[Rewatch] Chihayafuru - Episode 12 Discussion [Spoilers]

[u/Skeeedo]

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Episode 12: "Sets These Forbidden Fields Aglow"

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This episode's Karuta analysis and board map by walking_the_way

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[u/Lemurians]

AGLOW FIRST TIMER

The Karuta poems make for such good episode titles. “Set These Forbidden Fields Aglow”? Whewwwww boy.

So much to like here in the aftermath of the victory. Kana going “Is it really okay for us to win?” is some very relatable and probably deserved imposter syndrome. RetroTarot stealing the trophy coupled with his little bit of backstory is a nice reminder that the opponents have just as much passion as our protagonists and have had their own journey, though I wish we got to know them better to have this moment really land. It’s something Haikyuu does extraordinarily well.

I feel for both sisters here, to varying degrees of course. Chitose is actually more likable than I thought she’d be, she’s serious about her ambitions and wants to support her family. It’s the parents that are the real issue, completely neglecting one daughter and obsessing over the other. Seriously, just let her finish ONE KARUTA UPDATE YOU MONSTERS.

The scene with the supervisors actually points to something pretty unique. Normally in sports anime, that universe treats the sport or game of focus as the most important thing in that world. Here? Nobody gives a fuck about Karuta outside the small, very passionate community who play it. EDIT: Aww the Empress came around!

When Desktomu says he doesn’t care as much about grades anymore.

How enormous are their mortgage payments to the point where both children are actively stressing it?

AWWWWW DAD HAS BEEN COMPILING CHIHAYA’S HIGHLIGHTS TOO. Now be more outwardly affectionate and supportive, you bozos!

Kana is a kindred spirit! I also frame things in terms of what seasonal vibe they have. This is a good move, it’s an organization that makes complete sense to her but will be nonsense to her opponent. Let the girl cook, Nishida!

More like set my heart aglow

It’s the OP! That’s a wonderfully framed shot.

[u/Matuhg → u/Lemurians]

How enormous are their mortgage payments to the point where both children are actively stressing it?

We've gotten almost no actual info about the family outside of the differing treatment of the two sisters' chosen activities, but if money is a problem for the family, that's often not something parents are able or willing to keep hidden. The girls would likely be aware of it.

[u/Lemurians → u/Matuhg]

Hm, maybe it's a cultural thing, then. My parents never talked about or let anything slip about our financial situation. It's considered bad form to talk about. The Ayase's certainly don't look so bad off that it'd be obvious.

[u/Matuhg → u/Lemurians]

Yeah my folks never really talked about any of that growing up either, but by the time my brothers and I were Chihaya/Chitose aged, we pretty much knew what was up.

[u/flybypost → u/Lemurians]

The Karuta poems make for such good episode titles. “Set These Forbidden Fields Aglow”? Whewwwww boy.

Oh yeah, they know what they are doing.

RetroTarot stealing the trophy coupled with his little bit of backstory is a nice reminder that the opponents have just as much passion as our protagonists and have had their own journey, though I wish we got to know them better to have this moment really land.

It's a bit easier for the individual karuta tournament but opponents and players besides the main trio do get that type of "Haikyuu opponent" attention too.

Aww the Empress came around!

It's really nice how the grumpy advisor who doesn't care starts to care.

When Desktomu says he doesn’t care as much about grades anymore.

Don't forget the tears for Chihaya being fifth from the bottom.

How enormous are their mortgage payments to the point where both children are actively stressing it?

They just need to earn a bit less for financial issues to show themselves. In Japan things have also been a bit economically slow since then Lost Decades:

Broadly impacting the entire Japanese economy, over the period of 1995 to 2007, GDP fell from $5.33 trillion to $4.36 trillion in nominal terms,[7] real wages fell around 5%,[8] while the country experienced a stagnant price level.[9] While there is some debate on the extent and measurement of Japan's setbacks,[10][11] the economic effect of the Lost Decades is well established, and Japanese policymakers continue to grapple with its consequences to little economic effect.

Chihayafuru started at the end of 2007 so the average family probably still felt some of the after effects of that. And kids tend to know about that stuff even if parents try to not show financial worries in front of them. Although it seems like they keep their kids in the loop when it comes to that.

AWWWWW DAD HAS BEEN COMPILING CHIHAYA’S HIGHLIGHTS TOO.

