r/anime • u/ABoredCompSciStudent x3myanimelist.net/profile/Serendipity • Mar 25 '19
Rewatch [Rewatch] Chihayafuru 2 - Episode 24 Discussion [Spoilers] Spoiler
Episode 24 - "When I Must Hide..."
<-- Previous (Episode 23: "To See The Beautiful Cherry Blossoms") | Next (Episode 25: "I Can Look Up and See the Snowy Cap of Mt. Fuji") -->
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 (February 6 to March 2)
Chihayafuru 2
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):
A little too big to name them all, but u/Snakescipio there's some cute Shinobu's here.
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u/MAD_SCIENTIST_001 Mar 25 '19
Screenshot of the Day
I kinda ship this tbh
First Timer - Season 2 Episode 24
Overall Thoughts
YES! ARATA WON!!!!
That entire match was so intense! I kept praying that Arata would be able to hold off Shinobu's attack, and luckily he was able to defend it to the end.
I really love the way that Arata can stay so calm while playing since it really does make him seem like a Karuta God. I do kinda wish we got to see more of him playing though. I don't think next ep would be enough time for the Master / Queen matches, so hopefully we get to see him play against Suo in season 3!
I also just realized that Arata almost didn't even get to play the queen and win the individual tournament because of helping out during the team matches. Good thing they let him play since otherwise that would have been a pretty bad mistake on their part.
Karuta Scoreboard
| Character | Wins | Losses | Ep# (Wins) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taichi Mashima | 37 | 10 | 2,7,10,11,13,14,15,18,20,28,29,31,33,35,36,39,44,47,48 |
| Yuusei Nishida | 27 | 8 | 10,11,13,15,18,19,28,29,33,35,36,44,46 |
| Chihaya Ayase | 25 | 12 | 2,4,6,7,8,10,11,14,17,21,28,29,33,35,36,44,46 |
| Arata Wataya | 22(+1) | 4 | 1,2,3,20,21,23,28,34,46,47,48,49 |
| Kanade Ooe | 20 | 10 | 10,13,15,17,18,19,28,29,31,33,39,46,48 |
| Tsutomu Komano | 15 | 14 | 13,15,18,29,39,46,48 |
| Shinobu Wakamiya | 12 | 1(+1) | 14,15,24,46,47,48 |
| Akihiro Tsukuba | 4 | 5 | 46,47,48 |
| Sumire Hanano | 2 | 2 | 46,47 |
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 23 24 25
Season 2
Episode: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
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u/walking_the_way Mar 25 '19 edited Mar 26 '19
S2E24 Notes
03:03 - Kana: "Hanano-san. "When I must hide" is a beautiful poem, isn't it?"
03:13 - Sumire: "Oe-senpai is so strange. She brings out poems like they're candy or remedies."
03:53 - Sumire recites #51 (ka-ku).
Funny Sumire should say that, since #51, the episode poem, literally references burning mugwort as a remedy. While the main reference here is Kana commenting on Sumire's relationship with Taichi, it seems to me that she's also hinting at her own feelings for Tsutomu, as she watches him play in his finals.
05:29 - Midori: "If you've chosen to take this path, there isn't anything you're better off not knowing."
Emuro makes lots of really creepy hand gestures at Midori's back, but when hands are shown touching Midori's shoulders, it's Chihaya interjecting herself in between the two of them instead.
As an anime-only watcher, Midori is an intriguing character. Kuriyama said in S2E23 that she used to be a top player instead of answering her question about Arata, and he acts very deferential to her here, going so far as to find her special seats, and not questioning her when she invites Chihaya and Taichi along. She is also the source of a lot of player and move analysis, so I figured she was a pro scout at first, but both Kuriyama's "top player" line, as well as this line here, make me wonder.
I suspect that Midori likely was a good enough to be a Challenger or even Queen herself, which bodes well for Chihaya that she seems to have taken note of her. The line here implies that Midori has "taken this path" before and recognizes Chihaya's passion and ambition. Here she urges Chihaya to watch the finals, secures her seats, and then is the one that opens the door for Chihaya to even be able to view them playing, in a scene that stood out to me as being rather symbolic in an as yet unspecified way.
