Sera Eguchi

Sera Eguchi (江口 セーラ Eguchi Sera) is a third year at Senriyama Girls' High School. As a second year she was the team's ace player but played worse than her third-year team mates which confused her.

Appearance
Sera has short brown hair and red eyes.

She wears the male Senriyama jacket with rolled sleeves, white shirt, red shorts with white strips, and sneakers. During mahjong competitions she is forced to wear the Senriyama girls' uniform.

Personality
Sera is a quite pretty cheerful tomboy and the reason she picked Senriyama's mahjong club is that she wouldn't be forced to wear her school uniform at school, as she is embarrassed to wear a skirt. She is very friendly not only to her friends but also to her opponents as shown when with her interactions with Ako Atarashi, starting out as a friendly rivalry and turning much friendlier after their match (causing Hiroko Funakubo to remark that Sera shouldn't be flirting with their competition).

Unlike her team mates who cried at their loss during the Side-A semifinals, Sera did not shed any tears in front of them; although Ryuuka says she didn't eat anything until the day after the Side-B semifinals.

Practice Game Arc (Toki manga)
While walking her dog Pero in the park, he ran away. Sera later found him accompanying Ryuuka and Toki. She then begins to examine Ryuuka and tells her that she is a real beauty. After finding Toki, Sera realizes her dog frightens her and decides to thank them and leave.

It is revealed that for the practice game, Sera is the malefic star they are suppose to battle. Sera is matched up against Yayoi, Ryuuka, and Toki. Yayoi is nervous at first, prompting both Sera and Ryuuka to tell her that it's just a practise match and ask her to calm down a little. Toki wins the first couple hands, including one where Ryuuka played into her hand. Sera asks Ryuuka if playing this way is fun for her, implying that Ryuuka is not playing for herself or to win, which Ryuuka deflects by saying that playing mahjong is fun.

After a few more hands pass, Sera declares riichi on the second turn and wins and then again on her dealer turn. Sera then condescendingly apologizes to Toki since Toki had 4 dora and Sera won with her cheaper wait; Toki rebuts that she's still in the top position and will just win the next hand with 5 dora. Yayoi apologizes for the lame game she's played so far and promises to play better. While trying to increase her hand's value, Toki plays into Sera's sanbaiman, busting her and letting Sera take first.

Afterwards, Masae Atago and her two kids, of whom Hiroe is also a part of Vague Rapide, pick up Sera and Izumi. Atago criticizes Sera's defense but asks if she'll endorse Yayoi anyways. Sera says no, as Yayoi found what she had been lacking. Sera says that Ryuuka ended up being a bit disappointing to play against, but it was fun even if she crushed her opponents. Izumi corroborates that Sera defeated all of them but still had fun. It's also revealed that Sera feels strongly about playing with Hiroe for Hiroe, rather than her mother's name. Masae gave Sera and Hiroe the idea to name themselves something and to overshadow her career as a pro, so people take them seriously for themselves, rather than Masae's name, and thus they became known as the Malefic Star.

Battling Fujishiro Arc
Sera appears behind Toki and Ryuuka before the entrance ceremony for the middle school. She asks Ryuuka to go out with her but is rejected. She says it again but is rejected saying that she has plans with Toki after. Sera runs off. In class, Toki and Sera get along as they are seated next to each other. She then notices Sera staring at Ryuuka and asks if she went to this middle school because of Sera. She then tries to bribe Toki. They go out to the vending machine and Sera buys her a drink with what little money she has. Toki drinks it straight down and says she's unsure. She follows Sera and even offers to go out with her herself but Sera says it has to be Ryuuka because of her mahjong skills. Sera then says she has the perfect job for her though.

After school, Toki, Ryuuka, and Sera go to the park where Toki and Ryuuka first played at. Ryuuka is a bit skeptical but Sera says that she's being too defensive and that she moved her and doesn't have any friends. Toki then recalls that Sera was in the national tournament last year and that she called her. Sera calls her stupid for putting Ryuuka in the captains potion. She defends this by saying they would've had a fighting chance then and no matter how strong the captian is, it's pointless if the game doesn't go to it. Ryuuka then mentions the nationals and Sera then recollects her time at the nationals with enjoyment. When asked about Hiroe, Sera gets sad and says that she betrayed her.

