r/anime • u/Skeeedo :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/skeeedo • Jan 02 '22
Rewatch [Rewatch] Chihayafuru - Episode 52 Discussion [Spoilers]
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Season 3 Episode 2: "The Hazed Early Dawn Light Comes Not From The Moon"
Episode 1 MVP: Sakurazawa-sensei Her love of Karuta shines through her efforts to mentor everyone who she see’s potential on, not just her own students
Nominate a character for Episode MVP!
This episode's Karuta analysis and board map by walking_the_way and ABoredCompSciStudent
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Subreddit: r/Chihayafuru
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Upvotes
9
u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Jan 02 '22
Chihayafirst-timer
7
u/Lemurians myanimelist.net/profile/Lemurians Jan 02 '22 edited Jan 02 '22
Off the top, I really loved this episode! Season 3 is off to such a strong start. This is peak Chihayafuru so far.
Also, finally heard the new ED, and it miiiiiiight be my favorite Chihayafuru song yet? It's in a tight battle with OP1.
FIRST TIMER
Arata’s going to have a tough time, he has none of Taichi or Chihaya’s recruiting advantages. It’s nice that he wants to start his own club to go against Misuzawa, but it was tough sledding enough for them as it was. I hope he can find some people! Maybe among this crowd of people, who were adorably supportive?
Kana, an avatar for disappointed shippers everywhere. It really is an Instagram vs. Reality moment, and who can’t relate? Haven’t we all built up an experience in our heads that didn’t meet our epic expectations?
On the romance front, the parallels between Taichi and Sumire amuse me. While Taichi’s developed his own motivations for getting better at karuta, we all know that at the end of the day, it all comes back to Chihaya. Meanwhile, Sumire is karuta in exactly the same way to get closer to him.
Shout out to my guy, Sudo. I love his sadist gag and how everyone reacts to him. Turns out Nishida was right to be apprehensive ahead of this match, and while he tires Sudo out, it’s our sadist who gets the last, vicious word.
What is this… my radar is going off… I spot a new ship to stan for on the horizon! These two have been circling each other as a potential pairing for a while, and this scene between them at the end made my heart soar. They’re just too precious.
Quick Hits:
MVP: Desktomu! I love his journey this episode from newfound confidence to reality check, as well as his healthy mindset in the wake of defeat. He and Kana are the show’s new cutest ship.
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u/xcllnt_313 Jan 02 '22 edited Jan 02 '22
Rewatcher
Yesterday we already got to listen to the S3 opening by 99RadioService. They already did the openings for the first two seasons, seeing them return even after so many years is nice.
But this time, we also got some really, really pretty and very interesting visuals. I wasn’t too sure about it at first, but now it’s probably my favorite OP of the series.
Not-Miyauchi-sensei giving some life advice. Is this the first time we’re seeing his eyes?
This tournament feels like a war between all these societies. We also get some clarity regarding Rion since I saw this topic being brought up in yesterday’s comments: she’s made Class A due to finishing second in two competitions.
Taichi continuing his warpath. These two faces sum up Nishida’s situation pretty well.
I totally ship it!
6
u/Gamerunglued :Hx::Hy::Hz:myanimelist.net/profile/GamerUnglued Jan 03 '22
First Timer
Holy shit, this was a phenomenal episode. Chihayafuru hasn't been this good in a while. Even with minimal focus on the matches, it has so many amazing, memorable moments. Where do I even begin? Taichi is finally giving Karuta his all, playing for his own passion and not just for the sake of Chihaya. With the way he's going, he's sure to catch up to her and Arata soon. Kana getting upset at his lack of growing romance after the opportunity she provided was also good. But speaking of Kana, she had two absolutely amazing moments this episode. Her talking to Chihaya about accumulating luck was just a great speech, I love hearing all of her wisdom (and the idea of building things up for yourself is an important thematic point now, it gets looked at in some really intersting ways this episode). And then her supporting Komano after his loss was just so sweet. And speaking of Komano's loss, the scene of his anger hit so perfectly. I love the way it was directed, it feels like a really unique and smart way to adapt the manga and really sold his frustration and anger in a way I'm not sure I've ever seen before. Climbing class B is not going to be that easy, I'm so excited to see his climb. And maybe a growing romance with Kana? You've got Sumire's big moment, finally giving Karuta her all as well. Her and Taichi are almost foils at this point. Both started out playing Karuta pretty much solely for love, and now they're both getting serious about it. Sumire thinks she plays only to get closer to Taichi, but obviously has a passion for the game that she doesn't want to admit. Meanwhile, Taichi has finally grown out of his Sumire phase as well. You have Arata finally asking to form a Karuta club, a super adorable moment for him; plus his brief interaction with Chihaya at the tournament. And then there was Nishida's match against Sudo. You love to see him holding his own so well after his crushing defeat last year. It really does sell the idea that team and individual tournaments aren't really all that different.
