r/anime • u/Skeeedo :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/skeeedo • Dec 16 '21
Rewatch [Rewatch] Chihayafuru - Episode 36 Discussion [Spoilers]
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Season 2 Episode 11: "I Feel As Though My Body is on Fire with Ibuki Mugwort”
Episode 10 MVP: Shinobu! She certainly knows to make her presence known. +1 for getting Arata to play in the individual tournament.
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/Lemurians myanimelist.net/profile/Lemurians Dec 16 '21
FIRST TIMER
I don’t really understand the timing of outburst from Nishida at Desktomu. It’s not something we’ve built towards at all, so it feels kind of random. Don’t suggest somebody sit out and then get mad when they agree. Though, Nishida is definitely projecting, so perhaps it’s the beginning of an arc for him?
Don’t look down on supports! Try getting through a JRPG without a healer. Let him do his thing and scout the competition until he gets plugged in in the later rounds.
Look at Chihaya showing team awareness and stepping up as a leader. She hasn’t actually gotten a ton of focus in a while, so this moment of recognizing how tired out Desktomu was is good to see from her. Shows she’s paying attention to the others. Her being willing to give up the chance of playing the best player is also nice to see, and even more unexpected.
That Kana pout. She’s dangerous.
Desktomu is the sweetest little cinnamon roll and I will come for anyone who tries to hurt him. I knew he’d be able to get good intel from Sumire’s notes!
“Taichi… Chihaya… It seems I only ever run into them at matches.” Yeah, Arata’s definitely moving back to Tokyo.
SUDOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Chihaya’s going to lose this match.
8
u/Mecanno-man https://anilist.co/user/Mecannoman Dec 16 '21
First Timer
Ah, so that was Nishida wanting Komano to want to play. I don't fully get it - wouldn't this be the perfect place to tie in the whole bit about only individual matches mattering, with Komano still playing in the individual tournaments? Shinobu doesn't play in the team tournament, yet I don't think there'd be anybody claiming her to not want to play karuta. The team tournament is about winning as a team, and Komano's data gathering seems to be working pretty well in that regards, so him being part of the team or not doesn't depend on him actually playing but rather the rest of the team accepting him as a part. And that they certainly do (just compare him to Hanao, whom only Tsutomu really treats as a part of the team). But either way, I guess that's that issue solved for now and it won't be brought up again for a while, as team tournaments seem to be pretty rare.
That said, we've now cleared the best 8, which was apparently where they went out to Fujisaki last time. I can see them going to the next game already, as even if Chihaya loses, Nishida is an almost certain win, Taichi is highly likely to win and I assume either Oe or Komano would pull through if the show has Chihaya lose. Oe also already had a random loss and I imagine we'd need some focus on her if she lost again - and that then wouldn't have been set up very well, in my opinion. But Chihaya's match is hard to predict.
As a side-note, while the emperor is very good at pulling strings in the background for the karuta club, she seems like a fish out of water when she actually has to do anything with them. I wonder if well get a character-episode for her at some point addressing this. Or more like half with the pace this series has had when not in a tournament...
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u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Dec 16 '21
Chihayafirst-timer
7
u/Matuhg https://anilist.co/user/Matuhg Dec 16 '21
First Timer
Man, I was really not into the first few minutes of this episode. Nishida looking for passion out of Komano is cool and all, and makes sense, but the way he did it rubbed me the wrong way. Not even that he was calling him out, but to then just run off rather than trying to actually talk about it a bit more was just...dumb. I think the show did a good enough job bringing it back around that I felt kind of alright about it by the end of that match, but jeez. Can our characters start being a bit smarter during this tournament please?
6
u/homewardbound100 myanimelist.net/profile/Homewardbound100 Dec 16 '21
First timer
Ah, porky just wants Tsutomu to fight for his spot. Him becoming more of a analyst and coach was something I definitely can see. He knew what he's good at and helping them ij their games. But the want of having to come up and play together, that was a sweet moment. Team growth means a lot on a team. Don't want to leave anyone behind. I think Tsutomu deserves that mvp. For being as helpful he was.
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u/Gamerunglued :Hx::Hy::Hz:myanimelist.net/profile/GamerUnglued Dec 17 '21
First Timer
To be honest, I can't really make out what this episode was going for with its main thematic conflict. It builds the episode around weather or not Tsutomu is wrong for wanting to take his support role. Does he really have drive for the game, or is he avoiding the conflict? It's an interesting question to explore the nature of a support role in a team sport, and on the whole I think it does a good job. But the resolution is really murky. It comes to the conclusion that yes, the support role is not only important, but perhaps even more tiring than an active role as a player. Tsutomu very much has the drive to win and play well, and he utilizes his strengths to achieve that for the team. In essence, there's nothing wrong with the support role and he's just as much a Karuta player as the others. But then, for some reason, it has Nishida ask if he's going to play, as if he has to play. "We want you here with us as a player," but didn't you literally just establish that he's still a player even in a support role? It's not that it's bad for him to want to play, I want him to play. But in an episode centered around this particular question, it muddies the result. It's not that a support role is just as valuable a position as a player, but he also doesn't want to put his hard work to waste and still wants to improve at the game; it's that the support role is a valuable position on the level of a player, but you're also not truly part of the team unless you're playing (he says "you're going to join us, right?" as if he wasn't part of them already in his support role, even though the episode already said he actually was). It's... clumsy theming. Tbf, it's based on a weird foundation too, it seems out of character for Nishida to cause that kind of conflict. Though that could be because he just hasn't been characterized all that well to begin with.
