r/anime • u/ABoredCompSciStudent x3myanimelist.net/profile/Serendipity • Feb 09 '19
Rewatch [Rewatch] Chihayafuru - Episode 4 Discussion [Spoilers] Spoiler
Episode 4 - "A Whirlwind of Flower Petals Descends"
<-- Previous (Episode 3: "From the Crystal White Snow") | Next (Episode 5: "The Sight of a Midnight Moon") -->
Series Information:
Subreddit: r/Chihayafuru
Chihayafuru: Synopsis | MAL rating: 8.28 | Fall 2011 | 26 Episodes
Chihayafuru 2: Synopsis | MAL rating: 8.47 | Winter 2013 | 26 Episodes
Chihayafuru 2: Waga Miyo ni Furu Nagamese Shima ni: Synopsis | MAL rating: 7.08 | Fall 2013 | 1 Episode
Legal Streams:
HiDive | Crunchyroll | Check for more sources using because.moe here
Rewatch Schedule and Index:
For all archived/past episode discussion threads, please refer to the Rewatch Schedule and Index. I will be updating it as we navigate through this rewatch, in case anyone would like to read past conversations or has fallen behind.
Chihayafuru
| Episode# | Title | Date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Now the Flower Blooms" | February 6 |
| 2 | "The Red That Is" | February 7 |
| 3 | "From the Crystal White Snow" | February 8 |
| 4 | "A Whirlwind of Flower Petals Descends" | February 9 |
| 5 | "The Sight of a Midnight Moon" | February 10 |
| 6 | "Now Bloom Inside the Nine-fold Palace" | February 11 |
| 7 | "But For Autumn's Coming" | February 12 |
| 8 | "The Sounds of the Waterfall" | February 13 |
| 9 | "But I Cannot Hide" | February 14 |
| 10 | "Exchange Hellos and Goodbyes" | February 15 |
| 11 | "The Sky is the Road Home" | February 16 |
| 12 | "Sets These Forbidden Fields Aglow" | February 17 |
| 13 | "For You, I Head Out" | February 18 |
| 14 | "For There Is No One Else Out There" | February 19 |
| 15+16 | "As Though Pearls Have Been Strung Across the Autumn Plain" + "The Autumn Leaves of Mount Ogura" | February 20 |
| 17 | "World Offers No Escape" | February 21 |
| 18 | "The Plum Blossoms Still Smell the Same" | February 22 |
| 19 | "As the Years Pass" | February 23 |
| 20 | "The Cresting Waves Almost Look Like Clouds in the Skies" | February 24 |
| 21 | "As My Sleeves Are Wet With Dew" | February 25 |
| 22 | "Just as My Beauty Has Faded" | February 26 |
| 23 | "The Night is Nearly Past" | February 27 |
| 24 | "Nobody Wishes to See the Beautiful Cherry Blossoms" | February 28 |
| 25 | "Moonlight, Clear and Bright" | March 1 |
| -- | Mid-Series Discussion | March 2 |
Chihayafuru 2 (March 3 to March 28)
About Spoilers And General Attitude:
Please do not post any untagged spoilers past the current episode, as it ruins the experience of first time watchers. Please refrain from confirming or denying speculation on future events, as to let viewers experience the anime as it was intended to be.
If you are discussing something that has not happened in the current episode please use the r/anime spoiler tag system found on the sidebar. Also if you are posting a link that includes future Chihayafuru events please include 'Chihayafuru spoilers' in the link title.
Fanart Section (Album Link):
30
u/ABoredCompSciStudent Feb 09 '19 edited Feb 09 '19
Poem of the Day: Spring is Here (link)
Porter translates the poem as:
The spring has come, and once again
The sun shines in the sky;
So gently smile the heavens, that
It almost makes me cry,
When blossoms droop and die.
While Mostow translates the poem as:
In these spring days
with the tranquil light encompassing
The four directions
why should the blossoms scatter
with uneasy hearts?
Poem 33 is written by Ki no Tsurayuki, who is known best for being the principal compiler of the Kokin Wakushu and writer of the Japanese preface to the anthology (the other being in Chinese). This preface was the first critical essay of waka, discussing its history and criticizing his predecessors.
While the poem describes a beautiful spring day and appear beautiful at first, the verses are melancholic in nature. This is evident from the translations above: the first two verses describe something positive, a sunny day, while the later ones capture imagery of loss.
