Chihayafuru

[Ryllharu]

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/8723/121499.jpg

Description: After her sister ranked well in a beauty pagent, 6th-year grade-schooler Ayase Chihaya dreams of seeing her sister become a top model in Japan. However, while she befriends transfer student Wataya Arata, he admonishes her to seek her own dream. Thus, she takes up karuta (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karuta), Arata's favorite game, competitively. Together with Arata and Mashima Taichi, Chihaya's childhood friend, they have great fun playing each other, but separate before junior high. 4 years later, Chihaya returns to town. She believes that they will eventually reunite as long as she continues to play karuta and she strives to establish the Zuisawa High-school Karuta Club.

Genres: Josei, Romance?, Children's (Traditional) Card Games

Links: AniDB (http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=8538), ANN (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=12991), Official Page (http://www.ntv.co.jp/chihayafuru/)

HorribleSubs: 720p (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=250408)

Notes: Other subbers provide CR translation critiques and additional karuta rules (http://8thsinfansubs.wordpress.com/2011/10/05/cr-i-am-disappoint-chihayafuru-tl-notes-rules-observations-sub-review/).


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So I really liked this first episode. Others have been throwing out that it gives off, "Hanasaku Iroha vibes," which fits. Chihaya is a very non-conventional heroine. She doesn't care how she appears to others, has very strong opinions and lets them be known. While she is pretty, she usually destroys her own air of femininity by doing anything or opening her mouth.

Okay, so she is a typical shoujo/josei anime heroine.

She's very easy to like. She's definitely a tomboy in the past, and it's clear she stayed that way despite her current appearance. During the high school segment, you can see that while she listens to others and authority, she does what she feels is best anyway. During the elementary segment, while she's got a lot of friends and is very proud of her sister, she's quick to defend the teased and avoided transfer student before she even tries to actually befriend him. She exactly the type to get knocked down, but get right back up and keep going. She closely values her friends, but it's clear that she's got a fiercely competitive streak and won't stand for cheap shots, and she won't just go with the flow.

It's a bit too early to get a feel for her childhood friend, and Arata has so far only made an appearance in the elementary school segment, so it's a little early to judge him as well.

The cast is strong, a mix of veterans and those who have only a few major roles. Chihaya's fits her personality perfectly.

Animation is both detailed and fluid, and it is able to convey a decent amount of intensity during the karuta game, without having to go over the top or into the land of unreality.

[Kraco]

How heavily does this karuta feature in the show? Would you need to become a fan of it to find this series worth watching?

[Ryllharu]

If you know the basics of how the game works (first half of the verse sung, second verse is on a card, card gets grabbed, more cards at the end is the winner), I don't think you'll have a problem. Whatever subtle nuances the game has beyond that were not brought up during the first episode.

I imagine they'll get more into the details later.

[shinta|hikari]

That was pretty awesome. I love Arata and his accent. I just hope this does not develop into the typical shoujo love triangle. The other guy is pretty much a douche, so there is a 25% chance of it not happening. Yes, it is that common in shoujo stories.

Chihaya is fantastic. I liked her better with short hair though (not because she was younger, mind you).

[Kraco]

(not because she was younger, mind you).

Sure, sure, whatever you say.


I liked this a lot more than I expected. The game is fortunately simple enough to follow. Chihaya's personality was interesting and promises a lot for this show. But I certainly hope the setting isn't there for a triangle. Taichi so quickly adding he's not really that into his current girlfriend is not a good sign in that respect, but on the other hand Arata still being a big unknown leaves everything in darkness for now. Maybe he's not going to be interested in Chihaya, creating a chain of unilateral interests. His might be a sad case, and I'm not sure if a plot of Chihaya saving him (through karuta, of course) could be good or bad in its clichedness.

[Buffalobiian]

So I really liked this first episode. Others have been throwing out that it gives off, "Hanasaku Iroha vibes," which fits. Chihaya is a very non-conventional heroine.

Personally, I find this show more reminiscent of Ano Hana. At least as far as the core characters and their situation is concerned.

[Ryllharu]

Chihaya's got guts!

[HorribleSubs] Chihayafuru - 02 (720p) (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=252025)

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Chihaya is totally awesome. Her limitless energy really made this episode. Every time she ran off or did something crazy impulsive just put a huge smirk on my face. Her bursting in, covered in leaves from searching for Arata's glasses, shoving him aside to defend his honor was particularly wonderful. It was nice to see during the first episode that she hasn't lost any of that energy even going into high school. Taichi's a little shit. Even if his mother is a bitch, he crossed the line. Chihaya showed him that much by beating him despite his antics.

I love this show.

[shinta|hikari]

I hope Taichi dies a pathetic death. Even returning the glasses was merely an act to alleviate his guilt. He steals the glasses THEN changes the position of the cards. How cheap does one have to be?

Arata is great. I hope he retains his personality even after growing up, though I'm sure due to the genre of this show, there will be an episode or two where he seems to have changed, just for the drama.

The only thing I dislike about Chihaya is that she grew up.

[Buffalobiian]

The only thing I dislike about Chihaya is that she grew up.

Me too. Her older appearance is just so much of a mismatch compared to her personality.

Arata looks like he's god-mode already, so I have no idea how he can actually improve.

Regarding the rules of kurata, is there a rule that states the maximum number of cards you can dislodge in one move? Because if you really wanted to be underhanded, you can sweep the entire playing field...

[Kraco]

I found Taichi's actions pretty interesting psychologically. Of course I also thought he's a grand dick, but it was also plausible and understandable. He seems to be the combination of a tough guy and capable guy in the class, plus everybody knows his parents expect a lot from him. Yet they probably don't know how he needed to work hard to reach that position and it wasn't just god given talent. Yet unfortunately he created himself a reputation of such a talent. So, he was pretty stressed about the whole situation in this episode, and being a kid, he did what first visited his mind.

I have hard time deciding which ones are worse: Taichi or Chihaya's parents.

[Ryllharu]

Arata looks like he's god-mode already, so I have no idea how he can actually improve.I think that one is going to be pretty obvious. He doesn't improve. Similar to Taichi after getting a girlfriend, Arata probably doesn't play it anymore for some reason. They're casting karuta as a game primarily played by children. Maybe he switched to studying real hard to get into a very good high school, or goes to cram school for university. Maybe he spends all his time working to bring in extra income now. But Chihaya seems to be the only person really into karuta anymore. She posted all those flyers and didn't get a single response.


Regarding the rules of kurata, is there a rule that states the maximum number of cards you can dislodge in one move? Because if you really wanted to be underhanded, you can sweep the entire playing field...From what was implied, it doesn't matter so long as you get the right card in your sweep. But the disadvantage is that you must replace the cards, and unless you have an amazing memory like Arata, they're going to be in a different place. That destroys your advantage of slowly learning where each of the cards are as the game progresses.


I hope Taichi dies a pathetic death. Even returning the glasses was merely an act to alleviate his guilt. He steals the glasses THEN changes the position of the cards. How cheap does one have to be?The link in the opening post has an interesting tidbit: "Players are allowed to change the order of their cards so long as the opponent is notified. Switching too many cards are considered to be bad manner." Taichi was only cheating there because he didn't tell Arata. If Arata had his glasses, he might have noticed and called Taichi out on it, but the only real problem was Taichi did it secretly.


The only thing I dislike about Chihaya is that she grew up.
Me too. Her older appearance is just so much of a mismatch compared to her personality. Her sister is a leading model now, she's got good genes. I don't agree though. I really like that despite the obvious lack of enthusiasm her parents have for any activity she does, and her sister's complete selfishness, Chihaya remained largely unchanged. She's still fully embracing her newfound passion. I love that her appearance is elegant, but her personality is anything but. She's not a bitch, she's not fake, she's true to herself. I wouldn't be surprised if somewhere she was asked to follow her sister's footsteps, but rejected it. That mismatch of appearance and demeanor is what makes her refreshing. No different from her brash, tactless tomboy behavior when she was younger.

It's pretty obvious the two of you are hardcore lolicons.

[Kraco]

I like her older looks. She reminds me of Kokoro from Aishiteru ze Baby. Not that I'd have anything against her younger looks either, because they were perfect for the tomboying behavior.

[shinta|hikari]

It's not just about me being a lolicon. If she had short hair in her teen version, I would have liked that a lot.

Just to clarify, I am not just a lolicon. I like a lot of other things as well, pretty much on the same level. Heck, none of my top favorite female characters are lolis.

[Buffalobiian]

Her sister is a leading model now, she's got good genes. I don't agree though. I really like that despite the obvious lack of enthusiasm her parents have for any activity she does, and her sister's complete selfishness, Chihaya remained largely unchanged. She's still fully embracing her newfound passion. I love that her appearance is elegant, but her personality is anything but. She's not a bitch, she's not fake, she's true to herself. I wouldn't be surprised if somewhere she was asked to follow her sister's footsteps, but rejected it. That mismatch of appearance and demeanor is what makes her refreshing. No different from her brash, tactless tomboy behavior when she was younger.

It's pretty obvious the two of you are hardcore lolicons.

You remember the opening episode where everybody says her beauty goes to waste (or that it's a shame) when she opens her mouth? It's exactly that. The mismatched feeling. When she looked like a tomboy it felt right for her to do what she did. With her current form it doesn't feel as right.

Another reason is that she doesn't look like a mature tomboy neither. I'm sure if she was more like Ayuzawa Misaki (http://myanimelist.net/character/14941/Misaki_Ayuzawa) I would have said otherwise. The segments where it has her appearing dreamy/slightly sad, taking off her clothing (I forgot which part) in front of the public, and listening to her headphones without making contact with the world all makes it seem like she's a more quiet, shut-in version of her younger self.

[Ryllharu]

As I said, that's why she's refreshing. She doesn't have your standard tomboy appearance when she's older. It's that mismatch that adds to her charm rather than detracting from it.

A girl being a tomboy isn't about appearance, it's personality. I view the scene where she's taking off her track pants (while still wearing the skirt) the moment the teacher asks to be a perfect example that she's still the same. She's prettier now, but she's not at all embarrassed about that behavior in front of others. Taichi called her out about lying in the grass not because she was by herself, but because she'll just lay down wherever she feels like (...and probably with disregard to whether or not others can see up her skirt). The rest of her melancholy appears to be because she can't play karuta with anyone yet.

[Kraco]

Episode 3 - HS (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=253662)




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For some reason this seems to have taken Hanasaku Iroha's place on my currently airing anime list. That means this feels like one of the best shows this season. I certainly wouldn't have expected such a thing from a show centered around an outlandish card game I'd never heard about. But the characters, mainly Chihaya, really do the trick. She's so awesome. I suppose I find her so much an opposite of my own personality that it's immensely entertaining (since this isn't an action show where it could be equally annoying). Like the scene where she just bursted through the doorway into the playing room, disturbing all the players and halting the games. Or when she honestly and without reservation told she knows hardly half of the poems but still will join the club.

[Ryllharu]

I found it much harder to hate Chihaya's sister after the scene where Chihaya apologized for not being able to keep the dream of seeing her sister be the best. Chitose obviously loves to be idolized and doted on by her little sister the most. It's perfectly understandable, and the previous episode where she talked to her little sister just to brag made a lot more sense. At the time, she still thought Chihaya wanted her dream fulfilled more than anything else. I found the scene where Chitose is laying on the table, lamenting about how Chihaya no longer praises her to the heavens to be rather...endearing.

Chihaya really makes this show. Elementary schooler or high schooler. She's a great character. Of course, Arata and Taichi are good characters as well...

[shinta|hikari]

Taichi still sucks for me.

Arata being obstinate about winning was really fun to watch. I really like him, and I usually dislike the serious glasses type male characters.

[Buffalobiian]

For some reason this seems to have taken Hanasaku Iroha's place on my currently airing anime list.

A lot of their similarity is due to their use of lighting as well. Hanasaku Iroha and Chihayafuru both employ styles that end up looking like HDR lighting while most anime settle with bloom, if at all.

So Taichi is just smart, Chihaya has uber reflexes and dedication, while Arata is god world-class memory plus lots of practice.

It'll be interesting to see them match up again in the inevitable adult tournament, though the winning (or rival) pair will obviously be Chihaya and Arata. I won't mind seeing some romance issues down the track to add a bit more depth to this (like how the boys' situations created a bit of drama here), but an all-out romance focus would suck. Something like this episode where it's wrapped up in 20 minutes would be ideal.

[shinta|hikari]

Chihaya's main asset is her super hearing. Her reflexes are there to make use of that.

[gos27]

Just watched the 3 episodes there. Really enjoyed them. Thought the part when Arata says that he loses to Chihaya on first syllable cards and then gets very competitive was funny as it showed a different side to him and that he hates losing. Looking for ward to more of this :)

[Kraco]

Episode 4 - HS (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=255339)






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Arata's home looks quite morbid somehow. Granted, not much of it was shown and the level of darkness could simply be because it's late evening and he might conserve electricity, but still it seemed empty and lifeless. Not to mention his voice and tone were like a man's who has been forced to give up everything. I hope his is a cruel and not boring story; Chihaya saving him would taste that much better.

The match in this ep was quite good, but with totally unknown opponents and not that much shown preparation it was kind of lacking in excitement. I realised I wouldn't car if Chihaya loses or wins because the plot would likely serve her needs in either case. I'm sure in the future with properly built contests it'll be a different thing.

[Ryllharu]

Chihaya owns.

I simply love her personality. The complete contrast between the way she acts and the way she looks gives her so much character. I couldn't help laughing when she was stuffing her face with expensive chocolate and then immediately passed out for a ultra quick nap. That and her obstinacy during the match. The two of them passing the chihaya card back and forth was pretty great. I was actually surprised that she went to hug Taichi, and not her opponent for giving her such a great match. What did surprise me is her motivation for joining track. I figured she switched because she didn't have anything better to do (perhaps because her middle school didn't have a karuta club) or was forced into it by classmates. But she chose it of her own free will as a stepping stone to improve her game.

Attempting to hit Taichi with her bag was another great moment, as was her struggle to resist telling someone about Taichi's girlfriend and her nickname for him.

I was not surprised about the development with Arata. I saw that one coming a mile away. It's fairly understandable too. Chihaya apparently didn't bother to call him much this last year or so. Growing up, first real Tokyo friend not calling for some reason, why continue? I imagine he's got a much better reason than that for quitting, but I can't say I'm shocked the way Chihaya obviously was.

[Kraco]

Growing up, first real Tokyo friend not calling for some reason, why continue? I imagine he's got a much better reason than that for quitting, but I can't say I'm shocked the way Chihaya obviously was.

I will be exceedingly disappointed if his reason for quitting is something as boring and stupid as that. He was playing Karuta at a high level long before Chihaya and was a loner to boot. If he happened to have a friend or two for a while sharing the hobby, moving away from them and not being in overly much contact wouldn't logically affect him to such an extent. It's not like his personality would have even changed that much during their short friendship.

I have to agree on the contrast between Chihaya's personality and looks being a source of great entertainment. Still, she must be doing something to maintain those looks. We already know she's at least somewhat sporty. Maybe living with a teenage model sister also rubbed something off on her.

[shinta|hikari]

The reason obviously lies with Arata's family, particularly his Meijin grandfather. The whole empty and dark house scene was shown to imply that.

[Buffalobiian]

The match in this ep was quite good, but with totally unknown opponents and not that much shown preparation it was kind of lacking in excitement.

I was actually rather entertained by the fact that her opponent looked like a stocky, dumber version of Arata.


The reason obviously lies with Arata's family, particularly his Meijin grandfather. The whole empty and dark house scene was shown to imply that.


Chihaya owns.

I simply love her personality. The complete contrast between the way she acts and the way she looks gives her so much character.