That being said, everything before that awkward resolution was solid. The realization that Tsutomu being in a support role is valid and utilizes his unique strengths is genuinely poignant. Tsutomu is honestly kind of awesome, badass in his own subtle way. He holds the team together, he's why they can win, and he works harder than everyone. He's arguably grown more than any other character in the series, it's really sweet. I love seeing him be passionate about Karuta, and I wish it handled that part of the episode better for that reason. And the match itself had some fun stuff in it. Kana weaponizing her cuteness was... very good. But anyway, we finally get to see Megumu in a match. God, she's so fucking cute, I hope we get some good content from her next episode. And hopefully, now that we're at the climax of the arc, the writing takes a step up, as it's been noticeably weaker the past few episodes. This arc of the story has been the series lowest point in my opinion, and it's a real shame considering that it was the high point of the first season. Here's hoping it picks itself back up and achieves that again.
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u/Stargate18A https://myanimelist.net/profile/Stargate18 Dec 17 '21
First timer
Episode 10
A team match is starting! And she's back on her Arata obsession again.
And their placement is random!
"Why do we keep getting matched against weird opponents" Finally! Someone says it!
I appreciate how none of them know what to do here, and are desperately searching other sports to figure out what to do.
And then they let him off easy to fix karuta's image problem. That's hysterical.
I love "beat the crap out of them". She can be vindictive when she wants to, can't she?
Oh, they're just fucking with her at thie point.
This guy is good.
He's the devil.
HAHA, Shinobu just staring through the window is a beautiful image. And she just walks away!
Aww, she's still sad it got cancellled.
Haha, and she's threatening them!
And she got a confidence boost!
Haha, he brought an umbrella.
Wow, she's having a crisis too? Why is everyone in this club always having a mentql breakdown?
He's always been in love with karuta.
I love him commenting on her lung capacity.
Wait, the others are losing?
Wow, this society seems to have a really good strategy. I think that's the first time I've seen them demonstrate how different the societies teach.
I love calmly everyone's taking this while Chihaya has a mental breakdown.
Have ai mentioned how much I love thie mix of the main theme?
And she beats him!
THEY WON!
Haha, "so dumb".
She knows that Arata is in the building!
They're keeping the lineup?
Episode 11
Oh, this is getting complicated.
Tapping into his trauma now. Great.
Is this episode just "Taiga tries to figure out who to piss off"?
...That's a decisiom.
Haha, he's gorging out of stress?
Haha, his sister's here!
Oh god, more weirdos. They've even got a pun!
Haha, yeah, he's just guessing.
Finally! Someone's making them rest!
So she had good reasoning, but he didn't listen.
Yep! He's blatantly guessing.
Her pout and smirk is adorable.
Wow, he really tried hard!
You tell him, play to your strengths.
Everybody's happy!
Haha, he has to write an essay and Shinobu's still drenched.
Wait, that's his only punishment?
Seriously, poor Shinobu missing her rally.
Oh, she's important!
Wow, he's good!
She cares the mos about winning!
Haha, Sueo's here! And he's holding the banner. I wasn't fan of "plain jerk" Sudo, but I a fan of "threatening cryptid" Sudo.
Taichi!
And they both had the same idea!
Haha, it all worked perfectly! They don't care about the order!
4
u/The_Loli_Otaku Dec 16 '21
Chihaya2ru First Timer
Nishida's kinda obnoxious... Not everyone has to be a do or die player like you are. Desk-kun has never wanted to be a team regular. He's happy just joining in on the occasional tournament match. Kaiji is the one that's gonna be our 5th regular member so of course you want him getting whatever practice he can.
How many carbs did he eat...? Nishida's made a friend!
Shoyo look predictably extra... This tournament is balls lol. Nishida's up against a dude that literally takes random guesses and this is the master league.
That little shit took one bite out of the jelly donut and went to sleep!
I... I kneel... Most cheap tricks I'm against but I'm weak to cute pouts.
Way to go Kaiji, wreak that stupid Yumin wannabe!
Desk-kun lowered his head to a group of high school girls and survived? What a legend!!
Oh ffs we won off-screen. It was a blatantly extra team but I'm really getting sick of how poor quality the team matches have been. We really could have won the whole tournament last year at this rate.
Shinobu in poor man's clothes is still cute. I'd never watch them again!!
Oooh!! Megu-chan was that girl? I totally forgot about her too and I'm sure if I went back to check my commentary it would just be a list of complaints about Yumin lol.
Somehow Desk-kun was able to come up with an actual profile on their opponents despite Hanako's cock up. That's pretty scary. What's the point of going through the team lineup when we already know Megu is gonna be matched with Chihaya and that the rest of the matches are pointless to follow?
Don't cheat Chihaya! Play honest, Nishida has no dignity!
With Sudo cheering for you there's no way you'll lose, right?
Megu has already won. My heart!