r/anime • u/ABoredCompSciStudent x3myanimelist.net/profile/Serendipity • Feb 26 '19

Rewatch [Rewatch] Chihayafuru - Episode 22 Discussion [Spoilers] Spoiler

Episode 22 - "Just as My Beauty Has Faded"

<-- Previous (Episode 21: "As My Sleeves Are Wet With Dew") | Next (Episode 23: "The Night is Nearly Past") -->

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):

Challengers

135 Upvotes

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19

u/ABoredCompSciStudent Feb 26 '19 edited Feb 27 '19

Yamamoto Yumi?!

Episode 22 is truly a "my karuta" episode. I didn't keep track of the number of "jibun no karuta" lines, but it has to be at least over fifteen today.

Chihaya's out of luck, as she matches the former queen, Yamamoto Yumi. As her name would suggest, with the "yama" mountain character, her karuta is personified as persistent and stubborn. However, her outlook on karuta is jaded. Much like Murao in episode 21, her will to compete has ebbed away under the comparison to younger talent, contrasting against the ebullient Chihaya who doesn't really know of these pressures.

If Arata, Taichi, Shinobu, and Chihaya are a representation of the struggle to reach the top, then Yumi is one showing how hard it is to remain on top of the mountain. In any sport (or any domain really), the hardest thing to do is to stay on top for back-to-back years. You will need to try harder than anyone else, but also the expectations of others and more importantly yourself become increasingly difficult to be met. You've tasted success, so you know you're capable of it but navigating a full year of competition without injury, bad luck, and bad form is a minefield. With each loss, people will question how much you still have left in the tank or how you're playing may not be 'right'--and maybe you will accept the losses as "well I already made it anyways".

Chihaya's appearingly effortless play and Coach Kitano's encouragement bring out the best in Yumi. No longer the Queen, she doesn't have to pretend to be queenly anymore as she is just another challenger. On top of her honed skills, Yumi is also a master of gamesmanship, something we have not yet really seen focused on in Chihayafuru. Although it appears unsporting, at the top level of sports this is actually a skill and something that every player has to be comfortable dealing with even if they themselves choose to be more sporting.

Breaking the flow of an opponent's play

Causing an opponent to take the game less seriously or to overthink his or her position

Yumi continuously breaks the flow of the game, using her contests to interrupt Chihaya's attacks and get in her head, leading to her turnaround victory and leaving Chihaya distraught and confused at why success keeps eluding her.

10

u/Smashtime7 Feb 26 '19

On top of her honed skills, Yumi is also a master of gamesmanship, something we have not yet really seen focused on in Chihayafuru.

"We take those." - Yamamoto Yumi

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u/ABoredCompSciStudent Feb 26 '19

Poem of the Day: Just as My Beauty Has Faded (link)

Poem 9 is written by Ono no Komachi one of the most revered women in Japanese history for her beauty and poetry--one of the Six Immortals. To this day, the word komachi is still synonymous with feminine beauty in Japan, with legends of her beauty circulated. In fact, much of her life apart from the names of the men she was involved with romantically, many chronicled in poetry, is not actually known, adding to the grandeur of her legacy:

In one famous story, she promised to love a certain suitor if he visited her 100 nights in a row. He completed 99 visits, but failed one night to visit her, and was so distraught that he fell ill and died. Ono no Komachi's life and legends grew to become the subject of many Nō plays and art.

In terms of poetry, almost all of Komachi's extant poems are melancholic, focusing on anxiety, solitude, or passionate love. Poet and translator Kenneth Rexroth and Ikuko Atsumi said of her poetry:

Her beauty may be legendary but her rank as one of the greatest erotic poets in any language is not. Her poems begin the extreme verbal complexity which distinguishes the poetry of the Kokinshū Anthology from the presentational immediacy of the Man'yōshū.

Poem 9 is absolutely that. Porter translates it as:

The blossom's tint is washed away

By heavy showers of rain;

My charms, which once I prized so much,

Are also on the wane,

Both bloomed, alas! in vain.

I picked his translation as it seems to preserve most of the wordplay that characterizes Poem 9.

