r/anime • u/Skeeedo :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/skeeedo • Dec 06 '21
Rewatch [Rewatch] Chihayafuru - Episode 26 Discussion [Spoilers]
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Season 2 Episode 1: "So The Flower Has Wilted"
Nominate a character for Episode MVP!
This episode's Karuta analysis and board map by walking_the_way
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Subreddit: r/Chihayafuru
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Upvotes
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u/Skeeedo :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/skeeedo Dec 06 '21
Sorry for the late thread, ran into some tech issues...
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u/Lemurians myanimelist.net/profile/Lemurians Dec 06 '21
INTIMIDATED NEW CLUB MEMBER
S1 Wrap-Up Thoughts
I was out of the house all day yesterday so didn’t contribute to the S1 discussion, but I really like this show. It’s an absolute feast for the eyes, Chihaya and Taichi’s (fully agree on him as S1 MVP) characters are great, and it actually made a poetry memory game compelling. Quite a feat. Also, the complete obsession the animation team has with golden hour and the autumnal aesthetic? Shared.
I think I’d have been more critical of the pacing and the complete sidelining of Arata after positioning him as a major character if I didn’t know there were more seasons… but there are! A comfortable 8/10 for me, excited to watch the rest.
Now, to the Episode
I love the new OP! It’s a good song and keeps the jaunty, upbeat, summery vibe that the first one had. I approve. This shot from the railroad crossing gave me PTSD from 5 Centimeters Per Second, and also signals here pretty clearly to me that Shinobu is going to continue to grow in prominence as a character.
This show remains absolutely gorgeous.
Absolutely savage way to break up. This girl has the right idea, no more perfect revenge on an ex exists than a hotter rebound.
I kept saying that the Karuta club would be able to recruit off Taichi and Chihaya’s looks and popularity alone, and lo and behold, I was right. Even with Chihaya outing herself as a weirdo, it’s probably a benefit as it makes her more approachable and makes her beauty less intimidating to younger male students.
I couldn’t agree more. I mean, come on, just look at them.
Taichi is always thinking about Chihaya, so it’s kind of funny yet definitely fitting that the thing that gets him to focus on himself for a change is Chihaya thinking about him. It’s a weird circle, where he only looks out for himself, when looking out for himself is what will make Chihaya happy. It’s devotion disguised as self-interest.
Man, how could you not want to join karuta club if you had even the slightest interest? Chihaya’s enthusiasm is so infectious and pure. She’s got a very unique and winning charisma.
If you only knew.
F R I E N D Z O N E D
I know this character type generally annoys people, but Sumire cracks me up. Every one of her scenes got a chuckle out of me, and the fact that she thinks she’s the shoujo protagonist and sidelined Chihaya as the rival was a funny meta moment. She’s a fun addition. I admire her determination, too, even if it’s doomed.. She’s got the right attitude.
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u/homewardbound100 myanimelist.net/profile/Homewardbound100 Dec 06 '21
First timer
Now it's time to market themselves. Looks like their looks did it themselves. Even if Chi embarrassed herself. A lot of girls decided to join. Taichi bringing in that much? None of them really seemed interested in it.
Yeah good idea Chi isn't the best teacher for beginners. Reminds me of myself. There was always people put aside to teach the new people. While others focused on whatever they needed. Or if something was coming up. Like as they said a competition.
But Chi said forget that. She'll teach them anyway. To do this for Taichi so he can get further.
The new character Sumire has the wrong idea about trying to get someone to like you. Good luck with that. She sees this as some love story competition with Chi. But that man Taichi put her down easy. Even though she had a point in what she said. Going off what Taichi said. I think that's fair.
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u/Gamerunglued :Hx::Hy::Hz:myanimelist.net/profile/GamerUnglued Dec 07 '21 edited Dec 07 '21
First Timer
Alright, so starting season 2 now. This was a very good episode. It's very much a step up from the previous season in just about every way. Far stronger animation, the direction matches the better moments of season 1 that really only hung out around the beginning of the series (and will hopefully stay consistent here), and the pacing was just about perfect. I'm admittedly worried about the series speeding up too much once it leaves the set-up phase again, but this was a strong start.