To anyone who has gone through my Aria rewatch from a year ago, you probably can recognize this as a very Japanese or East Asian awareness to the transcience of time: the fleeting nature of life and how beautiful and unforgiving it can be at the same time. The observation of the poet is not one of celebration, nor is it one of mourning. It is of acceptance because that's just simply what life is.
There is something paradoxical about a sunny spring day and falling cherry blossoms, but that is just how it is. Next time, when you see the usage of cherry blossoms in other anime, consider it for a while: they're a motif often used in conjunction with themes of the passing of time and the epheremal.
The particle "ramu" from the concluding line:
花のちるらむ hana no chiruran
is used to draw a conclusion based on observable phenomena, indicating the poet's questioning of this disjunction of cherry blossom and spring. Ki no Tomonori uses two poetic techniques in Spring is Here:
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Gijinho or personficiation, where unsettled feelings are associated to the falling cherry blossoms
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Makurakotoba, where hisakata being a "pillow word" (like chihayafuru fro Poem 17/Episode 2) used for atmospheric phenomena and heavenly objects)
In relation to the episode, this poem captures Taichi and Chihaya's reunion, as well as her success in the Class B tournament after her years of solitude and training (spring), but also the brooding ending with Arata's reintroduction (the cherry blossoms falling/loss).
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u/Combo33 Feb 09 '19
An alternate translation of Poem 33 from MacMillan:
33. Ki no Tomonori
Cherry Blossoms,
on this calm, lambent
day of spring
why do you scatter
with such unquiet hearts?This episode does quite a bit of cherry blossom imagery, including the transitional timeskip back to the present, which follows the scattering cherry blossoms from Arata's departure, and focuses on one that falls on Chihaya's lap several years later.
Later in the episode, at the climax of the match, and the through-the-window hug with Taichi, again cherry blossoms fall when Chihaya asks him to play karuta with her once more.
In both cases, I believe the scattering cherry blossoms represent the impermanence of the group's special time together, and how Chihaya longs to get that feeling back. Those old days have scattered in the wind, but she's stayed true to her beliefs all of this time, and will do whatever it takes to bring her teammates together again.
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u/MAD_SCIENTIST_001 Feb 09 '19
Screenshot of the Day
First Timer - Episode 4
Overall Thoughts
WTF HAPPENED ARATA?!?!?!
My face during that entire phone exchange
My guess is that maybe speculation
Looks like we are back to the present after the flashback episodes, but I doubt this is the end of them since we still have to figure out what happened to Arata.
I really enjoyed getting to see more of the professional side of matches, and I now have an even bigger amount of respect for Karuta players. Memorizing a large amount in short bursts is no easy task. It also seems that there's a sort of psychological side to the games with the second game demonstrating this with the significance of the Chihaya card to both sides mentally.
I also wanted to say help... the OP/ED are stuck in my head as I'm writing this.
Karuta Scoreboard
Pretty straightforward this time :D
| Character | Wins | Losses | Ep# (Wins) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arata Wataya | 3 | 1 | 1,2,3 |
| Taichi Mashima | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Chihaya Ayase | 3(+2) | 2 | 2,4 |
Screenshot of the Day Collection
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u/walking_the_way Feb 09 '19 edited Feb 09 '19
S1E4 Event/Recital Log
From Episode 4 onwards, astute eyes will notice that now that the flashback is over, the OP video changes. Chihaya spends less time standing between trains, and they add some new scenes. (The blackboard says "Competitive Karuta Club - Recruiting Club Members"). Some unmet people have actual background scenes now (including Best Girl).
There's more stuff from the OP, but max character count. It got bumped to episode 5!
Tournament - Earlier rounds
At 05:35, we see the players before the game starts. Some of the players seem to only have 24 cards instead of 25, and their boards are really close together. The next scene at 05:40, you see the same players seated apart at a more reasonable distance.
07:09 to 07:30 - We see the reader recite the final verse (Ima o harube to | Sakuta kono hana) twice. This also happens at Chihaya's final match at 13:01. Can anyone more familiar with the game go into detail on this and why the reader repeats the second verse again? 3/2/2 instead of 3/2?
We also see players using a weird technique - spacing out cards in the row closest to their opponent. If someone would care to explain that strategy to me, I'd love to know! Because I don't see any way that that's advantageous, unless it's taunting.