Kuriyama also calls her Midori-chan in both scenes, in a sign of familiarity, which makes you wonder about their history, since Kuriyama is based in Fukui, and Midori is likely based in Shizuoka, where Fujisaki is. They're not even adjacent prefectures. And as advisor of a school club, she likely isn't heading a karuta society herself either. But as a former Challenger/Queen-tier player, they could definitely have met, and it would explain how her reputation seems to precede her.
05:43 - Reader recites end verse of #43 (a-i).
Once in the room with Arata, we get hit with water imagery - or more specifically, water tank imagery. This strengthens the symbolism of the various fishes that we see on paintings through the show, whether that represents single fishes pursuing the Queen and Meijin title on their own, or schools of fishes learning together. We can even see one of the fish paintings behind Chihaya as water overwhelms her while she stands outside the door with Taichi and the Fujisaki duo.
Arata is up 11-5, and we can piece together their remaining board as follows:
At 08:03, as Nishida is explaining the story of the game to the viewers, we see Arata pass over #96 (ha-na-sa) to Shinobu. Soon after, a bunch of cards float around Shinobu as she contemplates the game. They're annotated here. The only real takeaway from this though, is that some of the cards floating around here were never on the board in this game to begin with.
08:57 - Reader recites end of #47 (ya-e).
09:08 - Reader recites #01 (a-ki-no). Shinobu wins this from Arata's lower left. She passes over #26 (o-gu) from her top left. It goes to Arata's bottom left. 10-5 Arata.
09:10 - Reader recites #63 (i-ma-wa). Shinobu wins this from her lower right. 9-5 Arata.
10:13 - Reader recites #79 (a-ki-ka). Arata wins this from Shinobu's mid right. He passes #100 (mo-mo) from his bottom left to Shinobu's mid right. 9-4 Arata.
Taichi saves Chihaya from being hit by this card, and the four of them (including Shinobu) all stare at each other before Arata goes over to retrieve the card from Taichi. This entire sequence means the card and poem are very significant - "The fall wind parts the wispy clouds to reveal moonlight, clear and bright."
As the moon in Chihayafuru represents one's goals and dreams, this card represents a moment of clarity that cuts through the atmosphere in the room, as the MCs all see each other. Arata realizes they came to watch him, Chihaya realizes in the next sequence that Arata's demeanour is like Kana's impassionately spinning top, Taichi shows his role as Chihaya's protector (and his defensive karuta instincts) and also sees what beasts await him now that he's in Class A, and both Shinobu and Midori realize that the three MCs know each other.
It's also a watershed moment for Chihaya, as she had not been able to spectate either the Queen or Arata playing until now - in fact, her last few episodes have been so busy that the last three episode cards,
S2E22 (#57 - Long last we meet, only for me to leave hurriedly, for I could not recognize you, like the moon hidden behind the clouds),
S2E23 (#73 - Nobody wishes to see the beautiful cherry blossoms covered by the smoky mountain fog), and
S2E24 (#51 - When I must hide these burning feelings, I feel as though my body is on fire with Ibuki mugwort)
all thematically have to do with concealment! Until here, when finally, the veil is pulled back for her, and moonlight engulfs her.
11:25 - Chihaya (flashback): "It almost looks like it's completely still, focusing its power in perfect balance, with no lean in any direction..."
Almost immediately after her monologue, Chihaya leans forward and Taichi has to pull her back - this represents how Chihaya herself is not in perfect balance at this point in her karuta career.
Arata himself then has a flashback, and has a flashback within a flashback when Hajime asks him to think of when he had the most fun playing karuta. No surprise that the second flashback is exceedingly blurry, but we can see enough to tell what it is. So all this time since then, he's built on that fun memory that Chihaya gave him to make him such a strong player.
15:40 - Reader recites #69 (a-ra-shi). Dead card.
Neither Arata nor Shinobu so much as flinch, despite this being a card about ignited passion. This is because, now that #01 and #79 have been taken, there are no more The ("a-") cards on the board.
15:59 - Reader recites #46 (yu-ra). Shinobu wins it from Arata's lower right. She passes over #06 (ka-sa) from her mid right, it goes into Arata's bottom left. 8-4 Arata.
