The side-story manga, Saki: Achiga-hen episode of Side-A, is based in the area around Yoshino, Nara and follows a girl named Shizuno Takakamo, an old friend of Nodoka's, who used to be in Achiga Girls Academy's mahjong club together. A few years after the club disbanded and the two split up, Shizuno spots Nodoka on television as she makes her stride in mahjong. Wanting to see her old friend again, Shizuno decides to revive the Achiga Mahjong Club so that she can face against Nodoka in the inter-high national championships. The spin-off, Shinohayu the dawn of age, shows the childhood of the various pro mahjong players in the series, focusing on a girl named Shino Shiratsuki who enters the world of competitive mahjong to seek out her mother who disappeared one day.