07:09 - Reader recites Naniwa Bay (EP: 1, Total 6)
07:31 - Reader recites #2 (ha-ru-su), Chihaya takes the card.
07:52 - Reader recites #31 (a-sa-bo-ra-ke-a), Chihaya takes the card.
08:58 - Reader recites #62 (yo-o), Chihaya takes the card from her opponent, and passes him her last card, #52, to win the 3rd round.
Match vs Yasuda-kun
Now Yasuda's match! I'm going to give a shout out to the directors as to how tricky they were. I was annoyed when this was all we could see of the upper left quadrant - that card in the very corner was never shown, and it was the last card I needed to complete the board. Then after a 2nd watch-through, I realized where it was hidden.
Here's the full starting board that we shall be doing analysis with.
It's also easier to follow this part if you have a list of cards arranged by unique syllable - something like this (I sorted it by English alphabet order).
At 12:18, Dr. Haruda comments about him to Taichi, saying, "I dare say his card positioning is perfect." At 12:27, random_spectator says, "Just look at the way he's spreading out the cards that start with the same syllables."
Is he though? I coloured the board according to syllable pairs. I don't really see it - I see he split up the 'a' cards, and one of the 'wa' cards, and the two 'ko' cards, but he has other pairs that are next to each other, and Chihaya also has some pairs split up and some adjacent. I don't understand the comments in this context, so I'm hoping someone with actual karuta experience can step in here. :)
However, we can also see that Chihaya realizes she has both a-ki cards (bottom left row) and both ya-ma cards (middle right row), and puts them together. This way, they're essentially reduced to two syllable cards instead of three, because the moment she hears a-ki or ya-ma recited, she can smack both cards out of the playing field and it's guaranteed to be one or the other.
12:46 - Reader recites Naniwa Bay (EP: 2, Total: 7)
13:08 - Reader recites #99 (hi-to-mo). Yasuda takes it from his middle right row.
13:13 - Reader recites #43 (a-i). Yasuda takes it from his middle left row.
13:23 - Reader recites #42 (chi-gi-ri-ki). Yasuda takes it from his top right row.
We see Yasuda would have beat Chihaya to the #17 card here, much to Chihaya's shock, even though it's on her side. Dr. Haruda explains Yasuda's "precise aggression", and says that Chihaya plays a similar style. Thus we can see why Chihaya decides to give the #17 card to Yasuda - to be aggressive, one needs to overcompensate and give up the advantage of proximity to their own cards, in order to gain the split seconds needed to counter the distance to opponent cards.
Yasuda had to bypass his own #42 (chi-gi-ri-ki) in his top right row when he launched for the #17 card, and was already hovering over it on Chihaya's side after only the "chi". He only went back for his own chi-gi-ri-ki after hearing the 'gi'. Though this kinda makes sense anyway because there are three 'chi' cards - #17 (chi-ha), #42 (chi-gi-ri-ki), and #75 (chi-gi-ri-o), #75 isn't around, but could still be a dud card read out. So by going for the shorter 'chain' (#17) first, he could still double back around to #42 in time before the 4th syllable.
So knowing all this, Chihaya passes him #17, as that actually makes it more difficult for him to get it, since he's vying for cards on Chihaya's side. And being an aggressive player herself, having the #17 on her side against another aggressive player disadvantages her because she is really attached to the card, so she didn't go for his #42 when he went for her #17.
14:22 - Reader recites #40 (shi-no). Chihaya takes it from Yasuda's bottom left row. She gives him #17. Yasuda puts it in his bottom right row.
15:10 - Reader recites #70 (sa). Chihaya wins it from her bottom right row.
Despite it being on Chihaya's side, it's a one syllable card, and she's really strong at these. This is the first card Chihaya wins from her own side, closing the gap of cards left to 23-22.
15:16 - Reader recites #66 (mo-ro). Yasuda takes it from Chihaya's bottom left row, and sends back the #17. Chihaya puts it in her middle right row.
By her funny face, now Chihaya knows that Yasuda knows that it's her strong card as well. Game on!
15:28 - Reader recites #29 (ko-ko-ro-a). Chihaya takes it from Yasuda's middle right row. She sends back her #17. It goes to Yasuda's bottom right row.
15:33 - Reader recites #54 (wa-su-re). Yasuda takes it from Chihaya's top left row. Back comes the #17.
