I realize this is pretty subjective but I’d like your opinions. The character is implying that calling in this situation reduces his chances to win and would have been unthinkable during the Showa period for some reason.

However I don’t see anything wrong with that call, to the contrary it looks like the obvious course of action to me.

Aiming for sanshoku does not seem to reduce his shanten, it secures the dora and even unlocks a double sided wait ; he might also trade this double sided wait for junchan if he gets a pair of terminals later, giving him a shot at mangan. And all of that without being forced to discard by a riichi.

On the other hand not calling here would likely mean riichi only on a single wait which sucks…So I really have no idea what Showa players were thinking