I agree. The fact that the phone was ringing for so long without anybody yelling for someone else to get the phone..


I was not surprised about the development with Arata. I saw that one coming a mile away.

I'm with Shinta on the reasoning. I can see his grandfather dying being a factor somehow for not playing Karuta, but I have no idea how his family would link in - not that we ever saw much of them.

I'm feeling a lot better about her adult form this episode. I guess this means my previous problem with her wasn't really the mismatch (I don't care that much about how she looks actually, but of course hot is good), but the fact that she just looked and felt like a depressed, shut-in version of her former self in episode 1. This episode had her rebound back into shape thanks to some Karuta matches, use of deformed faces and (reluctantly..) Taichi.

As much as I dislike some bits about Taichi, it's understandable and also pretty real. He's the most "normal" out of the group, and the most able to fit in to society like everybody else. He loves Karuta deep down, but has to pretend not to like it in front of people because it's not "cool". Not too unlike closet anime fans huh?

[shinta|hikari]

I like her in a ponytail much more than with her hair simply draped down.

Taichi does not love Karuta. He loves Chihaya. He practically admitted as much this episode.

[Buffalobiian]

I like her in a ponytail much more than with her hair simply draped down.

Yep.

Oh, and wide-eyed more than her 20-45% closed-eyes. Again, linking back to the depressed/sad expression.

They sure make an effort to colour her lips too. It's a little different to what I usually like, but I think I can get used to that one.

[Idealistic]

Yeah I'm assuming Arata's grandfather probably passed away. Perhaps earlier than he should have.

As for Taichi and Karuta, I think it's more of the fact that he's always done things that he/his mom know that he can win or be the best at. I also believe he likes Karuta but realized the fact that he probably won't ever be on Arata's level like he said so there's no point in trying so hard. But then he sees that Chihaya is having so much fun and that seems to inspire him that perhaps he should just do things for the fun of it and not always worry about being the best.

[Ryllharu]

Taichi does not love Karuta. He loves Chihaya. He practically admitted as much this episode.I'm with Idealistic.

He's just a little shallow and a bit twisted by his upbringing. He did what his mother told him, and all that time thinking that he's got to be the best at anything he does had to have ground at him a bit. It's poisoned him. The first time he got inspired, it was because Arata was so much better. The second time, it was because Chihaya beat him. The first time he got inspired to play, it was because Chihaya beat him. The second time he got inspired, it was because Arata was so much better. You could argue that he got fired up because he likes her (that being the reason he picked on Arata). But losing to Chihaya was more important than the fact that he lost to Chihaya. I think that was when he really felt what competition is. He wasn't the best. Someone he thought was inferior at the game turned out to be better than he was, simply because she cared more.

Now, he's gotten fired up again not because Chihaya is still playing, but because Chihaya's gotten really good at it. Taichi finally saw that giving something your all really can make a difference. You don't have to just give up because you don't think you're making headway. He'd probably enjoy soccer, but he's seen that Chihaya's spent all this time striving for her goal of making A rank...in Tokyo no less. She's also done it faster than nearly everyone else expected her to, and she's enjoying herself the whole time.

That it is Chihaya (his former crush) is just icing on the cake.

[gos27]

The fact Arata doesn't play Kurata anymore suggest that his grandfather died shortly after he returned (from what I gather). So did he get any better? I'm sure he'll start playing again, and if/when he does, will he be at the same level as Chihaya or on a whole new level? Would kinda suck if he was on same level or near, I liked the fact he was so much better than the other too, brought a funny side to it with the competitiveness and what not :)

[shinta|hikari]

@Ryll - I'm pretty sure that he would never play Karuta again if Chihaya did not play it. He may enjoy Karuta, but Chihaya is the trigger and a big reason for that.

[Buffalobiian]

The fact Arata doesn't play Kurata anymore suggest that his grandfather died shortly after he returned (from what I gather). So did he get any better? I'm sure he'll start playing again, and if/when he does, will he be at the same level as Chihaya or on a whole new level? Would kinda suck if he was on same level or near, I liked the fact he was so much better than the other too, brought a funny side to it with the competitiveness and what not :)

He would still be pretty god-mode. Chihaya might be able to get more cards from him now (all the first syllable ones) other than just the Chihaya card, but his memory and skill would still make him the better player overall (at least until the end of the series).

I would have said that he was A-rank to begin with, though it may take him an episode or two to shake the rust off himself now.

[Ryllharu]

[HorribleSubs] Chihayafuru - 05 (720p) (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=257096)

It's all...complicated.

--------------------

Taichi had a pretty good set of lines about love. It's not the usual gushy interpretation we usually see. His moroseness about the situation and obviously his love life was a nice parallel to Chihaya's numb expression during the train trip and on the platform. We didn't need to hear Chihaya's inner turmoil on the train, it mirrored Taichi's, even if she doesn't really understand it. She's terrified/anxious about seeing Arata after so long, devastated by the news she got over the phone, yet longs to see him. She did later express it verbally, but it wasn't really necessary.

That said, Chihaya's still her lovable bizarre self. Looks like a supermodel, acts like...something else entirely. Tearing Arata off the bike, performing a superb shoulder throw on Taichi, heh. Never an iota of tact or delicacy. I loved her little random notes written on wrappers, total stream of consciousness, just like all other dialogue that comes out of her.

This episode was quite strong in terms of visible emotions. The scene with Taichi struggling to grab her hand, knowing she thinks he's happy with his girlfriend. Arata blasting past them and Chihaya knowing right away, her fingers narrowly missing Taichi's. The drop of water off Chihaya's face when she's in the bath. Chihaya fixing her hair at the end right before Taichi mentioned he'd help her form the club. Even the goofy stuff like Chihaya melting in her seat.

Arata had a pretty good reason for quitting. Melodramatic, but a pretty good reason.


I'm very interested in why a girl in the kyuudo club might want to switch to the karuta club.

[Buffalobiian]

Arata had a pretty good reason for quitting. Melodramatic, but a pretty good reason.

It turned out to be a much more straightforward reason than I was expecting. That, and the fact that it pretty much resolved itself in one episode are both good points for me. I would hate to see Arata seemingly owe Chihaya too much for returning to the karuta world. They're essentially on even grounds now, with Chihaya only acting as a trigger. Not to mention, Chihaya trying to persuade someone (and hence using brain cells :P ) would just seem off.

My favourite line of the episode - "You sure you're not rounding? You've always been a corward."

Sharp, to the point, but with a hint of wit. Even if Arata hasn't built up his self confidence over the years, his deep voice sure gives off that effect regardless.

[Kraco]

That said, Chihaya's still her lovable bizarre self. Looks like a supermodel, acts like...something else entirely.

I really like this aspect. Sure, anime in general is full of bishoujo who just happen to be beautiful, but with Chihaya, and a series like this, it feels different. Like I said in an earlier post, she has the background to look like a supermodel and, again in a show like this, she has to do something do have those looks and not look like some karuta otaku. Yet, apart from looking like that at least partially consciously, it doesn't seem to matter to her at all, which makes it so great. The constrast is exhilarating.

I'm quite satisfied with Arata's reason and how it solved itself. He had been a total loner until he befriended Chihaya and Taichi, so going back to this small town he likely depended on the grandpa to have any like-minded company. Yet with the geezer gone, he was again alone yet this time with the experience of what it is to not be alone. It's very spychologically plausible to make all the wrong choices under such circumstances and sweve off to undesirable paths requiring an outside force to return from. Basically nothing more than a small reminder he's not alone after all.

I have no doubt Arata will still kick ass once he gets the rust off.

[Ryllharu]

I really like this aspect. Sure, anime in general is full of bishoujo who just happen to be beautiful, but with Chihaya, and a series like this, it feels different. Like I said in an earlier post, she has the background to look like a supermodel and, again in a show like this, she has to do something do have those looks and not look like some karuta otaku. Yet, apart from looking like that at least partially consciously, it doesn't seem to matter to her at all, which makes it so great. The constrast is exhilarating.If she was borrowing money from her sister to take this trip, her sister likely still lives in (or at least crashes at) the family home.

I'd wager her sister doesn't let her out of the house without cleaning herself up a bit. Chihaya's exactly the type to go to a tournament wearing track pants and an old sweatshirt. It would be pretty embarrassing if a photographer snapped a candid shot of what would end up in the tabloids as, "Famous Supermodel Ayase Chitose on One of Her Off-Days!" Either that or Chitose rubbed off on Chihaya. Chihaya had always idolized her sister before she found karuta.

Still, Chihaya certainly cares about her appearance enough to look good at both school and on rendezvous.

[Kraco]

Episode 6 - HorribleSubs (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=258922)




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I was thinking from the beginning they would eventually put Chihaya's looks and background to use at some point, and indeed they did now. It was also not a forced plot element, remembering this is still fiction, so it's all good. One might say she did for free work that would have cost a bunch otherwise, but this ensures quite securely that Oe won't be running away any time soon, despite her dislike for the sporty aspect of the club; and I very much doubt she even hated modelling in beautiful, classic and modest clothes.

All in all I think Oe will be a valuable addition to the club. I doubt she will be any good at the competitive karuta, but she brings much new depth into the play otherwise. And at least Chihaya was actually able to gain speed due to it. She's going to need all the speed she can muster once Arata has shaken his rust off.

[Ryllharu]

I'd say that Kana is actually a vital addition to the karuta club. This is largely because she is a polar opposite to Chihaya, but shares a few similarities.

She's a huge imperial court era otaku, and that contrasts sharply to a girl who plays in sweats and then passes out on the floor between matches. She's also reserved where Chihaya is notably not (being embarrassed about having to do anything in hakama despite loving them so much). But what really impressed and surprised me was the way Kana joined the club. It wasn't a one-sided affair solely driven by Chihaya. She didn't wholly charm Kana into joining the club with her charisma and high-energy attitude, something we've seen in damn near every series that involves school club activities...ever. Kana made demands, one might even say they're as equally overbearing as Chihaya can be sometimes. Kana is really a big fan of fine traditional clothing and the imperial court era. I suppose this also explains Chihaya's traditional garb in the OP now.

It's pretty clear that if Kana had her way (or the financial means), there would be decorated screens and all kinds of other period decorations in the club room.

It was a nice visual effect of Chihaya applying all she learned from Kana about the poems. She was able to attach stories and colors to the cards, similar to synesthesia, so now she can memorize them better. Chihaya modeling the kimono was pure, delicious fanservice, and I've got no complaints.

I rather like Kana's character. She's a strong female counter-balance to Chihaya's mania. (Plus, although she is shorter, Kana appears to be better endowed than Chihaya...) She's not just a body to fill the club ranks, she too is a fully realized character. A trend I hope this series continues.

[Buffalobiian]

I still can't think of how remembering the cards using another method such as replacing them with a mental image of colours/pictures help. If the card placements were static, I could understand a bit more since you could figure out a pattern, but with each round changing potisions, it should be about sheer mental capacity more than anything..

I want to see how Taichi will improve now. We know that he's smart, but his memory will never be as good as Aruta. (who hasn't been noted for being particularly good at school yet, despite that delivery scene from the first episode).

Kana was right when she said her store was doing badly. No one interrupted them the entire afternoon. Rent + lighting? That's some serious money.. I'm honestly surprised that she didn't offer to sponsor their dress needs. It would help them all out as well as serve as advertising.

[shinta|hikari]

Association is a common and very effective memorization technique. If you replace words with images that you are familiar with, it makes it much easier to manipulate and locate in your head.

[Ryllharu]

Kana was right when she said her store was doing badly. No one interrupted them the entire afternoon. Rent + lighting? That's some serious money.. I'm honestly surprised that she didn't offer to sponsor their dress needs. It would help them all out as well as serve as advertising.They don't do well most of the year, and they are only able to sell yukata during the summer. But I imagine they are still the only place around that sells/rents furisodes for Coming of Age Day (Seijin no Hi) as well. Still...that's only January and the festival season.

I think Kana basically is forcing Chihaya to act as a walking billboard when she goes to tournaments from now on.

[Kraco]

I think Kana basically is forcing Chihaya to act as a walking billboard when she goes to tournaments from now on.

Her primary reason isn't to advertise her family business, though. She simply loves the classic clothes and even more so in conjunction with the poems (or other things from the past, explaining why she tried archery). She said earlier she wouldn't join a club that didn't assume historical clothing. While she relented a little, she wouldn't, fortunately, give up entirely.

[Ryllharu]

No, Kana isn't using the hakama requirement to promote her family's business and you're right, she's doing it out of love for the clothing. But I suspect that will be the result of her request. Chihaya and she (perhaps Taichi as well) will show up in hakama. If she's wearing something similiar to what she does during the OP, Chihaya's combined skill and appearance will make people feel that she is very elegant, and wonder where she got such a garment.

While Kana isn't doing it for business reasons, there is a likelihood that her family's business will experience a slight uptake. She is unintentionally forcing Chihaya to be a walking billboard. But don't forget that another part of her demands (edit: actually the primary one) was that Chihaya be the model for their catalog/pamphlet. Her family's store essentially got a free Chitose look-alike.

[Kraco]

Episode 7 - HS (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=260479)





- - - - - -




Quite an interesting episode, even if I'm not yet sure if the addition of the studies nerd was good or bad. It's hard to say if he really fits into this series, but I do recognize the possibility my pov is just twisted by the (young) male presence so far having been handled by dudes like Taichi and Arata (their older versions quite bishounen), and Chihaya is naturally really bishoujo and even Kana resembles quite closely typical sidekicks in shoujo shows. Time will tell, I suppose, but at least it should be safe to assume there's no danger of the polygon gaining more sides...

The other thing making this episode interesting was naturally Taichi winning. When Chihaya was wiping the floor with him early in the episode, I was already missing Arata - to have Chihaya lose a match - but then we suddenly got the memory match with flipped cards and, voila!, Chihaya lost. Having her lose a match was a necessity but a part of me is sad it didn't result from Arata making an appearance sooner. Maybe he still needs a little more time to get his game rolling.

[Ryllharu]

Indeed, there were three really good things about this episode.

The first two involve the Concentration match. One, is that Taichi got his drive to be good at karuta back. The other is that he forced Chihaya to recognize her weakness in the same stroke. With her dominating so often, it would be hard to convince her that her game is only saved by her superhuman hearing and lightning reflexes. Taichi was about to give up completely because he felt outclassed and inferior to her, but now, he knows with a little drive and practice, he might be able to truly challenge her from the other direction (the cards that aren't first syllable, Chihaya's strong point). He could focus on those card positions, and beat her consistently until she learns. That match will allow the both of them to grow substantially.

The third thing was how similar Taichi and Tsutomu are. The only difference is that one is extroverted, and the other introverted. Both are plagued by striving to be the best, and giving up if they can't. Taichi forced to do so by his mother for years, and Tsutomu out of a drive to be useful at all, even if his classmates won't let him into their circles. But Taichi found something he wanted to do even if he was only second best thanks to Arata, and found it again thanks to Tsutomu's intervention. Now Tsutomu has found a group that will take him in. It might look like Chihaya just wants him to fill a body count, but thanks to Taichi, Tsutomu found something else to get out of the club, a place to be welcomed to. All he has to do is put in the effort.

A fourth bonus item is that now Kana might have someone to play with. She can't really compete with either Taichi or Chihaya because the two of them are completely out of her league as a beginner.

[Buffalobiian]

A fourth bonus item is that now Kana might have someone to play with. She can't really compete with either Taichi or Chihaya because the two of them are completely out of her league as a beginner.

That's an interesting one, since Kana is definitely going for the "feel" route with knowing and feeling for each card, while our new nerd is going for the memorisation route. Basically, less competent versions of Chihaya and Taichi. xD

[Kraco]

Yeah, I neglected to realise his great role might be to allow Kana play against a more plausible opponent. A very good point.