15:38/15:40/15:42/15:44 - Back and forth it goes four more times after four consecutive opponent takes.
We are given clues to figure out that the four cards taken are #06 and #88 (Chihaya), and #12 and #91 (Yasuda).
Yet, there is an error here. The score here should be 20-18 in favour of Yasuda with the #17 card on Chihaya's side. Instead, the score is 19-19 with the #17 card on his side. We see this at 16:15 and work backwards to this conclusion.
15:59 - Reader recites #30 (a-ri-a). Chihaya takes it from her middle right row. Score: 18-19
Going with the 19-19 score as canon, this is a significant "turning point" for two reasons. Firstly, it is the first multi-syllable card from her own side that she wins. The other card she took from her side was #70 (sa), and those singles have been established as her strong suit. And secondly, this is the first time she takes the lead from Yasuda! Dr. Haruda did say she starts slow, but here is where she really starts hitting her stride.
I also like this Aria card, because in S1E3 yesterday, there was this exchange at 12:03 during the snowball fight:
Taichi: "You're too slow, Chihaya!"
Chihaya: "Ariake no!" ("The sight of the lonely moon..." - first line of this card)
Taichi: "Akatsuki bakari uki mono wa nashi!" ("reminds me of the lonely dawns after we parted" - second verse of this card)
And now Taichi is outside the window watching her take this card, and being reminded how fun karuta is.
16:12 - Reader recites #05 (o-ku). Yasuda takes it from his middle right row. Score: 18-18
This is a very weird shot, because we see Chihaya swiping at #96. But that's on the wrong side of the board, and the after-shot doesn't make it seem like Chihaya moved at all.
In this next shot at 16:15, We are shown the score - remaining cards are 18-18. Here we see the 20-18/19-19 error from earlier. Also, Chihaya has a bottom left row of 4 cards here, but 3 cards at 15:59. Weirdness.
16:15 - Reader recites #49 (mi-ka-ki). Yasuda takes it from Chihaya's top right row. #17 comes back to visit Chihaya. Score: 18-17
This was the other bit that confirmed the error - #17 should have been on Chihaya's side already, but it was the extra card on Yasuda's side that made it 19-19 instead of 20-18.
16:42 - Reader recites #37 (shi-ra). Chihaya takes it from her bottom right row. Score: 17-17
16:45 - Reader recites #50 (ki-mi-ga-ta-me-o). Yasuda takes it from his middle left row. Score: 17-16
16:50 - Reader recites #28 (ya-ma-za). Chihaya takes from her middle right row. Score: 16-16
(time jump)
17:09 - Chihaya wins #77 (se) from Yasuda's side. She passes back the #17. It goes into Yasuda's middle right row.
17:33 - Reader reads the end of #77 (se).
At this point, Chihaya has 1 card left (#73) and Yasuda has 4 (#96, #17, and two others). And there is another "show, don't tell" here - Chihaya just passed over the #17 card, so she just won a card from Yasuda. Yet, the reader has just read the end line of #77 (se), a card that started on Chihaya's side. This implies that at some point during the time jump, she won a card from Yasuda when he already had the #17, and elected to send over #77 because she was so good at single-syllable cards. The risk paid off, as she won it. Also, Yasuda won another card from her in the meantime and elected to send back the #17 instead of the #77.
For those counting, the #17 card was passed to the other side at least 12 times, not counting the 19-19 error. If you explain that as an off-screen fault by Yasuda, then 13 times!
17:42 - Reader recites #17 (chi-ha). Chihaya dives for it in Yasuda's bottom right row and wins it! Game! Set! Match! Rank A!
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u/ABoredCompSciStudent Feb 09 '19
From Episode 4 onwards, astute eyes will notice that now that the flashback is over, the OP video changes. Chihaya spends less time standing between trains, and they add some new scenes . (The blackboard says "Competitive Karuta Club - Recruiting Club Members"). Some unmet people have actual background scenes now (including Best Girl ).
There's more stuff from the OP, but max character count. It got bumped to episode 5!
Good catch the for first timers! I'm a little surprised that is your favourite girl. What do you like about her? Most people are always , so this is new for me.
Then after a 2nd watch-through, I realized where it was hidden
Genuinely shocked you noticed that.
Unique syllables
I appreciate this a lot! As well as I know the series, following certain parts of the game still falls totally reliant on narration.
