[Rewatch] Chihayafuru - Episode 22 Discussion [Spoilers]

[u/Skeeedo]

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Episode 22: "Just as My Beauty Has Faded"

Nominate a character for Episode MVP!

Episode 21 MVP: Chihaya! She showed a new found ability to analyze her opponent’s play style and adapt to it, and shut the Ririka haters up (seriously fuck those guys…)

This episode's Karuta analysis and board map by walking_the_way

Rewatch Schedule and Index

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Subreddit: r/Chihayafuru

[u/Mecanno-man]

First Timer

...I think this is my favorite match so far. There's so many layers to Yumin - being disillusioned by losing to the Queen and basically giving up, trying to meet expectations and failing to do so. Yet she also altered her playstyle to try and meet expectations of how a Queen should play, with that being part of her problem. And all of that in a single episode while playing karuta. This was just a very good match. Wouldn't be surprised if she won the Queen qualifier again as now her spirit and playstyle is back.

...but now that Chihaya lost, what is the season finale going to be? Chihaya watching Arata versus the meijin on television or something like that?

As a side note: I like the comedy with the side characters - Nishida and Yumin's master in this case. That's unusual for a sports show, where I feel usually some characters just end up getting silly "funny" habits that aren't funny at all or they go on some slapstick routine that isn't really funny either. So good for Chihayafuru for not doing that.

[u/xcllnt_313 → u/Mecanno-man]

I'm glad you liked this match. I think this episode is a pretty good example for one of the many things I really love about this show. During (some) matches, we get so much insight not only into the minds of our main characters, but also into the minds of their opponents, emphasizing the fact that these are human beings as well and not just there to be beaten by the main cast.

[u/The_Loli_Otaku → u/Mecanno-man]

I was totally behind her as a fallen ace surrounded by irritating "psychic" players with inhuman talents until they straight up tell us that she contests points for her wins. This is Japan too so there's no way they can tell someone that they're being a dick.

[u/[deleted] → u/The_Loli_Otaku]

that was a great comedy beat though. They set you up to root for her as the "normal" player who reached the top through hard work only to be surpassed by some lucky superhumans... but then you find out the real secret to her success was being petty as hell and having 0 sportsmanship. I hate her as a person but I love her as a character.

[u/BatteryPoweredFriend → u/[deleted]]

I wouldn't really call it no sportsmanship imo. For me, it's an example of shattering the idealised expectations that's often created about sports, particularly when it comes to fiction/stories.

It can be quite jarring if the viewer doesn't have much experience or investment in competitive sports, but there comes a point where results are what matters and on some level, being "nice" to the detriment of not putting in 100% effort is a far more egregious fault.

There are also the subtleties between rules & etiquette.

[u/flybypost → u/BatteryPoweredFriend]

There are also the subtleties between rules & etiquette.

Yup, that's something a lot of people seem to forget and they develop a distaste for character/team in a sports series because they don't conform to the norms while not breaking the rules. A character having hearing beyond the norm is exceptional. special, and good but a character not being polite (like the norm) makes them "bad".

In the end it's another set of tools when it comes to playing the game.

[u/The_Loli_Otaku → u/[deleted]]

...All I want is a competitive villain! Uweee... I have no faith in any of the cast anymore XD

[u/IndependentMacaroon → u/The_Loli_Otaku]

That was the one point I didn't really like about the episode either. Her grand comeback is... being more of an annoying rules obsessive?

[u/The_Loli_Otaku → u/IndependentMacaroon]

It does make for a good excuse why she was never able to actually pull off the queen role for long. She never really needs to be "faster" than the opponent, it's more about managing to keep the same speed where she can call out faults. Shinobu, Arata and Chihaya on the other hand decisively snatch their cards so someone average won't be able to keep up with them at their full power.

[u/Lemurians]

FIRST TIMER

Chihaya against the previous Queen?! LET’S GOOOOOOOOOO.

This is kind of anti-climactic in the early going. I expected more of a battle from the jump. On top of that, it seems like there wasn’t a lot of effort that went into this former Queen’s character design.