[Kraco]

Episode 8 - HS (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=262080)




- - - - - - -




Nikuman is pretty strong. Who knows how much he had kept practicing karuta in his mind, including repeating the poems, but it's not like it could have entirely made up for real practice. Yet he was still able to put up a good fight against Chihaya. That's good for Chihaya, as well, of course. Now she has two people to play seriously against.

During every ep I keep waiting for Arata's dramatic reappearance. With no verified series length it's impossible to try to predict if it's going to be the next ep or five eps from now... The longer it takes, the higher impact it will have if executed well. However, I doubt I'm the only person who wants to see how good he is now and if he could gouge any romantic feelings out of Chihaya, who is still 100% full of Karuta and nothing else (not even sulfuric acid).

[Ryllharu]

I was somewhat hoping Nikuman would actually beat Chihaya, but then choose to join anyway. But what I actually liked the most was that despite being a substantially large character, Nikuman is actually very athletic. Chihaya, athletic herself, was surprised at how good at tennis he was despite how much he was stuffing his face earlier.

Though he didn't really have the endurance to play a long tennis match, which was why he was quitting for the day in addition to being distracted by Chihaya. He was clearly the type, like Taichi used to be, who would quit something once they started to not be extremely good at it. But he also loved karuta the same what Chihaya and Arata do. He's a nice in-between character.

[Buffalobiian]

I thought Porky was slowing down solely due to Chihaya's influence. Otherwise, his trainers wouldn't expect something to be wrong with his performance in the latter part of practice.

The stern teacher's participation was one aspect that I rather liked. Nerd's introduction was somewhat one-dimensional, but this one managed to create some sort of tension every time we saw her.. and expected her to hold a grudge and foil Chihaya's attempts in some way.

Wonder who the club supervisor's going to be... :P (prolly a bit over 50% confident)

[Kraco]

Episode 9 - HS (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=263731)



- - - -- -- - -







I have a slight feeling Taichi wasn't overly happy to act as the proxy in delivering Arata's happy birthday message to Chihaya... But it looks like Chihaya isn't anymore completely oblivious to Taichi's presence. How much Arata's mail would wipe Taichi's little deeds from her mind, is another question.

Provided they can keep up and functioning, this training regimen might be really efficient in speed-training the two newbies. They should get a few chances to play against other low-level players once they can play somewhat fluently, though. It's no good to play against the same few people all the time.

[Ryllharu]

As much as Taichi objected, it was pretty clear that Chihaya's training method for the newbies was the correct one. While the experienced players won't necessarily be learning anything, Kana's joy at getting her first card against a B-rank is a feeling that she will likely never forget. The high-level play the two of them are enduring now will prepare them to quickly climb ranks once they start playing against other players of their own rank. They are learning a lot of techniques, and like Kraco said, ultimately having them play only against the three same people will get them experienced at only beating those three people. But aside from the physical conditioning and raw experience (and super-human hearing in Chihaya's case), they are more than prepared on a mental level, which is what the game largely is about. They'll find their tournament opponents easy in comparison.

Chihaya is exactly the type to forget her own birthday. Beauty in vain indeed. It was also nice to see Chihaya bring herself down to earth after seeing Kana and Deskmoto pass out from what she put them through. They responded that it wasn't a problem, but Chihaya recognized that she has to look around a bit more, and not focus so completely on karuta. She's got a bunch of new friends now, she should take care of them.

The more we see her in practice-wear and kimono, the more I become aware of Kana's compact body. She's petite, but has relatively large breasts. It feels wrong, but so right. Chihaya is elegant (until she speaks or falls asleep with her eyes open of course), but Kana is fine too. It's nice that she's so reserved, but she could flaunt it if she chose to do so. That's a character trait that I like.

[Buffalobiian]

Growing up in that household, I have to say Taichi is much better than what he could have been.

I'm sure Taichi just didn't want Arata's involvement in their birthday party - not so much being the relay point. He doesn't like Arata and gets pissed that Chihaya is so obsessed about him.

We've seen Chihaya beat the two Rank Bs, but they've also shown that they've got plenty of skills/potential too. I want to see how long it'll take them to reach Rank A too, instead of staying in rank B (so that the writers can show that) she's that much better than them.

[Kraco]

I'm sure Taichi just didn't want Arata's involvement in their birthday party - not so much being the relay point. He doesn't like Arata and gets pissed that Chihaya is so obsessed about him.

Not wanting to serve as a relay point for a person you don't like and are envious of is 100% natural. It was just one facet of the bigger picture.

[Kraco]

Episode 10 - HS (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=265762)





- - - --- - -






Another fine episode. Another episode that makes me wonder how I can get excited about the matches of a game I'd never heard of before. Though to be fair, if it was this cast, I probably would care no matter the sport. Nevertheless, the direction is jolly good. I'm no great fan of a plot element of experts suddenly losing their skills temporarily for whatever reason, but it worked somehow in this ep.

Desktomu, and Kana, were subjected to some really harsh treatment and talk but I'm glad they sorted it out. Hopefully they all learned something from it, because surely it should have been the others apologising to him, not the other way around.

It's starting to seem like Arata is being kept away until some sort of climax. He's even being denied direct communication with Chihaya. Taichi's silent thought of it being because they both want to keep Chihaya unspoiled is kind of twisted. Taichi is with Chihaya every day, but Arata isn't even able to reply to an email? It'd be kind of arrogant to think one mail from him would suddenly change Chihaya's world. Well, maybe it would. I guess that would also be wishful thinking from Arata. He has now some distance to karuta, so he surely should be able to think of Chihaya more separately from karuta.

[Ryllharu]

I love Kana's mania for traditional clothing and poetry. I like her almost as much as Chihaya. She really is the antithesis to Chihaya, reserved and maintaining elegance where Chihaya falls asleep immediately after winning and has to get dragged around like a drunk office lady after a corporate party.

But their happy jumping hugs of joy over Kana's first win...

I'm looking forward to the match with Retro and the Sadist. The two of them are pretty interesting. Retro being a weirdo with divination powers, and the Sadist accurately predicting the Screamer Team's level of skill. They used teamwork, but they really were annoying and not all that good.

Taichi is turning out to be a good club president. He was able to turn the whole thing around simply by giving Chihaya a little flashback by throwing his cards all over the place, then patting everyone on the head on his way back. I may not like his possessiveness of Chihaya, but I'll give Taichi a lot of credit for being able to read people, and manipulate give them an appropriate morale boost, or cut them where it hurts the most.

[shinta|hikari]

Taichi has always been capable at everything. It is his personality that sucks.

[Buffalobiian]

It'd be kind of arrogant to think one mail from him would suddenly change Chihaya's world.

Arrogant? It would be self-depreciating if anything.. but Taichi's totally right. One response from Arata would have such a drastic change.

I'm unsure if the situation has anything to do with it though.. is Chihaya so obsessed with Arata because he's out of reach while Taichi's right there with her? Besides the fact that he's (likely to be) stronger than her and she likes a challenge (as well as her old team of three).

[Kraco]

One response from Arata would have such a drastic change.

Would it? They even met not so long ago and then Arata chased the train, no less, on his bike. I can't really see how one mail would be such a big deal after that.


I'm unsure if the situation has anything to do with it though.. is Chihaya so obsessed with Arata because he's out of reach while Taichi's right there with her? Besides the fact that he's (likely to be) stronger than her and she likes a challenge (as well as her old team of three).

I don't think Chihaya has once in her life thought of romance, so her obsession with Arata must spring from karuta and the fact it was Arata who taught it to her. Despite knowing he dropped it for a while, she must still consider him some sort of karuta god. But who knows, maybe there are some underlying feelings she's not consciously aware of. Taichi at least is afraid there are. Arata himself gets no screentime, but based on the fact he doesn't contact Chihaya directly, it's safe to say he's not all business anymore.

[Kraco]

Episode 11 - HS (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=268083)



- - - - - - - - -






Haha. This is why I love series with a good script: All those theories about why Arata didn't answer a single mail, and the truth is that his own computer (or is it his phone) is acting up and he has a huge threshold to use the computer at work to check his private mails...

Now that we saw him again, I have no idea whether he actually started to play again. Of course seeing him at work doesn't really reveal that much, but if he's using his free time to work, when would he train? Or does he go to school at all? I don't remember if it was stated. This story would feel kind of strange is Arata had nothing to do with karuta anymore, and would remain some sort of living fossil, that is, a karuta memory for the rest of the guys that has no role but what they remember from years ago. Yet, as much as I'd like to see him play again, it would also need to be after some effort and hard retraining.

Oh, almost forgot: The battle in this ep was quite nice, but I'm not sure if it's good that they won or not. The other team was supposed to be really strong, after all. Also, Chihaya's psyche seems to be strangely weak in some ways. Of course it brings more tension to the games, but it's not going to be overly realistic if she needs to struggle to get into the mood in every real game. This episode did, though, depict nicely the differences between Chihaya, Taichi and Nikuman as players.

[Ryllharu]

Oh, almost forgot: The battle in this ep was quite nice, but I'm not sure if it's good that they won or not. The other team was supposed to be really strong, after all. Also, Chihaya's psyche seems to be strangely weak in some ways. Of course it brings more tension to the games, but it's not going to be overly realistic if she needs to struggle to get into the mood in every real game. This episode did, though, depict nicely the differences between Chihaya, Taichi and Nikuman as players.
Yes, very much so. I loved the contrast between Chihaya's unthinking instinctual play, so much so that she can actually predict when a card is going to be read by keying into the reader's mannerisms, to Taichi's Calculating King style. He's got a very intellectual approach, which is a great reason why Chihaya forced him into the Center position. That in and of itself was a nice touch as well. Chihaya is a good Captain to Taichi's club President. They all accused her of randomly picking, but she had learned a great deal from her near-failure last round. She incorporated a technique of her opponent's that made an impression on her, and worked it into her own team's dynamic.

I only wished they had spent more time focusing on Nikuman's turnabout. His opponent was supposed to be incredibly strong himself, and after the barrel-roll, Nikuman just somehow won, without the details that we got from Taichi's or Chihaya's matches. I would have liked to see more, but I could understand and am grateful for why they wanted the episode to end in a victory, rather than a cliffhanger.

I also enjoyed that the person who reinvigorated the whole team wasn't Chihaya, wasn't Taichi, it was Deskmoto nabbing his first card against a strong opponent. He and Kana may be somewhat less major players, but they are definitely contributors to the team morale with their newbie enthusiasm.

[Buffalobiian]

I only wished they had spent more time focusing on Nikuman's turnabout. His opponent was supposed to be incredibly strong himself, and after the barrel-roll, Nikuman just somehow won, without the details that we got from Taichi's or Chihaya's matches

Same. But really.. not many different approaches can there be? You've got the instincts department, and you've got the brains one.. Arata and Nishima are both classed as "good" without any real qualifiers (though it may be suggested that Arata has a stronger memory than Taichi, but perhaps with less actual planning).


I also enjoyed that the person who reinvigorated the whole team wasn't Chihaya, wasn't Taichi, it was Deskmoto nabbing his first card against a strong opponent.

My favourite part would have to be Kana's cheer. She was the only one aside from Chihaya who didn't get the card, yet she joined in with "I'll get it next time!!"


Oh, almost forgot: The battle in this ep was quite nice, but I'm not sure if it's good that they won or not.

Haha, well as a general rule in sports anime, you can't lose your first tournament too soon. Your "revenge" match for the next coming year must be against someone strong and worthy - usually the school that has a tradition of winning. 1st round of the Nationals against the previous year's winning team is the sweet spot.

We still haven't heard about who the supervisor for Chihaya's team is. I'm hoping it would be someone like the Dr who could teach both the newer kids AND the more experienced trio. In particular, I'd want to see them explain the difference between Offensive and Defensive karuta, followed by the choices Kana and Desk-kun make after experimenting with them.

Here's hoping it's not as simple as Offensive being suited for reflex types and Defensive being suited for brainy types.

[Ryllharu]

We still haven't heard about who the supervisor for Chihaya's team is. I'm hoping it would be someone like the Dr who could teach both the newer kids AND the more experienced trio. In particular, I'd want to see them explain the difference between Offensive and Defensive karuta, followed by the choices Kana and Desk-kun make after experimenting with them.
I was under the impression that the club advisor is the bitchy old lady who is Chihaya's nemesis at school. The same one who mentors the tennis team.

Chihaya grudgingly made her accept them as a real club when they got five members.

[Buffalobiian]

I was under the impression that the club advisor is the bitchy old lady who is Chihaya's nemesis at school. The same one who mentors the tennis team.

I was expecting her to be their club supervisor, but we haven't seen her actually take on the role. It looked more to me like Chihaya has only submitted the club application to her..

Or are you supposed to submit the form through whichever teacher you want to be your supervisor (instead of having the staff nominate one)? No idea how it works...

[fireheart]

I was under the impression that the club advisor is the bitchy old lady who is Chihaya's nemesis at school. The same one who mentors the tennis team.

Chihaya grudgingly made her accept them as a real club when they got five members.

Why do you have her pegged as a bitchy old lady? I mean she accepted Nikuman leaving the tennis club without any fuss except for the fact that he said he was going home and then did something else giving the impression he was skipping club activities and she accepted the club without arguing, it seems more that she was thinking whether Chihaya should be president or not hence her changing that. So far she's mostly come of as someone who's strict with the rules but still helps and compromises for her students. Also she did give them the room even though they weren't an official club.


I was expecting her to be their club supervisor, but we haven't seen her actually take on the role. It looked more to me like Chihaya has only submitted the club application to her..

Or are you supposed to submit the form through whichever teacher you want to be your supervisor (instead of having the staff nominate one)? No idea how it works...

Well she said she'd be their supervisor for now but likely she took on that role so that the club can officially exist also she's busy with the tennis club so she probably won't do a lot for the karuta club, maybe they'll get another supervisor later that knows more about karuta.

[Buffalobiian]

Ah, you guys are right. She did take on the role of advisor, even if it's only a temporary thing. I had forgotten about that.

[Ryllharu]

Why do you have her pegged as a bitchy old lady?Because she has been from the beginning? See episode 1 before the opening.


...and she accepted the club without arguing, it seems more that she was thinking whether Chihaya should be president or not hence her changing that. So far she's mostly come of as someone who's strict with the rules but still helps and compromises for her students.What compromise? She's been against Chihaya every step of the way. She begrudgingly accepted Chihaya's club as an official one because they scrounged up five members and she had no choice but to accept them at that point, yet still made the additional condition that Chihaya couldn't be President. She wouldn't normally have a say in who a club/circle elects as their officers. All of them were surprised, so it was obviously not part of the normal procedure.


Also she did give them the room even though they weren't an official club.A leftover storage room. That was only given to Chihaya because she wouldn't leave "the Empress" alone until she relented (episode 6, 3:00).

[Kraco]

Come on, she's not a quarter as bad as the usual rotten teachers in anime/manga that not only do their best to try to stop the club from being founded but also afterwards try to undermine it to get it cancelled.

[Ryllharu]

No, she's really just has a strong distaste for Chihaya. That much has been fairly clear.

Of course, it serves to make it funnier, because Chihaya's reactions are golden.

[fireheart]

Because she has been from the beginning? See episode 1 before the opening.