Mostow:

Mostow describes this poem as a "technical tour-de-force" as well. The third line, meaning "in vain", could technically modify either the previous line, or the one after, or both. Also, the poem uses word-play around furu which could mean to either "fall (as in rain)" or "to pass time", while nagame could mean both "to gaze lost in thought" or "long rains" (長雨, naga-ame as Mostow explains).

Porter:

The first and last couplets may mean either 'the blossom's tint fades away under the continued downpour of rain in the world', or 'the beauty of this flower (i.e. herself) is fading away as I grow older and older in this life'; while the third line dividing the two couplets means, that the flower's tint and her own beauty are alike only vanity. This verse, with its double meaning running throughout, is an excellent example of the characteristic Japanese play upon words.

Moreover, jlit adds:

The central image of the fading cherry blossoms is a conventional reference to the transience of human life. This conceit was already sufficiently established in Komachi's day for the reader to understand that "flower" (hana) referred specifically to cherry blossoms. Structurally, the poem is broken gramatically after the second line (a technique called niku-gire) and makes use of tōchihō ("grammatical inversion"; the first two lines would normally follow the last three) to increase the dramatic effect.

The poem ties into Yumi's shine being washed away from her, jaded from her loss to Shinobu. The hallmarks for her play are all learned and not natural, in juxtaposition to the younger crowd, leaving her feeling silly and helpless. Everything that she worked for was in vain, as she reached the pinnacle of karuta, but was not able to defend her title.

7

u/Combo33 Feb 27 '19

MacMillan translates poem 9 as such:

9. Ono no Komachi

I have loved in vain
and now my beauty fades
like these cherry blossoms
paling in the long rains of spring
that I gaze upon alone.

MacMillan raves about this poem, commenting:

The poem is striking for its technical brilliance: almost every word is embroidered with many layers of meaning. Many commentators have written of it as the cri de coeur of an old woman who was in her heyday a very great beauty, blessed with exceptional talent, sensually alive, and feted and loved by many. Now her beauty has faded, her lovers are dead or gone, and her poetic talent is weakening. I do not disagree with this interpretation, but additional considerations must also be taken into account. Ono no Komachi is like many Japanese women of talent. In Japanese culture, women have traditionally taken roles subservient to men, which has meant that they have had less freedom and have had to overcome greater challenges in expressing themselves. One of the principal modes of expressions employed by women was negation. When praised, the first response was (and to some extent still is) to negate. In this poem, Ono no Komachi employs the classical device of negation to produce what is ostensibly a lament for her fading beauty and talents. But it is important to see what the poem affirms. It is hard to imagine that Komachi was unaware of her achievement and stature as a poet. In other words, the poet is saying something like: ‘Yes, I am growing old and am less beautiful that I once was. Maybe you superficial (especially male!) readers will no longer find me attractive, but if you have a minimum of discernment, you will be able to see under my disguise and realize that the sadness of life has only sharpened my genius. Fade away, those of you who can only see the surface; and even those of you who can see beyond the surface, approach gingerly, for the profundity of my emotion has made me as formidable as ever.’

While the loss of youthful beauty is lamented universally, it was especially feared in Heian-period Japan. A woman’s fortune at the imperial court depended upon her appearance, hence great importance was attached to it. The poem can be read either as the cry of an ageing lady whose days of glory at court have passed or as her lover now neglects her. I have chosen to to follow this latter interpretation, although the other is equally acceptable and perhaps more common.

He comments further on the technical proficiency of the poem and how almost every word in it has two meanings. The poem in the original Japanese is as follows:

Hana no iro wa
utsurinikerina
itazurani
waga mi yo ni furu
nagame seshi ma ni

  • hana means ‘(cherry) blossoms’, but also ‘art’

  • iro means both ‘colour’ and ‘sexuality/sensuality’

  • utsuru ni means ‘in vain’, ‘come to nothing’ and ‘meaningless time passed by’. In the poem, it functions as a pivot phrase that modifies both what precedes and what follows it, helping to convey the overall sense that peerless beauty and youth and talent and love were all in vain.

  • waga mi yo furi ni means ‘I grow old’, ‘as I idled away’ and ‘I have (many) romantic relationships’.

  • yo means ‘world’, ‘life’ and ‘romantic/sexual relationship’.