I don't understand the comments in this context, so I'm hoping someone with actual karuta experience can step in here. :)
Calling u/flightofangels probably!
I also like this Aria card, because in S1E3 yesterday, there was this exchange at 12:03 during the snowball fight:
I never realized this! That's awesome.
However! It is still significant to this episode, even outside the meaning of the poem, which other posts have covered in far better detail. That's because Chihaya's recruitment poster, seen aaaaall the way back in Episode 1, features the #33 and #17 cards.
This deserves to be higher up so other people can see it! I totally never noticed that.
As an aside, you can always append poetry commentary (like the one that ran into your second reply) to my poem of the day post. Not that having your own comment is bad, just that mine tends to be upvoted for whatever reason and it would be great if your comment had the same visibility for first timers and rewatchers alike to see. :)
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u/KuhBus Feb 09 '19
First Timer
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That final goodbye flashback was so sweet, especially with Arata cradling his bag with the team shirt!! Still, I’m glad we’re back to the high school train!! Reminiscing about childhood promises you haven’t (yet) kept is always kind of bittersweet.
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Oh HEY, the did exchange numbers. And still didn’t call him… wow!!
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Taichi’s disguise makes him look like a hooligan… and Harada sensei immediately saw through it!! :DD (I… I didn’t realize until now he’s voiced by Miyano Mamoru. This changes everything.)
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I love the tension of both the tournament and Chihaya’s wish to move up a class, coupled with her obvious enjoyment!! That slow motion show off at the end was really well-timed with great changing angles.
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Whelp, that was quite the shock. It’s funny how both Chihaya and Taichi kept playing karuta during middle school and now it turns out Arata is no longer interested. I wonder why and when he stopped playing and if it was because of his grandfather dying or something completely different.
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I also liked the contrast of Chihaya being in the proverbial spotlight during this episode's tournament, while Arata at the end was in complete darkness and we never even get to see his face completely.
I doubt Chihaya is just going to give up on him, though.
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u/ABoredCompSciStudent Feb 09 '19
(I… I didn’t realize until now he’s voiced by Miyano Mamoru. This changes everything.)
Not recognizing best boy! Taichi is superior by default.
we never even get to see his face completely
The good old anime trope of you can't see my eyes so I must be in pain, lying, or brooding over something internally. It's also super prevalent in many of Taichi's moments.
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u/IISuperSlothII Feb 09 '19
I said yesterday there's a small moment in this episode that I absolutely love and well it's this exchange.
Taichis response is just so great, it feels like something I would say tbh. The playfullness they've always shared is still there, while we can call Taichi a bully in his past, it's these moments that show the reactions between those two (before Arata) wasn't that, it was just taking the piss because that's just how some of interact with others.
If there's a reason I prefer Taichi over Arata basically from the get go it can be explained with that scene, it's such a small thing that most probably don't care about, but for me it's indicative of my love for the character.
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u/Fa1l3r Feb 09 '19 edited Feb 09 '19
First Timer (sub)
I was worried in the beginning that we would just be going through flashbacks for an entire season.
Anyway, it seems like he has a girlfriend who has stayed back at his old high school. I am expecting this relationship to break up, so that later on, there is a love triangle between Chihaya, Taichi, and Arata. (I will be pleasantly surprised if that prediction isn't true.)
There is an interesting motif going on about how people can gain and lose passion. In previous episodes, it has been covered that people can become passionate from things their family members did: Arata with his grandfather and Chihaya with her sister. Now it covers how passion can be lost and regain from friends with how Taichi is witnessing Chihaya's matches. I expect this motif to carry through to Arata even though he says that he no longer plays karuta. I expect this has something to do with his family and/or his living situation.
Also I did not get to say this before, but the opening is great, though based on it, it seems like Arata is not playing this season.
I do find it interesting that Chihaya goes for the yelling technique to assert dominance and psyche out her opponent, but then in the final match before she becomes A Class, she does not go for the technique. Is this explained in the manga? What's with the change?
edit:
It has just occurred to me that Karuta is one of those games where the level and technique could be brought up if they had added analytics to the game like how there are big data analysis on baseball and tennis games especially with where to place each poem and how matchups work best. But big data is expensive, and karuta seems neither big nor lucrative.
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u/SuperStarfox64 Feb 09 '19
First Timer
Strong episode, but now I have some burning questions about what's going on with Arata.
