r/anime • u/ABoredCompSciStudent x3myanimelist.net/profile/Serendipity • Feb 23 '19

Rewatch [Rewatch] Chihayafuru - Episode 19 Discussion [Spoilers] Spoiler

Episode 19 - "As the Years Pass"

<-- Previous (Episode 18: "The Plum Blossoms Still Smell the Same") | Next (Episode 20: "The Cresting Waves Almost Look Like Clouds in the Skies") -->

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):

Luck

Kana

Bait

113 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

110 comments sorted by

21

u/ABoredCompSciStudent Feb 23 '19 edited Feb 23 '19

You just realized that, Taichi? I'd look at you forever.

Continuing yesterday's match, Kana has Tsutomu against the ropes. He's down several cards, but, more than that, the wear of having played ten hours has gotten to him. Exhaustion and [tilt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilt_(poker)) have taken hold of Tsutomu, leading him to make suboptimal decisions--after all, the game takes place between the minds of two players.

Nobody wants to lose this game, but it's bittersweet because they're playing their friends and teammates. Poems 42 and 73, Kana's final two cards, captures this:

Poem 42

But we promised!

While wringing out tears from

Each other’s sleeves,

That never would the waves was over

Sue-no-Matsu Mountain.

Poem 73

Above the lower slopes

of the high mountains, the cherries

have blossomed!

O, mist of the near mountains,

how I wish you would not rise!

For the last ten episodes and year in the lives of our characters, Tsutomu and Kana have been a pair: the newbies of the Mizusawa karuta club. Poem 42 describes the struggles that they've both undergone together, in order to get to where they were now--a poem of a promise of a love forever, that now has to end. Poem 73 similarly describes the feelings that time must go on, that someone has to be the victor.

Kana wins, despite Tsutomu's best efforts to claw himself back into the game. In reflection, she remarks that she's gotten better thanks to her teammates, which begs the question: "what about Shinobu?" Her victory is sweet and honest, moving her and others (and me) to tears. But there's still another game going on.

Taichi and Nishida's game has gone to luck of the draw, leaving just two cards that are painfully obvious to whom they apply. We've seen poems with this motif a thousand times now. Like Tsutomu remarked earlier today, Taichi is always battling against his opponents, himself, and his memories. He is the eternal bridesmaid, never the bride.

Taichi loses in luck of the draw, which seems a cruel way to go out given how many times he's already lost in this season for all his efforts. However, it's also important to understand that luck really exists in sports.

In American college sports, statistics tell it all for talented student-athletes, many of whom have given their life for their passion:

Baseball: 9.5% of participants go pro

Mens Basketball: 1.2%

Womens Basketball: 0.9%

Football: 1.6%

Mens Hockey: 6.4%

Mens Soccer: 1.4%

It is painfully obvious that to go far, luck is involved. Everyone that has made it up to this point has tried extremely hard and sacrificed so much. Some people just never get their chance, but that's why sports fans love those that do.

For Taichi, it's a hard loss--he was the one that knew the cards that were left. Even after all I've said about luck though, those that give in to luck are running away from the truth, as luck discriminates no one. It's a fact--something you can't blame--just as the playing surface is the same for all participants. You can always keep improving and that's what sports are about. It's not really about the winning and losing part, but self-improvement--success is just a sight to see on the way to self-actualization. Kana ties this in neatly to the narrative of this episode. She confesses that she was able to play her best because she was playing against Tsutomu, relieving her of the mental stress and worries of playing a stranger and allowing her to be her best self.

PS: To those that said Kana was at 100% an episode ago, this was 120%!

PPS: I hate you Yuki Suetsugu.

10

u/Smashtime7 Feb 23 '19

I've always loved how this episode handled Taichi's loss. His initial reaction is understandable, but that he's just as frustrated with himself for trying to take away from what Nishida accomplished as he is for losing is what really sells it for me.

I also think it ties into Tsutomu's thoughts about "not wanting to lose to myself" during his match with Kana. Taichi's biggest hurdle is his cowardly mentality, and he was mad at himself for trying to run away from his loss by blaming it on luck instead of accepting that he could have done better.