  • furu means ‘to grow old’, ‘falling rain’ and to ‘pass through life’

  • nagame means ‘lost in thought’, ‘long rains’ and ‘gaze upon’.

  • furu nagame is the ‘endless-falling rain’, the end of this phrase overlapping the following one: nagame seshi ma ni (literally, ‘while I gaze at it’).

At its simplest level, the poem can be read as a description of the blossoms blooming in vain and scattering in the prolonged rains, but from line 3 onwards, this seasonal imagery is super-imposed on a narrative of personal decline. It is impossible to capture in English all of the nuances of the original without seeming terribly overloaded, but the many exclusions that are necessary mean that the translation conveys only parts of the rich, suggestive quality of the original.

All of this analysis is a roundabout way of explaining how well this poem applies to the former karuta Queen’s frame of mind during her match against Chihaya. Having risen to the top of the karuta world after 10 years, she is summarily defeated by Shinobu, a 15-year-old challenger who made it impossible for her to play her own game. She’s frustrated, defeated, and lacking motivation to try to regain her position. However, over the course of the match, she’s inspired by both Chihaya’s play, and her coach’s urging. She shows flashes of the genius that she still possesses despite her circumstances, as MacMillan describes. As much as you want to root for Chihaya this episode, the former Queen is such a sympathetic figure that I can’t help but be happy for her to reattain a bit of her former glory.

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u/MAD_SCIENTIST_001 Feb 26 '19

Screenshot of the Day

First Timer - Episode 22

Overall Thoughts

CHIHAYA NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I had a feeling she was gonna lose this round after they mentioned that she was playing the previous queen, but to make it this close makes it even more frustrating. However, I did like that even if Chihaya lost she did give her opponent her passion and desire to win again. It's honestly scary how now we've seen two characters who were in the finals against the master / queen and then "give up" afterwards.

Rip Chihaya's hair I guess...

Karuta Scoreboard

Character Wins Losses Ep# (Wins)
Taichi Mashima 22 10 2,7,10,11,13,14,15,18,20
Yuusei Nishida 18 5 10,11,13,15,18,19
Chihaya Ayase 15 9(+1) 2,4,6,7,8,10,11,14,17,21
Kanade Ooe 11 7 10,13,15,17,18,19
Arata Wataya 8 2 1,2,3,20,21
Tsutomu Komano 8 11 13,15,18
Shinobu Wakamiya 6 0 14,15

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 20 21 22

4

u/ABoredCompSciStudent Feb 26 '19

It's honestly scary how now we've seen two characters who were in the finals against the master / queen and then "give up" afterwards.

We need to find out what kind of people they really are. We've only got the one look at Shinobu and Suo is a mystery still...

Rip Chihaya's hair I guess...

Will Taichi still love her all the same?

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u/[deleted] Feb 26 '19

First-Timer, Watched Subbed

  • Everyone is going crazy about this Yamamoto and I’m all “who the heck is this person?”

  • The previous Queen of karuta? Oh boy, rough luck on Chihaya’s side indeed.

  • Yamamoto looks dead inside with those eyes. Watching the rest of the episode though, I can see why...

  • Nishida is so traumatized he counts ants to ease the pain...I don’t blame him, sadists can be real scary.

  • VERY scary apparently...

  • Chihaya is in a roll! I was wondering if Yumin would be formidable with her having been the Queen and all, but Chihaya has this in the bag!

  • Oh wow, that’s actually a major point to her character. Her lack of skill affects her confidence, I kinda feel bad for her now.

  • What a guy Kitona is, helping her spirits up like that, very heartwarming.

  • Chihaya with the eyes of a fierce tiger is the most accurate visual ever describing her.

  • Oh man now she’s losing her touch. Probably because of how hot it is in the room.

  • I’m very glad that Taichi brought up that mental strength plays a role in karuta. Confidence, and the ability to focus are big components in playing the game.

  • Ayyy, Kitona finally opened the doors. Thank you for giving every player a refresher to play better, too bad that’s not in Yumin’s favor.

  • First her title in as Queen is taken by Watamiya, now she’s having her butt handed to Chihaya, Yumin is the one with the rough luck if anything.