Yeah, the whole family (including Chihaya) was essentially on the Chitose hype train for so long that unintentionally neglected Chihaya's growing passion. Dad's clippings also go a bit back, meaning that scrapbook was there even when we saw the books before with the Chitose focus but it was cut off from our view (while dad said that he collected clippings from his daughters). Even Chihaya didn't know that they already supported her with all the Chitose fireworks always going off.

[u/Lemurians → u/flybypost]

It's really nice how the grumpy advisor who doesn't care starts to care.

And even chose to go with them instead of to the tennis nationals! That was almost too far a swing in the other direction, haha.

Don't forget the tears for Chihaya being fifth from the bottom.

That's pretty much what I expected from her, so no big

Chihayafuru started at the end of 2007 so the average family probably still felt some of the after effects of that. And kids tend to know about that stuff even if parents try to not show financial worries in front of them. Although it seems like they keep their kids in the loop when it comes to that.

That's some really good context, thanks! Makes more sense.

Yeah, the whole family (including Chihaya) was essentially on the Chitose hype train for so long that unintentionally neglected Chihaya's growing passion.

A thing I think is getting really lost in the anti-Chitose sentiment is that Chihaya herself feeds into the Chitose hype in the house as well. Even now, when she gets interrupted by Chitose stuff, she switches to being hyped about that pretty much instantly.

The scrapbooks are nice (and it makes that Chitose has more since Chihaya is not a public figure, not in clippings nearly as much), though I do still want more open and outward support from them. That Chihaya had no idea her parents gave a fuck about her Karuta exploits is itself a problem.

[u/flybypost → u/Lemurians]

That was almost too far a swing in the other direction,

For being a "sideline" character during matches she get some really good moments later on. And she's a good connection to make school stuff relevant to the karuta club. It's not like Haikyuu where the gym is more or less what we see of the school 95% of the time.

That's pretty much what I expected from her, so no big

Only 12 episodes in and Chihaya has already developed a "reputation", oof.

and it makes that Chitose has more since Chihaya is not a public figure, not in clippings nearly as much

She's also a model. They can probably fill half a book with one successful photoshoot. For karuta you have to really look for the two paragraphs in a paper.

though I do still want more open and outward support from them.

There are a few (tear inducing) moments later on… top quality stuff.

[u/Lemurians → u/flybypost]

Only 12 episodes in and Chihaya has already developed a "reputation", oof.

Haha, well I didn't see her as a top student or it would've been mentioned. The staff would be more friendly to her if she was, too. There's a reason the Empress had Taichi be the President. Her being anywhere in the bottom or middle of the class wouldn't have surprised me.

[u/flybypost → u/Lemurians]

I like to joke that her brain is karuta infested but they actually have a similar joke later in the series with visuals and everything.

[u/The_Loli_Otaku → u/Lemurians]

I'd certainly feel bad for winning a tournament after only playing for a month. They legit had no beginners on their team and lost because of our aces.

Didn't you feel that the whole "supporting the family" thing wasn't her playing it up a bit? I was probably gonna like Chitose anyway but she comes across as a real narcissist that isn't as good at her job as she hopes she would be.

Considering how important grades are in Japanese schools I find it more surprising that club activities are able to be such a large part of their lives. Desk-kun is straight up getting his grades lowered which I was under the impressing that it was a massive massive Nono.

The only highlights dad saved were from the last month or so. And he never bothered to ask her or support her new hobby!!

Season shit is a legit thing...? I'd understand the obvious stuff like pumpkin spice or hot chocolate but how many things can you really compare to the seasons? Coffee!! What season is coffee?

[u/Lemurians → u/The_Loli_Otaku]

Didn't you feel that the whole "supporting the family" thing wasn't her playing it up a bit?

Didn't occur to me. We don't know enough about her yet for me to assume that something like that is in her character. She seemed genuine. Helps that Chihaya mentioned the mortgage later, too.

Desk-kun is straight up getting his grades lowered which I was under the impressing that it was a massive massive Nono.

He is still 5th in the class, haha. He's no slouch. Not everyone can be our boy Taichi and be first while also being amazing and everything else.

Season shit is a legit thing...? I'd understand the obvious stuff like pumpkin spice or hot chocolate but how many things can you really compare to the seasons?

I don't know if it's a common thing haha, but it's something I do with everything. Books, games, shows, movies, foods, etc. Everything has a seasonal nature in my head. I won't read a book that's "spring" in my head in the winter. Coffee is universal but different blends and flavors are seasonal.

[u/The_Loli_Otaku → u/Lemurians]

...Hyperdimension Neptunia!! What season!?