Checked it but it looked like she did her job, she told Chihaya she can't stand on the chair putting up flyers with her skirt on, this seems reasonable as she might flash the guys. She basically told her that wearing the skirt on top of her track pants is unlady like so she shouldn't wear her skirt on top, sure Chihaya is a tomboy but the teacher trying to conform her to the set rules is hardly at fault for trying. Getting angry that she's taking of her track pants in the hallway, this is a school and she shouldn't take of her clothes in public in the first place also there's the flashing thing again. Complaining that she can only put up one flyer on the board like all the other clubs, Chihaya probably didn't intend to but she's at wrong here and if the teacher let her do that it'd mean she was treating her differently than others or playing favorites which is hardly fair and would have been wrong. Complaining that she's sleeping during class, again perfectly clear reason for complaining about her behavior. So which part shows that she's been a bitchy old lady?

From what I can see she's doing her job only difference is that she's strict on the set rules and Chihaya didn't follow them. Just so you know it's not a matter of Chihayas personality, the only thing that matters in this case is whether or not the things the teacher scolds her on are relevant or not and I can't see how they aren't. Maybe you can shed some light on that?


What compromise? She's been against Chihaya every step of the way. She begrudgingly accepted Chihaya's club as an official one because they scrounged up five members and she had no choice but to accept them at that point, yet still made the additional condition that Chihaya couldn't be President. She wouldn't normally have a say in who a club/circle elects as their officers. All of them were surprised, so it was obviously not part of the normal procedure.

Please do show me exactly where she's ever been against Chihaya making a club because making Chihaya follow the proper procedures to create an official club hardly qualifies as being against her. Obviously she's seen how Chihaya acts and know a bit about her so making them change the president was a good move since Chihaya is oblivious to the things around her unlike Taichi. In fact when I looked at that episode again they did zoom in on what I'm expecting to be Chihayas name so to me it looked like she was thinking about whether Chihaya could fulfill the duties as president, obviously she figured Chihaya couldn't and I agree because the club would suffer if she was simply because of how strict they are on the rules.

In simple terms Chihaya would be closer to a student getting an assignment and only doing what she thought was the assignment yet if she read through it properly she'd notice that she missed a lot of details that are crucial to it and that's why she's not fit for the role while Taichi is. Another example would be Ritsu from K-ON but without a forgiving student council that's fine with her handing in the paperwork late etc, in other words they wouldn't be able to do anything because the person in charge doesn't really know what they're doing.

Also she had a choice when she accepted the club as an official one because she could have easily decided that they have to have an advisor before they can be an official club, that would be a clear example of getting in their way but she didn't instead she offered to be their advisor so that they got recognized right away. And as their advisor she could just as easily decided they weren't ready to participate in the tournament and withdrawn their application just by reasoning that it's to early as 2 of the members only played for 2-3 months, that would also be a clear example of being against Chihaya at every chance she gets but she didn't.


A leftover storage room. That was only given to Chihaya because she wouldn't leave "the Empress" alone until she relented (episode 6, 3:00).

As for the compromise if she was really against it then she would have told her no and wouldn't have even bothered listening to her considering they weren't even an official club so the school didn't have any obligations towards this club what so ever. The mere fact that she did give an unofficial club a room no matter which room it was shows she compromised and it was fair giving her the storage room as it'd be unfair if she got a proper one when it wasn't official nor would it have been fair to the existing ones.

Again she's just a strict teacher and it feels appropriate instead of an older teacher letting every rulebreaking student get away with everything all while dotting on them. If you ask me it seemed more like she understood how serious Chihaya was about karuta and therefor gave her a chance to prove it because looking at her personality she wouldn't have any problems showing her the door when she asked for a room no matter how many times she asked. Seriously watch all those scenes again and ask yourself as a teacher does her actions make sense or does she just hate Chihaya, is there any truth in the things she tell her? Because if you don't see that she's doing her job right by not ignoring problems and yet still cuts Chihaya some slack then I'd like to know what you see.

Don't get me wrong though I like Chihaya but looking at it objectively the teacher simple hasn't been against her every step of the way nor tried to sabotage anything and she scolds every student breaking the rules and despite all that she still helped Chihaya far more than required.


Edit: Starting to feel like a troll everytime I post something here...

[Buffalobiian]

You're not a troll, you just use full stops and paragraph breaks really sparingly.. making it somewhat difficult to read

[fireheart]

Episode 12 - HS (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=270125)







Okay I was wrong about the teacher understanding how serious Chihaya was about karuta

[Kraco]

It was made clear the teacher wasn't a scumbag at all deep down, she simply was ignorant and prejudiced, plus blinded by the tennis club. But when she saw for herself how intensive and sporty karuta is, she recognized her own mistakes right away and made the proper 180 degrees turn to support it, without a second thought. So, she might be hardheaded, but that was her only fault.

Another thing that made me really glad was Chihaya's scrapbook. It was so cruel to watch the family ignore her when the sister was present, but when she noticed the missing newspaper article and then the book, it all felt good again. Kind of a result driven family after its own fashion, though vastly different from Taichi's. But I suppose the competitive Japanese society is like that at large.

Arata is funnily yet again kept in shadows, despite getting the sudden exposure in the previous episode. I expect him to make an appearance of some sort at Omi Jingu. Preferably a dramatic one to shake Chihaya's heart.

[Ryllharu]

Another thing that made me really glad was Chihaya's scrapbook. It was so cruel to watch the family ignore her when the sister was present, but when she noticed the missing newspaper article and then the book, it all felt good again. Kind of a result driven family after its own fashion, though vastly different from Taichi's. But I suppose the competitive Japanese society is like that at large.I was actually really glad we got to see Chitose again, self-centered as she might seem. This too changed 180 when we learned why Chitose is so driven to become a model, and now an actress apparently. She wants to use her money to take the burden off her parents by paying off the mortgage.

Her behavior pushes Chihaya into the background (as it always has), but she does mean well. Also, we learned that her parents definitely aren't ignoring Chihaya's accomplishments, Chitose is just that much needier.

Of course, if Chihaya does become the Queen of karuta, it will be amusing to see which outshines the other. Chitose would be more well known overall, but Chihaya might be more respected. After all, she'd be the best in the world of her own microcosm. Chitose would have a long way to catch up after that.

The bit with Kana was irked me a little though. I don't know why they were so insistent upon forcing her to use a competitive layout. Experienced karuta players would expect a "competitive" layout, and I imagine most of them lay them similarly, as Nikuman was describing. They should have tested her the same way Chihaya had to play upside down. If Kana focuses on the meanings more, her seemingly idiosyncratic layout will throw off her opponents as easily as it would benefit her memorization. She'd would see them arranged by season the same way the chihaya card burns red. Kana's opponents would see a random mishmash arranged at "random" by a beginner. What she loses in reaction time (through reach distance), she would gain defensively. It would be very difficult for her opponents to remember where Kana had placed a card, so they wouldn't be able to pass as many to her.

[Kraco]

The bit with Kana was irked me a little though. I don't know why they were so insistent upon forcing her to use a competitive layout.

Unless it was just the know-it-all attitude of the youth, there might be a strong reason for the competitive layout. They will be playing on the national level next, so it's reasonable to assume reaction times won't vary more than fractions of a second, so any edge could be decisive. It's possible the competitive layout does, despite being uniform, give statistically a tiny benefit for a player. It's a game of luck as well, after all, never knowing which card could be read next and where your attention happens to be focused (which card you'd be expecting/protecting). Hard to say without having played the game extensively.

It's also true that dramatically changing habits so close to the competition could be a big risk.

[Buffalobiian]

The bit with Kana was irked me a little though. I don't know why they were so insistent upon forcing her to use a competitive layout. Experienced karuta players would expect a "competitive" layout, and I imagine most of them lay them similarly, as Nikuman was describing.

That's the part that confused me the most as well. To me it looked like Kana was manipulating the entire field, but i hindsight it must have just been her own. I agree that they should have let her try it out first before saying NO!


It's also true that dramatically changing habits so close to the competition could be a big risk.

You risk losing what you've built up so far.. but frankly Kana isn't exactly top notch, so changing the cards is more about finding what works for her rather than trying to improve but risk any established performance.

[Kraco]

You risk losing what you've built up so far.. but frankly Kana isn't exactly top notch, so changing the cards is more about finding what works for her rather than trying to improve but risk any established performance.

She certainly still lacks experience, but I think neither she nor Desktomu are exactly ordinary players either. They both ought to have a small bonus making them better than simply any joe from the streets that has trained the same time they have. Whether, for Kana, that bonus actually required a new layout of her own, is another question. Now that we saw she developed one, I wouldn't consider it impossible if she suddenly changed to that in the tournament.

[Ryllharu]

Now that we saw she developed one, I wouldn't consider it impossible if she suddenly changed to that in the tournament.This is my thinking as well. They wouldn't have introduced it if she wasn't going to use it for some reason. They also brought up the contrast between Aggressive (Chihaya) and Defensive playing styles in the previous episode. It may be more fitting for Kana, who lacks Chihaya's speed, to take up Defensive play. Deskmoto as well.

[Buffalobiian]

I have no idea where Deskmoto is heading.. he's kinda a Taichi-wannabe at the moment. Copying him would be boring though, not to mention Taichi having batter talent at learning anyway.

[fireheart]

Episode 13 - HS (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=273537)

[Kraco]

This show certainly knows how to surprise me. When Chihaya was starting to have problems, I thought not fricking again. But then it went all the way till losing consciousness and it was clear it wasn't a repeat of the previous matches at all. Though I suppose removing Chihaya from these highlight matches is dramatically somewhat similar to removing Arata from the circles for so long. Perhaps it was said earlier just for how long Arata hadn't been playing, but I only caught that detail in this episode: It's merely a year. That's good. With his background and natural talent, he should be able to catch up very soon without looking unrealistic.

I'm happy this show is 25 eps and not the all too usual single season of these days.

[Ryllharu]

I was definitely disappointed that they went all the way to making her collapse. Such a terrible cliché in these kinds of series. At least it was only temporary...and not like she caught the infamous Japanese Fever!

The scene at the temple definitely reminded me of the end of Bamboo Blade (a series with a similar feel). The girl is undoubtedly a rival for Chihaya.

But the real meat of the episode was Arata's flashback. We were led to believe it was simply the stroke that did his grandfather in, but it was much, much, much worse than that. It was dementia. If you've ever known someone who had it...you would not wish that experience on your worst enemy, especially for someone as close to that relative as Arata was to his grandfather. That's why it hit Arata so hard. His grandfather appeared to resurface, urged admonished him into going to the tournament, and when he came back, he had "abandoned" his grandfather over getting a mere rank. I can only imagine how devastating that must have been to Arata.

But there were certainly bright spots of humor to this episode. The Empress remarking that Chihaya is the image of beauty only because she is quiet and still, and Kana's mother (amusingly played by Hisakawa Aya (http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=creator&creatorid=360))...hunting for young men. "Check, Check!"

[shinta|hikari]

This show is absolutely awesome. As long as Chihaya ends up with Arata, I can rate this as a masterpiece.

[Buffalobiian]

I lolled when Arata lost his way with a map. wtf happened to his newspaper-boy memory/direction?

I was very emotionally detached this episode, though it may have been from my irl physical comfort issues..

[Kraco]

Episode 14 - HS (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=275508)




- - - - - - - - -





I was thinking, while watching Chihaya's match against the Queen, that robotics in Japan really are advanced for them to build such a karuta android. Stealing the card from below Chihaya's hand was definitely too much. Sure, they needed to create a really tough opponent who might not even be giving her best at this point, but this is pushing it. I suppose it was more dramatic this way, even if more unrealistic as well.

Well, it was an interesting episode nonetheless.

[Ryllharu]

Indeed. They were starting to lose me when, despite Chihaya having faster reflexes, the Queen was repeatedly able to slap them out from under her. I could accept if she was unbeatable because she had the combination of a good layout, quick hearing, fast reflexes, and good speed, but the fact that her edge is super-human speed and accuracy that lets her strike a corner of a card with enough force to expel it was a bit much. If they wanted to make her that fast, they should have given her better physical reaction speed than Chihaya's aural/cognitive reaction speed. Just make the difference between them Offensive and Defensive karuta.

But they won me back when the Queen and Chihaya got distracted admiring each other's childish t-shirts. From there on, it was a lot better. We got to see a few quirks in the Queen, Chihaya mocking the sadist guy right in front of him, and Chihaya's insane focus and realization that she had been in this situation before made up for the unbelievable feats of the first half.

Now the Queen is all fired up for once, and finally spotted her rival. Karuta must be no fun when a player of her level feels like she's always playing by herself. Arata found a lot more joy in life once he found people to play with outside a tournament. The Queen is likely the same. I wonder if she'll start stalking Chihaya so she has someone to play against.

[shinta|hikari]

The Queen is fast. Her hand is like lightning, enough to blur slow motion. Chihaya has better hearing, but her hand speed is behind the Queen. That was all there is to that match.

[Buffalobiian]

I think Chihaya has better hearing for some cards, but not all. From the first 2 or 3 cards of the match you could see the Queen moving and hitting the cards before Chihaya could even move. Chihaya's hearing is better only at some of the cards.

edit: I guess one could argue that this is a sign of "better" hearing, if you say that only the very best can hear the G- cards faster while the other cards are capped at "very good" hearing levels.

Horrible-Subs had a boo-boo at 8mins: "Can't see her move" vs "Can't hear her move"

[shinta|hikari]

I think Chihaya has better hearing for some cards, but not all. From the first 2 or 3 cards of the match you could see the Queen moving and hitting the cards before Chihaya could even move. Chihaya's hearing is better only at some of the cards.

Chihaya is a slow starter, as mentioned in the show itself. Her true ability only shows up later in the game, like any shounen heroine ;)

[Buffalobiian]

But they won me back when the Queen and Chihaya got distracted admiring each other's childish t-shirts.

Forgot to mention, was I the only one who imagined them swapping shirts after the match? xD

[Ryllharu]

No. I am hoping they do so as well.

[Kraco]

Episode 15 - HS (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=277468)



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Very strong going, as always. Nobody's surprised Chihaya lost the fight, but Taichi losing was more significant in some ways. He's always burdened by the fact the only way through to Chihaya seems to be karuta, yet he's behind her and also behind the legend of Arata (since nobody knows his current state). He's facing double the pressure in his own progress, not only fighting for a regular standing in the game like everybody else but also against that legend to gain recognition from Chihaya - or so he thinks.

Damn, I want to see Arata playing again. So much hangs on how they pull that off. This story is good enough that I won't be expecting it to be ruined if Arata doesn't immediately kick ass, but it will make me very sad indeed if Chihaya beats him immediately. That could realistically happen, but it feels like something would be lost in the bigger story. No idea what even Chihaya herself would think about it. I don't think she would be altogether satisfied, unless she first saw Arata beat lots of other tough people, at the very least. But who knows. Somehow they need to mix this Queen in as well.

[Ryllharu]

I did enjoy that even though the sadist took more cards than Chihaya did, no one upset the Queen nearly as much. She was cool and collected against the sadist, back to making pleasant yet snide remarks. I'm not sure exactly what it is that made her so upset then. Was it that she had "broken" Chihaya before Chihaya turned herself around and took and card and immediately converted the next? I would almost think that, but Shinobu was disappointed when she thought she had broken Chihaya's will. Perhaps she wasn't threatened by the sadist because there isn't any way he can take her title.

Her getting embarrassed about Chihaya recognizing the snowman was odd...perhaps she's fallen in love?

Concerning Taichi, it is interesting that he realized that his brain isn't falling behind, but his physical abilities aren't up to par. Chihaya did track through middle school for training her karuta skills, endurance and reflexes. Taichi did soccer if I recall correctly, so he shouldn't be that far behind her. The overwhelming stream of knowledge that spews out of Taichi's head disturbs me a little. I could barely follow it. His intellectual karuta really is something else. I wonder how his thought process compares to Arata's or the Queen's.