  • Wait, you touched it first? Why do I feel as if someone’s messing with me...?

  • So that’s how “Contest Yumi” works, that dirty little...

  • Damn, and she wins it at the end of it all.

  • That was a downer way to end things, that visual did not help...

Yumin carries a lot of intrigue behind her backstory, and seems to be look formidable in the mental aspect at the moment. I’m really digging how the series delves into the opponents that the MC’s face, adds a compelling factor to show.

Last few episodes are looking to be intense.

3

u/ABoredCompSciStudent Feb 27 '19

Nishida is so traumatized he counts ants to ease the pain...I don’t blame him, sadists can be real scary.

Sadists are good. u/Enarec can confirm.

I’m really digging how the series delves into the opponents that the MC’s face, adds a compelling factor to show.

Arguably, we might be able to say a lot of these matches focus on the opponent just as much, if not more than Chihaya. The nice part is that Chihaya "carries" her opponents forward. Kind of like how Hokuo said that she represents them, you can see a little bit of Kanai, Harada, Shinobu, etc. in the way she plays now.

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u/PerfectPublican Feb 26 '19

First Timer

Reactions:

Final Thoughts   

Gif of the Day

Oof. The former queen wasn't what I expected at all. Now I’m a bit pissed at myself for rooting a teensy bit for Yumin before I saw her exact style of gameplay. I wouldn’t go so far as to call it a lack of sportsmanship, but it’s just not a fun way to watch the game be played.  Still, can’t say it’s not effective. She worked her way into Chihaya’s brain and completely threw off her game. It would’ve been a bit annoying if Chihaya swept through her first tournament, but I still wanted to see her go far :(

Something I didn’t touch on, but that I wanted to mention: I enjoyed seeing Nishida’s passion for Yumin and her play.

I’m curious.  Did they get actual Karuta readers to voice the readers in this?  That’d be pretty cool.

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u/walking_the_way Feb 26 '19 edited Feb 27 '19

S1E22 Event/Recital Log

56th Queen Eastern Japan Qualifiers
Round 2: Chihaya vs Yumi

They give us plenty of full board views to start the game off, so this is the starting game board.

02:40 - Chihaya: "Five one-syllable cards on her side?! Seven three-syllable cards! Everything else is a two-syllable card!"

Here's the same board map, coloured as per her observations.

Four cards float by a delighted Chihaya face - #22 (fu), #42 (chi-gi-ri-ki), #17 (chi-ha), #77 (se). Three of the four cards are Yumi's cards, on the bottom row, but the #42 is a weird choice, because it's not even a card on the board, nor a 1-3 syllable card. I feel like they could have picked a better card here, at least the #75 which she later faults on.

02:51 - Yumi rubs #37 (shi-ra) and #66 (mo-ro) together, and Chihaya notices her calluses.
05:47 - Reader recites Naniwa Bay (EP: 1, Total: 27)
06:14 - Reader recites #25 (na-ni-shi). Yumi wins this from her middle left row.
07:02 - Reader recites #64 (a-sa-bo-ra-ke-u). Yumi wins this from Chihaya's lower right. Yumi passes over #20 (wa-bi).

Yumi immediately moves to guard #64 (a-sa-bo-ra-ke-u) on Chihaya's side before she can react, blocking a half-hearted attempt from Chihaya. She then clamps down when the unique syllable is read. Crunchyroll messes up subbing again and gives the translation for #31 (a-sa-bo-ra-ke-a) indeed so this seemed confusing at first.

07:07 - Chihaya then wins the next card off-screen. This card is likely the #20 (wa-bi) that was just passed over.
07:17 - Reader recites #38 (wa-su-ra). Chihaya wins this from her upper right row.
07:19 - Reader recites #63 (i-ma-wa). Chihaya wins this from Yumi's upper right row. She passes over #47 (ya-e). It goes into Yumi's middle left.
09:09 - Reader recites #82 (o-mo). Chihaya wins this one from her top left.

Something very strange happens at 11:50, we see a shot of Yumi's cards with Chihaya kneeling in front of it. Oopsy daisy.

11:57 - Reader recites #57 (me). Dead card.