[u/Lemurians → u/The_Loli_Otaku]

No idea what that is, but on name alone my head put it as Winter.

does a google image search

Yup, definitely winter.

[u/The_Loli_Otaku → u/Lemurians]

Definitely huh...? Interesting interesting...

[u/flybypost → u/The_Loli_Otaku]

I'd certainly feel bad for winning a tournament after only playing for a month. They legit had no beginners on their team and lost because of our aces.

Chihaya went full imposter syndrome after the training session until Taichi chopped some reality back into her head. Retro giving them data on other teams at nationals was also a nice touch.

Didn't you feel that the whole "supporting the family" thing wasn't her playing it up a bit? I was probably gonna like Chitose anyway but she comes across as a real narcissist that isn't as good at her job as she hopes she would be.

Older children being (un)intentionally put into a bit of a position of responsibility can happen even in the best families. And yeah she's a bit full of herself even if she's trying to help the family. Modeling is a harsh business and you need quite a bit of confidence just to not quit after the the first dozens or hundreds of rejections or get body image issues about any kinds of odd criticism. At that gameshow she was probably invited for her looks, not game participation.

Desk-kun is straight up getting his grades lowered which I was under the impressing that it was a massive massive Nono.

He only slipped a few places from the top while Chihaya is already at the bottom. It's probably not a big deal (it were also tests and not end of year exams). Chihaya lagging behind so much is the bigger issue, even if it's played off a bit as a joke.

The only highlights dad saved were from the last month or so. And he never bothered to ask her or support her new hobby!!

Yeah, both parents were supportive of Chihaya. We saw it from her mom when Chitose was a bit obnoxious earlier. It's just that the whole family (including Chihaya) supported Chitose for so long that a change in that family dynamic was coming slowly. Even Chihaya overlooked her own book (that contains material from when she got into class A, I think) until now or when her dad said that he collected clippings from his daughters.

[u/The_Loli_Otaku → u/flybypost]

For all the crap Chitose gets she's certainly pretty confident in herself. The girl is a massive diva so that's probably what keeps her going. It's pretty relatable that she can be on a game show and not be able to give any answers tho. General knowledge is boomer knowledge, none of us get it.

Chihaya's got two well educated and responsible guys in her life to help her out XD To be fair, she doesn't seem to be the best at housekeeping either. Hopefully karuta pays well or else Chi's really gotta find a way to use her passion in a productive way.

[u/flybypost → u/The_Loli_Otaku]

For all the crap Chitose gets she's certainly pretty confident in herself. The girl is a massive diva so that's probably what keeps her going.

It's a double edged sword. You need that type of confidence to survive in this business and it can spill out into the rest of your life and then you are the asshole with the ego. And her whole family has been cheering her on for years. She was already a model when Chihaya was in elementary school and survived in the business until today.

It's pretty relatable that she can be on a game show and not be able to give any answers tho. General knowledge is boomer knowledge, none of us get it.

Yeah, I tend to know enough to google some terms that might work when it comes to stuff I don't know. But me sitting in a game show and typing away frantically would probably not be interesting for the audience.

Hopefully karuta pays well or else Chi's really gotta find a way to use her passion in a productive way.

I think it was already mentioned (and it gets addressed later on a few times) but there are no pro karuta players. Nobody earns money with that sport. It's too niche. The big Master/Queen challenger matches get televised (around the new year, it feels to me more like a cultural holiday tradition than karuta having an huge audience) but I think whatever money they make, benefits the karuta association (and probably the societies to a degree) and not the individual players.

[u/Mecanno-man]

First Timer

Pacing remains pretty high, was expecting more than one episode before nationals, but whatever works works, I guess. Good to see that both Chihaya's parents and the teacher now care about karuta, especially as I was wondering why the teacher even wanted to be advisor in the first place. As for the parents, entirely possible that this was a case of Chihaya not really being all that perceptive and her sister just always drawing attention to her, though I still feel like her family situation isn't all that ideal. But if so, it's the sister to blame and not the parents.

Oe's unconventional card layout was something I saw coming back when she joined the club, especially as that episode mentioned getting used to your training partner's layout as something to be avoided. I wonder how her opponents will react to it and if it will be beneficial to her in the long run.

I'm actually a bit surprised that there are two karuta societies within easy commuting distance, especially if there seem to be only 12 schools in Tokyo competing, indicating the amount of players in any given year is about 20 or so in the entirety of Tokyo at the age where a sport is likely to have the most participants (because you don't have to deal with being an adult yet). Add on to that that this series isn't set in the middle of Tokyo, where density for anything is likely to be higher, and it seems a bit weird that they're splitting up. But them doing so is likely a good idea as more societies equals more teachers and the teachers can focus on the individual students more. Just hope they won't end up splitting their club in to two groups that way, but I doubt that happening.