We then get a flashback to the previous year. Sera and Hiroe are together walking and decide to take a break. Hiroe asks how long they will be touring mahjong parlors trying to find someone like Ryuuka. Sera says they need to find stronger players but she gets it. A few days later, Izumi thinks she's found someone interesting her name is Nanami Fujishiro. They show up at the parlor where Nanami is and ask for a game. Nanami agrees but only if they are prepared for her rule which is the winner takes from the loser. Hiroe tries to get Sera to back down but cannot so they play a match. At the start Hiroe tries to warn Sera about her shortcomings but Sera says she's aware of it. She then tries to play off Nanami's rule as psychological warfare that will not work on her. Sera builds her hand but decides to go for more and gets a dealer's haneman. Sera tells the others that taking away her dealership will be really hard. Izumi then tries to brag on Sera and Hiroe both but Nanami takes digs at her until Sera says enough. In the present Sera explains that one by one the girls started acting strange and when they came to their senses, Nanami was the clear winner. She tries to make some excuses but stops and says that Nanami was too strong. Ryuuka asks about if they had to be honest about the things that were important but Sera said she just knew. Back in the flashback, Nanami begins taking things from the girls. She makes Izumi cut her hair, takes Sera's jacket, and whispers something into Hiroe's ear. After the game Sera tries to talk to Hiroe. She wonders what Nanami said to her and about the parka she didn't take from Hiroe. The girls have a fight and Hiroe walks away. In the present, Sera explains that things got awkward so she transferred schools and even club teams and hasn't seen Hiroe since. Ryuuka and Toki then vow to try and help Sera.

Finding Fujishiro Arc
Toki decides they all need to hold a special training session. Sera agrees and they try and map out a plan. The plan is simply play a bunch of mahjong matches against strong people. Ryuuka suggests trying to analyze the score sheets but Sera doesn't remember much. She then says that Nanami sort of disappeared last autumn and hasn't been seen since. Toki thinks she may have entered a tournament but the idea was shot down. Sera says that Nanami looked down on student mahjong.

The next day, Toki comes into training and she brings up what makes them different. Sera rebuffs this and tells her there is no point in comparing comparing yourself to others.

Sera and the others attend a barbecue set up by Toki's mother. She sees Izumi smack Toki and telling her to cheer up. This causes Sera to yell at the girl. They then start playing with Sera's dog. Izumi asks her if Toki will be okay but Sera tells her she may struggle but she will be fine. She then apologizes to Izumi for getting her involved. Izumi then tries to cheer her up. Sera helps Toki's mother with chores and she mentions that a friend of Sera's had arrived. Sera appears before her but can't remember her. When the girl insults her and takes off her glasses, Sera remembers the girl as Hiroko Funakubo. As they walk and talk, she says that she plays mahjong. She know a bit about Ryuuka and Toki but insults Sera for hanging out with them and ditching Hiroe. Sera tells her that she was the one who got ditched and that she better stop insulting her friends. Hiroko apologizes and pulls out a jump drive that she says contains Nanami's data. She will give it to Sera for the price of her data.

The next day the girls gather for a match at Izumi's family mahjong parlor. Hiroko arrives late and Sera teases her a bit. Starting the game, Sera declares that she has changed the conditions for the match. If she gets second place or lower, she will not accept the data and this way it'll be more thrilling. She persuades the others to accept the challenge. Ryuuka goes into limitless heaven first thing and Sera warns Hiroko that Ryuuka like that is stronger than her. Ryuuka wins with a tsumo. Sera declares she will win next but Ryuuka wins the next hand off of Sera. She laughs and tells everyone she admires Toki's attitude in mahjong which causes Ryuuka to lose concentration. Sera wins the next hand with a tsumo. Hiroko wins a quick and cheap tsumo. Hiroko then wins with a hit on Toki. The overall outcome for the match had Sera take second place.

Hiroko puts the data on the table and Toki remarks if Sera will take it or not. Ryuuka then reminds her of the condition she set and lectures her. Hiroko says either way it's hers because Hiroe Atago gave it to her. They all gather and Hiroko explains how and why Hiroe collected the data for Sera. Hiroko offers to look over the data and the girls agree.

