Teru Miyanaga

“	That girl from Sangamaki whom none of us could beat; she said Teru Miyanaga isn't human.	”
—Ako Atarashi about playing Shiraitodai.

Teru Miyanaga
Personal info
Japanese name:	宮永 照
Birthday:	February 18
Family:	Kai Miyanaga (father) Ai Arctander (mother) Saki Miyanaga (younger sister)
Location:	West Tokyo area
School:	Shiraitodai High School
Grade:	Third-year high school
Media
Debut:	Saki (manga), Round 3 (Magazine Article) Round 4 (Flashback) Round 56 (Full Appearance)
Voiced by:	Mai Nakahara
Mahjong
Highest rank:	Champion in National Tournament
Position:	Vanguard
Style:	Increasing value per turn
Main skill/ability:	The mirror
Favorable condition:	Won the last hand Last dealer

Teru Miyanaga is a third year student and the leader of Shiraitodai High School. Teru is Saki Miyanaga's older sister, who went to live with her mother when their parents separated. She has since become a powerful mahjong player, sometimes displaying fearsome powers until the fact that people began classify her as the strongest among all monster players. She used to play with Saki and the rest of the family when they were younger. Saki dreams of progressing to the nationals and finally reuniting with her, but Teru lies to teammates and reporters alike about not having a sister. It is still unknown as to why she is mad at Saki. Teru won the last national individual tournament, Shiraitodai won the past two national team tournaments, and they aim to repeat both wins this year.

Appearance

Teru has shoulder length dark magenta hair, often with one tuft sticking out from the side of her head, and red eyes. The two latter traits she shares with her sister, Saki. She is seen in the Shiraitodai High School uniform which consists of a white sailor fuku dress with light blue outlines, a navy blue ribbon, puffed sleeves, and a brown belt. In some flashbacks and publicity photos, she wears a brown blazer, a plaid green skirt, a white dress shirt and a bluish-green necktie, which seems to be Shiraitodai's winter uniform. When she used to live with Saki, she wore a sleeveless black shirt with a long white skirt.

Personality

Teru is dispassionate and almost emotionless when she is with her teammates but smiles widely during a press conference, a smile that Sumire realizes is fake. Teru harbors anger towards Saki for unknown reasons. When she used to live with Saki, she was the typical cool older sister -- encouraging Saki to bloom like flowers on a mountain. She may be an avid reader like her sister. Even though she is somewhat cold, she has shown care to her opponent like the time when she's worried about Toki Onjouji after she is being sent to hospital. She loves sweet things.

Playing style / abilities

Teru has the ability to watch and observe players in order to figure out their playing style and habits. This manifests as a Shoumakyou, a mirror in Japanese mythology that reflected the evils in a person. After using her ability on someone once, it takes a while before she can use it on them again. She is capable of using it outside of matches, though she will typically use the first hand of a game to look into her opponents.

This makes her very astute, and allows her to easily counter her opponents (if they play like how the mirror suggests they will). For example, in the third east hand of the first Vanguard match in the National semifinals, Toki declares riichi, Teru discards the 3-pin, Kirame Hanada follows Teru and discards the 3-pin, allowing Teru to call a pon, cancelling Toki's ippatsu and making Toki play into her hand. However, if a player were to change, and not play according to how they would in the beginning of the match when Teru used her mirror on them, it is possible to confuse and slip away from Teru's winning streak.

After using her mirror, she begins her reign. When she wins one hand, her next hand will be stronger than the last. However, she must win with a higher value in order to keep her ability active (this includes renchan bonuses but Teru doesn't rely on that; it is likely riichi bets do not count), this may delay the completion of her hand as she begins making more difficult yaku. Her winning with a lower value hand than her last one, anyone else winning, and exhaustive draws will break her streak, causing her to start again from the bottom. Her beginning hands start out regularly, but her draws make her hands come together strongly and quickly, she hardly ever requires more than 6 draws before reaching a win, and sometimes she will also get a double riichi. The momentum of her wins build up on her right arm, appearing as a small tornado.

It is likely that Teru can actually start her winning streak with any win, but she avoids this in order to maximize her winnings. Starting at lower point values also makes it easier on Teru to continue winning, as she can slowly build up her win until she needs those high scoring hands.

Teru may also have a Nine Gates or Nine Lanterns ability, which consists of a single-suited, closed hand composed of number tiles 1 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 9 9 and any one duplicate tile. This would be related to her name 照, Shine. Also is hinted by Awai Oohoshi that she has an unshowed ability during Achiga-hen, being this ability the most plausible one.

Teru's silhouette appears when Yasuko Fujita speaks about players whom are "loved by the tiles" and when Hisa Takei speaks about monsters with powers.

History

During the spring of their first year in high school, Sumire sees that Teru is lost while reading a book and decides to talk to her. She gets Teru to follow her to the gym. Some time after that, Teru is sitting on a bench reading once more; Sumire, spotting her, comes up to talk with her. She gives her a chilling glare until she realizes it was the kind girl from the other day. She tells Sumire that she is reading and that she thought Sumire would do the new student greetings but was wrong about that. During the conversation she learns that Sumire is a scholarship student for mahjong and that the school is good at it (making it to the Finals of the West Tokyo prefecture's qualification in the previous year's interhigh).