[shinta|hikari]

Chihaya is a girl. It makes sense that Shinobu has a much greater sense of rivalry towards Chihaya than her male opponents.

[Buffalobiian]

Chihaya is a girl. It makes sense that Shinobu has a much greater sense of rivalry towards Chihaya than her male opponents.

I did enjoy that even though the sadist took more cards than Chihaya did, no one upset the Queen nearly as much. She was cool and collected against the sadist, back to making pleasant yet snide remarks. I'm not sure exactly what it is that made her so upset then. Was it that she had "broken" Chihaya before Chihaya turned herself around and took and card and immediately converted the next? I would almost think that, but Shinobu was disappointed when she thought she had broken Chihaya's will. Perhaps she wasn't threatened by the sadist because there isn't any way he can take her title.

Besides the title/rivalry issue, I see it that the Queen felt pressure from Chihaya. She's composed against Sado because even though he's good enough (or lucky enough perhaps to the queen) to take some cards from her, he's not in her league. Chihaya is unstable as hell, but her peak/potential is enough to shock even the Queen.

It's the difference between taking losses in a battle and actually having your ass kicked for 60 seconds.

[Buffalobiian]

[Nipponsei] Chihayafuru OP Single - YOUTHFUL [99RadioService].zip (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=torrentinfo&tid=264868)
OP-flac ver. (http://www.mediafire.com/?n6x024ialie53uo)

Chihayafuru Original Soundtrack & Character Song Album 1 [320k+scans].zip (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=277564)
Chihayafuru Original Soundtrack & Character Song Album 1 [FLAC+scans].zip (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=277565)

OST contains the ED.

[Ryllharu]

Chitose-furu.

[HorribleSubs] Chihayafuru - 16 (720p) (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=279544)


----------------

While this was a recap episode, it was one of the better recap episodes I've seen in a while. Around the reused footage, this episode was interspersed with jokes and the kind of 4-komas you see in the back of manga volumes to fill in the extra pages.

Just skim the episode, and don't forget to catch the stuff after the ED as well. It was rather entertaining despite being a recap.

[Buffalobiian]

Chihaya's taller than Kana. No way she wears small while Kana wears large, boobs or no boobs.

[Kraco]

It had some good bits, but otherwise it was a confusing episode with all the recap scenes mixed together with the new ones.

[Buffalobiian]

HorribleSubs - Episode 17 (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=282470)

[Ryllharu]

I'm glad things are starting to turn out as we'd hoped with Chihaya learning from Deskmoto and Kana-chan. The two of them take a very analytical approach to karuta, which is a nice contrast to the more reflex and instinct based players at the top. Except Taichi...he's just insane.

We don't know how much Shinobu puts thought into her game though, but we know that A-class players like Arata do think about all the aspects like that. Deskmoto shouldn't have won many cards at all from Chihaya, but it shows that he's really thinking about placement. Hopefully, Kana will start using her seasons pattern, which will throw off opponents attempting to take any cards from her. Most higher level players are used to seeing cards arranged for speed, as the other three club members pointed out to her. I'm hoping Kana picks up defensive karuta.

This episode seemed to cover a lot of territory, but the humor is still always there. Taichi breaking up with the girlfriend we were no longer certain he still had (it was surprising they had still been going out!) and the career survey that earned Chihaya a whack on the head and her cowering in fear of the Empress.

Makes me wonder what Chitose put for her own survey.

[Kraco]

Yeah, this was a pretty broad episode and illustrated, finally, that to be aiming for the top, one has to have a wider spectrum of skills than just a single natural talent. Though the current Queen looked like an android, I hope she actually has developed herself thoroughly with great effort, not just concentrating on one thing like Chihaya so far has been doing. Taichi and Nikuman both failing also demonstrated how tough the A class is - but at the same time how high potential Chihaya has despite her flawed methods.

Are we going to see Arata playing before the very end? Theoretically he should be participating in at least the qualifying contest, assuming he wants to be at the grand competition. He might not need to play against any of the main characters, though, at that point. Since he hasn't played for a year, I wonder if his A class status is still valid or does one need to renew it every year?

[Buffalobiian]

Deskmoto's analysis is good, but it really only seems useful for helping out his teammates. Since he's weaker than any of them in any aspect, the fact that even he could take cards from them highlights their weaknesses. On the other hand, analysing what quadrants he wins in doesn't really say much about what he's good at or not since the teammates don't serve as a controlled variable like he does.

Following on our gag from last week, Chihaya got no cheers at all from the boys while Kana was.. hugely popular.

[Kraco]

Episode 18 - HS (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=284996)

The version I got had broken subtitle styling.





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I've been thinking about it for a while now, but it feels like the director/original author couldn't entirely avoid a slight inconsistency in Chihaya's playing proficiency when they are now trying to depict how tough the A class is. Basically the Queen match managed to do that, even if at the expense of the current Queen's humanity, but now Chihaya, objectively speaking, is playing worse than she was some eps ago. She makes lots of mistakes she didn't make previously and is continuously dumbfounded, not to mention she has zilch composure anymore.

But at least this leaves the other club members more chances to shine on their own. Especially the smaller ones.

Still no Arata... He's so forgotten already that it'll soon be impossible to build real emotional impact with anything happening with him.

[Ryllharu]

I've been thinking about it for a while now, but it feels like the director/original author couldn't entirely avoid a slight inconsistency in Chihaya's playing proficiency when they are now trying to depict how tough the A class is. Basically the Queen match managed to do that, even if at the expense of the current Queen's humanity, but now Chihaya, objectively speaking, is playing worse than she was some eps ago.Well, Shinobu is a robot. A-class players are:

- insanely fast (reaction time and/or physical speed)
- precise (uses only the force they need)
- get into their opponent's head
- use strategy
- possess excellent memorization skills

From what we've been shown of what few other A-class players we've seen, they usually have one or two of those aspects. Shinobu is unique because she uses all of them. Chihaya right now, is only insanely fast. She uses too much force, is a bit of an airhead (so strategy is out), and only somewhat gets into her opponent's head by her speed and personality.

But she is learning from others. Deskmoto introduced her to strategy, and Kana introduced to new methods for visualizing cards. Now Sakura has given her insight to why speed hurts her so much, and what a strategic player can do to eliminate any advantage she might have had. But she also made Chihaya realize that she really doesn't need to be that close to the cards, which will slow down Chihaya her teacher requested, but also grant her increased precision. Chihaya will soon be able to combine those ideas and become closer to Shinobu. In many ways, she's learned that much more by losing.

A nice focus on Kana as well. Deskmoto was quick to note her flaws and use them on her, but Kana was able to sneak in a few tricks as well. The hakama/kimono posture trick was great, and she's able to use her poise to sell even more, heh. Can't wait to see how their match turns out.

Her mother's love for bishonen is still hilarious.

[Kraco]

Arata should have already learned all those points you listed, right? Chihaya got her current playing style from him, since she was so impressed by his aggressive speed that set him apart from all the other players back then (that she had witnessed, anyway). Chihaya got stuck in that twisted ideal, but I can't really see it as being anything special to Arata himself, especially since Arata was looking up to the old grandpa, who hardly could have played with uber speed anymore. Plus he should have seen much more at a younger age already, thus experiencing the troubles Chihaya is only seeing now and learning from them early on.

Bah, I want to see him play even more after this episode. Although I also feel like Chihaya couldn't offer him much resistance. I didn't feel like that some episodes ago when Chihaya still felt strong, but now that the show is making her seem unnecessarily weak, I can't help it.

[Ryllharu]

I wouldn't say they're making Chihaya seem unnecessarily weak, she was weak. Sakura pointed it out very well when she said she was lucky to be playing a girl who was only very fast. Chihaya can utterly dominate B-class, but she's always been hit or miss. If she doesn't get warmed up and fall into a good pace, she doesn't win. If she loses too many of the one-syllable cards, she can't win either.

Chihaya had plateaued by relying only on speed and her reaction time. She's always had these weaknesses, as the upside down game she lost to Taichi proved. Now that she is playing against experienced A-class players, it's becoming that much more evident. High schoolers rely on the same methods (speed and memorization), they haven't tended to use much strategy either.

[Buffalobiian]

They better have Retro's perspective of Mashima's game next episode. So far they've both been "jack of all trades" such that I really can't define them too much. This applies more so to Nikuman.


hihaya got her current playing style from him, since she was so impressed by his aggressive speed that set him apart from all the other players back then (that she had witnessed, anyway).

In a sense, but not quite. I think it might have more to do with the fact that she got her current playing style from playing Arata. Matched against such a good player, her only chance at taking a card back then was to rely on her speed and good hearing. Perhaps she thought that was her only weapon.

Honestly, I actually don't care about Arata anymore. He's the background final boss who's been alluded to since the beginning of the series, but other than that he doesn't really matter anymore. If Taichi starts being a dick again though, I might change my opinion.

[Kraco]

Honestly, I actually don't care about Arata anymore. He's the background final boss who's been alluded to since the beginning of the series, but other than that he doesn't really matter anymore. If Taichi starts being a dick again though, I might change my opinion.

Yeah, that's the problem I mentioned earlier. Although at this point I don't even know if it's a problem or not from the author's pov. Maybe she didn't even mean Arata to be anything much else than a childhood inspiration figure for Chihaya. I might have misinterpreted the whole thing. Still, Chihaya getting heartthrobs from thinking of Arata battles against that humdrum view. Honestly, I don't know anymore. Maybe it was a simple mistake made by the mangaka. Realistically speaking he could still mean a lot more for Chihaya than us, the audience, but that's not good story writing.

[Buffalobiian]

Yeah, that's the problem I mentioned earlier. Although at this point I don't even know if it's a problem or not from the author's pov. Maybe she didn't even mean Arata to be anything much else than a childhood inspiration figure for Chihaya. I might have misinterpreted the whole thing. Still, Chihaya getting heartthrobs from thinking of Arata battles against that humdrum view. Honestly, I don't know anymore. Maybe it was a simple mistake made by the mangaka. Realistically speaking he could still mean a lot more for Chihaya than us, the audience, but that's not good story writing.

I think of him as a character who serves as a type of goal for Chihaya. She wants to be as good as him and just recently met the queen, who is her immediate rival. Chihaya now needs to focus on how to get better. She can't really look towards Arata until then. In fact right now from the competitive karuta perspective, Arata's more of Taichi's concern/mind than Chihaya's.

Showing his side of the power-up as if he was the 3rd main character of this series would make it worse by fragmenting it I think.

That aside, this is probably build-up. Otherwise, the impact of "Next time we meet will be as opponents/tournament/karata" that Chihaya feels won't be conveyed to us as the audience if we've been watching over Arata's shoulder the entire time.

[Ryllharu]

She can't really look towards Arata until then. In fact right now from the competitive karuta perspective, Arata's more of Taichi's concern/mind than Chihaya's.
Nah.

Chihaya is deeply in love with Arata. She has been since she was young. She's just too scatterbrained and obsessed with reuniting with him via karuta that she doesn't realize it. This was implied around the episode where she forgot about her own birthday.

The primary reason she was obsessed with karuta because she built on the impression that it was the only thing that would reunite her with Arata. In addition, Arata told her that she could be the best in the world at karuta because only Japan plays it. She liked that idea because it would allow her to eclipse Chitose. All of that has now changed since the Omi Jingu tournament. She actually wants it, just for the sake of doing it. The Chitose part changed after she found her father's scrapbook. Karuta became more than just a means to reuniting with Arata after she encountered Shinobu.

Taichi recognized this from long ago. That's why Arata is more of his problem. There isn't any space for anyone else in Chihaya's mind. Taichi has to catch up (or at least not fall behind) so that Arata can't dominate Chihaya's thoughts from afar. Now that Chihaya's motivations have changed, Taichi really could relax a bit, but I don't think he's caught on quite yet.

[Kraco]

Episode 19 - HS (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=287135)





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Tension, tension. This episode worked really well. And ruthlessly. The completely dishonourable method Desktomu chose suited his throughoutly calculative mindset well. Like the audience noted, it really made rooting for Kana easier. Another good detail was how unreasonably impossible Taichi's plan to win the 50-50 situation no matter what was. These sort of games feel far more realistic and thus exciting than the Queen's robot play.

Bill might have given up on Arata, but I was still glad to see him. Especially after Chihaya let Taichi sleep against her shoulder.

[Ryllharu]

I'm really enjoying the way this series has started to show the audience more of the strategic edge to karuta at the same that Chihaya's eyes have finally been opened to the concept. Perhaps it was an oversight on the original author's part to ignore it for so long, but it ultimately is a nice effect. Chihaya only saw speed and reaction time in the game, and we generally only witnessed those aspects as well. Now that she's begun to look deeper into the playstyles of others to improve herself, the series itself allows for more time to be spent on it.

Pretty clever presentation, happy accident or no.

From that viewpoint, it also makes Shinobu's robot play far less impenetrable. She's wasn't just a monster, Chihaya simply didn't have an eye for the strategies that were being used against her.

A nice end to the Kana/Deskmoto match...capped by yet another lovely depiction of Chihaya's lack of grace and composure. Chihaya ORZ, hehe. Taichi almost stumbled back on to his old ways, but thankfully in the lobby, he knew he was solely to blame for his loss. Perhaps he has finally grown up fully.

[Buffalobiian]

The van scene reinforced my support for a Taichi x Chihaya ending, even if we still don't know who Chihaya wants to go out with. (It'll be something ridiculous, I'm sure).

They still didn't end up covering Nishida's style of play very well. From all we've seen up till now, he seems to be inferior to Taichi at least as far as ability is concerned. How exactly is he good? I'm not refuting it so much as unable to comprehend it. The only thing I remember is his barrel-roll.

[Kraco]

Considering we haven't learned any special traits of his, he's just probably an overall good player. If the circumstances favour him, he can win, just like happened this time. At least he isn't lacking ambition, which is something serving him well.

[shinta|hikari]

I hope Arata is much weaker compared to his previous self. While I do hope he manages to become the representative (just so he can meet Chihaya), I also wish that he gets owned in the nationals or something, not by anyone special but because the level is that much higher. Why? Because those types tend to get the girl in the end in Shoujo stories. While I am cool with Mashima with his recent improvements, he still does not come close to Arata.

[Kraco]

I hope Arata is much weaker compared to his previous self.

And what exactly is that previous self? We haven't even seen it, except that he could win some tournament and thus arrived late to see the grandpa's end. We do know his pause was only a year long, so he shouldn't be terribly weaker now that he practices hard again. He was working all the time, physically and mentally, so he didn't turn into a passive couch slouch either. Of course this doesn't mean he should be an uber robot like the current Queen, but he certainly shouldn't be much weaker than his previous self, whatever that level was. We last saw his skills when he was a little kid, so it's utterly unreasonable to assume he wouldn't have developed after that at all.

I'm not going to hate this series if Arata doesn't get Chihaya, but I'm going to hate this if some noname beats Arata and that's it. That would be too ruthless. Arata was the sole reason Chihaya developed from a sister worshipper into a woman of her own. Consequently it was also Arata who allowed Taichi to grow a personality not seeking only easy victories, even if Chihaya was the visible proxy in that process.

[Kraco]

Episode 20 - HS (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=289422)





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I guess Shinta's wish was at least partially fulfilled already, with Arata getting beaten by some noname. Although we still don't know how strong he was before the hiatus. Nevertheless, it seems like he did retain his class A status. While I liked this episode quite a lot, I also think it was a bit ambiguous, probably on purpose. Not awfully lot was learned, especially not of Arata's developed style. What's-his-name did seem to suggest Arata falls into the calculative type with a poker face, but who knows, I wouldn't ponder too deeply his words, as he seemed a bit pissed off he only won by luck, basically. It has been hammened home already that on the top you can't be single-anything skills wise but must boast a broader spectrum.