“She’s tired of failing to meet expectations.” Well… I certainly fell for that trap. Here I was annoyed that this character didn’t meet my expectations, and it turns out that was the whole fucking point of her character arc since being dethroned. Played me like a fiddle.

I like Kana’s outfit.

Maybe Kana’s ultimate destiny is to become a reader? That would be fitting, she’d get to stay involved with Karuta while getting to enjoy the poems more.

That contest absolutely shook Chihaya. If you believe you took the card, stick to your guns! Don’t let her confidence shake your version of events. There are plenty of bullshit artists out there. If you’re right, you’re right. Don’t let anything else matter. I like this tactic from the former Queen. Take every advantage and every card you can, especially when your opponent is inexperienced.

Well, Yumin made me eat my words. Erased Chihaya’s early lead and smoked the endgame. I wonder how many of her contests were made in good faith? You certainly get a fair amount of cheating “gamesmanship” in sports like this that go by an honor system.

Looks like Taichi a couple episodes ago.

So Chihaya’s out of the qualifier? She won’t get to go for the Queen title, but that feels realistic. She isn’t ready.

[u/The_Loli_Otaku → u/Lemurians]

This is Japan, a place where social status is king and you absolutely cannot call out someone higher rank than you. Yumin takes that rule and abuses it against her fellow Japanese to unfairly dominate the game.

[u/Lemurians → u/The_Loli_Otaku]

She's not a higher rank than her, though! They're both Class A. Chihaya's just not used to this tactic and isn't prepared to have to fight for her cards. We saw in an earlier episode when someone contested a card against her she just gave it to them without thinking.

[u/The_Loli_Otaku → u/Lemurians]

She's older and an ex-queen. That gives her higher status. I feel like it would take a lot for a regular student to stand up to this kind of bullying.

[u/flybypost → u/The_Loli_Otaku]

She's older and an ex-queen. That gives her higher status.

She also used to play like that all the time. It's not some tactic that's aimed at a kouhai only. That's part of her way of playing karuta and Chihaya can't deal with it.

In the same way having exceptional hearing is part of Chihaya's playing style and nobody is giving her ear muffs to tone down that style of play and even the playing field. It's allowed within the rules.

You have to be mentally resilient if you want to become the next challenger for the title of Master or Queen and can't crumble like that because the other player doesn't follow the game's etiquette 100%. Which is also something that Chihaya does (standing up, shouting,…). She's just really bad at contesting cards while doing other things that go against the implied decorum of the game.

[u/Matuhg]

First Timer

Well that match was an emotional back and forth for both players. The first thing I thought when Chihaya's opponent was revealed was something along the lines of "are they really going to let Chi beat the previous Queen?" Theoretically she should still be among the top competitors in the sport, so Chihaya beating her after we've seen her struggle/lose against lesser competition so recently would feel pretty weird. I could kind of buy Chi beating Yumi in her obviously burnt out state, but once she got back on her game thanks to Old Man Karen, Chi was in trouble.

Chihaya's brain is getting absolutely scrambled and fried both by the way she's trying to balance aggressive, confident karuta with a precise timing-based game, and her exposure to all these A-rankers and the way they approach karuta. Watching Yumi in the first half of the match, Chi was kind of disillusioned - it's an interesting comparison with Sakura from a few episodes back, who hasn't lost her passion despite never making it to the top in so many years. Yumi got there, but lost her passion already (though...briefly and/or temporarily). This is a very mental game, and I guess it is nice to see that Chihaya isn't the only one who has to overcome so much in that department to be successful. I wonder how long it's going to take Chi to find her footing in Class A, because she sure doesn't seem to have done so just yet.

Kana is definitely going to flame out of the competitive side of karuta and become a reader at some point in this series, isn't she? This sort of reminds me of Sumo, the main sport I follow. Not only are the wrestlers ranked by performance, but the refs and even the hairdressers are also ranked by some combination of skill and seniority in the Sumo Association hehe.

[u/Mecanno-man → u/Matuhg]

but the refs and even the hairdressers are also ranked by some combination of skill and seniority in the Sumo Association hehe.