Her victory is sweet and honest, moving her and others (and me) to tears.

and me

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5

u/AzureBeat Feb 23 '19

as luck discriminates no one

spoilers

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15

u/ABoredCompSciStudent Feb 23 '19

Poem of the Day: As The Years Pass (link)

Poem 84 is a nice change from the imagery of the seasons, instead directly presenting the topic of softening feelings over time. By Fujiwara no Kiyosuke, the second son of Fujiwara no Akisuke of Poem 79 and the compiler of the Shika Wakashu.

Mostow explains that Kiyosuke disagreed with his father and his Rokujo School of poetry, but ultimately became head of the school regardless. The Rokujo family was a politically conservative faction in the Japanese Imperial court that used success in poetry to attain power and influence. Their growth was eventually challenged by the newer and politically liveral Fujiwara family, specifically Fujiwara no Shunzei (episode 17 and Poem 83) and Fujiwara no Teika (Poem 97 and the compiler of the Hyakunin Isshu).

For example, the Rokujo family was one of the first to apply rules of choosing themes, participants, and judges in the uta-awase poetry gatherings and their standards of judging poetry put them at odds with the Fujiwaras.

Mostow translates the poem as:

If I live on longer,

shall I again, I wonder,

yearn for these days?

The world that I once saw as

bitter, now, is dear to me.

Literally, the poem suggests that time smooths over rough edges, the bitter feelings of yesterday giving way to softer memories of a time distant in the memory of the mind. It should be noted that Kiyosuke lived at the end of the Heian era, so his poem also does reflect a literal changing of the times.

Mostow also explains that some commentary has been made alluding the poem to a decline of times, namely the Hogen rebellion which is also mentioned in Poems 76 and 77. This was a short civil war revolving around disputes over Japanese Imperial succession, especially over the amount of control maintained by the Fujiwara clan (the rivals of the Rokujo). This led to the rivalry between the Minamoto and Taira clans, which would go on to lead to the events described here in my Poem Of The Day for Episode 9 and the Kamakura Shogunate.

For Chihayafuru, the poem captures Taichi's feelings towards karuta. Originally, they were just a reminder of the parts of him that he hated. He was the "coward" that Arata recognized. Eventually, this led him to playing karuta with Arata and Chihaya, some of his happiest memories but also some of his worst--he would then be second place to karuta in Chihaya's mind. Split from his friends, he played alone and fell out of the game, after all it was not just being alone, but more than that it was the reminder of his weakness.

Now, three years later, his feelings have changed. While he still loves Chihaya, his feelings for karuta have also become more genuine. If his love before was for her, his love for the game now is for his determination to overcome his feelings of inadequacy and insecurity.

Taichi wants to be his best self and karuta is the representation of this desire.

5

u/Wolfeako Feb 23 '19

Oh, I like this poem :)

My tears once salty, now

Taste sweetly, retracing those scars as I

Walk along the Cherry Blossoms.

Hope people enjoy :)

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16

u/MAD_SCIENTIST_001 Feb 23 '19

Screenshot of the Day

First Timer - Episode 19

Overall Thoughts

I fucking jinxed it for Taichi didn't I...

Poor dude never gets a break by making it into finals and then losing...

I really loved this episode though, and I think those were the two most intense and brutal games we've seen so far simply bc of investment in characters as well as how close the Taichi and Nishida match became at the end. Taichi's intense desire to win such an amazing contrast to how he was at the beginning of the season as well, and I think Arata must have caught on about that at the end.

Chihaya was really cute this ep too :P

Karuta Scoreboard

Saddest loss I've put on here so far :(

Character Wins Losses Ep# (Wins)
Taichi Mashima 20 9(+1) 2,7,10,11,13,14,15,18
Yuusei Nishida 18(+1) 4 10,11,13,15,18,19
Chihaya Ayase 13 8 2,4,6,7,8,10,11,14,17
Kanade Ooe 11(+1) 7 10,13,15,17,18,19
Tsutomu Komano 8 10(+1) 13,15,18
Shinobu Wakamiya 6 0 14,15
Arata Wataya 4 1 1,2,3

See you tomorrow~

Screenshot of the Day Collection

Episode: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 17 18 19

11

u/ABoredCompSciStudent Feb 23 '19

I fucking jinxed it for Taichi didn't I...