All in all I did enjoy the meeting, however short and disjointed it was. It was amusing Chihaya was all about karuta so quickly, even if she was really moved. Arata seemed to find it no less funny. Taichi and Arata's meeting turned out more meaningful, but I guess that makes sense now. Forgetting the karuta brained Chihaya, Arata clearly understands human relationships now, and that created the tension here, which also put into words when Arata probed the possibility of a relationship between Taichi and Chihaya. That was a fine scene in many ways, likely being a big stress relief for Taichi as well. First seeing Arata lose and then being so unsure about Chihaya must have clarified the battlefield somewhat for Taichi.

But like I said, I felt this was a bit too ambiguous to really make strong predictions about whether Arata manages to get Chihaya.

[Ryllharu]

One thing I noticed about Arata's style was how placid he was. The water comparison was a nice touch in that regard. While pretty much every other player we've ever seen flinches when a dead card is read, Arata does not. He calmly waits for the card to be read, as if he already knew.

Taichi really has grown up. Arata might have quite the competition for Chihaya.

I don't think there's much else for me to say, Kraco covered the rest.

[shinta|hikari]

Arata is still much stronger than I expected. I wanted him to struggle, because that makes shoujo-lovers root for the character making him more likely to win against the struggling Taichi. However, the Taichi Arata meeting showed his cute side, making up for his lack of pitiful struggling.

The ace of Taichi's club barely beat Arata, and by luck at that. It is almost amazing how good he is at this point.

[Kraco]

I wanted him to struggle, because that makes shoujo-lovers root for the character making him more likely to win against the struggling Taichi. However, the Taichi Arata meeting showed his cute side, making up for his lack of pitiful struggling.


According to my experience, in shoujo only girls struggle visibly. The prime guys hardly struggle at all or if they do, they do it internally never losing their coolness to outsiders. Secondary guys might struggle to make the primary ones look all the more cool. However, this show is more like a sports one than a shoujo romance, so anybody could struggle.


One thing I noticed about Arata's style was how placid he was. The water comparison was a nice touch in that regard. While pretty much every other player we've ever seen flinches when a dead card is read, Arata does not. He calmly waits for the card to be read, as if he already knew.

Yeah. Despite the explosive reactions he was the concentrated, externally stoic type already back when he was a kid, so such development looks natural. It was already said earlier in the show, but looking at such a face must be quite distressing for the opponent. The Queen certainly employed it as well (although she's a robot, so I doubt she had a choice in the matter).

[shinta|hikari]

The cool collected types generally do not get the girl if there is a dedicated passionate rival (one that is not there for comic relief), except for some rare exceptions in shoujo. However, Taichi and Arata are not clear cut in those categories. Taichi struggles, but is actually the 'perfect' guy, smart, handsome and athletic. On the other hand, Arata seems cool and collected, but is actually hot blooded, naive, and is only good at Karuta.

[Buffalobiian]

HorribleSubs - Episode 21 (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=291891)

[Ryllharu]

This series is starting to get loaded with a lot of great seiyuu cameo roles. I recognized Ririka's voice but couldn't place her actress (I want to say it was Ootani Ikue (http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=creator&creatorid=7), but I'm not 100% sure), and Murao was definitely Ueda Yuuji (http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=creator&creatorid=3002). Obviously Kana's mother is Hisakawa Aya (http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=creator&creatorid=360), with Shitaya Noriko (FSN Sakura) sneaking in, Kanai Mika (http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=creator&creatorid=70) as Sakura-san a few episodes ago, and those are just the really obvious ones.

Ririka was an interesting display actually. It was like Chihaya playing against herself. Until Chihaya was allowed to unleash her own abilities, she got a taste of how she is viewed by her opponents. Blindingly fast, but prone to errors. It was pleasing to see how far (and how quickly) Chihaya has really come since she began learning from her friends, teammates and opponents. What was better is that Chihaya defended Ririka. She didn't want the girl to get discouraged after she failed to meet expectations, and like Ririka's mother, wanted her to find something she enjoyed. Chihaya certainly wanted Ririka to be another Chihaya rather than another Young Taichi. Hopefully, she's accomplished that goal, and now Ririka has gained a role model.

Ririka is also young, so her hearing is more exceptional than just being the owner of large ears. Chihaya was also quick to point out that her diminutive size removes a lot of the weight an adult competitor has to move around at speed. Ririka lost a little reach, but she didn't tire herself out at all.

[Kraco]

Yeah, this felt like a really meaningful match. It's not like Chihaya wouldn't have seen the weaknesses of her old style by losing to stronger opponents, especially the lucky one, but now she saw it from the second person angle. I was worried for a time that Chihaya would start to sympathise with Ririka too much, and while she indeed did, fortunately it didn't affect her own playing at all. In fact it turned out very warm. Like you said, Ryll, I don't think this ended up demoralising Ririka at all, after Chihaya herself almost crying and then defending her, especially since (I guess) Ririka likes karuta itself and not only the praise it gains her. Losing teaches more than winning anyway, so if she can take it, it'll serve her well. She has her prime years in front of her, after all.

Looks like Arata's club isn't too hot at the moment.

[Ryllharu]

Like you said, Ryll, I don't think this ended up demoralising Ririka at all, after Chihaya herself almost crying and then defending her, especially since (I guess) Ririka likes karuta itself and not only the praise it gains her.Ririka didn't seem to like karuta the way Chihaya likes karuta, so I didn't feel that Chihaya was empathizing with her that way. Ririka's mother pointed it out very simply to the audience. Ririka gets bullied about her large ears (and so did the mother apparently) and was trying to hide them. In karuta, Ririka found an activity where those are a huge benefit, and she finds it fun, which is all Ririka's mother really hoped for. Karuta gives Ririka something that she can be proud to have large ears. No one will bully Ririka over her ear size in karuta, they wouldn't even notice it, they'd only see her resulting increased reaction speed.

But Chihaya's support (and display of skill) will certainly help Ririka continue to enjoy karuta. Just imagine if poor Ririka had to face Sudo!

I think Chihaya was moved to tears by Ririka's determination. Even when Chihaya began to overwhelm her, Ririka refused to let it get to her after her initial sniffles. That's the attitude of a future contender for Queen!

[Kraco]

Ririka's so young that at that age she could like something one day and be totally disinterested the next day, but considering she was there to play against Chihaya in the first place, and how those people wondered if she could develop into another potential Queen, she must have shown some good results in the past. I don't think she could have achieved that without determination, that is, liking what she's doing. If it originates from turning a weakness into a strength doesn't matter; everybody has their own way of finding their best hobby.

[shinta|hikari]

I think Chihaya has just gotten that strong.

[Buffalobiian]

I thought the last time was Taichi's last chance to be in the East qualifiers.. or were those held twice a year?

I'm cheering for Taichi the most here. He's taking his strength as far as it'll take him, and now's learning about the aspects he's missing. Development-wise towards maturation he's not too far behind Chihaya, though her talent gives her a much bigger boost than his memorisation currently is. Maybe that'll change when he has all the cards and their positions memorised.

[Kraco]

I think Chihaya has just gotten that strong.

Nothing at all in all this spoke of strength particularly. Chihaya is still very much in the process of trying to develop a style that would let her be both fast and avoid mistakes. She wasn't even sympathising with Ririka out of her own strength, quite the contrary, she was feeling for her because Ririka was walking the same path that had ultimately led Chihaya to a deadend. No doubt she was remembering her own earlier times and how much stuff mattered to her back then plus simply how painful it is to lose against a superior opponent.


I'm cheering for Taichi the most here.

I find myself cheering for him during some of his games, like those against Nishida, but otherwise his non-game actions bother me too much for me to cheer for him in general. He had a girlfriend whom he obviously neglected with Chihaya in the back of his mind all the time, yet he pretty much did nothing at all before Arata reappeared. Then he quickly dumped the other girl and is now constantly hanging between using his proximity to Chihaya to his advantage or being a gentleman (or whatever you'd call it) and trying to wait until Chihaya makes any sort of proclamation of her own feelings, just like Arata seemed to be waiting. Although we just learned Arata was holding back because he thought Taichi and Chihaya were already a pair, so it's anybody's guess if his behavior is going to change. He doesn't seem like an overly amorous fellow, though.

[shinta|hikari]

What I meant was Ririka is probably pretty great at karuta. The more ignorant watchers were disappointed because they did not know how good Chihaya, the one beating the genius up, is (has gotten).

[Ryllharu]

Ririka would have to be. She's rank A, same as Chihaya and Sudo.

But as Kraco said, Ririka relies only on speed and her hearing reaction time, same as Chihaya used to. It works, but Ririka too needed to see how easily that style can be bested, as well as how far she can go. It's a lot better that she was beaten by someone using the same style instead of how Chihaya was beaten by Sakura. It's easier for Ririka to understand how much stronger their shared style can become with minor changes and experience.

[Buffalobiian]

I was expecting some words of encouragement/wisdom from Chihaya to Ririka about how she used to go through that stage, or how she got better from sheer speed by observing others - but in reality I guess that would never work.

Winners giving advice/comforting words to the loser only works if they had a good relationship such that the advice is known to be given with good intent rather than a show of superiority or a bad attempt at comforting.

[Kraco]

I don't think Chihaya is in any position to give Ririka solid advice. She hasn't yet finished developing a wholesome style to replace her old speed-only style. Ririka might be still too young to deduct the reasons for her lost without anybody saying anything, but nevertheless Chihaya is not the one to say anything, other than to silently support the kid, just like she did. Ririka must have a club of her own, including an instructor who will explain the situation carefully. Chihaya suddenly using all ten seconds to tell Ririka not to rely only on speed would ruin Ririka's games, should she heed the haphazard advice.

[Kraco]

Episode 22 - HS (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=293882)




- - - - - - ---



What an annoying episode. I have nothing against tough fights when both the players are honourable and human, but when one isn't, it's bloody annoying. It was like that with the current Queen, who was a robot, not a person, and now we have a dirty player intimidating younger, well-behaving opponents into giving her free cards, and not just using valid psychological warfare of setting the pace for the game. I'd have grudgingly accepted if she only did it once, but she did it at least twice - that we saw, so it could have been more times. What a complete scumbag. If this didn't leave such a bad taste, it would have been a good lesson for Chihaya to learn that there are such cheap and miserable failures of players in the karuta world and she should be ready for them as well and harden her nature to tell them to shut up if they start to whine.

I didn't like this episode at all, even if it's realistic that karuta would also have evil, cheating players like that.

[Buffalobiian]

I'm not sure how "evil" it is really. Sure it's annoying as hell, and unless you had a camera it really comes down to whoever is more persistent. We'll have to give the previous queen the benefit of doubt that when she argues that it's her win, it is (weird as that may sound). Karuta is, after all, about whoever touches the card first - not who removes it from the field.

As for intimidating, that's what aggressive karuta that Dr Harata teaches is all about anyway.

[oyabun]

Well just be faster and make it so that your opponent won't be able to contest who got it first. Simple as that. I believe Chihaya is much stronger than what we saw this episode but she is so simple minded that she easily chokes in unfamiliar situation like this one.

[Kraco]

Well just be faster and make it so that your opponent won't be able to contest who got it first.

I'm 100% sure Chihaya touched first both the cards that we saw contested. But the bitch simply had seen earlier Chihaya's mood swings and how easily affected she is, to the point of changing her playing style entirely a couple of times during the game. So, she decided to capitalize on that to get free cards simply because she judged, unfortunately correctly, that someone like Chihaya would never argue against the former queen. I'd say that's past the acceptable line of aggressive playing. It's a different thing to suppress the opponent mentally like the sadist guy does and to outright steal cards that the other one already won.

People like that are easily ruining the enjoyment of the game for others. Just think how some kid, like the one Chihaya played with earlier, would feel if her opponent claimed her wins one after another. She would start to hate the game and quit the club. This bitch doesn't give a shit about karuta as a sport anymore, she simply is pissed off she was the queen only for a year and now she wants the title back, no matter how dirty tricks she needs to employ.

[Buffalobiian]

I'm 100% sure Chihaya touched first both the cards that we saw contested.

Are you sure? Yamamoto-Yumin-sure?

[Xelbair]

I'm with kraco on this one.

[fireheart]

I'm 100% sure Chihaya touched first both the cards that we saw contested. But the bitch simply had seen earlier Chihaya's mood swings and how easily affected she is, to the point of changing her playing style entirely a couple of times during the game. So, she decided to capitalize on that to get free cards simply because she judged, unfortunately correctly, that someone like Chihaya would never argue against the former queen. I'd say that's past the acceptable line of aggressive playing. It's a different thing to suppress the opponent mentally like the sadist guy does and to outright steal cards that the other one already won.

People like that are easily ruining the enjoyment of the game for others. Just think how some kid, like the one Chihaya played with earlier, would feel if her opponent claimed her wins one after another. She would start to hate the game and quit the club. This bitch doesn't give a shit about karuta as a sport anymore, she simply is pissed off she was the queen only for a year and now she wants the title back, no matter how dirty tricks she needs to employ.

Well I'm not so sure about it considering Nishidas inner monologue about her it seems that's her normal playing style before she was the queen and true enough if she did touch it first and Chihaya just pushed the card away then it belongs to her. The only way to settle it is verbally or with a judge. If Chihaya was absolutely certain she should have stood her ground though I don't think Yumi cheated because of the things Nishida said about her and because he wouldn't think so highly of her if she was a cheater. What you described and what Nishida describes is pretty far from each other, so I guess it boils down to if you believe in what he said or more in your interpretation of her playing style.
Also from what we've seen Komano have done the exact same thing before, perhaps a couple more times that we simply didn't get to see. What Chihaya should have done though is ask if someone could keep an eye on the match and be the final judge so that it doesn't end in a verbal word against word argument every time.

The other way could also be said about the situation if Ririka (the kid) touched a card first and someone else blows it away and she can't say anything or question the fact that the opponent took her card then it could be just as devastating. If we imagine the same situation where she overheard people saying she's not all that great but change it to her being a pain in the ass for everyone and holding up/ruining everyone game even though she touched the card first. To me it's probably worse than what you described since that's pretty much everyone against you even though you did the right thing, they talk badly of you and look down on you for it.

Finally I can't believe anyone haven't mention how they don't look forward to Chihaya going bald.

[Kraco]

If touching the card first yet still looking like the other one got the card was so common, it would happen all the time. Yet for some reason only Yumi seems to be famous of "losing" cards that way. Either she has a horrible playing style that results in consistent errors (still would be her own fault) or, I believe, she simply uses that as a ruse to intimidate free cards from the opponent. She has no honour, so she doesn't care how much she bothers everybody else by starting the argument, whereas most of her opponents feel embarrassed when the whole room needs to pause until they are finished - so most would yield the card to escape the humiliation and to stop bothering others.

If she was genuinely able to get the cards first, Yumi would also use enough force to make it clear she touched the card. All the other players do something to the card, not just claim afterwards they touched it first, with no proof whatsoever. Chihaya even learned from Arata the style to really set the card flying, removing all need for additional proof. I hope Chihaya never needs to play against this bitch anymore. Rather, I'd like the sadist guy to play against Yumi. Let's see her try to talk cards out of him!

[shinta|hikari]

I'm with kraco on this one.

[Ryllharu]

Thirded.

Yumi's play style is repellent. She cheats, plain and simple. If there is any doubt in a card, she will keep going until she wins. More importantly, she only had to argue cards that were on her own side, that is, cards that would have allowed Chihaya to turn the game around considerably. Chihaya lost with four still on her side, the exact number of cards the cheating earned Yumi.