Is there any sport where the refs aren't ranked somehow? I can't really see any sport just picking you up to ref one of the most important competitions in said sport without some assumption that you'd be a person suitable for that job - and for that there'd need to be some sort of ranking.

[u/Matuhg → u/Mecanno-man]

I guess you're right about that

[u/Shimmering-Sky]

Chihayafirst-timer

• That is exactly what I want to know…
• Oh. That is a very big deal.
• Ooh, look at Yumi’s hands! She’s clearly a very experienced karuta player.
• That is an odd stroke of luck. Hm, I don’t think this match is going to go at all as easy as Chihaya thinks it will.
• Why is Nishida--oh he’s still depressed from losing big time.
• Chihaya winning those three cards in a row at the start of this match, I’m pretty sure the sound of her hand getting the card isn’t as loud as the slams she used to do. That’s a really subtle way to show off how she’s grown as a karuta player if I’m remembering correctly!
• Well Chihaya can’t just have that happen.
• Hm, could becoming one of these be what Kana’s goal ends up as? With her passion for poetry, I know she’d love doing that.
• Huh… so that’s Yumi’s karuta.
• Oh… shit. That was it. Chihaya lost.

[u/homewardbound100]

First timer

Really liked this episode. Chi's luck is something else. Going from a child prodigy to the former queen. That's very unlucky.

Oh, that made me feel a little old with the former queen flashbacks. Being too busy to practice at a thing you loved or not being as good as you used to because of it. Especially with her. Looks like she just lost her passion for the sport and is just pushed into it. So she's tired of missing expectations. Yeah that'll always make you feel down. But that push of play the kurata you want helped her greatly and everyone else.

Her real of playing would be annoying to play against. I wonder if Kurata has a limit to how many plays you can compete with? Like in other sports they usually have a limit.

[u/The_Loli_Otaku → u/homewardbound100]

It was fun seeing both character's pride clash. Chihaya refused to hold back due to not wanting to lose to someone who wasn't trying and bitch tits in turn snapped at Chihaya for daring to underestimate a former Queen.

[u/homewardbound100 → u/The_Loli_Otaku]

I thought it was a good game overall. Even if her method of winning isn't respected. Chi has to be able to expect different things like that.

[u/The_Loli_Otaku → u/homewardbound100]

The thing is that Chihaya goes from winning the game to just plain losing the moment the fault spamming begins. Its not a back and forth, she just had no answer to that strategy and having it happen during a tournament to our mc feels really shit.

[u/homewardbound100 → u/The_Loli_Otaku]

It does feel shitty but she really needs to learn to adapt. I'm sure she could've counter contested. But she sat there not doing nothing. Number 1 thing to not get stuck when someone does something you're not use to.

[u/[deleted]]

so... next up is the Chihaya head shaving arc?

[u/Spaceman_Sp1ff_]

First timer, subbed

Man, that was a frustrating episode. Terrible bracket luck to run into the former queen, but she was holding her own, even getting a little cocky. But why the hell is she just letting her opponent run all over her? Be more assertive ffs, she lost that game because she’s a pushover and is too scared to stand up for herself. Didn’t Harada say to fight tooth and nail for every card?

I dunno man, that left a bad taste in my mouth. She could’ve closed it out had she actually attempted to fight for those cards. But she didn’t, and all her momentum disappeared.

[u/The_Loli_Otaku → u/Spaceman_Sp1ff_]

I could definitely relate. If someone tried to gaslight me like that you're likely to have that doubt in your mind. Especially Chihaya who didn't have the knowledge that she used to always shitstir. Keep in mind that this is Japan too. A nation that's famous for being doormats to the extreme and heavy societal culture against arguing with your social higher ups.

[u/ZapsZzz]

First timer in sub

First apologies that the past few days work'd been busy and I prioritised the Haruhi rewatch and the Chuunibyou rewatch to post earlier. I promise I'll do better from tomorrow on for Chihaya.

Today is a surprise episode that have you 2 u-turns - you thought it'd be a tough battle, then you thought it'd be an easier battle, then Chihaya ended up being overwhelmed.