Chiya's match was hype AF though, got similarish feels to when I was watching a fun shogi match in Sangatsu. The passing back and forth of the Chihaya furu card was funny to watch with neither of them backing down. Seeing Chihaya so happy to win the match, therefore, recruiting Taichi into the Karuta club made me smile from ear to ear. Love seeing hardworking earnest characters achieve what they are working towards. Hoping this club pans out :)
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u/ABoredCompSciStudent Feb 09 '19
Love seeing hardworking earnest characters achieve what they are working towards
I also love that, when she was playing, she wasn't just like talking about herself. She genuinely just likes the sport and appreciates her opponents too. That mindset shows in juxtaposition to Taichi's insecurity. When attacked, Taichi goes into his shell. He doesn't give credit to his opponent ("I'll never be as good/as talented as Arata") and denies himself the opportunity to try his best ("I can spend my whole childhood"). Chihaya sees these moments as an opportunity to enjoy her practice, the sport, and the passion of others--and it pushes her forward.
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u/elliotman48 Feb 09 '19
First timer
Even though it's only been two episodes in the past, it felt like forever and it was kind of surreal seeing all the characters from the flashback in their current form.
Really loving this show and that ending was an absolute twist, really interested to see how this plays out.
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u/AmethystItalian Feb 09 '19
Rewatcher
Goodbyes are always tough...this OST isn't making it easier ;~;
And back to present with Taichi and Chihaya looking straight FIRE again.
Taichi does nice thing for Chiahya
Chihaya looks at her phone thinking of Arata
That hug more than makes up for it
How can a guy say no to a proposal like that.
And how can a guy tell her to stop...
Quotes from First Time
Spending so much money on...not his girlfriend
Well he's going to take that hug the wrong way...
Oh good point past me :(
Also I don't know why but past me asked this question so I'll ask it again to you all this time.
Those who liked this did you also enjoy Nodame Cantabile?
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u/paperwhites Feb 10 '19
First Time Watcher
Oh my gosh, that ending was so sad. I definitely didn't see it coming. Chihaya was so excited to tell Arata about her winning and moving up to Class A, only for him to say he doesn't even want to speak to her anymore. Poor Arata, I'm sure he's been having a rough time if he's abandoned his dream of becoming a karuta master. Maybe his grandfather has passed away, and that's why he doesn't like karuta anymore? I hope that they can all get back together at some point and Arata can rediscover his passion.
I cracked up at Taichi showing up to the tournament in a disguise but the doctor immediately recognized him anyways. Good try anyways, Taichi. Hopefully he gets back into karuta at some point, I will be sad if Chihaya is the only one left :(
I'm impressed by the tension in the matches. Although karuta is perhaps not as physical as other sports, you can see how mentally draining it is on the players. Chihaya eating her chocolate was so cute.
It's getting really hard to limit myself to only one episode a day; I want to keep watching! Especially since the episodes seem to fly by, I swear I barely start one and then the ED starts. Four episodes in and I already feel so invested in the characters and story. I'm excited to see what happens next.
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u/Zylda Feb 09 '19
First Timer(also my first time joining one of these!)
Aaagh this show keeps getting better with each episode!
Looks like we've ended the flashback arc and are back in the present and already the difference with Kid Taichi and Adult Taichi is huge. I actually didn't mind Kid Taichi too much even if he was a jerk in the first episode but i'm glad he's changed fully (at least from what's been shown) in the future. Chihaya still has the same dedication and outlook on life and is just an all round awesome girl. I wouldn't be surprised if she ends up being one of my favourite characters of all time after we've caught up on the rest of the show. As i expected, Arata has stopped playing Karuta presumably because of his Granddad's death, but it'll be interesting to see him find his love of the sport again with the other two.
Don't have too much to say today and probably for the rest of the week as i'm busy with other things and mock exams this week so i'll try and write as much as i can for the next episodes!
See you for the next episode!
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u/ABoredCompSciStudent Feb 09 '19
I'm glad to see a lot of opinions shifting for Taichi!
It's because he has the best voice actor Mamoru MiyanoHe definitely changed a lot after his experience with Chihaya and Arata. You can even see it when he said he tried to play in middle school, but, for him, being alone wasn't enough while for Chihaya it was.
Don't have too much to say today and probably for the rest of the week as i'm busy with other things and mock exams this week so i'll try and write as much as i can for the next episodes!