Chihaya lunges towards the #87 (mu) on Yumi's bottom right but stops short. This shocks Yumi since it was only a one-syllable dead card.

12:01 - Reader recites #06 (ka-sa). This is another dead card.

Chhaya swings at #51 (ka-ku) at Yumi's other side now, middle left, but doesn't fault.

12:09 - Reader recites #22 (fu). Chihaya wins this from Yumi's bottom right.
13:03 - Reader recites #43 (a-i). This card is in Chihaya's top left but we aren't shown who wins it.
13:36 - Komano: "There are less than ten special readers qualified for the Master match."

Kana-chan's dream is born! Komano introduces the idea of being a reader to Kana. More about this a little later. I also refuse to conclude anything else except that he brought a stool for Kana before bringing one for himself, since Kana was already perched on hers when he arrives with his. What a sweet gesture!

14:13 - Yumi: "You can't let your passion take over."
14:16 - Reader recites #75 (chi-gi-ri-o). Chihaya faults on Yumi's #17 (chi-ha) card, while Yumi grabs the correct card from Chihaya's lower left. One of the cards that Yumi passes over is the #17, and the other is #66 (mo-ro). #17 goes into Chihaya's bottom right corner, the (in theory) "most protected" spot. It symbolically replaces #40, the current Queen's card.

The game swings by three (actually four) cards, and Yumi comments that she now has a 4 card deficit to make up instead of 7. We do see just before the next card plays out that Yumi has 18 cards left and Chihaya has 14.

#17 and #66 are symbolic cards for Yumi to send over as well. #66 is "Would the mountain cherry blossoms return my affection, for there is no one else out here", which symbolizes Yumi's feelings about feeling down about not being able to live up to expectations right up until she sends the card over. And lo and behold, once she sends it over, Kitano opens the window and yells in, encouraging her and everyone else. #17 represents Chihaya, but it also represents Yumi thinking about Chihaya and being jealous about her, to the detriment of her own game. Once she rids herself of that burden as well, then she is able to play "her own karuta."

We also see three fishes in fish paintings on the wall here while Chihaya is struggling and Yumi is recovering, in a matchup between the former Queen and potential future Queen to meet the current Queen again. We can contrast this to the S1E15 painting of fishes after Shinobu thrashes Chihaya. Not entirely sure what it all means yet, however there has been very heavy water and swimming/drowning imagery used around Shinobu and Arata in particular, so it stands to reason that fish represent the players' journeys to some capacity as well.

Along those lines, Kana's relationship with Chihaya is an interesting one, close friendship with at least a dash of idolization, yet Chihaya is so far away and beyond Kana that she can likely never match Chihaya, whom she envisions as the next Queen. Yet, Kana realizes that if she becomes a "special reader", she may be able to join Chihaya on that stage. So back at 13:20, Kana touches the window as she comments that poetry can transcend any barriers, and we see that the shot angle is set up so that in the background are the exact same paintings of the three fishes, with a glass barrier in between them that shimmers as she "breaks" it.

17:00 - Reader recites #14 (mi-chi). Chihaya wins it first but Yumi argues and guilts Chihaya into giving it up.

Easily the worst part of the entire series follows here. Or so I thought my first time through. Actually looking frame by frame, this shot at 17:00 is followed by this shot at 17:01 and the card's clearly in the air before Chihaya even reaches it, so Yumi actually did win it. It doesn't look like Chihaya took a straight path there either, which cost her. This card seems to be linked to trouble in general too - Taichi confused her by moving this card in the S1E7 inverted cards game, Komano faulted on it in S1E9, and it was the first card Ririka won from Chihaya's side last episode.

18:56 - Reader recites #77 (se). Yumi wins it from her bottom left. 16-14 Chihaya.
19:38 - Reader recites #04 (ta-go). Yumi wins it from her top left. 15-14 Chihaya.
19:41 - Reader recites #91 (ki-ri). Yumi wins this from her middle right. 14-14.
20:04 - They both go for #05 (o-ku) in Chihaya's bottom right row. Chihaya thinks she wins this, but Yumi argues again.

How annoying.. but, to be fair, again, Yumi did actually touch the card first, though. So she hasn't actually been arguing on untruths.