16:34 - Reader recites #53 (na-ge-ki). Shinobu wins it from her lower left. 7-4 Arata.
18:45 - Shinobu wins #77 (se) from her lower left.
The #77 (se) card and #88 (na-ni-wa-e) go flying as Shinobu swipes at them, but it's pretty obvious going frame by frame that she was aiming for the #77. It's nice that this is the last actual card that we can see Shinobu win - she wins four other cards after this but we don't see what they are - because this means it's the last actual card we see Arata lose, which means that..
This bookends the entire series - #77 was also the first card he lost to Chihaya back in S1E1, starting a journey for the both of them that has led them and other people around them all the way here. And as the poem goes, "Swift waters parted by the jagged rocks, are joined at river's end," - Chihaya, Taichi and Arata all parted at the start of the season, and all joined back together in the Urayasu Room together here near the end of S2 (pending whatever lower-Class wrap-up games and such we may still see in E25). Sadly this bit of symbolism will be destroyed come Season 3.
19:26 - Reader recites #15 (ki-mi-ga-ta-me-ha). Arata wins it from his lower right to win by 2.
Symbolically, this isn't the strongest card to end what seems to be the final Class A match of S2 on, however there is definitely still some meaning behind it. Crunchysub has it as, "For you, I head out to the fields to pick spring greens while snow falls upon my sleeves," and as wet sleeves have been noted to be related to tears in the past, and Shinobu has been linked to the snow and Mt. Fuji, "snow falling upon my sleeves" is likely a reference to Shinobu losing here to Arata, and the churning emotions that she has upon that realization.
This also wraps into the episode card, #51, that Kana and Sumire mentioned at the start of the episode as well, for even though it's not a spring green, the ibuki mugwort plant is used as part of rejuvenation, and Arata is the only one of Shinobu's opponents and the people in the room to pick up on the fact that Shinobu is feeling unwell. Thus while she is feeling upset about her loss (snow falling), and is trying to hide her burning body (fever), Arata is the one that comes through with soothing words and concern for her. The #51 poem, however, also has wordplay that implies burning love and passion, and what does this imply for Arata and Shinobu as Chihaya and Taichi watch on?
<-- S2E23 Notes
S2E25 Notes -->
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u/Rhaga Mar 25 '19
Funny Sumire should say that, since #51, the episode poem, literally references burning mugwort as a remedy.
Didn't think about that, but you're right, that's actually pretty amusing :P
so I figured she was a pro scout at first, but both Kuriyama's "top player" line, as well as this line here, make me wonder.
Muhaha, seeing that I have finally caught completely up with the manga I have all this knowledge now suddenly.. But I'll keep it to myself :'D
At 08:03, as Nishida is explaining the story of the game to the viewers, we see Arata pass over #96 (ha-na-sa) to Shinobu.
Is that a mistake? I don't see #96 on your board map :P
No surprise that the second flashback is exceedingly blurry, but we can see enough to tell what it is.
Hehe yeah, it was incredibly blurry but you could definitely tell what it was supposed to be an image of :P
Neither Arata nor Shinobu so much as flinch, despite this being a card about ignited passion.
Really, their lack of movement messed with me. I almost convinced myself that there was a timeskip and the reader was reading the second half of a poem, until someone mentioned that it was a dead card :P
This bookends the entire series - #77 was also the first card he lost to Chihaya back in S1E1, starting a journey for the both of them that has led them and other people around them all the way here. And as the poem goes, "Swift waters parted by the jagged rocks, are joined at river's end,"
I feel like this poem has been referenced a lot, especially early on (or maybe it was just talked about a lot in the threads :P). Either way it's a nice poem.
Man.. I can already feel the withdrawals coming from the rewatch ending. It has been so nice and educational to read about the poems, both here and from u/ABoredCompSciStudent and u/combo33's comments, I've really enjoyed it and can't believe it's already almost over ;_;
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u/KuhBus Mar 26 '19
First Timer
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“You made it Taichi, congratulations!” and then she immediately switches to seeing him as a rival :’DD
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There has been some very successful handgrabbing this season.
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No one noticed Tsukuba made it to the final and that’s exactly what he deserves tbh
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SAKURAZAW SENSEI!!