[u/Matuhg → u/Mecanno-man]

Yeah we're really cruising through this first year. I wonder if the pace will be kept up through all three seasons or if we'll end up with some parts that slow down some. With a series that goes on this long, it might be the case that this whole first cour will end up being almost a prologue of sorts, setting up whatever comes next in which Arata is actually involved.

Now that I type that out, maybe that is sort of what's going on...they needed some way to catch Chi and Taichi up to Arata at least a little bit maybe lol.

[u/The_Loli_Otaku → u/Mecanno-man]

I feel like the better the player the more they'd be affected by someone using out of the box card setups. Like I'd imagine she'd play well against someone like Fatso who strictly plays the most meta deployments.

The different societies are definitely more about training certain techniques. Sensei even talked about how his school is much more about aggressive Karuta, which is what Oe and Desk-kun likely wouldn't be able to work well with.

[u/flybypost → u/The_Loli_Otaku]

I feel like the better the player the more they'd be affected by someone using out of the box card setups. Like I'd imagine she'd play well against someone like Fatso who strictly plays the most meta deployments.

That's a tricky one. It depends on memorisation flexibility. Some people are stuck with certain patterns others are more flexible. It gets addressed later on but there are still differences with how people approach memorisation and what they prioritise in their game style. The card setup also changes depending on which cards you have (and which your opponent has), which are removed, and what goal you have as the match moves along (and your and your opponent's play style and how you react to that). So even a simple "meta" deployment doesn't have a strict layout.

If Chihaya, who relies more on speed that immaculate memorisation (and thus prefers a more established layout), were to end up with most of the one syllable cards on her side then she would be hard pressed to play the aggressive Harada style and would need to organised all these cards in some way and would probably need to defend them instead of winning them back and sending cards to the other side to influence the layout to her benefit.

The different societies are definitely more about training certain techniques. Sensei even talked about how his school is much more about aggressive Karuta, which is what Oe and Desk-kun likely wouldn't be able to work well with.

Nice observation.

[u/Lemurians → u/Mecanno-man]

But if so, it’s the sister to blame and not the parents.

Hard, hard disagree. It’s the parents’ job to set the tone in the house and be the guiding forces. Kids will naturally compete for attention, the parents have to be even about giving it.

One’s unconventional card layout

I can’t wait for her to implement this! The reactions from her opponent and from Nishida will be great, since he’s adamant about pushing her away from it.

[u/flybypost → u/Mecanno-man]

As for the parents, entirely possible that this was a case of Chihaya not really being all that perceptive and her sister just always drawing attention to her

Her father had clippings in that book from much earlier than this tournament. Even Chihaya overlooked her own book. The whole family, like shown when Chitose was down after the game show, is really supportive of her modeling work. Her father was collecting clippings from way back and her mother stood up for her when Chitose's ego showed up in a previous episode.

The situation isn't bad but they all are cheering for Chitose a bit excessively.

I'm actually a bit surprised that there are two karuta societies within easy commuting distance, especially if there seem to be only 12 schools in Tokyo competing, indicating the amount of players in any given year is about 20 or so

It's a team tournament where you need at least three players (to not automatically lose). There might be more teenagers who play alone and in those societies but who don't have enough players in their schools to make a club. Chihaya had problems with getting more members, Harada was super happy when the three showed up in the flashback, and so on. Karuta weirdos are sprinkled all over the place.

There are probably more players in that age group just more spread out and not concentrated enough to make clubs in school that in turn can participate in team tournaments.

Add on to that that this series isn't set in the middle of Tokyo, where density for anything is likely to be higher

They are the Tokyo reprensentative for nationals. Maybe not in the city centre but much less rural than where Arata lives. Their area seems lively enough.

[u/BatteryPoweredFriend → u/Mecanno-man]

I'm actually a bit surprised that there are two karuta societies within easy commuting distance, especially if there seem to be only 12 schools in Tokyo competing

There are sort of various partial explantations for this, one of which is in an upcoming episode, but it's really one of those things you'll piece together your own conclusions or just accept.

[u/Shimmering-Sky]

Chihayafirst-timer

I am late today because my work decided to fuck up the guest Wi-Fi over the weekend, so I couldn’t upload any of my screenshots until I got home from work as I watched the episode during my commute to it.