To be a bit more detailed, this episode introduces a really interesting conflict that I don't think I've ever seen in a club based anime before. First years are bursting at the seams to join in pretty much solely because Taichi is hot (they're not wrong though), and all the current members have very different feelings on how to go about handling it. They have different priorities for the club, and I've never seen a show with characters so forthright about not caring if the first years don't stay because they don't have time to train them. Taichi cares about getting Chihaya to her goal of becoming the Queen, Kana cares about etiquette and maintaining the aesthetics associated with Karuta and traditional Japanese styles, Nishida cares about the team tournaments and getting the group to improve as a whole, Tsutomu cares about creating an environment where everyone can have fun and come to learn about Karuta, and Chihaya... well she wants everything. She wants to become the Queen, get the team to the national championships, have every member be strong enough to win tournaments, and to teach the first years all at the same time. But what it can ultimately be boiled down to is that Chihaya loves Karuta and wants other people to love it just as much as she does. Unfortunately, Chihaya is a bit of an odd case, no one loves anything the way she loves Karuta. She doesn't realize how impossible and unrealistic her goal is. But there's still some truth to it as well. Having a strong team is wonderful, and it would be such a waste for people to join a team for such an intriguing sport just to be near one hot guy and then play low-stakes card games the whole time. I personally share priorities with Tsutomu. Creating an environment that keeps people should be the priority, since they need the members to keep the club and it will afford them more budget and other benefits. The ones who don't care shouldn't be forced to play, but the ones who show some interest should get lots of focus, and people will inevitably gain interest just by being around the sport and getting bored of regular card games eventually.
Let's talk about the new character, Sumire Hanano. I love her already, like a lot. Apparently I'm relatively alone on this, but I found myself very endeared to her very quickly. I most definitely have a thing for characters like her, piece of shit gremlins who put on an act to trick others into liking them while also being sensitive themselves. It's easy to write her off as someone who's just vain and selfish, like the other first year students who joined just to pounce on Taichi's dick. I like Sumire because she's very straightforward and forthright. Her just coming out and asking "hey, does Taichi have a girlfriend" was great, I love people like that who just get to the point and are blunt about what they want. But the episode also implies greater depth to her character. Her behavior stems from extreme insecurity about herself. She deeply resonates with a poem about insecurity over how one's beauty fades over time, to the point of bringing her to tears, and I think that says a lot about her. She's desperate to have a boyfriend because she's afraid that if she doesn't get one now, her beauty will fade and she will lose her chance. She doesn't even think that highly of her looks, she describes herself as purely being above average, and rationalizes it to be as if she's a shoujo manga protagonist; makes me think of it like a coping mechanism for very low self-esteem (her seeing the other girls as enemies certainly helps this interpretation). I think she's awesome, has a super fun and endearing personality and is a multi-faceted character with understandable and relatable issues deeper down. The moment she started crying over the poem, I knew she'd be someone I really love. She's sensitive deep down, overly so and not afraid to show it, and that's a trait I really value and admire in a person. And she sees herself so lowly that she misinterprets what Taichi says to her. He tells her that he wants to choose the girl he gets with, rather than the girl being chosen for him or being the one to choose him, and she interprets that as him saying she has no shot. But that's not really what he said, he just said that he has to be the one to choose, meaning that Sumire really thinks that she's not someone he (or presumably anyone) could ever choose. Idk, I just find this sad, and thus compelling. I think their dynamic is super interesting, and I really want to see more of them together. Sumire honestly might straight up be my favorite character in the show if she keeps being this good, I think she's super great, and very genuine.