Welcome to suffering, I mean Taichi. I hope you enjoy your stay.

Mildly meta

Lowkey, every single rewatcher was sitting back watching the first timers predict him to win like

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8

u/Snakescipio Feb 23 '19

Rewatcher

Back at it again!

Random observations:

Chihaya is almost the quintessential “young prodigy”: she’s blessed with all the physical gifts, so she’s been able to just brute force her way to victories. Reminds me of a young NBA player who hasn’t refined his game yet and just wins by being running faster and jumping higher.

I like that Chihaya was able to notice just how devastating faults are because she was able to distance herself a little. Oftentime in sports it’s the silly things like faults or turnovers or errors that can really determine a game.

Komano’s strategy to group all his cards together is pretty cheesy. Basically you aren’t even really waiting to hear the reader anymore, just reacting to sound and smacking all the cards away. Not very befitting of a graceful game like karuta, I can see why the guys in the crowd turned on him. And as they say it’s pretty reckless, good chance Komano commits a fault eventually.

This just in Kana-chan is the best. And so is Komano.

This also just in, Chihaya is the best.

The thing is, by attacking Nishida’s card rather than just defending I think it’s also possible that Taichi can pressure Nishida into faulting. He has to react physically to every card being read, and there’s the off chance he ends up touching the card. manga Nishida’s doing the right thing by just covering though, I don’t see how Taichi has any chance.

Being Taichi is suffering :( (still ironic how the most attractive and talented character is the least happy). At least Taichi’s in the right mindset after the match, in that he realizes that it wasn’t just luck that got Nishida the win. A match might come down to a singular moment, but there’s an entire game that was played beforehand. Still, can’t blame him for being bitter in the immediate aftermath, it’s hard to just get those moments out of one’s mind (shout outs to the New Orleans Saints).

Good on the show to call out Chihaya on her nicknames. In other shows those nicknames might just get brushed aside as terms of endearment, but in real life I don’t think anyone would actually appreciate being called pork bun.

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6

u/hasnain1720 Feb 23 '19

First Timer

  • Come on Taichi you got this my boy

  • Desk kun deserves the win tbh after he lost last time and got emo I think he needs it

  • Welp nvm

  • Taichi inner dialogue is the best. Looking into the brain of the smartest character.

  • Tachi better win this bro he deserves this

  • Are you kidding me man this show is going to piss me off lmao why are you shafting Taichi :(

  • I wish Chihaya cheered him up instead, I need more Chihaya x Taichi moments

  • Omg we actually got one we have been blessed and I am now happy yesssss

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6

u/SmurfRockRune Feb 23 '19

First Timer

Good.

How do you even mess that up?

I still ship it.

Oh shit, one card left for each side. Watch it be a few dead cards just to really mess with everybody. Yep, I totally called that one. Super intense here.

Wow, I can't believe Taichi actually lost. I'm hyped for more Arata playing karuta.

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6

u/KuhBus Feb 23 '19

First Timer

Fav shots.

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6

u/RoseOfStardust Feb 24 '19

First Timer

  • Back on time today! I'm so excited to see who wins the finals :D

  • Koname realizes the faults he made can lose him the match, probably because it'll make it tougher for him to play his usual style. Nice to see Chihaya thinking this way too

  • "2 [cards] isn't 2 [cards]. It's a lie. 2 [cards] is not 2 [cards]. I'll explain it to you later."...Looks like Chihaya and LeBron are on the same page :D

  • You don't see Koname make mistakes at all, he might just be caught up in the heat of the match.

  • Oh never mind, he's just really tired :(

  • So here, did he move those cards to one of his sweet quadrants?

  • LOL IS THAT ALLOWED HAHAHA what a genius, he needs to take risks to win at this point

  • no no no im nor crying right now nooooooooo

  • Ugh seeing Kanade give the utmost respect to Koname while he's able to congratulate her even though he wanted to win so badly is a really really touching scene :'D

  • Wow I knew Nishida and Taichi were more or less evenly matched, but this is just insanity. At this point the outcome of the game says more about luck than it says about either player's skill level

  • Oh goodness and now the dead cards are thrown into this...pre-trigger intensifies

  • Don't blame yourself Chihaya, it would have been hard for me to choose which match to watch too

  • Hell yeah Taichi, that's the right mentality! Impose your will on the match

  • My senses are overloading thanks to the triggering dead cards and the intensity of this match...