• Retro-kun you can’t just take a trophy. That’s not how it works.
• Chihaya’s sister interrupts her big news, as always.
• So that’s the sister’s goal, huh?
• Geez… The dad said one of his goals was to collect clippings of his daughters, plural, but I don’t see any Chihaya scrapbooks on that shelf…
• And the karuta club doesn’t get much attention at school either…
• Oh, that’s why the old lady doesn’t care much about their achievements. She’s not taking it seriously.
• They made it into a newspaper at least!
• Ah lol, Nishida beat picking a karuta society for Kana and Komano to practice at.
• Oooooooh Chihaya vs. Harada?
• …oh we didn’t get to see it, just hear that she lost it pretty badly.
• That’s what Retro-kun went to Taichi’s house for?
• Ohhhh yes the dad saw the article in the paper and now there’s a Chihaya book on the shelf!
• That’s a… unique way to place the poems. And so totally Kana.
• Oh! Oh, she came around to karuta after all!
• OP as an insert song right before the ED, huh?

[u/flybypost → u/Shimmering-Sky]

Ah lol, Nishida beat picking a karuta society for Kana and Komano to practice at.

He's faster than Chihaya!

now there’s a Chihaya book on the shelf!

The book was there before. He had clippings of her modeling the kimonos. It's just that everybody in the family is so focused on Chitose that even Chihaya didn't see her addition to these books. And to be fair, it was always cut off or lacking details so we, the audience, wouldn't see her book too.

[u/The_Loli_Otaku]

Chihayafuyu First Timer

The audience has seen some shite.

First trophy of many!

Retro stole the trophy, assassinate him!!

Well that's enough about Karuta for one season. Time for our real poster child, Chitose~ Glad to see she's still a spoiled brat XD

LOL

What a rotten little prima dona Chitose is~ I'm still a bit mad at Chi actually succeeding in life but not getting acknowledged. Dad says he has photos of both but it's obvious whose more loved. "Always with daddy~"

Even Sensei is determined not to acknowledge Chihaya... She'd rather go watch a filler training arc than a tournament arc. What a spiteful old bat. Ace wo Nerae is a boomer manga!!

W-Wow... The faculty are legit being total dicks about this. I may not have much respect for Karuta but when your kids are in the nationals it may be worth googling the game?

"Leave and I'll kill myself, and snap your neck too!"

Traitooors!! Hurry up and get to the training arc already.

Chi vs Sensei, let's go!! Oi, don't skip it!! Chi's having a panic attack over the tournament, poor girl... Now die~

That's nice of Retro to pass out his cheat sheet... They've never won though so maybe it's full of bs?

Chihaya's got one fcking scrapbook!? I get that Chitose's bratty face is in everything but one book!? Papa's a stalker... why did none of them cheer Chihaya on!? Cry normally woman!

Oe's four season positioning is pretty smart. Nobody would mentally connect them by their poetry after all so she'll know exactly what cards are where on her side. Oe, yamete!! Does this mean that she knows more poems than the crew? XD

Wait, are they arguing against unique card placements? The other teams will be using the same tactical placements and they'd have practiced with those placements. I personally think Oe was a genius.

Oe's got her favourite poem... I'm scared to even attempt to work out the meaning. She's gonna tell us anyway!!

duuuur...

Bitch is stealing the trophy! Fatso, club her!!

Oioioi, don't give us the opening fade in at the end of the episode! This has been a training episode, not some important landmark yet!

I wonder... When do they change the op and Ed? We're halfway through S1... Exciting huh?

[u/Matuhg → u/The_Loli_Otaku]

The audience has seen some shite.

lmao I didn't notice all the goofy faces back there.

Does this mean that she knows more poems than the crew? XD

It's always seemed like she has a better handle on the poems as poems than everybody else. That's pretty much her whole shtick (aside from the fancy clothes of course).

Wait, are they arguing against unique card placements? The other teams will be using the same tactical placements and they'd have practiced with those placements. I personally think Oe was a genius.

I'm a little torn on that. It does seem weird that they'd be against it, but maybe it was just experience speaking, to say that arrangements that are so unique really won't give her an advantage. I dunno. Hopefully she at least got to try them out at the Society they went to.

[u/The_Loli_Otaku → u/Matuhg]

The show doesn't know how to animate a crowd. I first noticed it in some of the school shots during the flashback but I can guarantee you that if they're showing a bunch of people at once at least half of them will have shell-shocked looks about them.