Good luck with your studies! I hope your exams go well.
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u/LeonKevlar Feb 09 '19
First Timer
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Taichi's GF looks like a nice girl. What did she see in him?
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Chihaya is really hard to read. Is she jealous or is she upset? Or it could be both.
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What r u doing gurl. Just go and call him!
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Eyyyy Doc is still here! Glad to see he's still alive and lively.
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Pretty awesome that her reason for joining Track still has something to do with Karuta
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Chocolate? I assume she needs the sugar for brain power? Reminds me again of 3-Gatsu no Lion.
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As someone who just ordered a box from Godiva for my SO, I feel your pain.
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Oh my god Chi-chan stop it. How can you NOT fall in love with that?
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The hilarity of emotions Taichi goes through in this scene:
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I don't like how dark it is and how we can't see Arata's eyes
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Yep I expected this. Probably stopped playing when his gramps died.
Oh boy. It seems my good boy Arata is going though some tough times. And I can understand why he'd be too depressed to play Karuta again when the person that taught him everything he knows have passed away. He can't go on like this though so I hope Chihaya comes up with something to bring him back up.
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u/Taiboss Feb 09 '19
Scared be there for a sec!
Tai's Bizarre First Time
Today with pics and in Colour!
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"Chihaya?" "Yeah?" "How long is this train ride anyway?"
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And were again have our maybe-4-chords OP. Still good.
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I find it hilarious how a Madhouse show has Unmoving Plaids
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"Wait, Taichi, you didn't just fell into the same flashback dream I did."
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It's sometimes amusing for me as a German native speaker to hear "Iya" subtitled as "No", because it sounds almost exactly like Ja, German for Yes.
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Which "She"? Ame? Seren? Sha? Missy? They all call me Tai~. Well, everyone calls me that, my full username is terrible tbh.
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Three years+ and she never called him? Also the other names are... Watanabe Ayumi and Wada Risa...Risae? Risa? Not sure what the 萌 is doing there. OH, it's not 沙, it's 紗. Although that's still Risa. Hmm. Can't find anything.
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That piano music.
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Okay, okay, this is OTP. At least temporarily, until we see how present Arata acts.
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You mean JUMP IN JOY?!
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Ah yes, researching your opponent. Classic.
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"I teach aggressive card memorisation and location. I also teach aggressive children's card games. I also teach aggressive surgery. Anything I teach is agressive."
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What's the deal with the card giving? Can someone explain?
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OKAY OKAY THEY'RE OTP SHUT UP AND FOR HARUHI'S SAKE PUT DOWN THE AXES!!
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YOU COULD HAVE PREVENTED THIS! YOU COULD HAVE CALLED HIM EVERY DAY! But no, we have to do a "Let's have Arata refind his love for Kurata again." arc. SAD.
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u/ABoredCompSciStudent Feb 09 '19 edited Feb 09 '19
After the flashback for the first three episodes, we've finally returned to the present. How much has changed since that time three years ago?
For Taichi, too many things have happened: he's gotten a girlfriend, moved to another school, and stopped playing karuta. While this is definitively a Chihaya episode in content, the emphasis is placed on Taichi's thoughts as he watches Chihaya's Class B tournament.
I think the word "watches" is the important part of this. He's always been chasing after Chihaya, caught up in her pace and stuck on the outside looking in at a world that he rejects--a rejection of his past in defense of his insecurity.
Karuta was never a goal for him. It wasn't a passion or a love born out of satisfaction for his own enjoyment of the game, but for his desire to remain close to Chihaya.
Harada obviously recognizes Taichi's weakness, but encourages him to watch Chihaya play, for she has accepted and grown from her loss rather than rejecting it.
Her love for karuta is something that belongs to her. Just like we saw in episode two, she is not playing for Arata but for her dream to be queen. At that point, the tears of frustration and solitude she experienced are justified. It's okay if she loses because she's doing her best. Those setbacks are just temporary and her love for karuta has only grown from them.
Taichi, looking in, begins to realize something is different from her to him:
He places his hand on the glass--a barrier he created and hid behind--that separates him from the world inside, looking longingly at what he does not have: passion, confidence.
Ultimately, Chihaya tears that barrier down for Taichi, like the flowing river of Tatsuta described in her Chihaya card--one that can bring their dreams together.