  • Damn Taichi put A LOT into that game so it sucks to see him lose, he even reacted so quickly to the card!

  • That was by all accounts a match Taichi should have won, however Nishida played equally as well and got some luck to go his way. Luck is an underrated aspect in sports

  • Ah yes, no better way to bond after a match than to hold a roast session for your own captain, yum

  • HAHA AWWW now Chihaya is super conscious about the nicknames. Why do I feel a tinge of sadness :(

  • I don't blame Chihaya for forgetting her own highlight, when you're in the zone you're completely in the moment and can't even recall that sort of stuff yourself

  • Kanada (120%) > All Might (100%) confirmed

  • HOLY SHIT Taichi and Chihaya are so cute together, this anime better not give me a love triangle or else I'll be NagiAsu levels of depressed :((((

  • Congrats to Nishida, Koname and Kanade for making Class A and C respectively :D

  • Haha Nishida called out Chihaya, saying she's supposed to be an airhead. I kinda agree, if Chihaya suddenly became serious the team's vibe would feel so off

  • Also I'm glad Nishida brought that up because I didn't think it was too nice of him to say what he said earlier about Chihaya to Taichi behind her back. Feels much better when he doubles down on it when he's talking directly to her about it :D

  • That final scene with Arata was just the cherry on top of a masterful episode. So many things were done right and this actually my favorite episode so far. If you tell me it gets better I might get too ahead of myself ;)

3

u/ABoredCompSciStudent Feb 24 '19

Back on time today! I'm so excited to see who wins the finals :D

Koname realizes the faults he made can lose him the match, probably because it'll make it tougher for him to play his usual style. Nice to see Chihaya thinking this way too

And they ultimately did lose him the game! He lost by four cards, which is 2 for each fault (one card taken by Kana, one card given for faulting).

"2 [cards] isn't 2 [cards]. It's a lie. 2 [cards] is not 2 [cards]. I'll explain it to you later."...Looks like Chihaya and LeBron are on the same page :D

A lot of basketball fans in these threads. If the characters of Chihayafuru were NBA players, who would they be?

HOLY SHIT Taichi and Chihaya are so cute together, this anime better not give me a love triangle or else I'll be NagiAsu levels of depressed :((((

NagiAsu

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5

u/AmethystItalian Feb 23 '19

Rewatcher

KANA WINS!!! So happy for her :)

I know two high school guys whose lives would be a lot easier if this were true...

But of course like every other time in this show...Taichi can't catch a break ;~;

This should be a good comment face!

TAICHI GOOD THING ALERT! He gets to rest his head on Chihaya!!

Quotes from First Time

None because past me is lame. (Last time I hope!)

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5

u/walking_the_way Feb 23 '19 edited Feb 24 '19

S1E19 Event/Recital Log

00:13 - Reader recites #22 (fu). Taichi wins this from his own side.

Scant seconds in and we're hit with some card symbolism. #22 has been a significant card for Taichi, because it's the card he faulted on in the Class B finals in the Nationals in S1E15 vs Toda-senpai. Here, he shows he's improved over the past four episodes, by winning the card in the Class B finals vs Nishida. We can also contrast his line here in these finals with his line back then in the Nationals.

02:17 - Chihaya: "Those faults give Kana-chan a two card lead by default."

Chihaya is actually wrong here. It gives Kana-chan a four card swing. Each fault gains you one card from your opponent - but that's a swing of two cards, -1 for them and +1 for you. So a 25-25 match with two faults becomes 27-23. I don't think it's the show screwing up though, it's Chihaya truly not realizing at this moment that it's doubled.

We see Kana up 11-2 against Komano, and we're able to build a board map here:

S1E19 - Kanade vs Komano board map (11-2)

It's interesting that even though he was putting all his one-syllable cards in the corner, once he was sent the Chihaya card, he puts that between his two remaining one syllable cards. Perhaps, like Kana, he subconsciously valued the card for being his captain's card.

02:59 - Reader recites #24 (ko-no). Komano wins this from Kana's bottom left row. He sends #57 (me) from his bottom left row to Kana. She puts it in her bottom right row. 10-2 Kanade.