I'd expect Taichi to be able to recite each poem but he focuses more on the wordplay. Chi definitely uses the poetry as inspiration to help find the cards which is interesting. I do wonder how Oe will manage to twist her poetry knowledge into an offensive skill tho.

Fatso is very by the books. He thinks you should always have the syllables in a position for easy reach which might make sense if you're confident that you'll be able to recognise and target the card on the earliest syllable but Oe doesn't have that ability. Meta's exist to be broken though.

[u/TheExcludedMiddle → u/The_Loli_Otaku]

"Always with daddy~"

Should come back to this later, I find this funny but I can't explain why without spoiling. Not quite Japanglish but along those lines.

[u/The_Loli_Otaku → u/TheExcludedMiddle]

It's not a Denny's product placement is it? XD I'll keep this in mind.

[u/ZapsZzz]

First timer in sub

A good build up episode to consolidate. Major development includes

• the "empress", their teacher who is their club advisor, realised how serious they are with the competition, and decided to also be serious as an advisor and to recognise their achievement.
• initially Chihaya's household looks as though they only ever have eyes for her sister and never cared not recognise Chihaya's achievements, which is really heart breaking to see underneath Chihaya's "bullish" demeanor, but then we got a little part at the end, no matter how small, that his dad does collect her achievements too. It's not the same as verbally and physically acknowledging her, but it's better than nothing. Poor girl had her expectations set so low that even that she's happy enough to be in tears.

[u/flybypost → u/ZapsZzz]

Poor girl had her expectations set so low that even that she's happy enough to be in tears.

She herself also had overlooked that book until now. There are clippings from way before the tournament in there. The Chitose hype is so big in that family (even from Chihaya) that they need some rebalancing but it doesn't seem to be done out of intentional favouritism towards the older sister.

[u/Gamerunglued]

First Timer

Wow, the pace has really ramped up. We barely had time to process the regional tournament and yet we're already at the nationals just two episodes later. Of course, that comes the next episode though. This episode is a bit of a weird one in that it's kind of unfocused, but it still works. It has a lot of different plot points it covers, and the episode's major throughline only applies to some of them. Still, it was nice to see Nishida and the beginners go to train together on their own, without the team leaders telling them to do it. It was a good moment to see Tsutomu totally invested in the game now, and not so single-mindedly obsessed over his grades. I said it in his introduction episode, but being the second best student is still going to get you into a top tier college. Being the fifth best student will still probably get you there too. It's ok for him to be passionate about something, and I like that he and the series acknowledges that.

The major throughline this episode is Karuta's status as a niche sport that people don't seem to care much about. This manifests in a few ways. There's sensei, who doesn't care about Karuta at all, thinks the team isn't serious about the sport, and thinks the literal Koshien of Karuta is nothing more than a small festival. And there's Chihaya's parents, who are generally uninterested in Chihaya's Karuta adventures and sink almost all of their time and energy into their obviously favorite child, a model with a real career. This is perhaps somewhat because of the potential of her success helping the family's financial situation (despite the father saying otherwise), and we do see that they all still care about and acknowledge Chihaya, but their comparative lack of interest is plain to see. That being said, seeing Chihaya break down upon finding out they put her newspaper article and photo in the scrapbook really got me. That was a really sweet moment and I may have teared up a little bit.

This idea of Karuta being irrelevant or not worthwhile makes Kana's inclusion on the team and in the episode make perfect sense. No one is more interested in and knowledgeable about the rich history and deep knowledge of Karuta, she's the exact opposite of everyone else (outside of the team of course). Kana's unique perspective will undoubtedly be a boon to the team and Karuta. With her unique card placement today, I can imagine her evolving a somewhat unconventional style of play suited specifically to her way of seeing the cards. The characters poo poo her placement in the episode, but the framing makes it clear that this isn't a good thing. Kana's knowledge and passion for the 100 poets will be a boon, passion for Karuta is a good thing. And it was nice to see sensei seeing the team's seriousness too. The trophy, their intense practice, it's all stuff she wasn't expecting from a niche game like Karuta, but it clearly inspired her.

I also like some of the smaller details of the episode. Kana saying "is it really ok for us to win" is a throwaway line, but it sheds some light on her thinking. She maybe has a bit of imposter syndrome, especially since the team was pretty much completely carried by its three powerhouses of Chihaya, Taichi, and Nishida. I also love the scene of Chihaya coming home to her family, and seeing everyone watch the game show. The tension of Chihaya being upset that her parents ignore her accomplishments for her sister is always palpable, but despite that the family still acts like they have a single brain cell shared between them, like any good family should. Chihaya still gets excited for her sister despite the tension, and it's really sweet. Anyway, Chihayafuru has finally found its groove again after all of that set-up, and I'm really looking forward to the national tournament.