They are interrupted by Reika Kaise, the club manager, asking Sumire if she had picked a team to be on yet. Reika and Sumire then inform Teru of Shiraitodai's team rules. Sumire and Reika argue briefly about Shiraitodai's tradition of not sending its 5 best as a team; Sumire seeing it as a waste if they don't send their best players, and Reika honouring the previous manager's wishes of sending the best team (with the best synergy). Teru then proposes on having a match with the members that she chooses.

Sumire brings Teru to the mahjong club where Teru looks around, observing the players. They then approach 4 low-ranking students and asks them to join an improvised team, which the other students agree to. Teru gives each of them some personalized advice. They then play against some other teams in the club, and Teru's advice allows them to win completely.

Reika asks when Teru is joining the mahjong club, but Teru declines, saying she only wanted to help prove Reika's point: there are players that have bad results but are actually really strong. She then walks out and Sumire runs after her. They begin talking about a +/- zero girl and Teru's ability to read people. They are then interrupted by Sumire fan girls. After she deals with them, Sumire brings back bags full of snacks and offers Teru some.

Sometime later in the cafeteria, Sumire tries to give Teru a reason to join the mahjong club such as free dorms, a reading space, and pancakes. While eating, the girls she gave advice to come up to her and ask her to help the others in the club. When she does, the members all gain strength but the original girls are still strong. After giving advice to Shiori Unozawa, she is approached by Sumire and is told to play mahjong with her.

Teru accepts, Sumire asks if others want to join, and Rune sits down immediately, saying that everyone is afraid of Teru even though none of them have seen her play and that she's only a first year, but that such losses can happen and that it's important to go through them. Sumire asks for a last player, and Natsuki and Ran volunteer, but Natsuki was just a little bit faster and sits down. All three of them are completely defeated by Teru, who takes them all below 0 with her renchan. Sumire continues to play with Teru, with rotating members of the Shiraitodai club; Teru soundly beats everyone.

After playing everyone in the club, Teru gets ready to leave, but Sumire asks her to come back to the club the next day, because even if no one else will, Sumire will play Teru. Teru responds kindly, saying she'll try her best to make it.

Plot

Introduction Arc (Saki)

After Saki talks about playing mahjong together like a family again, Mr. Miyanaga gives Saki a copy of the Weekly Mahjong Today newsmagazine, which features Teru. The next day, while Saki is daydreaming, she recalls of a time with her sister. We see a happy Teru explaining the meaning behind rinshan kaihou and telling Saki that she is just like that. Saki later tells Nodoka Haramura that she has to go to the nationals and meet with her sister. When she tells Nodoka that her sister's name is Teru, Nodoka remembers that she is the double champion of last year's inter-high tournament.

Prefectural Tournament Arc

Teru is mentioned by Yasuko Fujita as one of the monsters of the inter-high.

Combined Training Camp Arc

In the 2005 anime, she is shown getting "interviewed" by Junko Nishida asking if she had a little sister, perhaps Kiyosumi's captain Saki. Teru responds with no. Later, Sumire shows Teru the list of prefectural representative schools, and asks Teru if she had a sister; Teru responds with no.

Teru is shown after Awai Oohoshi advances her team to the national tournament. The announcer mentions that Teru is a high schooler who stands above all others.

Final Eight Arc

Teru appears along with Sumire Hirose at a press conference. When asked a question, she puts on a facade when answering. As they leave, Sumire tells her that it's cruel and not her normal self. Teru replies that she wasn't lying during the interview, and there are some people she's grateful towards.

Before the start of her match in the semi-finals, Teru is seen reading until the other competitors arrive and then the battle begins. After Toki Onjouji wins the first hand, Teru uses her mirror ability and judges her opponents. After she gets her first win off of Kuro Matsumi, she goes on a long win streak that was only snapped thanks to Toki and Kirame Hanada working together. Teru then wins the next two hands to send the game to it's intermission. The beginning of the second half begins much like the first had ended, with Teru winning consecutive hands. Her win streak was eventually stopped because of Toki overexerting herself. She then began another long win streak to increase her lead and finally became dealer again. Being the dealer ,Teru once again goes on another long win streak that has everyone thinking she will make someone go bust. However with Toki and Kirame's help, Teru managed to play into Kuro's hand and also thanks to her not calculating Kuro discarding a dora tile.

With the end of the match Teru was telling her opponents good game when she notices Toki, on the verge of collapsing. Afterward she appears in the team waiting room with snacks she bought.Awai Oohoshi then asks her why she didn't do one of her special moves. Teru tells her that she didn't have an opportunity this match but will do it during the finals and again wonders about Toki. During Sumire's match, she notices that Yuu Matsumi keeps dodging her and wonders out loud if she has some sort of telling sign about her abilities. After more observation she couldn't tell if Sumire was doing something to give a sign. She later appears during the lieutenants battle eating cake. During the vice-captains match she and Sumire explain Mairu Shirouzu and Himeko Tsuruta's conjoining ability. She is later shown watching Seiko's match; expressionless.