Joining the Mahjong Team Arc
Sera walks quietly into the class room and then sits in her seat. Toki and Ryuuka gather around her and she immediately apologizes for the previous game. She then apologizes for the whole data debacle as well. She tells the girls that there isn't anything she can do but wait on Hiroko to contact her. Sera also mentions that she tried to call Hiroe but Kinue blocked her from that.

Later when the middle school tournament begins, Sera tells Ryuuka that she won't attend because she doesn't like how the mahjong clubs operate. Pointing out that Ryuuka isn't a regular on the team. She then says she's going to talk with Funakubo soon about Nanami and to get her revenge.

National Tournament Arc (Achiga manga)
Sera appears along with her juniors coming back to their hotel from sightseeing. She complains about it being hot and checks on her sickly teammate with the others. Before they decide to watch the tape of their opponents matches she is advent about taking a bath. After watching the tape of Achiga, Sera notes that the Matsumi sisters are strong but not that good and that Achiga isn't going to be their rivals.

Before the sergeant match of the second round, she and the others were conversing about Yuu Matsumi and she wondered if Izumi Nijou knew about her abilities. At the start of Izumi's match she was analyzing Yuu's playing style but when she switched it up she told Hiroko Funakubo to just tell her about it after the first half was over. Sera was then seen rushing out to go to her match but is stopped by Hiroko and is made to change into her school uniform, much to her complaint. After Izumi comes back and notices her in her uniform, she runs away and is met by the press. She is then seen running into the playing hall and jumping past her seat. During the match Ako Atarashi started off quickly and won the first few hands of the match. She then fired back with a large hand. The two battled the rest of match with Sera gaining more points.

When she returned to the waiting room, she informed her teammates that Arata Sagimori wears gloves to her match because her grandmother runs a bowling alley. She then quickly changes back to her normal attire. In the anime, after they advance along with Achiga, she teases Hiroko about having an intrest in Arata.

Final Eight Arc
Sera appears with the rest of the Senriyama team walking towards their waiting room. She is embarrassed because she is made to be in her girls uniform. She appears later in a flashback of Toki Onjouji's. Here she is playing Toki to see if she can see two turns into the future. After Toki wakes in a hospital bed due to collapsing, Sera told her they were afraid she would have to stay there again. Later when Toki deals into a hand, Sera along with the rest were surprised. During the last of Teru Miyanaga's turns as dealer, Toki again is on the verge of collapsing and has another flashback. Here Sera and the others are gathered around Toki's bed and tell her of the "Toki shift", which is a schedule for Senriyama to help her. Afterward we see flashes of the training camp. During the night Ryuuka tells Toki that after loosing at the interhigh, Sera saw the lights from her plane seat and imagined that at least one of those houses were rooting for her. After thinking that she felt sad and regretful for letting them down.

We are then treated to another flashback of Toki, Ryuuka, and Sera in middle school. Here they think of joining the mahjong club and is introduced to Masae Atago, the coach of the team. After doing practice matches, she is highly ranked and an alternate to the national team. Toki realizes that she was probably on the third team and wants to contribute in anyway she can. So she stays late to clean the club and is later helped by Ryuuka and Sera who want to help her. She is later seen with the rest of Senriyama going with Toki to the ambulance afte she collapsed after her match. After Izumi's match, she is greeted by Sera in the halls. She then tells Izumi that she has two years left to go to get revenge and shouldn't be selfish. After being reminded to hand over her jacket, she tells Izumi to go to the hospital and to bring Ryuuka back before her match. When Izumi leaves, Sera immediately gets serious and has firery eyes on the way towards her match.

Before the start, she greets Ako and says that she's happy that she remembers her from last time. The match starts off with Sera winning big a few times and remembers that she was defensive in her last match and only wants to attack now. She then remembers when she was a second year and was beaten by weaker players and only now understands why it happened. Then Ako remembers that Takami Shibuya is at the table and decides to stop the dealers repeat. At half-time Sera had closed the gap between third and second. The match then goes back and forth between Sera and Ako until Senriyama jumps back into second place. After Ako wins one more and thinks about Takami, the girl hits a yakuman tsumo and puts an end to the match. Achiga then regains second place. Ako and Sera then greet each other and she tells Sera that she was unlucky to be the last dealer. She then tells her that if Takami was the last dealer it would've been much worse and Ako then realizes that that means Takami would've gotten more yakuman hands. She then hugs Ako and says that she wants to play again. Ako shrugs her off but says that she wants to play again too.