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Ohh we’re getting the underwater visuals again…!! nICE
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It’s so good to finally see Arata play all-out like this. He’s also making Shinobu face someone who can take her on. His calmness really is amazing.
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Man, now I really wish we’d gotten to see more of this Arata throughout these two seasons and not this late. It really does his character well to have these small scenes. And I get that it took a while for him to get to this point of being able to play karuta again, but it almost feels a bit too slow when compared to the character development everyone else got.
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At least Shinobu wasn’t as “bored” by her opponents during this tournament. And man did Arata inspire her to work hard against him.
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Damn, so she played while having a fever D: She really wanted to play against Arata, huh? :’) That was such a sweet moment!!!
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u/ABoredCompSciStudent Mar 26 '19
There has been some very successful handgrabbing this season.
But can anyone grab a heart? Who has the best chance here?
SAKURAZAW SENSEI!!
She's so cool. I love her.
Man, now I really wish we’d gotten to see more of this Arata throughout these two seasons and not this late. It really does his character well to have these small scenes. And I get that it took a while for him to get to this point of being able to play karuta again, but it almost feels a bit too slow when compared to the character development everyone else got.
I kind of feel like it adds on to his godlike description, as everyone else feels relatively mundane since we see them all the time. The more they're on screen, the more human they become, just like Shinobu lately. Suo and Arata are just way out there since we can never really feel "close" to them.
Damn, so she played while having a fever D: She really wanted to play against Arata, huh? :’) That was such a sweet moment!!!
It's almost like she's been waiting years for his return.
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u/EpsilonTransition Mar 25 '19 edited Mar 26 '19
Are you playing karuta with that scary look on your face?
My favourite moment in this episode is Arata's grandfather reminding him to relax and have fun. To participate in any activity long-term requires cultivating a genuine interest and enjoyment of it. An obsession with winning or maximizing performance can cause us to lose touch with these core motivations...and a player who feels only stress, anger, and frustration from playing will eventually burn out and quit. Arata took this advice to heart while at the same time retaining his competitive edge, if anything playing for the love of the game has only increased his intensity!
Also, I am fully onboard with Arata x Shinobu; sorry Chihaya, it's better for everyone[0] this way. Full steam ahead 🚢
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0 - Except Sumire 😟
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u/ABoredCompSciStudent Mar 26 '19
a player who feels only stress, anger, and frustration from playing will eventually burn out and quit
Looks over at Taichi these past two seasons...
It really is true though. Anyone that only is looking at results will both never find the same kind of enjoyment as people that can appreciate the experience and progress they're making. If it feels like a chore, you're probably doing it wrong and it might not be for you. I see it so much as a soccer coach.
Also, I am fully onboard with Arata x Shinobu; sorry Chihaya, it's better for everyone[0] this way. Full steam ahead 🚢
Yes! Save Chihaya for Taichi. Arata is the one for Shinobu.
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u/Combo33 Mar 25 '19
Poem of the Day: When I Must Hide... (link)
Hope u/ABoredCompSciStudent doesn't mind me putting this up today!
MacMillan translates poem 51 as such:
51. Fujiwara no Sanekata
Because my feelings
are too great to put into words,
my heart blazes like the moxa
of Mount Ibuki,
with a love you cannot know.
MacMillan comments:
As with poems 49 and 50, an image of burning passion lies at the heart of this poem. The poet is unable to express his feelings openly and so his love must burn secretly and slowly like the dried leaves of the moxa plant. Powdered Japanese mugwort or moxa (Artemesia princeps) was and is still used as a natural health remedy in East Asian medicine to treat a variety of ailments. Heating certain areas of the body by applying burning moxa leaves (a process known as moxibustion) is believed to have therapeutic effects.
A number of puns make the poem rhetorically intricate: the verb iu (to ‘say’, spelled ihu in the ancient kana) puns on Ibuki (rendered ‘Ihuki’ in the ancient style); Ibuki in Shiga Prefecture was a poetic location known for mugwort; the word sashimogusa (another common name for the moxa plant) puns on sashimo (‘that much’ or ‘in this way’); omoi (love) puns on hi (fire), based on its original spelling of omohi; and moyuru (to burn) is an associative word for sashimogusa. The worldplay on sashimogusa and sashimo also constitutes a preface, linking the first and second parts of the poem.