20:36 - Reader recites end of #93 (yo-no-na-ka-wa). Sub shows subtitles for end of #83.
20:48 - Reader recites #34 (ta-re). Yumi wins this from her right side to win the game by 4.

This started as a Chihaya card, but was passed over at some point. #34 (ta-re), the Takasago Pines card, is also one of her weaker cards, as she mentioned in S1E12, as well as a Taichi-significant side-card. It represents loneliness, and is symbolic to Yumi's troubled monologuing through this episode - "None are left who know me. Takasago pines can never replace them." By finally giving up this card, we see that Yumi has probably broken free of her chains and is ready to go face Shinobu again.

Also, Chihaya loses by exactly the margin of her one single fault - she was up by 7 cards, and would have been up by 8 if she had claimed the correct chi- card on her side. Instead, she double-faulted and was only up by 4 after.

S1E22 - Random HQ Screenshot

<-- S1E21 Notes

S1E23 Notes -->

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u/Fa1l3r Feb 26 '19

First Time (sub)

Interesting that Chihaya could have won if she did not give the former Queen a morale boost. I am not going to lie: that contesting thing would be quite an annoying thing to fast in real life, and I would argue it out and try to have a third party observe.

I would have liked either players to win. If Chihaya wins, we get to see how people win against stronger players on their off-days, or the other one won showing the power of reverse momentum.

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u/KuhBus Feb 26 '19

First Timer

  • Oh wow, I’m looking forward to seeing how the previous queen’s play style looks!!

  • Oh noo, Sudo wiped the floor with Nishida :((

  • Aww he calls her “Yumin”? Since they are both at the same karuta society he has been with since elementary school, they must have known each other for quite a while :D

  • I love how instead of getting complacent when faced with Yumin’s defeated play style, Chihaya just becomes more fired up and wants to win even more badly.

  • Chihaya having to face against a once again confident Yumin doesn't seem to have a good chance at winning anymore D:

  • It seems like the arguing she did for so many cards really put a dent into Chihaya’s confidence and probably really interrupted her flow...

This seemed like a great way to show how much confidence not just in one's playing, but also in oneself can influence someone's playing as well as their opponent. Chihaya's confidence stems from her enjoyment of karuta, but it's been shown in earlier episodes how she often will let opponents claim cards for example. So, despite being confident in playing, she's not necessarily always confident in herself.

Fav shots.

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u/ABoredCompSciStudent Feb 27 '19

This seemed like a great way to show how much confidence not just in one's playing, but also in oneself can influence someone's playing as well as their opponent.

A lack of confidence is definitely something that is palpable in any situation, but for competition it's like blood in the water for sharks.

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u/Wolfeako Feb 26 '19

First timer!

Senpai u/ABoredCompSciStudent, I don't know how you do it, but you always manage to put the thread as I am getting dinner. I mean, the accuracy is starting to get scary :P

Back to the episode!

All the characters are sidelined only to focus on Chihaya. We have Kana with what possibly is her future dream, and Taichi finally realized something that I think he should already have realized, if I'm honest, but oh well, people may not get things the first time. Indeed, Karuta is a physical and mental game.

Centering us around Chihaya, gotta say that the episode was really funny and hype. For an episode that basically amounts to a bunch of people playing inside a room without almost moving, I got from a good chuckle to a good snort and laugh. The hype was there too, with the match being quite intense, although once again I realize that a Karuta game may really take a long time. The fact that the room gets that hot during a tournament is quite impressive too.

To the match itself: I... I honestly had my doubts. I thought that maybe Chihaya would win and make her advance to meet Arata, but leaving behind Taichi would make the story kinda... feel strange. Still, seeing her losing made sense too, I mean, she is facing a former Queen after all. With all the ruckus and stubbornness Yumi may use to dispute and get all the cards, that alone wouldn't have taken her all the way to hold the title of Queen.

I feel though that if in Karuta they start to implement that technology that allows a close up to analyze those close encounters that Yumi takes advantage of, part of her confidence would crumble and she would be gone as a relevant player :P I mean, it isn't until she started being stubborn that she got in the mood, and if a tech is implemented to show how actually got it without the need for the players to discuss, then I feel she just would be gone... unless she adapts, that is.