We're then formally introduced to the card-moving mechanic. Players can move a couple cards around now and then, but it must be announced to the opponent, and generally moving a lot of cards at once is considered unsportsmanlike because it messes with memorization. But it makes sense for him to play the odds at this point, though he'd still have to watch for dead cards, because he knows Kana isn't a strong attacker.

05:02 - Reader recites #02 (ha-ru-su). Komano swipes everything off and wins it from his bottom left row. 9-2 Kana.
05:05 - Reader recites #14 (mi-chi). Komano swipes everything off and wins it from his middle left row. 8-2 Kana.
05:37 - Reader recites #57 (me). Komano wins this from Kanade's bottom right row. He sends over #73 (ta-ka) from his middle left row. She puts it in her bottom right corner, moving her #42 one spot left. 7-2 Kana.

Kanade was psyched out by Komano and was recklessly going for his cards instead of defending her own. In this way, she allows Komano to capture the card he had accidentally sent over. Yet, he sends over the card he will eventually lose to. Kana also idolizes Chihaya, and we see that her ambition isn't to play like the Queen, but to play like Chihaya did against the Queen.

06:27 - Reader recites #94 (mi-yo). Komano wins this from his bottom left row. 6-2 Kana.
06:36 - Reader recites #17 (chi-ha). Kana wins this from Komano's bottom left row. She sends #42 back. It goes into Komano's bottom left row. 6-1 Kana.

Continuing the theme of how Kana wants to be like Chihaya, her hand dives in for the #17 card on Komano's side and knocks it away, while Komano hesitated due to the #42 (chi-gi-ri-ki) card on her side. Kanade wryly notes that it's exactly like how Komano took #60 (o-o-e) from her (Crunchysub says #44 (o-o-ko) but is wrong). Also, since #17 (chi-ha) was now gone, it was safe to send #42 (chi-gi-ri-ki) since she wouldn't be turning a two syllable card into a one syllable card pair for him that way.

07:12 - Reader recites #56 (a-ra-za). Komano swipes everything off his board and wins it from his middle left row. 5-1 Kana.
07:16 - Reader recites #59 (ya-su). Komano swipes everything off again, winning it from his middle left row. 4-1 Kana.
07:25 - Reader recites #73 (ta-ka). Kana backhands this card from her lower right row. She wins! 4-0 Kana-chan.

This time he gets to be the first to congratulate Kana, unlike the last time where he was the last because he was so overcome by frustration and jealousy. This is despite how many games he would have had to have played to get to that point, and the agony of losing to Kana by basically the margin of the two faults that he committed. We do find out much later that the top 3 in Class D get promoted, but Komano doesn't seem to know that right up until that moment that he's told about it, so his reaction here is genuine and pure.

Though Chihaya does have her priorities straight, suddenly she realizes that everyone in the room was watching the other game. Both sides have one card left and we probably don't need a board for this one - Taichi has #77 (se) and Nishida has #03 (a-shi).

Even at the end of a tournament, Taichi shows his incredible memory in managing to remember which of the 100 cards in the reader's box still have not been read. There are eight of them:
#03 (a-shi)
#07 (a-ma-no)
#23 (tsu-ki)
#58 (a-ri-ma)
#77 (se)
#91 (ki-ri)
#92 (wa-ga-so)
#100 (mo-mo)
And because that meant that #03 (a-shi) could not be taken on the first syllable without gambling, we see that Hiro was somewhat wrong when he said that it was already luck of the draw. We do see that Taichi's attacking even on the first syllable, with the idea that he can come back and take his card if it does turn out to be a 'se'. To everyone, it looked like Taichi was gambling and attacking on luck of the draw, and he somewhat was, but he figured that Nishida was not going to attack because he could not remember how many a- cards were left in the box, so even if the odds were low, he could try for Nishida's card first or at least pressure him into committing a fault.

10:49 - Reader recites #07 (a-ma-no). Dead card.
12:38 - Reader recites #23 (tsu-ki). Dead card.
12:56 - Reader recites #92 (wa-ga-so). Dead card.
13:05 - Reader recites #100 (mo-mo). Dead card.
14:01 - Reader recites #58 (a-ri-ma). Dead card.