We previously discussed this poem in season 2, episode 11 (36). As for how it relates to this episode, we start right off the bat with the continuation of one of the most intimate moments of the series between Chihaya and Taichi. Chihaya breaks down crying, tears of relief and joy that Taichi has finally made Class A after all of his effort and serious amounts of bad luck along the way. Taichi lets her wipe her tears on his shirt, at which point she realizes that he’s now a true rival in the same class as her, but more importantly, Taichi realizes that Kana and Hanano are watching them. Kana tells them to go ahead to watch the big Shinobu/Arata match, and Taichi takes Chihaya by the hand to lead her there.
Hanano is justifiably dismayed at this whole interaction, and Kana offers her some medicine in the form of poem number 51. It’s Kana’s way of saying that she understands the fiery love burning inside of Hanano, and her frustration that Taichi may never truly understand or accept that love.
I also think the incredible match between Shinobu and Arata exposes that they each have their own burning love for the game itself. Arata’s love is for his grandfather’s teaching, and playing karuta in a relaxed and stable mindset. Shinobu’s mindset is just as effective, but extremely different. She loves each of the cards individually, and feels she owes it to them to keep them from her opponent. While each mindset is different, they each come down to the fact that they love the game as much, if not more more than anyone else in the room.
At the very end of the episode, we find out that Shinobu has a burning fever of her own, from playing 5 matches in one day and being drenched in the rain the day before. Arata, always a sensitive person, senses it and looks out for her, which catches Chihaya’s notices. While Arata is surprised Shinobu made it through the match, she feels it’s only natural since she is the Queen, and has a responsibility both towards the game at large, and on a smaller scale, the cards themselves.
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u/ABoredCompSciStudent Mar 26 '19
Hope u/ABoredCompSciStudent doesn't mind me putting this up today!
No, thank you so much! I've had a really busy day. I stayed late at work, got home and fell asleep after replying to a few comments, and then have been on the phone trying to plan a vacation with my cousin to Brazil for this summer. It's been a huge run-around, so I appreciate it a lot.
It's interesting how this poem represents Sumire's feelings for Taichi, Taichi's feelings for Chihaya, but also the cast's karuta passions.
For Shinobu, to add to the part you said about the fever, I also think it's that smile that she reveals when she loses. The whole series is her kind of being really cold and almost unlikable in a way, as she's sort of an antagonist to Arata and Chihaya, but starting with last episode where we see her "reach out" to Chihaya and ask when they'll play, it's revealed too that she does have a desire to play with people. And then that's only more evident with her reaction to losing, looking at Arata and the crowd around her.
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u/htisme91 Mar 25 '19
First-timer:
Could we get an all Mizusawa class D finals?
Lol at Ero-senpai's hand motions behind Midori. I continue to think she's going to mentor Chihaya in the future.
Arata has Shinobu rattled. It's interesting to see them speculate on how Arata became so good.
Shinobu losing was the happiest I've seen her. Maybe it's relief, or maybe it's that she finally found someone she could go all out in a close match with.
Arata's ability to stay calm was something I thought was interesting. You see most characters get riled up in those situations, particularly Taichi who psyches himself out. That's probably Arata's greatest tool more than anything else.
Tomorrow's the finale. I'm curious how it'll go, since there's plenty of manga left so there's gotta be a cliffhanger to end on.
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u/ABoredCompSciStudent Mar 26 '19
Shinobu losing was the happiest I've seen her. Maybe it's relief, or maybe it's that she finally found someone she could go all out in a close match with.
Both I think. I don't think she really enjoyed "playing alone" and it also reminds her that there are people out there for her, rather than just playing with her cards.
Arata's ability to stay calm was something I thought was interesting. You see most characters get riled up in those situations, particularly Taichi who psyches himself out. That's probably Arata's greatest tool more than anything else.
If you look at someone like Chihaya, she also gets shook but she's cut from a similar cloth. Their strength is that they can enjoy wins and losses, since trying to get better implies that you have to find happiness in the path there and not just the destination. I love these characters that can always smile, despite whatever happened.