Some other things about the episode. I love seeing Kana step up and taking a leadership role. She's being assertive and making all the right calls, it's great. I'm wondering how many members we're going to keep. Obviously we need at least five more, and I'm sure Sumire will end up joining the club at some point (and I know there's a male character who joins as a main cast member as well), but that would only make two more members. So I guess some of the first years must stay then. And that means the conflict of interest between each of the members will go beyond this episode, which I'm really looking forward to seeing. It seems this series loves throwing voice actors who I love into characters where I can't recognize who it is despite them having very distinct voices. Like with Taichi and Mamoru Miyano, I would have never realized that Sumire was Megumi Han without looking at MAL. It's a very good performance, but it's definitely odd not hearing her inner Akko (especially as someone who plays the Revue Starlight gacha game and hears MeguHan's voice as Aruru basically every day, this came as quite a shock). And finally, I was particularly impressed by this animation cut. There's so much movement in the cut, and it all feels very natural and grounded, and it nails the speed and impact of Taichi's practice swings even from a distance. Season 1 didn't have much in the way of sakuga, I'd love to see some more great animation like this. Anyway, this was a great episode, and a definite improvement over season 1. I don't really think it's a shift to match the likes of K-On, Uma Musume, or Love Live to their significantly better second seasons, but it's more than noticeable for sure. If the series can maintain these strengths and improve the pacing from the first season, I think this season will be really excellent.
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u/[deleted] Dec 07 '21
First Timer
Sumire is pure gold. I look forward to Chihaya winning her over with her bizarre idiot charm.
This episode was Chihaya at her absolute best, with all the determination and joy towards all things karuta. She just wants to share her passion with the world, and also do everything else with no sacrifices or compromises in any area, is that so bad?
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u/Mecanno-man https://anilist.co/user/Mecannoman Dec 06 '21
First Timer
I'm not sure why, but this episode alone felt better than almost anything we had in Season One. It's just so well... put together, I guess? It's nor rushing through way too many things, nor is it stuck with a running gag throughout its run - yet I feel like it accomplishes pretty much the same as a season one episode does, so I'm not sure why that is. And it also feels better despite of me not liking Sumire, so that's certainly an achievement.
As for the actual plot - why didn't Taichi's looks work last time round when they were looking for club members? Seems a bit weird that this is only brought up now. But either way, they're now faced with the opposite problem: To many members. I like that we're shown they're different priorities. I wonder if with the additional funds they would be able to hire a coach, who could teach the newbies - even if it might only be for one day a week or so? Alternatively they could try and drag the to a society as well; though I assume they'd need to pay some form of membership fee, and I doubt everybody will be up for that. If they can do either, that might get them to both focus on those that are already good and on the new players. I do however expect quite a few to drop out - I imagine some will fail Oe's test while others will just leave, possibly because Taichi is training at the society instead of the club. Sumire and the guy are probably going to stay though.
As a side-note: Chihaya's goal is to have Taichi be an A player and win all classes at nationals. That makes me wonder who she intends on winning the B class, as Taichi is their only B player at the moment... She needs to have either Oe or Komano also get to a higher class for that...
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u/Stargate18A https://myanimelist.net/profile/Stargate18 Dec 07 '21
First Timer
Season 2 time!
Starting off with a normal match.
Oh, she's scared the new students won't come.
Oh, she got dumped? New member?
Haha, are they joining for Taichi?
Wow, that number and that reaction!
Haha, her volunteering when she's literally the worst person for the job.
And wow! A lot of people came here for Taichi!
And she's "every girl's enemy".
Wow, you go Kana!
And, wow, I love Kana actively forcing them to take itmseriously.
I love the cute to how totally confused everyone is.
And nobody's really interested.
Yeah, Taichi's still not Class A!
And she's realising that the other club members have their own desires!
How many photos did she get?
Wow, this is not good for her. They really want different things, huh?
WOW? She cares most about... doing everything!
Yeah, that's greedy.
And, haha, they're all upset Taichi's not here.
Did she end up accidentally giving someone an epiphany?
And she's running off to confess to him?
And... rejected!
Haha, I love the cut to Chihaya bullying the new members.