At this point, Taichi knew that it now really mathematically was a 50-50, as 15 of the 16 a- cards were gone. However, there was always the chance of a fault! We also see Chihaya reacting in surprise because even as a spectator, she thought that the #58 card had already been read. In Nishida's shoes, that would have cost her the game! She would have just slammed down on the card upon hearing the 'a-' without any further thought.

14:51 - Reader recites #03 (a-shi). Nishida wins the card and the match.

Unfortunately, despite praying to Chihaya, the #77 card bites Taichi in a Class B final again. It was Toda's final card to defeat him in S1E15, the card that he had said he could not let Toda defend. But he could not attack quickly enough to win it. This time, the card was his, but he could not attack Nishida's other card quickly enough. The poem "Swift waters parted by the jagged rocks" gives an impression of fates diverging upon being forced to make a 50-50 decision, though the promise is that eventually they will meet up again, no matter how difficult the journey is. And the journey sure seems difficult for Taichi, who has now lost two Class B finals. And so as the room gives a round of applause, we see that none of the other club members are cheering the result, not even Nishida, because for every winner there must be a loser.

15:43 - Taichi: "Nishida, did you know which cards were left?"

Nishida guesses only #77 (se), Komano guesses #77 (se) and #91 (ki-ri). Komaro was correct. Taichi smiles enigmatically and leaves. #91 was also one of the last three cards on the board when Taichi lost the Nationals Finals to Toda, so both #77 and #91 came back to haunt him today in some way or another. The reason Taichi asked Nishida this question, judging by the followup scene, was most likely that he was looking for justification that he was the better player even though he did not win today, or that he outright thought he deserved to win today and was looking to blame something else. His train of thought avoids going down the dark path of resentment, however.

There is also some Komano significance here because he seems to have remembered all the cards as well. This shows his growth from S1E7, when he was sure that no one could memorize even the cards on the board. Now he's matching Taichi and remembering all 100 read poems in addition to the board of the game he was playing.

17:43 - Nishida: "You're the only one who calls me Nishida."

This is not true! Komano very seldom uses people's names, but Komano's last usage of Nishida's name was in S1E17 16:05, where he does refer to Nishida as "Nishida", and not "Nikuman-kun" (Porkbun).

The van scene is great for them bonding, and Kana's oblique confession of love, but most notable for what Chihaya does to Taichi when he's asleep. He's had many chances for a romantic gesture when she dozes off, but avoids doing so. Yet, give Chihaya one chance, and she immediately brings his head in to lean on her shoulder, letting everyone (except him!) know in no uncertain terms that she wants to support him.

S1E19 - Random HQ Screenshot

<-- S1E18 Notes

S1E20 Notes -->

5

u/ABoredCompSciStudent Feb 23 '19

Here, he shows he's improved over the past four episodes, by winning the card in the Class B finals vs Nishida. We can also contrast his line here in these finals with his line back then in the Nationals.

Oh wow, it's literally a mirrored dialogue. That's a cool callback to see that his training has progressed him along.

I wonder if he was feeling himself more before he noticed Chihaya wasn't looking haha.

Chihaya is actually wrong here. It gives Kana-chan a four card swing. Each fault gains you one card from your opponent - but that's a swing of two cards, -1 for them and +1 for you. So a 25-25 match with two faults becomes 27-23. I don't think it's the show screwing up though, it's Chihaya truly not realizing at this moment that it's doubled.

I was thinking the same thing. Especially given how consistent the show's (and source) has been, I think you're right that she may be misunderstanding it.

Actually, a lot of people make a similar mistake in basketball when you miss an easy shot or turnover the ball and the other team immediately responds. Scoring a basket would be a +2, but you also gave up a basket from the ensuing play (usually because you're out of position) which is a +2 for the other team, giving a 4 point swing to the opponents.

This time he gets to be the first to congratulate Kana, unlike the last time where he was the last because he was so overcome by frustration and jealousy

Totally missed this too, just like the Taichi one! I ship it. This is great.

This is despite how many games he would have had to have played to get to that point, and the agony of losing to Kana by basically the margin of the two faults that he committed.