It seems to come with the society too. Kitano broke the rules by interrupting the match. True, it helped everyone including Chihaya, but he should have been banned for that immediately. He changed the entire dynamic of the room, ruining part of the advantage any mental players might have had against the "simple-minded" as Yumi put it, as well as the players with superior endurance (heat resistance).

Thankfully, Kana seems to have finally found her place in karuta and will hopefully leave that society before she gets infected with their poor behavior. Becoming a pro-reader fits her well, even if I'd still like to see her play. If there's only a few shy of a dozen readers qualified for Master/Queen matches, then someone in love with the poems as much as Kana is perfect.

Hopefully Deskmoto and Nikuman will see the same. Their karuta society is trash.

[fireheart]

If she was genuinely able to get the cards first, Yumi would also use enough force to make it clear she touched the card. All the other players do something to the card, not just claim afterwards they touched it first, with no proof whatsoever. Chihaya even learned from Arata the style to really set the card flying, removing all need for additional proof. I hope Chihaya never needs to play against this bitch anymore. Rather, I'd like the sadist guy to play against Yumi. Let's see her try to talk cards out of him!

Well I'm not going to argue much about this since I've already said most arguments I got which is all based on Nishida anyway. The only thing I got to add that given what we know about Chihayas speed it's not impossible for Yumi to touch the card first with the intent to send it away and Chihaya being as fast as she is managing to do that in the moment before Yumi manages to do it. If we look at that first card and the second card after that we see that Yumi actually swings her arm with the intent to send it flying.

Also here's a screenshot right before Chihaya touches the first card that Yumi calls her out on. Still think she's a cheating bitch?
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/696/horriblesubschihayafuru.jpg/
Moment after
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/690/horriblesubschihayafuru.jpg/

[Buffalobiian]

Also here's a screenshot right before Chihaya touches the first card that Yumi calls her out on. Still think she's a cheating bitch?
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/696/horriblesubschihayafuru.jpg/
Moment after
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/690/horriblesubschihayafuru.jpg/

Same thing for the second shown close-call at 20:12. I'll let you guys have the satisfaction of watching it yourselves. ;)

Good find fireheart.

[Xelbair]

Thirded.

Yumi's play style is repellent. She cheats, plain and simple. If there is any doubt in a card, she will keep going until she wins. More importantly, she only had to argue cards that were on her own side, that is, cards that would have allowed Chihaya to turn the game around considerably. Chihaya lost with four still on her side, the exact number of cards the cheating earned Yumi.

It seems to come with the society too. Kitano broke the rules by interrupting the match. True, it helped everyone including Chihaya, but he should have been banned for that immediately. He changed the entire dynamic of the room, ruining part of the advantage any mental players might have had against the "simple-minded" as Yumi put it, as well as the players with superior endurance (heat resistance).

Thankfully, Kana seems to have finally found her place in karuta and will hopefully leave that society before she gets infected with their poor behavior. Becoming a pro-reader fits her well, even if I'd still like to see her play. If there's only a few shy of a dozen readers qualified for Master/Queen matches, then someone in love with the poems as much as Kana is perfect.

Hopefully Deskmoto and Nikuman will see the same. Their karuta society is trash.
Sir, you are 4th in line, not 3rd :P

Yumi's style looks just like something out of primary school - arguing, and hoping that your opponent is intimidated, not using actual skill.

[Splash!]

I agree with fireheart on this one. Sure, she isn't a likeable character but I also got the feeling from Nishida's monologue that she wasn't cheating (and those screenshots seem to validate this).

She can argue as much as she wants if she is in the right, especially when hanging by a thread in the match and one wrong call could be the end of it. I am sure she played a lot of different A ranked opponents to earn the title of the Queen the first time. There should have been loads of opponents confident enough to call her bluff. If she really was into the habit of cheating, she should have a damaged reputation and zero credibility for contesting calls in the first place.

Yumin's confidence when arguing probably comes from being right most of the time. Sure it is annoying, but it does not make her a cheater.

[Ryllharu]

I'll admit that the screenshots are quite damning to the cheating theory, but if she didn't think what she was doing was wrong, then why did she stop the practice when she was Queen? If she was so sure she actually was right, and used her speed accordingly as she did against Chihaya, she would have contested it anyway. Yet, she herself decided that her tactics are unbecoming of the title holder. There are hints of guilt there.

Such brazen behavior would even be able to throw off Robo-Shinobu. Shinobu got fired up just because Chihaya took a card from her the honorable way. How would she fare against someone like Yumi always rattling her robotic confidence? Perhaps Yumi didn't need to get as fired up about it while she was Queen, but a cold confidence and placid demeanor would have worked just as well. Yet Yumi dropped the strategy entirely.

[Buffalobiian]

Yumin dropped her habit because it was deemed unsightly by other people. Perhaps she even feels annoyed at having to wait during a match because another team was arguing herself. It's the same reason why I (and I imagine some other people too) would not bother arguing about being given the wrong change at a shopping counter if the unsightliness was not worth the monetary amount. I also would not put up a very strong front if I wasn't sure that I was totally right.

So far, Yumin has shown to do what she does now because:

1) The stakes in karuta are high (at least to her)
2) She is sure that she is right. (From the limited evidence, her confidence is not unjustified)

Unsightliness has influenced how Yumin played when she was Queen. Note that while they said she dropped the practice, they didn't specifically say that Yumin lost the title because she stopped contending over close calls. From everything we've been shown so far, my personal conclusion is that Shinobu beat her outright. There were no close calls where Shinobu claimed a card she did not earn.

Another act that would be deemed unsightly would be Deskmoto's sweeps that cleared the entire quadrant of a field based on his calculated odds.

[Kraco]

While I'm not going to rewatch an episode I hated to verify those shots animated (since still shots prove little), it doesn't remove half of Yumi's fault: That she fails to make definite moves. In a speed contest like karuta, you have to make it clear who was first. Otherwise it does open the field wide for corrupt methods, which I still believe Yumi employes. Once she got used to contending cards she believed she got first, it's only a tiny step to give in and start to contend cards she couldn't have been sure of. The stakes were high, after all, and her lousy behavior during the first half of this match clearly demonstrated she's definitely not a person of the best morals and spirits. Not to mention she's shamelessly breaking the unwritten rules of the higher class games by breaking the silence continuously - simply because she purposefully has developed a style not allowing definite moves. No matter how you look at it, she's a scumbag.

[fireheart]

but if she didn't think what she was doing was wrong, then why did she stop the practice when she was Queen? If she was so sure she actually was right, and used her speed accordingly as she did against Chihaya, she would have contested it anyway. Yet, she herself decided that her tactics are unbecoming of the title holder. There are hints of guilt there.

I don't quite agree on your theory on why she dropped it, to me it seemed more like she dropped it because it wasn't refined. It lies in the values behind the game with the poems and tradition like Kana mentions when she joined the karuta club. Since then the sports evolved into a far more competitive one especially if we compare it to how Kana perceived karuta in her imagination to reality. Basically I believe she dropped her way of playing karuta because it was unladylike and as queen she felt she needed to be as refined and ladylike as possible. Consequently during the match against Chihaya she figured why would does it matter if she's not all proper and ladylike.

To be fair it's only my theory but you have to ask yourself is there really any guilt there? Why would there be any guilt involved when she's right and honest? Do you feel guilty when you speak up when you know you're in the right and play fair? Why would it be unfitting for the queen to do it? I'm sorry but I can't see any logical connection between guilt and her dropping her way of playing.

If my theory is right you're basically knocking her for being unladylike yet you've praised Chihaya for being unladylike and honest with herself, it might be worth thinking about it.


While I'm not going to rewatch an episode I hated to verify those shots animated (since still shots prove little), it doesn't remove half of Yumi's fault: That she fails to make definite moves. In a speed contest like karuta, you have to make it clear who was first. Otherwise it does open the field wide for corrupt methods, which I still believe Yumi employes. Once she got used to contending cards she believed she got first, it's only a tiny step to give in and start to contend cards she couldn't have been sure of. The stakes were high, after all, and her lousy behavior during the first half of this match clearly demonstrated she's definitely not a person of the best morals and spirits. Not to mention she's shamelessly breaking the unwritten rules of the higher class games by breaking the silence continuously - simply because she purposefully has developed a style not allowing definite moves. No matter how you look at it, she's a scumbag.

You don't have to rewatch it but buffalobiian gave you a timestamp for the second card she called Chihaya out on and as for the ones I took a screenshot of it was at 17:01 so you only need to check those moments.

Most of the time it is clear who got the card first but there will always be times when it's questionable, Chihaya had a moment like that with Shinobu the difference then was that Chihaya decided on her own that Shinobu should have the card even though Shinobu offered the card to her first. Does that mean it's both Shinobu and Chihayas fault for not making it clear? Is it possible that it could have lead to an argument about who touched it first? Same thing with Sakura in ep 18 if Chihaya sent the card flying instead what would have happened? Is Komano corrupt for the methods he employs? Besides from what we've seen Yumi only did this twice both of which we can confirm/check that she did touch the card first. Also I've stated why it's more possible for close calls with Chihaya considering how fast she is.

So her being in low spirits from as Nishida speculates being unable to live up to all the expectations automatically means she's likely to start cheating? She's hardly done anything wrong. Ok she held up the games for everyone else but if we go back to what I described with Ririka do you really think it's more important for her to not speak up when she truly believes she's in the right? What are you suggesting she should do?

So far it looks more like speculations for why she is a scumbag but nothing definite. Some good points she has, judging from the marks on her hands she practices karuta a lot and gives it a lot of effort, she's shown gratitude to those that guided her and she's honest and speaks up for what she believes in.

[Buffalobiian]

In a speed contest like karuta, you have to make it clear who was first.....

In a speed contest like Karuta, you have to GET there first.

Don't talk like Yumin "purposefully ... developed a style not allowing definitive moves" as if she wants it that way.

She's clearly disheartened that someone as young, beautiful and talented as Shinobu could beat her with flying colours when she had to struggle to get there. If she could knock cards flying, I'm sure she could.

A lot of you guys are saying "She should just be faster" as the alternative to Yumin's current actions. Why don't you try to beat Chihaya then? I'm sure everybody playing would love to be faster if they could.

Or should she focus less on speed and more on power so she can rip the card from under an opponent because that seems satisfy the point of the game?

What do you propose a player should do if their speed matches their opponent to the point where close-calls are made often? Sit back, give up and play them when you're clearly faster (if possible) than them next time? And we called Taichi out for not trying things he wasn't clearly good at...


The stakes were high, after all, and her lousy behavior during the first half of this match clearly demonstrated she's definitely not a person of the best morals and spirits.

Yumin had lower morale, not morals. It's been said that she argues strongly for things that she thinks is right. She got disheartened when someone apparently superior to her (Shinobu) beat her. What's wrong with that?

A person who is not "the best of morals and spirits" doesn't default to scumbag.

All arguments mentioned (besides the guilt thing Ryll suspects Yumin feels) that say Yumin is cheating/scumbag/at-fault-for-not-being-faster are unfounded. The only thing that has any fact behind it is that of the two close-calls animated, Yumin called them out correctly.

One doesn't blame a track runner for not clearly coming first. One asks "where the fuck is the camera?" Why isn't anybody here asking that?

[Kraco]

One doesn't blame a track runner for not clearly coming first. One asks "where the fuck is the camera?" Why isn't anybody here asking that?

Because there's normally no need for it? If only one person out of a hundred has a style that lets her, supposedly, touch cards first yet without disturbing them, creating objectively ambiguous situations, but then as well has a personality paying no heed to the wellbeing of others, it's nothing but bothersome. There's no big money circulating in these tournaments, so they can't have fast cameras recording every match. They can't even have a big hall for them to play in, to prevent the worsening atmosphere during the games.

Fine, I admit half of my accusations are baseless, or rather are based only on Yumi's unpleasant and rude personality and nothing concrete, but I still won't back down. She's not suited for karuta. It's sad a person not suited for karuta made it all the way up to the title of the queen, but perhaps that's exactly how she made it up there, by playing outside of the unwritten rules.

[Buffalobiian]

If only one person out of a hundred has a style that lets her, supposedly, touch cards first yet without disturbing them, creating objectively ambiguous situations, but then as well has a personality paying no heed to the wellbeing of others, it's nothing but bothersome.

Again, I must emphasis that Yumin does not deliberately play in a way that purposefully sets up ambiguous situations or touches cards without disturbing them. The first card that Yumin took in the game against Chihaya at 6:14, she swept it right off the field faster than Chihaya could reach it. Chihaya described it as "compact and measured". The second card after that (7:04), Yumin was clearly faster again with her block.

Yumin argues when she only manages to touch a card first, but where the competition is so closely following her that:

1) she doesn't manage the sweep the card away
2) the opponent doesn't realise they weren't first
3) the opponent continues to sweep away the card from under Yumin's hand without realising #2 (sometimes)

Yumin is perceptive enough to know when and how a card is taken from her even when she got there first. She asked Chihaya if she's sure it was her card. Chihaya answered with "I think".

I also don't see Yumin having a personality that pays no heed to the well-being of others. Sudo doesn't get into shit for what he does, and Chihaya's first thought at the cards this game was "I can attack like crazy!! Lucky!!" and not "Poor girl sitting there, maybe I should tell her these cards aren't organised favourably for her."

The last card Chihaya took in her match against Sudo was an undisturbed tap as well, but since it was so graceful and cool we decided not to get up her about it...

I will be the first to admit that Yumin isn't anywhere as pretty, funny or has as alluring a style as Chihaya - but she isn't doing anything wrong.

[fireheart]

Fine, I admit half of my accusations are baseless, or rather are based only on Yumi's unpleasant and rude personality and nothing concrete, but I still won't back down. She's not suited for karuta.

I'm a bit confused here if one half of your accusations more or less been proven wrong (cheating) and one half of them are baseless... what's left?

I get her breaking the unwritten rule but I don't see the big deal about being honest and saying I touched it first (especially since it's true), yes it sounds like an elementary school argument but that's not really the point. You haven't really given any alternative to the problem, either speak up and get the card that was yours or be quiet and let the opponent get a card they didn't earn. Normally everyone thinks things should be fair and Yumi should speak up. If it had been reversed and Chihaya contested cards that we could see she touched first then most would probably applaud her for speaking her mind and being honest. But in Yumi's case most rage and hate her for it? Anyway the whole thing reminds me a little of Ben-To with "A nail that sticks out to much should be removed" or something like that anyway.



Not directed at Kraco: if Chihaya would have gotten those two cards would that make her a cheater? Or does it not count as cheating since she didn't mean to and didn't know.

[Kraco]

Like I said from the beginning, Yumi shouldn't play so that she only touches the card slightly, giving the other player the impression they got the card first. And even if that happens occasionally, she shouldn't every time start an argument over it, like she apparently did before becoming the queen and now is doing again. If two people roughly equally good play a game like this, they should statistically lose such cards in an equal proportion - unless one of them acts like bitch and contends it every time. If there's much skill difference, situations like that won't even happen in significant numbers. However, like I said before, I have zero doubt Yumi would forcefully make herself "equal" even with a better opponent by contending every fricking card. She wouldn't have a notorious fame like that otherwise.

Keep Chihaya out of this. She yields cards like there's no tomorrow, even if the opponent does nothing but cough. You can hardly claim she would, with a loser attitude like that, purposefully try to rob cards if she noticed she was the second to touch them.

What comes to your confusion, note I used the word "or", not "and".

[Ryllharu]

To be fair it's only my theory but you have to ask yourself is there really any guilt there? Why would there be any guilt involved when she's right and honest? Do you feel guilty when you speak up when you know you're in the right and play fair? Why would it be unfitting for the queen to do it? I'm sorry but I can't see any logical connection between guilt and her dropping her way of playing.