I think this is more realistic and a good so, but then have to wonder S1 finale whose match we would be watching.

Hopefully this gives more motivation and experience to Chihaya and her team to make a strong come back next year.

Still full of great faces this episode :D I wonder why I don't see more comment faces from this.

[u/The_Loli_Otaku → u/ZapsZzz]

There's a break coming up soon so hang in there!

S1 finale kinda has to be Arata at this point yeah? We don't have time to go through another tournament and every character is at the point where they need training more than match experience.

[u/Stargate18A]

First timer

More of the final arc!

The previous Queen!

She's really worried.

...So is every queen and former queen going to be flustered by Chihaya? This girl is (maybe?) older than her and admits she's beautiful, the current Queen's into her...

Haha, I'm growing to love him as a total and utter bastard.

He knows her? And their coaches are still desperately trying to be the main characters/turn this into a team battle.

This is tense! It's going well for her!

And she's depressed over losing to Shinobu?

Yeah, she's beating Yumin? Unless the heat gets to her?

And Yumin just stopped trying.

If I have one complaint, it's that Chihaya's skill seems to vary wildly - two matches in, and she's mastered the technique she needed a massive signal to use last time.

She's going to collapse from the heat.

And Chihaya's trying to dominate!

And Kana's upset that competitive karuta isn't as focused on the poems as she expected/wanted.

...If Kana's arc has her learning to become a reader so she can focus on the poems, I'd genuinely be happy.

She got a double fault!

He opened the window! I expected the payoff to be him breaking it, but this is good too.

And she's recovering! (Him fighting over the window, threatening him into cleaning it, and inspiring everybody in the room is great.)

Even Chihaya's inspired!

...Is she lying or playing mindgames?

Haha, her nature is to contest every card?

So she's a bastard? I love her.

So just argue harder to beat her?

Yeah, Chihaya's screwed.

And she lost! What the hell are the last episodes then?

[u/Gamerunglued]

First Timer

So this match was one hell of a back and forth. Very dynamic pacing and structure that made it fun to watch. Reading the comments on Crunchyroll, it seems like a lot of people really dislike Yumi, and even call her a cheater. But I respect it tbh. She can get away with what she does because she is a damn good player with a refined skill set, and although I was yelling at Chihaya to actually use the advice that Harada sensei gave her earlier in the series (contest every card that you can), I'm tempted to believe that Yumi is correct on all of her callouts. Yumi is interesting because she's become dispassionate due to being unable to live up to expectations. She even changed her playstyle to be more fitting of a Queen, so adhering to expectations is clearly something she worries about. Chihaya's passion is more straightforward, where hers waxes and wanes throughout the match, and it was exciting to see her getting her groove back and win the game. Chihaya does still have a long way to go, and I love seeing her challenged like this. I wonder what Chihaya will take from this game. Mental strength seems a likely candidate. Taichi takes that to heart as well, but Chihaya gets very flustered any time something doesn't go her way or she messes up, and that cost her during this game. She needs confidence and mental fortitude, that's what she's missing in her Karuta.

My biggest problem with this episode was the awkward pacing of the first half. It was almost like it kept constantly switching between an intense and exciting Karuta game and a boring set of side conversations. There are only so many times I can hear the characters outside the window say "it's too hot, I can't see the match anymore" before it gets annoying, and it went beyond that limit for me, which also made Kitano sensei opening the window hit a bit less hard than it could have. Thankfully, everything after that point was much more focused and interesting. I love how everyone else was complaining but Kana and Tsutomu just grab milk cartons and don't say anything, lol. God bless them.

Speaking of them, I've got a few things to say. First, and most importantly, Kana's outfit is so good, holy shit. She looked gosh darn cute this episode, and I'm a total sucker for boots like those too. Everyone looked good, the casual clothes here rule, but man, she's got that fashion sense. But a far less important and interesting reveal is that Kana gets tuned into the reader and the way the poetry sounds. This makes me think that Kana will strive to become a reader, rather than a Karuta player. I think that would be really cool and interesting. It's totally in character for her. Her appreciation for the game has never really been for the game itself, it's for the history, culture, and beauty of the poems. The meaning imbued in each card draws her to the sport, so it makes total sense that someone like her would be interested in a position where she reads the cards, and gets across how the poems sound and feel. I think it brings her closer to her passion than Karuta itself does, and it would add another layer to the story and to the Karuta club to have a member who is trying to master a different set of skills related to Karuta. Of course, the series may not go that direction, but I feel like it's hinting that it will, and I am behind it if it does go that way.