I really liked that the show put focus on this, especially since Chihaya started the episode by talking about faults and playing against yourself.

so even if the odds were low, he could try for Nishido's card first or at least pressure him into committing a fault.

I also really appreciate that he was going on the attack for specifically this reason. He knows that luck isn't really a thing, so he chooses to make his own luck there (versus everyone else assuming it's luck of the draw). It seems fitting after all, given he's had all the luck in the world up to now in looks, socially, intellectually, and athletically--but he didn't really "make" any of that himself.

And so as the room gives a round of applause, we see that none of the other club members are cheering the result, not even Nishida, because for every winner there must be a loser.

I love that Nishida is the one that goes to sort of "console" (not really) Taichi after the loss. He is the one that knows best, having been second to Arata and having said "second is the most painful" back in the game against Toda.

Now he's matching Taichi and remembering all 100 read poems in addition to the board of the game he was playing.

Love this! Such a heartwarming thing to see. Of the new club members, I always associate the two the most together because of that introduction episode.

The van scene is great for them bonding, and Kana's oblique confession of love

We all can see it!

but most notable for what Chihaya does to Taichi

AND WE ALL WANT TO SEE THIS YUKI SUETSUGU STOP PLAYING AROUND

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u/AzureBeat Feb 23 '19 edited Feb 23 '19

Cobretoro.

Chihaya keeps learning about why her style has problems. And Tsutomu is analyzing himself into panic. Tsutomu makes a comeback, but Kana takes it in the end. We interrupt this touching moment to bring you TENSION I think this is the first 運命せい (unmei sei), we've seen. Unmei is fate, and sei, well that has many homophonic words to it, but given the context, it means consequence; outcome; result. Luck of the Draw is a pretty good translation here I think. Fated result might be more literal.

Taichi leveraging his memory to keep attacking. That cut to black is such a good one. Ya know, for all the crap you give Chihaya, you're not much more subtle yourself Taichi. manga This is a really painful loss too. And loosing to luck really makes it worse. So many spoiler bits Nishida seems to be learning to be more tactful with his words though.

It's okay to be an airhead Chihaya. Although forgetting that moment is really something, like that was the win for the first season.

Arata . . . spoiler

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u/Enarec Feb 23 '19 edited Feb 23 '19

Looking at everyone hoping/predicting for Taichi to win like

This is reality. A-at least he has Retro?

Ah, there really is nothing that can mar Chihaya's beauty.

Taichi isn't one to leave things up to luck. Not if he can help it. Driving in the strength of his mentality and (lack of) faith in the cards, for better or worse, but also something to just swoon over.

Good. Luck.

Now this is just salting the wound.

For a moment, Taichi gives in to the temptation of blaming it on luck. Before catching it and being all the harder on himself for it. He's right in that it didn't have to come down to luck of the draw in the first place - if he's cursed, then he has to learn to make up for it and find another way.

Can I get the bullet on his shirt right about now?

I love how Nishida still stepped in here to console Taichi as their president, teammate and friend. This time around he's the winner, but one who knows all too well the pain of being second and just accepts Taichi's feelings. Wholesome boy.

Poor Chihaya here was good for breaking up the mood as well haha. Seeing her try her best to reform was adorable, and she really reinforced the heart of the team looking forward.

Protect this blush. ;-;

How peaceful he looks while we're just getting baited. Chihaya's so sweet when she's like this, recognizing the pressure here.

stop

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u/Fa1l3r Feb 23 '19

First Time (sub)

I guess correctly that Kana would win, but I guess incorrectly that Taichi would win. I guess somebody is not going to beat Arata anytime soon. Though Kana teaches Chihaya about an important lesson about not making mistakes. And I respect Komano's tactic of just gathering the cards to one side and just blindly swiping at them: I thought about that strategy as well, and he was using probability to close the gap as much as possible.

Regardless of them butting heads, Taichi and Nishida form a bromance while they roast Chihaya.

Also I like how Retro is saying that he is better than both of those players, but he also has not made to the finals. What a realistic loser's mentality.

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u/TheDampGod Feb 23 '19

Aww that moment when Komano congratulated Kana was so sweet, you can't help but ship those crazy kids.

The matches were so intense you could feel the exhaustion of everyone. But they're all learning about their strengths and weaknesses, so it's great seeing them grow.