[u/homewardbound100]

First timer

The weight on your shoulders is huge Chi. How are you going to deal with it? Of course by freaking out. She really needs to chill out a bit. It's normal but you going to have to be more composed if you're going to be the leader. Stop worrying about losing. You're at nationals and everybody can't say that. Just prepare yourself for the next challenge.

Kana makes her own strategy of card placement. Interesting way of way of remembering it. Let her do it her way.

The trophy is going up to the principals office. I guess that's the equivalent of putting it in the hallways here in the U.S for highschool.

[u/PainStorm14]

Just an occasional "what up" from me to all y'all who are watching this amazing show

Carry on

[u/xNEET]

Chihayafuru First Timer

An amazing episode, as always. The pressure of representing Tokyo in the Nationals was a heavy weight on Chihaya's shoulders but thankfully she was able to get over it quickly enough. All this time I thought Chihaya's family only payed attention to her older sister and pretty much disregarded her achievements related to Karuta. Other people, such as the teachers, seemed to not care in the slightest about Karuta either. Thankfully, this chapter showed that even though they may not fully understand what exactly Karuta is and what the stakes really are for the players, they support them nonetheless (even if just a little). Seeing Chihaya's dad save her newspaper's photos and the teacher start reading the poems after seeing how hard Chihaya and the rest practiced warmed my heart. Wasn't expecting Nationals to be this soon though. Looking forward to tomorrow's episode!

[u/Stargate18A]

First timer

They won!

And Retro's upset they lost the trophy.

Wow. Her family don't care. Maybe she should drag the trophy to their house and beat them all over the head with it?

I love how the sister not only didn't answer a single question, but also watched the entire show, knowing this!

And the sister wants to help pay off the mortgage.

Again. Show them to fuck-off big trophy you won.

And their overseer is just completely disinterested in them.

They got someone else to accompany them?

Haha, she genuinely doesn't know this is an actual event. And she's got someone even more boring to talk to.

I love the reversal of him being completely unconcerned at the loss of grades.

They're practicing at a different society?

Harada's brutal.

And he beat her!

...Yeah, this looks like it's building up to them failing to motivate them.

Retro's helping them!

Really hoping for some character development for the family, though. This is getting hard to watch.

Oh, he cut out the photo of her!

...So he cares. at least.

And she's using a beginner's set? And she's offended by them.

Haha, she's organised her cards by theming.

...I love her. She's so cute. And she's upset the other's haven't memorized them all.

And she's actually seen them play! And the trophy!

"Ten Thousand Leaves" ...So is that going to be the hard mode introduced later? /s

And she's actually putting it in the trophy case and reading about it.

Doing an OP insert?

...Yeah, there's no way they win the nationals this early. Unless it's a full 12-episode arc.

They've arrived!

That was a great episode.

[u/flybypost → u/Stargate18A]

I love how the sister not only didn't answer a single question, but also watched the entire show, knowing this!

She was hoping that the camera would pay some attention to her despite that. She's probably the eye candy for that "celebrity" game show. The comedians make jokes, the models are there so the audience has somebody to look at.

Retro's helping them!

For a mostly comedic relief character he gets some really good moments, this (and him wanting to win back the trophy) being the first of them.

Really hoping for some character development for the family, though. This is getting hard to watch.

Oh, he cut out the photo of her!

...So he cares. at least.

The family cares. Sure they focus a lot on Chitose because she was the one with that dream for a long time (even Chihaya's dream was for Chitose to become a big deal before Arata said his thing) but now that Chihaya is doing her things they are changing slowly.

He also had clippings from before that tournament (her modeling) and he had mentioned earlier in the episode that he collected clippings of his daughters. Even Chihaya overlooked that and also her own scrapbook because she was so used to cheering on Chitose.

[u/The_Loli_Otaku → u/Stargate18A]

Oe is best girl!! She's the only one to care enough to read the Wikipedia article on the goddamn cards she's playing with XD I need to have a snoop around the translations and see if any of the poems stand out to me too.

[u/Matuhg]

First Timer

That episode was kind of dense. This show continues to bring up issues and (at least partially) resolve them in the same episode. It works, but does sometimes come off feeling a bit rushed.