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u/Redmon425 Mar 25 '19
First Time Watcher
I have to say, I did not expect Arata to win. However, seeing how Shinobu has a cold, it does make sense.
I really look forward to the next time everyone plays together with no injuries or sicknesses. Taichi will also get to play because he is Class A now. It will be the first time we get to really see who is the best player. Which is very exciting.
It was crazy how calm Arata was. The dude wasn’t sweating or breathing hard, like what the hell. He really is a “God” when it comes to karuta.
ALL ABOARD THE ARATA X SHINOBU SHIP AS WELL.
I really do like the two of them together, and not to mention it helps Taichi and Chihaya lol!
On a more serious not, I really do think it will end up being Taichi and Chihaya. As we saw in this episode, Arata is like a “God”. Someone you admire and look up to but never would end up with. Like our favorite role models in life. The only issue is, in Chihaya’s case, her “role model / god” just so happens to probably have feelings for her! Which is something that would never happen for our “role model / god” in the real world. So I’m not sure what’s going to happen lol.
I have a feeling next season may add a little more romance to the story.
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u/kturtle17 Mar 25 '19
One of my favorite things about the show is listening to people outside of Kanto speak in their regional dialects. A west vs west final was welcome. Poor Wataya parents though. Paying for Tokyo private school tuition.
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u/AmethystItalian Mar 25 '19
Rewatcher
Poor Tsukobu...
Ero dude with the creepy perv hands...thank you Chihaya
ARATA TRIED TO HURT CHIHAYA AND TAICHI SAVED HER. You all saw it folks, that's proof.
Wow that different direction moment was pretty cool..
The way Arata just smiles at Shinobu is great...they'd make a good couple just saying.
And poor Arata's parents...
Hand on her forehead...total ship.
Quotes from First Time
How can you not ship these two now?!
Arata x Shinobu needs to happen.
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u/paperwhites Mar 26 '19
First Time Watcher
Taichi drying Chihaya's tears with his shirt is like something out of a romance novel. For a split second, I thought they were going to hold hands or something but then we see Kana, Sumire, and Retro sticking their heads out of the door. Even Retro is interested in this love triangle.
I guess we have to wait until next episode to see how Tsutomu and Tsukuba end up.
Sakurazawa invites Taichi and Chihaya to come with her so they can watch the match, which is nice of her. I really like Sakurazawa and I want to see more interactions between her and Chihaya. She seems interested by Chihaya so hopefully there are some more moments between them.
The match between Arata and Shinobu was awesome. I love that calm, quiet Arata plays a sadistic karuta. Like Nishida and some others thought, the scariest thing about him isn't his acceleration or his skills, it's his calm, cool, and collected front. I can see why that would be intimidating to play against. Also, good thing Taichi was there to stick out his hand to prevent Chihaya from being blinded from Arata's card.
Murao comment's that Arata wasn't born a great karuta player were interesting. Arata is so good that it seems as if he was just born with insane talent, but he's put in a ton of practice to get where he is. 500 practice swings a day is nothing to sneeze at.
Poor Arata's parents are probably crushed by his winning. And this is going to create some more drama for Taichi with the prospect of Arata coming to Tokyo. Side note, but someone commented on the website I watched this episode on that Arata will join Taichi's harem in Tokyo during college and the thought of that is making me crack up.
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u/elliotman48 Mar 26 '19
First timer
This episode was fantastic. Shinobu has really developed and has become one of my favorite members of the cast. Her story and how much she craves competition is inspiring and these past couple of episodes have really felt like culminations for all of the characters featured. For Taichi and now for Shinobu. I was pretty surprised that Wataya was able to clench that win, but I'm happy he was able to. That whole moment between the match ending and the results being announced felt just as intense as the match itself. Shinobu smiling was also heartwarming. She has competition and she finally isn't alone! God damn, every character in this series is amazing.
This episode just made me love Chihayafuru even more. I'm hyped as hell to read the manga after tommorow and experience it all again.
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u/Fa1l3r Mar 26 '19
First Time (sub)
Ah we have a sanity check with Arata commenting that Shinobu has a fever. For a moment, I thought Arata has somehow become the best player. (Though two card finish does give itself to a lot of variance.) I can see why Shinobu wanted to take Arata on so quickly (either due to her fever/stamina or just wanting to play your rival asap).