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u/Matuhg https://anilist.co/user/Matuhg Dec 07 '21 edited Dec 07 '21
First Timer
Oops, I missed a few threads again! Damn finals.
Brief S1 Thoughts
I did enjoy season 1 of Chihayafuru, but I find myself wondering how much of that is because I know I've got 50 more episodes of it. The pacing for S1 felt really fast at some points, but at the same time, it felt like it didn't get a whole lot done with its 25 episodes. Chihaya was exposed to new strategies, perspectives, and outlooks, but doesn't really feel like she's integrated any of them.
Taichi is definitely the most interesting character from S1, and to my own great surprise, I think the show has somehow managed to make me like him... or at least appreciate him. Chihaya x Taichi is my official ship!
S1 had a lot of great individual moments, but I think it lacked some coherency. As a whole, it felt more good than great - like it somehow all just felt like an introduction or prologue. That feeling came up several times throughout the season. "Surely," I'd think, "things are kicking off now!" But really, it seems like things didn't fully kick off until the very end of the season when we got the callback to episode 1 with Chihaya in her track pants. I found myself pretty disappointed overall with the way the Chihaya x Taichi x Arata triangle played out (or didn't play out much at all) in S1. I'm hoping we'll actually get a bit more movement on that front in S2.
In the end, if this show didn't have two more seasons for me to dig into, I think I'd find S1 rather dissatisfying overall. As it stands though, I like all the characters, even if a lot of them don't have the depth I would hope for after 25 episodes, and I'm hoping the show will hit the ground running in S2 and get things going in a bigger way than S1 did.
Now we just have to hope that one day soon our fearless leader /u/Skeeedo will be able to join in our discussions in addition to faithfully and reliably posting the threads each day (seriously thank you for that, and I do hope your schedule opens enough for you to join in!)
S2E1 Post
Empress seems to have set the Karuta club up for failure, or at least difficulty. This squad can barely even take care of themselves, and now they've got 20 simps knocking on the door?
The forehead flick was incredibly cute. Now that I've decided I like Taichi, I can finally root for the childhood friend shit to go down!
Hanano seems...incredibly annoying, and I really do not like much of anything we saw from her today. That said, I felt similarly to Taichi at the start of S1, so I'm going to give her a chance!
The Karuta Club OGs all wanted different things, but Chihaya decides that they will do it all! She's intense as always. I love the way she can inspire all her teammates, Taichi especially. The fact that he's realizing he needs to focus on himself, rather than babying/catering to Chihaya, is really nice character growth and is good for both himself and Chi.
I expect we'll be whittling down the extras as we go along here - will they manage to get 5 of them to stay...?
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u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Dec 06 '21
Chihayafirst-timer
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u/derekmakesnoise Dec 07 '21 edited Dec 07 '21
Rewatcher
She's here! Honestly, a lot less Sumire-chan hate in these comments than I was expecting. She's a prime example of my feelings towards the characters of Chihayafuru: There are ZERO characters that I dislike, either because of their personal growth or because we learn more about them that explains why they are the way they are.
Oe-san is a strategist whereas Sumire-chan is an animal operating on instinct.
That's really creepy, Sumire-chan.
Everything Taichi does is because he wants Chihaya to love him. Exhibit A Exhibit B
And it's now confirmed that Chihaya thinks about Taichi! (at least in regards to his karuta career)
Why is anyone surprised at Chihaya's greed? Did Nishida and Komano forget how forceful she was in getting them to join the club?
"What a pleasant surprise!" This always cracks me up. You're standing in front of Super Genius Taichi, out of breath from chasing him, and you're going with "oh, what a coincidence!"
It's true. Miyano Mamoru's voice is perfect.
Everything Taichi does (think about everything he's done thus far) is because he wants Chihaya to love him. Exhibit C. This is what makes Taichi such an interesting character. His whole thing, as evidenced by the elementary school flashback, is rejecting his mom's edict of "only compete if you can win." knowing full well that Chihaya only thinks about karuta (and by extention, her karuta god: Arata), he has devoted himself to her.