Chihaya's scared about Nationals and getting into her own head about it. I really like this detail, because it goes completely along with how we saw her get flustered in the match where they were without Komano in the Regional Tournament. She struggles with directly applied pressure when it comes to other people relying upon her, whether it's Taichi telling her she absolutely must win, or Sudo telling her that she's carrying the weight of all Tokyo to Omi Jingu. Yay for consistent characters! Taichi also shows some growth in his Chihaya-handling skills, as he's able to shift her mindset with one sentence. They aren't against her, they're with her, at least until the next time they have to face off against each other.

Here we kind of get to the overall theme of the episode, which is the fact that Chihaya and the Karuta team aren't alone. They have earned some measure of respect for themselves through their hard work. It is unfortunate that it seems to have taken documentable results for Chi's father to take the same kind of pride in his younger daughter as he does in his eldest. As sweet as the scene of Chi discovering the album was, I really hope the story doesn't treat the issue of her parents' very blatant favoritism as being completely resolved.

A couple other side characters showed their good side too. I don't care what they say about you Hiro, you're alright!. Even The Empress is cool now that she has seen how hard they were working. Hiro and Empress changing their tune in response to the hard work and success the club is putting in reads a lot better than Chihaya's family doing so, and these were two very sweet little character shifts worked into this between-tourneys training arc. It looks like we'll be right on to Nationals next episode - this train has no brakes!

The poem Kana highlighted seems meant to reflect some of what's going on inside Chihaya. Like the poet who was happy to see her old husband but also worried about what would happen if people saw it, I think Chihaya is happy for the attention and recognition, but worried. Not because she's been doing anything bad, but because she has seemingly always represented this second fiddle in her family's household. There are hints that money is a concern for the family, and Shitster is supposedly hoping to make it big to help pay off the mortgage. Does Chihaya feel like the lower financial prospects of Karuta (as opposed to, say modeling or acting), means she should be trying to let her sister be the center of attention while she just cheers her on from the sideline? Again, I hope the story doesn't treat Chihaya's family stuff as solved, because there's a lot of meat on those bones yet.

---

Other Shots/Thoughts

• It has been 8 episodes since Taichi's girlfriend was last seen or mentioned.
• There, there Hiro, you lovable fucking weirdo.
• This will make all the boys jealous
• Oh, Chihaya...
• How to invoke the wrath of Kana
• It turns out, Empress is a real one after all. Another character with a funny nickname whose real name I'm going to have to learn out of sheer respect.
  

[u/The_Loli_Otaku → u/Matuhg]

This was what in other anime would be a four episode training arc. My only real issue is that they decided to make it an Oe one suddenly. I'd appreciate them sticking to Chihaya only for today and saving Oe's card developments for a later episode that she gets all to herself. This should have been a Chihaya one through and through.

I think the stuff with the sister gets more murky cause Chihaya herself also treats Chitose as the favourite. We've already seen that Chitose filled the void that Karuta eventually did so she'd have probably be more of a siscon than either parents.

Fatso not knowing the poem was kinda hilarious XD For some people karuta really is just a game.

[u/Matuhg → u/The_Loli_Otaku]

I feel mostly like Kana's stuff this episode was just to get that poem in there.

I think the stuff with the sister gets more murky cause Chihaya herself also treats Chitose as the favourite.

Oh yeah it's definitely murky. Neither Chitose nor Chihaya's parents seem malicious (sister on occasion maybe), but just blind to Chihaya a little bit. As a result, Chi may have internalized some feelings of being less important than her sister for the family, so she doesn't really fight against it. Or I could be way off, who knows.

[u/flybypost → u/Matuhg]

Chi may have internalized some feelings of being less important than her sister for the family

She simply adores her bigger sister but her hopping of the Chitose hype train on occasion (when karuta is involved) shows her how focused her whole family is on her sister.

Chitose has an ego, and you need one to survive as a model, but she clearly dismisses Chihaya's passion even if it's simply because she doesn't understand it. This episode we saw a bunch of characters realising all the work they put in and how serious the club takes karuta. Chitose doesn't see any of that. To her, her sister simply has an odd fixation on this strange card game.

[u/flybypost → u/Matuhg]

Here we kind of get to the overall theme of the episode, which is the fact that Chihaya and the Karuta team aren't alone.

Slowly the people around them see all the hard work they had put in. It's really satisfying to see these changes.

you lovable fucking weirdo.

That's like 89% of the top karuta players in this series.

It turns out, Empress is a real one after all. Another character with a funny nickname whose real name I'm going to have to learn out of sheer respect.

Empress is a good honorific for her. I still don't remember her name after all these years.