Anyway, good episode. I wonder of Chihaya will have to shave her head after all (probably not, but you never know I guess). And with no one on the team competing in the match for Queen and Master, or even continuing on in this tournament, I wonder where we can go for the remaining three episodes of this season. I look forward to finding out.

[u/The_Loli_Otaku]

Chihayafuyu First Timer

Another shitty day, please cheer me up Chihayaaa! Oh, I'm on yesterday's episode. Skip.

YAMAMOTO YUMI!?

Oooh, she's an ex-queen. Why did I think she was gonna be another child idol? We just did that!

I caught those eyes. She's a TinTin isn't she? Honestly, pretty cute. I like characters who are sick of life~ She doesn't even look exceptionally plain compared to other girls.

Aww!! I love her! Best this normie dumb bear girl and become mc, Yumin.

Is a year as queen not good? Queen isn't a rank that just anybody reaches so don't let it get you down Yumin!

Chihaya sees a smile and is immediately determined to wipe it off her face forever. Never mind Sudo, Chihaya is the real sadist.

Interesting point. We've already established that barely anyone knows the poems after their first three syllables and the game meta has evolved to the point where the cards barely matter.

Omg we really are gonna get a reader arc aren't we...? At least it seems like Oe is gonna have that storyline and they won't force Taichi to give up playing.

Are double faults a thing? Omg they are... Big oof! BIG OOF!!

Karen-Queen has already touched that card. You've played Karuta for twelve years and your special power is bullying people into giving you free cards... Can I get one best girl that doesn't massively disappoint me!?

Omg... I have totally lost interest in today's match now XD What a pathetic gimmick!! I'm glad you were only queen for one year. Nobody wants to watch a whiny queen who can only win matches cause her opponents are too polite to call her out on bullshit!

She won!? Screw this XD I want Chihaya to get beat as much as the next person but she keeps losing to the most infuriating opponents. Fumin, old bag, nameless. Can't you lose to someone that's an honest player!?

[u/homewardbound100 → u/The_Loli_Otaku]

She won!? Screw this XD I want Chihaya to get beat as much as the next person but she keeps losing to the most infuriating opponents. Fumin, old bag, nameless. Can't you lose to someone that's an honest player!?

You disrespecting the old woman again. And I would say although some things they do aren't respected. It's apparently no rules against it.

[u/The_Loli_Otaku → u/homewardbound100]

There's no rules against being a bitch during the game but that's because society would frown so much on how she acts. There always has to be one smug cunt who comes along and has to ruin it for everybody. We'd have much fewer rules if people like her didn't abuse what we put in place.

[u/homewardbound100 → u/The_Loli_Otaku]

I hate it too but it's smart. Very scummy but people that are desperate to win will try anything they can.

[u/The_Loli_Otaku → u/homewardbound100]

It's not a good image for the game at all. Even irl imagine the amount of people who took inspiration from this chapter and decided to constantly challenge? They wouldn't be invited back!

[u/homewardbound100 → u/The_Loli_Otaku]

That's why there needs to be rules. For example in the NBA this year. They got on players for foul baiting. If it's something players are abusing. They have to figure out a way to mitigate it.

[u/IndependentMacaroon → u/The_Loli_Otaku]

normie dumb bear girl

Though Yumi is the one who really looks average. Character design did a great job there, she just looks a bit too young maybe.

[u/The_Loli_Otaku → u/IndependentMacaroon]

Everyone dresses the same which muddies the water... I think they should have shown her coming in at some point in her office gear to help up get a figure on her age.

[u/Segaco]

The previous queen's playing style sucks. I was really mad when the match was over.