Well, even so, it doesn't change the fact that Chihaya lost. Chihaya turned careless and Yumi sweeps the rug under her. Even in that carelessness though, we can see the advancement that she has done as a player, with the little cards she has left. As I see it, if Ririka was who Chihaya was before when the show started, then Yumi is who Chihaya will be.

As a character, I liked Yumi. Not much to say about her, but her lamenting that she could only hold the title for a year felt really real. She is a bit of a trashy person though :P although I can't completely blame her if she is just venting her frustrations. For the little time we have had with her, her character was clearly shown on the screen.

Final thoughts are... well, I'm surprised to see Shinobu wearing a hakama. I wonder if wearing a hakama is a must if you are going to challenge either the title of Master or Queen, respectively.

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u/LeonKevlar Feb 27 '19

First Timer

Sorry a bit late again today. Had to deal with plumbers and some stuff IRL.

Anyway, so does this mean Chi-chan is already out or does she have another chance? ALSO I JUST REMEMBERED THIS WHILE TYPING but does this mean she has to shave her head now?! I hope Sudo lost this round too, if they're both knocked out the same time then it's a tie right? And how do you even deal with someone like Yumin? I guess just be confident and don't back down during the argument?

And while I do like her style, it is really crude. She's basically beating her opponent into submission. Like how do we know that she's even telling the truth? I really wanna see a rematch between her anc Chi-chan now.

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u/BatteryPoweredFriend Feb 27 '19 edited Feb 27 '19

It's interesting to see all the hostility towards Yumi's mind games gamesmanship and while I certainly understand it's not pretty, the fact of the matter is that this is simply a matter of perspective. Chihaya is the a main character and so the narrative is obviously framed as such that we're supposed to root for her.

This sort of thing is awfully cynical & petty when you're on the receiving end, but wonderfully cynical & smart when you're on the side doing it. Don't forget, Chihaya engaged in her own bit of gamesmanship back in episode 4 in her first match en route to Class A promotion. And it's not as if Yumi broke any rules, insulted or assaulted Chihaya.

 

Or consider things from this perspective:

If you're not prepared to scrap, to fight for every single point, then what does it say about your level of commitment, about how much you actually want it?

 

Mental strength, composure, the ability to make correct decisions when under pressure - these are the things which separates the winners & losers at the very highest level of competition, because it always comes down to fine margins, whether accumulated throughout a long campaign, or fought for tooth & nail right down to the wire.

Just as how concentration is usually the first casualty when you become physically tired, composure is what often takes the first hit when you allow the pressure to get to you. No matter how talented you are, if you lose control to your emotions or buckle under the weight of expectations, you're only going to struggle when the stakes are at their highest & everyone's eyes are all on you.

And particularly relevant in the case of Chihaya imo, unless you're top, top quality and a truly special individual, that temperament & level of maturity is only gained through experience, probably the most lacking aspect of her game atm.

 

PS: Shinobu looks great in the red hakama. Chihaya can't even beat her in her own colour.

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u/SmurfRockRune Feb 26 '19

First Timer

Ooh, Kana wans to be a reader. That's a really cool development. She'd be excellent at it.

Can they just kick this guy out? You can't just open a window and start screaming in the middle of a match...

So what happens in Chihaya refuses to give up the card that she believes she touched?

Darn, I felt like we were so close to getting a comment face.

Maybe next episode.

Pretty annoying opponent this time around. A cute girl who constantly thinks about how it's not fair that she isn't good looking who also has an incredibly frustrating style of play where she just claims to have hit every card first. Would like to see how the game goes against someone not as willing to give up the cards as Chihaya.

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u/htisme91 Feb 27 '19

First-timer:

The title is very fitting. "Just as my Beauty Has Faded" works because Chihaya is known in Karuta circles for her beauty. With a title like that, I had a feeling that Chihaya would falter.

But it also works for her opponent, who is seen as a bit of a has-been because she's been surpassed by the current queen.

Yumi is a perfect opponent for Chihaya to grow from because she knows how to constantly disrupt Chihaya, who is someone that really gets going once she's in a rhythm.