She is later seen in the waiting room when Coach Atago arrives. When asked to visit Toki, she declines because she wishes for someone to be there when Hiroko gets back. When Hiroko comes back from her match she is greeted by Sera and Masae. Sera then informs her that Ryuuka went straight to the playing hall after coming back. At the start of Ryuuka's match, she is amazed that Awai Oohoshi's ability even works on Ryuuka. After viewing Awai's double riichi, Sera listens to Hiroko explain her abilities. However after they didn't work, she tells Hiroko not to worry and that they haven't got much data on her. After the break Sera wonders if Hiroko informs Ryuuka about Awai. Later Hiroko figures out more about Awai's abilities and again Sera asks if she told Ryuuka about it. Unfortunately Hiroko tells her that she didn't. When Hiroko and Masae start to analyze Shizuno Takakamo's playing style, Sera interupts her causing Hiroko to get mad. After the loss, she is shown beside a devastated Ryuuka.

During Side B's semi-final match, Sera notes that Usuzan's line-up is similar to that of Shindouji's and Makabi's in that its players go from worst to the best. In the lieutenant's match, she discusses Choe Myeonghwa's abilities with Hiroko and wants Hiroe Atago not to lose to her, as well as pay her the money she owes her.

National Championship Arc
Ryuuka walks into the hotel to find a dejected Sera not eating again. She then tells her that Hiroe Atago is worried about her. This lights a fire under Sera and she starts to devour her food. When Ryuuka leaves, she asks if she could bring her something to eat back.

During the vanguard match she is seen discussing the game with her teammates. After the end of the sergeant's match, Sera prepares to leave, only to be stopped by Hiroko for not wearing the Senriyama girl's uniform, before her team mates wish her luck against her fated rival, Hiroe. The hand starts with Sera calling to get into a quick and expensive tenpai, but Hiroe dodges her attack and wins a hand of her own. Sera repays Hiroe in kind, the next hand, keeping Hiroe's winning tiles in her hand and drawing the winning tile for herself for a dealer mangan.

Sera reaches tenpai again and declares riichi, Hiroe calls to avoid a possible ippatsu from Sera, but she still wins the hand, much to Yuan's chagrin (as Yuan had also declared riichi and dealt into Sera's hand, but recognizes that without that call, Sera's tsumo would've increased the point difference by too much.) In the next hand, Sera declares riichi again, causing Hiroe to call tiles from Yuan, giving multiple extra draws to Hitomi Ezaki, who pursues Sera and promptly wins off of her.

Playing Style / Abilities
During Sera's first year, she was put as a reserve member for the mahjong team; as a second year was placed as Senriyama's ace; and in her third year, she was placed as their lieutenant, as Toki Onjouji was named their ace. She favors winning with big hand's instead of cheaper ones. She often calls Riichi on wide waits, with plenty of dora, and wins with more than 8,000 points. However, because of this, her hands are often slower than someone like Ako Atarashi who focuses on speed, but this doesn't stop her from winning 37,000+ points in the semifinals even after the dealer penalty on a yakuman.

Sera's style of mahjong is contrasted to Hiroe's, another lieutenant from Osaka: Sera accepts her opponent's winning tiles into her hand to make it more expensive while Hiroe will cut down her hand's points to accept her opponent's winning tiles. While pushing further, Sera has been shown dealing into other player's hands, which she never minds because she's confident in her ability to win big later, compared to Hiroe who is constantly trying to minimize her point loss and will never deal in except on purpose. It's noted that in overall point gain in tournaments, Sera always beats Hiroe, but in the head-to-head, Hiroe almost always has more points than Sera when they play against each other.

Etymology

 * Sera's surname Eguchi means "bay, inlet" (江) (e) and "mouth, entrance" (口) (kuchi/guchi).