga 5th place match won't be shown or be largely summarized, and serve as a buffer for the anime to make a season out of the Saki semifinals + anime original 5th place match + filler for all the other teams. If we wait for the finals, we have at least two more years ahead of us...