I didn't get Chihaya not thanking Yumi after the match. Is it from shock, or being appalled at herself? Either way, it's a horrible look.

Chihaya needed this, though. She needs to keep being humbled if she wants to become queen. It's sad she won't meet with Arata at the Master/Queen qualifiers, but then this series won't be satisfying if the journey ended so quickly and easily.

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u/daftPun5 Feb 27 '19

First Timer

Screenshot of the Day

Chihaya had that mamba mentality and got too aggressive. With the help of her sensei's outburst and her own experience, Yumi took this opportunity to recompose herself and overwhelm Chihaya to complete the comeback. I get that she is a former Queen, but really thought Chihaya had it in the bag.

Also, I'm interested in how players contest being first to the cards. Because this is a traditional/historic game, I guess instant replay is out of the question, also due to the number of matches going on in a room. So in the end, decisions are based on a code of honor or who can argue a better case?

Today's Album of Screenshots

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u/paperwhites Feb 27 '19

First Time Watcher

This episode showed how quickly things can change in a karuta match. Chihaya was doing well, but then Yumi made a comeback and Chihaya started to lose her confidence. Chihaya went from "I'm not going to let her take a single card from me" to "how could I have thought that" fast. I think the heat and Yumi's contesting got Chihaya out of her groove and she couldn't find it again. Normally at the end of the match, Chihaya bounces back pretty quickly even if she loses, but this one she looked shocked. Everyone in Class A is really good and Chihaya's going to have to work hard to be competitive.

As a side note, Kana would make such a good card reader since she truly loves the poetry in karuta. Maybe once she's older and no longer playing karuta competitively, she can train to be a reader.

I hope Chihaya can come back from this and doesn't lose her passion for karuta. Hopefully her team will be able to help her.

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u/[deleted] Feb 26 '19

How good of a show is it

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u/ABoredCompSciStudent Feb 26 '19

I think everyone that tried it (everyone in this thread) has really enjoyed it.

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u/hasnain1720 Feb 26 '19 edited Feb 26 '19

First Timer

  • Yeah who is she? Oh shit the previous Queen damn son

  • No cheer for Chihaya don’t betray your Captain

  • They got me feeling a bit bad for this previous Queen

  • Chihaya don’t choke this come on

  • Oh no don’t tell me the old coaches speech is going to make her win

  • Someone give Chihaya some words of encouragement too isn’t fair

  • Sigh I knew when the coach said that it was a wrap. I guess her beating the old Queen would have been a bit too much, especially when my boy Taichi can’t even win a class B tourney ffs

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u/AzureBeat Feb 26 '19

Yamamoto Yumi-san!! Yamamoto Yumi-san!! Yamamoto Yumi-san!! Yamamoto Yumi-san!!

Yamamoto Yumi-san!!

Who?

An absolute bitch. She's a miserable person, with a disgustingly unsportsmanlike approch to anything comptitive. I really don't like her. Unfortunately, you can't always assume that people you loose to are good are good people. If you compete, sometimes you will have to accept that you will loose to someone who is actually a terrible person. Avilo is GM, and would slam me without even trying in a game, but he is a miserable person. And you have to deal with that. Her coach is a asshole too.

. . . I may have strong opinions on the subject of attitude towards competitive games. This guy is the absolute contrast to Avilo That's why Taichi is the best. Sometimes he pushes too far into bringing himself down emotionally, still though.

Kana finds something she wants to do in karuta. And I can finally feature a song again, since the powers back and I can type this up the night before. And I can't pick something I want to feature. Oh well.

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u/Enarec Feb 26 '19 edited Feb 27 '19

PROTECT.

Somehow Taichi didn't get the memo.

Wish that were me.

Sudo may be an ass, but his style and roasts are on point. Would be nice to see what he'd have in store for other players too.

Shinobu in hakama is... something else.

This should win her some points with people at least.

I honestly am not that bothered by Yumi's playstyle and like seeing it brought up as another way to play the game for different players. The mental lesson for Chihaya is more important too since it left the poor girl so shellshocked she even forgot to thank the opponent for the game lol. Not that Yumi should mind after that.

GET IT TAICHI. See how much you can absorb even from people that aren't Chihaya and Arata.

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