Later during Awai's match, Teru reminds Sumire that Shindouji was able to win against her during the second round. She is surprised when Himeko is able to beat Awai's ability again and tells everyone that Mairu and Himeko are both very strong. Later in the match, Teru senses that Awai is getting serious and remembers she did it once before in the prefecturals. When Himeko wins off of Awai again, Teru says there are probably only ten high schoolers who could beat it and that it might even stand up against professionals. When Seiko mentions she beat Awai's double riichi, and Teru asks her how. After the explanation she was in disbelief. She then wonders why Awai wasn't able to complete her last hand. When Awai bursts into the waiting room and apologizes for getting second place, Teru tells her that they got through the semi's and only have to worry about winning the next one.

While on the roof, Awai comes to get her. She then says that she'll come down later but Awai then asks Teru if Saki is her sister. She starts to say no, but instead admits that Saki is her sister. After Awai tells her that Saki's match is starting, Teru says that it might be tough for Saki because of her opponents. Awai then asks if she's going to watch the match and Teru tells her that she will after she's finished eating.

After the captain's match of side-B, she feels a presence and asks Awai if it is that girl.

National Championship Arc

She is seen playing mahjong with Awai in the dark. Early in the morning at the playing hall, she runs into Saki. Saki tries to talk with her but Teru ignores her and keeps walking. She quickly makes it to her team's room and stumbles through the entrance. Sumire, concerned, asks what is wrong and Teru tells Sumire that she met her sister but couldn't think of anything to say to Saki. Sumire collects Teru to leans onto her shoulder.

Relationships

Sumire Hirose

Sumire and Teru are good friends, and are referred to as the "Tora-Hime combo" (Tiger and Princess) in the mahjong scene, which is a play on both of their names. They first met in the spring of their first year at Shiraitodai, where Sumire helps Teru find the gym for the opening ceremony and later brings her to the mahjong club, and later convinces her to join through her sweet tooth. Before learning Sumire's name, Teru repeatedly called her "Kind Person," showing respect and courtesy to Sumire for helping her the first day they met. Sumire seems to tease Teru about many things, including her "showman smile" and Teru's relation to Saki, even though Teru denies this in their third year of high school. Teru shows concern for Sumire during the sergeant's match in the semifinals when Yuu Matsumi begins outplaying her, wondering if Sumire has a tell, and gets everyone to look for it. Sumire continues to worry about Teru, wondering if Saki will finally save her.

Saki Miyanaga

Saki and Teru's relationship is currently incredibly strained, although the cause of the strain is currently unknown. When their parents lived together, Teru and Saki had a very good relationship, with Teru being a cool big sister, encouraging Saki to grow and "bloom" with all of her might, giving rise to Saki's signature use of the yaku rishan kaihou. In Teru's first year of high school, she spoke fondly of Saki, saying that even though she got +/- 0 every mahjong game, she was really strong. It also appears that Saki has been in Teru's thoughts the entire time. Saki mentions to Nodoka that once she went to Tokyo in order to talk to Teru, but Teru ignored her. Saki is so afraid of seeing Teru now that she couldn't enter the playing hall when Nodoka and Yuuki went to watch the Side-A semifinals. Prior to the finals, Saki runs into Teru and attempts to talk to her, but Teru walks past, ignoring Saki. However, the encounter took its toll on Teru as well, as she barely made it to her own playing room, weakly telling Sumire that she just ran into Saki.

Awai Oohoshi

People consider Awai Teru's successor in the mahjong scene, having joined the mahjong club a few months before the West Tokyo Qualifications, but immediately being a strong force. They seem to have a typical Senpai-Kyohai relationship, with Awai teasing Teru and Teru guiding Awai - Awai even apologises only to Teru about taking second place in the semifinals. Awai manages to get Teru to open up about Saki, and Teru helps Awai improve her mahjong in order to beat Achiga in the finals. Awai is seen to be very close physically to Teru, often nuzzling her or being very close in Teru's space. Teru is also able to tell when Awai is holding back or not, noting when Himeko Tsuruta was able to break through Awai's 5-shanten zone.

Career highlights

• Two time National High School Team Champion (69th and 70th Inter-high).
• National High School Individual Champion (70th Inter-high).
• Second Place in National High School Individual Champion (69th Inter-high), defeated by Yoshiko Kainou

Trivia

• Teru appears alongside the other girls of Shiraitodai as competitors of the Achiga girls in the Side-A anime's preview and in the opening theme of each episode.
• In mahjong, flipping over too many tiles by accident will be penalized as a chombo, costing 8000 or 12,000 points. In Japan, it is a meme that Teru has a special ability, known as the "Dynamic Chombo!" (English: Dynamic Oversight). This ability is in reference to her appearance in the Side-A opening - when Teru takes her turn she flips over several dozen tiles in a burst of electricity. http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm17563268
• Teru is a shampoo connoiseur, able to tell what brand of shampoo you have used just by smell alone.
• Teu breaks Kazekoshi's Mihoko Fukuji's previous record as the player to win the most points over two hanchan with 96,200 points gained in the side A-semifinals.