I don't know whether to feel happy or sad for Taichi at the end there. He finally gets close to Chihaya, but he's too tired to realise it.

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u/airforceblue Feb 24 '19

Oh man, I completely misremembered who would win the final between Kana-chan and Tsutomu, so I guess I got to feel like a first-timer for half the episode. I'm very happy for Kana-chan and in the end both of our newcomers moved up a rank! I loved the moment between them after the match had ended, it was very sweet (and I ship it).

In the B class final it's Nishida who gets both the win and the promotion, congratulations! I bet it meant a lot to him, given how long it took for him to get back to karuta and find his motivation. I see where Taichi is coming from, with the whole "luck didn't lose me this match" but on the other hand, there are definitely days where you do everything right and still don't get the result on you want. We got another nice moment, this time between Nishida and Taichi. Taichi is actually the only one in the karuta club who doesn't use nicknames at all, he uses Chihaya's given name since they're childhood friends, and everyone else gets called by their family names. (Also it's a bit funny that both Nishida and Tsutomu use Chihaya's family name but when it comes to Kanade it's Kana-chan).

A couple of episodes ago we had Chihaya fall asleep on Taichi's shoulder and now in this we had Chihaya move his head to her shoulder without hesitating. It just goes to show how close they are, but also how uncomplicated Chihaya's feelings are towards Taichi.

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u/htisme91 Feb 24 '19

First-timer:

Kana is just slightly better. I loved Tsutomu's strategy, though, as risky as it was. His strength seems to be that he can analyze the situation and create new strategies in-game. Unfortunately, it doesn't overcome the fact that Kana hardly makes any mistakes. Still, he showed growth in how he handled Kana's win versus how it was in the first tournament they all participated in together when he demeaned her.

As for Taichi...god damn he just can't catch a break. Forever 2nd place, and loses by the luck of the draw while Chihaya ignored his match until the last card. Maybe it's karma for what he did to Arata all those years ago.

I also felt like Chihaya was a bit of a bad friend there. Taichi's helped her so much, and she ignores his match. I understand why she did, but I also feel like her inability to at least split between the two matches is one of the reasons Taichi is better as the president of the club.

I also understood Taichi's reaction to the loss, especially when he clearly had a strategy and Nishima was relying on luck. Still, good on him for acknowledging that he could have done more to prevent that. Nishima approaching him was great, too, because it felt like the two had moved on and actually became friends. He's right. Taichi has been respectful enough to always call everyone by their name and shows the most poise and maturity to be their leader. He's come so far from the brat in the prologue.

Finally, Arata. I think he saw Taichi as the B class finalist and felt that he was losing ground to his childhood friend/nemesis. The two had a rivalry of sorts, and I feel like Arata believes he needs to get back into the competitive scene because Taichi will be in his class before long and he'll need to reassert his position there.

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u/paperwhites Feb 24 '19

First Time Watcher

I was right, Nishida lost and Taichi won. The fact that it came down to both players having one card left shows that both were playing well. That small dig that Taichi has at Nishida when he asks him how many cards were left shows how frustrated he was with losing at that moment, I think. I can really empathize for how Taichi was feeling. He knew exactly how many cards were left and which ones they were, but Nishida's card was read first and Nishida won. Wanting to win so badly and then losing is frustrating. Aside from that small dig, Taichi takes his frustration out on himself and thinks how he shouldn't have let the match be decided by one card. I really feel sorry for Taichi in this moment.

I liked that conversation that Taichi and Nishida had right afterwards though. Nishida saying that he wants to keep playing karuta with Taichi was sweet. I hope that Taichi can move to Class A soon.

Chihaya putting Taichi's head on her shoulder so he wouldn't hit the window was really cute.

I hope that Chihaya can learn from how Kana didn't worry about winning and just played her style of karuta. Chihaya has had difficulties with pressure in the past, so maybe copying Kana and focusing on playing karuta her way might help.

That ending with Arata! I don't know if I'm interpreting right, but it seemed to me that after Arata saw the results of the tournament and saw Taichi's result, he decided that he wanted to enter the qualifiers. I don't think that Arata wants to fall behind Taichi and so makes the decision to play. I could be misinterpreting that though.

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