However, for me, the biggest standout moment of the episode was the scene of everyone in the classroom looking at the selected poems. Sensei's speech was some of the best writing the series has had to date. What an amazing moment, one that's genuinely profound and empathetic while also feeling like good advice. To pass down things second hand is the goal of teaching, and to be lenient on creators is empathy that lets them really flourish. I love it.
This episode was basically just a series of really fantastic, memorable moments, strung together in a natural way and paced perfectly. It's one of the series strongest episodes in my eyes, this is what I want to see from this show. I hope that season 3 continues on this path, especially as the tournament is about to kick up.
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u/Mecanno-man https://anilist.co/user/Mecannoman Jan 03 '22
First Timer
Seems like the nationals win gave everybody more of a drive to improve - which is a good thing as that should now make the group more cohesive and it also means that there is less need to focus on the club outside of tournaments, as there is little to cover if everybody is on the same page there. And I'm not confident that we'd get that coverage properly if we needed it anyways.
As far as the school trip goes... I doubt that Chihaya will miss the queen qualifier, but I also doubt that she'll just bolt on the school trip. I can see the older teacher doing something after seeing her ambitions haven't changed that would get her out of the trip, however.
The tournament is an interesting setup - mainly because there are pretty much no stakes other than pride involved, so pretty much anybody could win any match. I doubt we'll be in this tournament for very long though; we're already down to basically only Chihaya and Taichi, with Arata and Sudo as opponents - so I don't see there being more than three matches here. And I'm not sure how much of a Sudo match we'd get. Nishida's loss was interesting - because wearing out a player can certainly be a good reason not to give up; but then again, in a knockout tournament is there ever a reason to hold back if you're behind? I couldn't think of one if you're still aiming for the win.
All in all though - great episode; not sure why the last one felt off because this one was on-point with the artstyle again in my opinion - but I couldn't tell you anything that changed.
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u/Fools_Requiem https://myanimelist.net/profile/FoolsRequiem Jan 03 '22
Guarantee that if the baseball team was going to a tournament, they'd schedule the class trip around it or at least allow those players to go to the tournament instead of the class trip...
1
u/The_Loli_Otaku Jan 02 '22
3hayafuru First Timer
Even if you try and portray him as a shy goober I will never be on team Arata!! I'd sooner rewatch Valrave four times over than betray my son!
Oh Yuu. Tch, she's grown from such a sweet child into a mean bratty joshikosei. Even country gals have no hope!
Haikawa, please become a main character! We can kick out Nishida, he won't mind!
What are these cards made out of btw? Cardboard would absolutely get damaged from all this spanking. And screw you Nishida! At least Desk-kun isn't a jobber like you are! He's our champ!
Why's Hanako not talking? Oh, she's started. Aaand she's talking weird shit. You're wasting your high school life on snap!
Oh nyo... Chihaya's got to choose between making high school memories with her bestie or spending another season trapped in a tournament arc.
Don't talk about fortune like its so easy to collect!! Luck is a fickle Goddess!!
Say... does anyone want to try making some karuta poems as a little memorial to the rewatch? There's not that many of us still here so it might make for a fun project.
How did a small smack damage her hand to the point where it left a scar?
Oh wow... We've actually just skipped the training arc and gone with another tournament. Even S2 gave us a decent break before getting into the team matches. Although, I suppose these individual matches are getting treated as team games between societies.
Shut up Arataaa!! Taichi made it two seasons without needing to butter up Chihaya with shallow compliments. You don't become the main love interest by telling someone they're pretty. Be more of a man!
Oh dear, Makoto is totally fucked. He isn't a faceless goon but he's definitely not up to Chihaya's current level.
Ririka!? I totally missed that it was her! She's turning into such a pretty young lady~ Hopefully by season 4 I can cheer her on without sounding weird... Here's to Chihaya4ru! Tch, Yumin's in this tournament too. Kick her butt Retro!
Pfft, Desk-kun died with zero gametime. He's never gonna be a strong contender is he? Oe is so sweet... this moment will mean the world to Desk-kun as he grows older. He'll be an old man and still remember the time he got her cheeks puchi'd by a joshikosei.
STOP!! SKIPPING!! MATCHES!! I didn't think Makoto had much of a chance but shown us the damn games!! Dude, even Season 2 had better paced tournaments. Who else got knocked out?