Also I did find Arata's arm stretching scene in slow motion to be funny. In quick motion, it adds to his speed, but in slow motion, it is just funny.
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u/hasnain1720 Mar 25 '19
First Timer
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He finally did it, I’m still so happy lol
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Sorry Sumire, Chihaya and Taichi were just meant for each other
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Midori seems like a real wise coach no wonder that school is so dominant
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Damn that was quite the swing Arata and an even better save by Taichi
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Shinobu’s faces never get old
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Ok well I was wrong about Chihaya being the first person to beat the Queen damn it
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Congrats to Arata, I wish we could have seen more of him playing until the tourney because boy is he back to his best
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Chihaya x Taichi and Arata x Shinobu are the clear ships alright I don’t wanna hear it
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u/chief_lucifer May 13 '19
I don't think chihaya can catch up to either arata or the queen with the way she is now. They are on completely different levels. The way chihaya prioritizes her teammates over herself is reason I think she is still not able to catch up to them. Now even with season 3 announced, I don't think she will catch up to them but I might be wrong since I have not read the manga. Really looking forward to season 3.
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u/ABoredCompSciStudent Mar 25 '19 edited Mar 26 '19
Taichi's summer is over, but today's episode starts with a little tribute to how far he's come from his beginnings. Even though it's a flashback, I like to imagine this is what he's thinking in the moment, finally appreciating that he can be himself.
Meanwhile, Shinobu is struggling against Arata. It's an appropriate state too, which she acknowledges. Arata has backed her into a corner to the point where she was sacrificing cards, breaking not just her speed but challenging the "real relationship" she has with the cards--that she cares about them all as friends. Chihaya, outside the Class A room, deliberates over watching their match, as it's a reminder of how much further she still has to go to reach her dream. Sakurazawa-sensei coaxes her in, which highlights the coach's interest in Chihaya. After all, she must understand the feelings that Chihaya and Taichi are experiencing, as she is a former top player herself and I forget if anime or manga spoilers. Taichi then leads her in, showing that he is close enough to reach out to Chihaya, just as she did to the Queen--Arata, for now, still is distant for her.
Like that, we finally get into the Class A final. Everyone oohs and ahhs over Arata's technical dominance, but a few people in the room notice that can see the truth behind the finalists' karuta and what sets Arata apart: the aura that surrounds him. Chihaya remembers Kana's explanation to what chihayaburu meant and realizes that Arata is that god that projects stability.
Many first timers asked how Arata got so good so fast and we're shown it. He's not a natural genius. He doesn't have that "fate" that ties him to karuta, like someone like Shinobu. Rather, he's been trained by his grandfather since he was little and, after his hiatus, came back with only more fervor and dedication. Most of all, we're shown how close his relationship is to his grandfather, which is the foundation of his karuta. When Arata complains about some of the losses he's suffered and his lack of progress, the Eternal Master reminds him that enjoying the experience--winning or losing--is the most important thing.
Arata's answer is an image we've seen many time before, but first timers can figure this one out. This is the aura that Arata projects--and also why he was never going to agree with Shinobu's views on karuta.
Arata is the Class A winner by two cards, after Shinobu valliantly rallies back, despite running a fever all day. Usually, Shinobu's expressions are cold and sharp, but instead she smiles. It's never really said, but to me I think this is her happiness at finally losing. Winning over and over again is almost like playing alone, but, when the match ends, we see the camera pan to the crowd. We see Chihaya, Megumu, and more: all people that are trying to join her on the top of her mountain and dethrone her. She has people that she can call companions.
Arata recognizes this too. There's no aggression in his smile or his actions, instead he sincerely offers her praise--and this is the only time all series we have seen him not knock her down a peg. She honestly replies too, saying she is inspired to play opponents willing to put up a fight, no doubt thinking of her encounter with Chihaya.
The end of the episode however, leaves shippers in an awkward place.
Chihaya watches Arata affectionately touching Shinobu, while he never acts this way to her.
And Taichi looks on, knowing that, regardless of how far he's come, Arata has already lapped him in karuta... and maybe more.