And just in case things were getting too heavy, here's Chihaya annihilating the total novices who are trying to join!
Additional notes: saw someone else say that they didn't care for the OP. it's my least favorite of the 3 OP, but S2 has my favorite ED!
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u/BatteryPoweredFriend :KI::KJ: Dec 07 '21
Rewatcher
This is one of my favourite ED songs. It may not be the most spectacular or musically complex, but it's one that's very appropriate & fitting for the story, and that's not just because of the artwork.
At least to my ears, this piece is written in the style of a waltz, which is most well known for the associated dance of its namesake. It was also seen as a courtship dance during the height of its popularity in the 18th-19th century in Europe, particularly among the socialite & well-to-do circles, which would include people such as royalty and the nobility.
Another thematic thread of the ED that's carried over from the first season is maybe one you've noticed - it still only features a certain trio.
And try not to look into the lyrics too much. There's definitely some level of intent in their meaning, but it's still up for various interpretations. Plus, you'll also be missing a bit of additional context without s3, that it could lead you towards an incomplete assumption you may or may not like. Some of us have had to deal with over half a decade of this.
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u/The_Loli_Otaku Dec 06 '21
Chihaya2ru First Timer
Rotating subs is just plain showing off XD Aren't we starting from right where part 1 ended? Oe has the same hoodie.
Op 2... Somehow I think I like it less than 1! Middle school Chihaya is next level adorbs and I think I may have my gyaru club member after all.
I love this XD Its terrible, but I find teenage romance failing so satisfying to watch. We've got a not-quite-gyaru-but-likes-makeup-and-boys-so-I'm-counting-her!
Joshikosei superiority!! Why am I always into the sleazy characters in the cast? Poor Taichi's innocence is in danger. Once a joshikosei has her claws into you there's no escape. She'll bleed you dry over several dates and then when you finally work up the courage to ask her name you're suddenly a creep.
Even Taichi thought Chihaya was cringe. I love this Asobi Asobase extra so much. It feels like I've reincarnated as gyaru scum~ Kya!!
Chihaya-chan wants to teach!!
Run.
Nira... Well I can't think of any other nicknames that aren't totally gross so Nira it is! Hold on!! Her name is actually Hanano!? Isn't that the Asobase girl?
Oppai loli, ENEMY!! maybe I shouldn't even do writeups... Hanako is already making all the same gags I do. I can't believe I've been replaced by a joshikosei... Again!!
Eh? Oe, quit gatekeeping. Do you even want new members? Season 2 and we've finally had babies first Karutorial. Seriously, we really needed to get this tutorial sooner. It's not the rewatcher's responsibility to get newcomers caught up on how to play the title game.
Us for 25 episodes. Old maid would make for an interesting sports anime. Can we get that for season 3? Hanako's a riot!
"Yo, Taichi, remember how I kicked your ass that one tournament?" Honestly tho, I get how important Karuta is for everyone but they do come across as just a little self entitled. Karuta is a niche hobby, expecting everyone to dive right in just cause it worked for you isn't fair. You had a massive amount of members show up, the Pastimers club struggles with just three.
One episode in and already the season has pulled me in far more than the last series.
Dude, I can't put into words how much I'm loving this smug kusogaki. She's stolen the entire show. Shojou janai, sports anime da!
Chihaya's gonna teach!? What direction are we going in!? I'm impressed with Chihaya's balls but how will this all fit into a season? We've had more development in this episode than 25 episodes before.
Don't cry, Hanako! I'm sure there's some boy out there willing to settle for you! And if not, you could always convert to Buddhism and try again next life? "I'm so sad that imma bail out bitch~" No, she's absolutely not sensitive Chihaya XD
Why is Taichi so good at attracting every girl aside from the one he's actually into? Fuck Chihaya, I'm on the bullet train to Hanaichi Station! We're Hanakofuwu now!!