If my theory is right you're basically knocking her for being unladylike yet you've praised Chihaya for being unladylike and honest with herself, it might be worth thinking about it.Don't conflate "ladylike" behavior with the decision Yumi took to stop her usual play. Nishida said that she stopped because it was unfitting behavior for the Queen. They didn't state either way what that meant. Yumi herself didn't reflect on it any more than saying it's acceptable if you're a challenger. You can connect it to being refined just as easily everyone else connects it to being dishonorable. If Yumi stopped the practice while she held the title, she clearly felt it was wrong. That's guilt.

She's disruptive, and dishonorable about the way she gets her opponents into such verbal challenges, as Kraco stated. She certainly could noticeably move the card away if she got their first, even with just a pinky. Shinobu, Arata, and Sakura all played that way. Except Yumi deliberately does not do so. She intentionally moves all the cards weakly, and that is why without her dishonorable play, she appears so sluggish and half-hearted.

Again, as Kraco stated, leave Chihaya out of it. She has never acted in anything less than a fair way to her opponent. Even when she copied Sudo's technique of standing up to break your opponent's momentum during that one match (which is totally within the rules), she mentioned being uncomfortable doing it. You can't even compare the two. Sudo, yes, with all his sadistic play forcing the opponent to lose momentum, break concentration, or get flustered. Sakura, yes, with calling every win "lucky" as if it was her opponent failed to perform at their optimum, making them doubt themselves. But not Chihaya. Aside from being shocked about being called on those two cards, she will graciously concede contested cards, and always blames herself for losing.

[fireheart]

Like I said from the beginning, Yumi shouldn't play so that she only touches the card slightly, giving the other player the impression they got the card first. And even if that happens occasionally, she shouldn't every time start an argument over it, like she apparently did before becoming the queen and now is doing again. If two people roughly equally good play a game like this, they should statistically lose such cards in an equal proportion - unless one of them acts like bitch and contends it every time. If there's much skill difference, situations like that won't even happen in significant numbers. However, like I said before, I have zero doubt Yumi would forcefully make herself "equal" even with a better opponent by contending every fricking card. She wouldn't have a notorious fame like that otherwise.

Keep Chihaya out of this. She yields cards like there's no tomorrow, even if the opponent does nothing but cough. You can hardly claim she would, with a loser attitude like that, purposefully try to rob cards if she noticed she was the second to touch them.

What comes to your confusion, note I used the word "or", not "and".

Ahh thank you it makes more sense now, the only thing I have to counter it with is that Yumi swung her arm fully just like everyone else did to send cards flying. So she didn't do what you described touching the card slightly, she did it full swing on the first card (17:01) though you can't see if she did on the second card (20:05) but you can see her hand shoving the card to the side so she probably swung. So no she didn't just "poke" the cards she swung at them. I've never tried but I'm not sure I could make it clear that I was first when the opponent is a mere split second behind, also I do not in any way know how far a card would fly when getting hit by a pinkie in the span of that split second but judging by the anime the answer is not far enough to make it clear she was first.

As for her reputation we don't really know if she literally contends every close calls or if every card contends is with absolute confidence, the way they described it kinda left it open for interpretation. And even if she did contend every single card she did still touch those cards first against Chihaya which according to the rules mean she earned those points. Actually a better question is how did Chihaya not notice that Yumi was faster on the second card she contended? If you look at that moment you can see Chihaya put her fingers on top of Yumi's fingers. That should have made it perfectly clear for Chihaya that she wasn't first abut instead she thought she was first and Yumi had to contend for it. I'd post a screenshot of the moment but you don't seem to trust them so 20:05 in horribles release anyway. That means if Chihaya was normal she probably would have noticed the fact that she placed her hand on Yumi's and effectively means Yumi would have only contended one card.

I'm well aware of the fact that Chihaya yields cards I've even mentioned how she's done it, however I still stand by it as it's a hypothetical scenario which the two of you added more things to than what I described. Basically if she at some time while playing 100% fair and touched a card first, sending it away and all that yet the other person tried to get up first and she contended. I seriously can't imagine anyone holding it against her. Again and I can't stress this enough this is only if we knew 100% she was in the right perhaps against someone who was just mistaken or someone who would try to steal cards by running up first and trying to claim it first. I'm not saying she would try to steal cards it might just be a simple "Umm I think I touched the card first". I'm not even implying foul play or even hint at her cheating her way to get a card and for the sake of being clear let's say she only did it once, though the two of you might think so since I said reverse and considering your opinions on Yumi it makes sense that you thought I implied that Chihaya was the same. So please do tell me in that situation would anyone hold it against her if she contended? Though obviously it's a lead in hypothetical situation since no one would hold it against her, given all the facts we've given you that you can easily check out yourselves how would the situation be any different from Yumi's match against Chihaya? Note situation not person.


Don't conflate "ladylike" behavior with the decision Yumi took to stop her usual play. Nishida said that she stopped because it was unfitting behavior for the Queen. They didn't state either way what that meant. Yumi herself didn't reflect on it any more than saying it's acceptable if you're a challenger. You can connect it to being refined just as easily everyone else connects it to being dishonorable. If Yumi stopped the practice while she held the title, she clearly felt it was wrong. That's guilt.

She's disruptive, and dishonorable about the way she gets her opponents into such verbal challenges, as Kraco stated. She certainly could noticeably move the card away if she got their first, even with just a pinky. Shinobu, Arata, and Sakura all played that way. Except Yumi deliberately does not do so. She intentionally moves all the cards weakly, and that is why without her dishonorable play, she appears so sluggish and half-hearted.

Again, as Kraco stated, leave Chihaya out of it. She has never acted in anything less than a fair way to her opponent. Even when she copied Sudo's technique of standing up to break your opponent's momentum during that one match (which is totally within the rules), she mentioned being uncomfortable doing it. You can't even compare the two. Sudo, yes, with all his sadistic play forcing the opponent to lose momentum, break concentration, or get flustered. Sakura, yes, with calling every win "lucky" as if it was her opponent failed to perform at their optimum, making them doubt themselves. But not Chihaya. Aside from being shocked about being called on those two cards, she will graciously concede contested cards, and always blames herself for losing.

That's why I said it's only my theory and gave a reason for why it was unbecoming/unfit for the queen to do so and asked you why would she feel guilty about her actions since from what we've seen in the episode she was in the right both times. Considering what Kana has taught us about karuta I think it's fair to say there's at least a logical connection (though I've been told my logic is... illogical) between my theory and her dropping it, whereas we've seen her contend for cards she did indeed touch first so why should she feel any guilt over it? That question is really the only thing that makes your statement illogical to me, if you can answer that then I'll have no problems saying it's logical and plausible and leave it at that.

As for the rest I think I covered most of them above to kraco. As you once told me go rewatch it and see for yourself (17:01 you might need to go from 17:00 and slow the video down a lot to see everything also 20:05). I'm seriously having trouble understanding all the hate against Yumi considering all the facts we've given you that both of you can check up on in less than a minute (if you still have the episode at least). If you want to disregard those facts then nothing I can do about it.



As for the question if it would make Chihaya a cheater which might or might not have gotten some of you up in arms, it's nothing but a question. I'm not saying she is one merely asking if she would have been considered one because I don't have any clear definition for whether she should be considered a cheater for not knowing. I'd probably lean towards no because of what we know about her and since she wasn't aware of it but it's kinda of a gray area for me as with someone else there's a high chance I'd say they were a cheater.

[Kraco]

Of course it's objectively speaking unfair to blame Yumi for something we have no proof of whatsoever that she did, which is why I admitted half of my accusations were groundless. That doesn't change her ill conduct, though, which is the basis for my dim view of her. In addition to her infamy. It all together led me to conclude she doesn't possess the spirit of sportsmanship. She only possesses a desire for the title of the Queen. That's nothing but greed if it's not accompanied by good conduct.

If memory serves, Chihaya used the disruptive cheering during the group play. That was team sport, despite all of them having an individual game. But in the end the team with three wins was victorious, regardless of the exact individuals who won those three games. So, the morale shout was every bit justified. Also, those games were held with the hall open for the audience, so a certain amount of noise was given anyway.

If Chihaya clearly tried to cheat I'd be quite amazed and also sad. She's not that kind of a person, so I'd blame poor script writing. If her opponent clearly tried to cheat - well, I think my past posts have made it evident how I'd feel.

[Ryllharu]

[This really long post]

I read this post last night when I was drunk. I couldn't quite make sense of it. So I waiting until the morning, after I had sobered up, and read it again. It appeared that the conclusion I came to while decidedly intoxicated was the correct one. The below sums up my thought quite succinctly.


"What you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul."
- The Academic Decathlon host from Billy Madison. [link] (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hfYJsQAhl0)


You're really going to have to clarify at least half of the things you wrote in your response to me for them to make any sense at all.

Just as an example, I have absolutely no idea what, "what Kana has taught us about karuta I think it's fair to say there's at least a logical connection..." has to do with Yumi's behavior/strategy and anything you or I have been discussing. But I gave it the benefit of the doubt and thought back over the course of these episodes. There's no reasonable connection between Kana's fixation on elegance and refinement (which for her extends far beyond karuta and more toward her family's business) and what we have be discussing. Shinobu is a perfect example of that. She acts like someone who simply does not care. She dresses herself in a way that only Chihaya thinks is "cute."

[fireheart]

Of course it's objectively speaking unfair to blame Yumi for something we have no proof of whatsoever that she did, which is why I admitted half of my accusations were groundless. That doesn't change her ill conduct, though, which is the basis for my dim view of her. In addition to her infamy.

Is the ill conduct her attitude when she contended cards or something else? I figured speaking up in Yumi's case is justified as long as she was right but if it's that attitude you're referring to then it's a different matter. As for the infamy I don't have anything since think it's open for interpretation which mean you could be fully right.

Just a question Chihaya's mental breakdown during the match, does that play any role in how you view Yumi?


You're really going to have to clarify at least half of the things you wrote in your response to me for them to make any sense at all.

Just as an example, I have absolutely no idea what, "what Kana has taught us about karuta I think it's fair to say there's at least a logical connection..." has to do with Yumi's behavior/strategy and anything you or I have been discussing. But I gave it the benefit of the doubt and thought back over the course of these episodes. There's no reasonable connection between Kana's fixation on elegance and refinement (which for her extends far beyond karuta and more toward her family's business) and what we have be discussing. Shinobu is a perfect example of that. She acts like someone who simply does not care. She dresses herself in a way that only Chihaya thinks is "cute."

I shall try and hopefully you'll try and answer the one question I've asked you twice already. Why would she feel guilty over contending for cards when we saw that the only two cards we've seen her contend for were rightfully hers? Again I don't understand why she should feel guilty about it other than holding up other peoples games, this is of course assuming she only does it when she's right.

Karuta as we know it through the show is based on poetry and as Kana said in episode 6 at 20:32-20:35 on the history of these poems "only members of the imperial court dabble in poetry" and that's what karuta has it's roots in. Is it ok if I draw the line imperial court = refined people? And this is a game based upon these people. Does that clear up how it has anything to do with Yumi dropping her usual playing style? It has nothing to do with her behavior or strategy as you say as it's nothing more than a theory on why it would be unfit for the queen to contend for cards and be so loud about it. But you are right Kana is fixated on elegance and refinement far beyond karuta as a game but that doesn't make the historical facts she mentioned are false. How much weight each player places on those roots will obviously be different some will care a little, some not at all and other will care greatly.

I'm not sure what else you want me to try and clear up so if there is more please do tell.

[shinta|hikari]

Pig boy said that Yumi is famous for confidently arguing about every close call. In such high level matches, there will be close calls that are really hard to determine even for the players themselves (like basketball fouls). Yumi argues for each of those instances, even if she is not certain she actually won the card. Heck, she might even argue even if she knows she did not win the card. Having examples of her arguing when she fairly won it does not refute the possibility (supported by pig boy's comment) that she just argues each and every time.

[Kraco]

Just a question Chihaya's mental breakdown during the match, does that play any role in how you view Yumi?

Only as a result of Yumi loudly contending the cards. The other troubles Chihaya was suffering are her own faults or a part of her own character. I have complained about them earlier. It's not just losing the cards (rightfully or wrongfully), but for most people, especially since they are Japanese people, rudely disturbing other people's games might be a mental shock. I do blame Yumi for that. If Chihaya, or anybody, becomes afraid every close call will bring about a noisy debate, it will prevent them from playing smoothly.

Dunno, I'm the kind of person who staid rock silent during lectures. I did have some friends who occasionally talked during them, and while I barely ever answered them, I still felt ashamed to be a part of the incident, even though I was only a person someone else talked to.

From justice's point of view there's certainly nothing wrong about contending cards rightfully, but you have to read the atmosphere and the situation. And like I said before, well in the middle of the game, both the players should equally lose cards like that, unless one of them is a cheater. If both are honest, it's nobody's loss, statistically. So, they could let it slide, in order to let other people enjoy their own games.

[fireheart]

Yumi argues for each of those instances, even if she is not certain she actually won the card. Heck, she might even argue even if she knows she did not win the card. Having examples of her arguing when she fairly won it does not refute the possibility (supported by pig boy's comment) that she just argues each and every time.

I'm not going to say it's incorrect but we don't know how true her infamy is. For example if she only contends every card she is 100% certain she won and does it with absolute confidence they're bound to remember her since everyones games get held up while she's doing it. But if there are close calls where she deems she wasn't first and doesn't start an argument then no one would notice because no ones game would get held up. If it happens several times it's far easier to just remember her as the person that does it in every close call. I don't think it's clear enough to see it in just one way which is why I said to kraco that it could very well be that way that her infamy is warranted. If we take Nishida's comment about what she's known for as proof then yes you are right, if we look into how that fame might have come about it's more uncertain since it's not impossible for it to have come about in the way I described.


It's not just losing the cards (rightfully or wrongfully), but for most people, especially since they are Japanese people, rudely disturbing other people's games might be a mental shock. I do blame Yumi for that. If Chihaya, or anybody, becomes afraid every close call will bring about a noisy debate, it will prevent them from playing smoothly.

From justice's point of view there's certainly nothing wrong about contending cards rightfully, but you have to read the atmosphere and the situation. And like I said before, well in the middle of the game, both the players should equally lose cards like that, unless one of them is a cheater. If both are honest, it's nobody's loss, statistically. So, they could let it slide, in order to let other people enjoy their own games.

That on the other hand is easier to understand and agreeable, I just think the justice part is more important though it is unfair for the other players so it's just a matter of which is more important, justice for the individual or the group.

[Ryllharu]

I shall try and hopefully you'll try and answer the one question I've asked you twice already. Why would she feel guilty over contending for cards when we saw that the only two cards we've seen her contend for were rightfully hers? Again I don't understand why she should feel guilty about it other than holding up other peoples games, this is of course assuming she only does it when she's right.I fail to see why you believe I've dodged the question. As mentioned, she stopped the practice when she became Queen. Motivation for doing so aside (which I've also stated can only be speculation), whatever the reason, she must have felt it was wrong. She felt guilty about doing it. If she wasn't, she would never have stopped.

Shinta also answered it as well, and it deserves reiterating. Nishida didn't say she argues over cards she's won, she argues over EVERY contested card, and doesn't stop until she gets it. She argues with such confidence, that only the most self-assured opponent would continue the fight until an official would be forced to step in. While there isn't really that much doubt that she had a legitimate case against Chihaya, her karuta society is well aware that she argues in other circumstances where it is far murkier. Her "skill" is getting her opponent to concede the card, whether they had it or not. She makes her swipes for cards weakly, so these instances are far more common. That's why she is a far weaker player when she's not doing it.

There's little point in quibbling over possibilities. If Nishida says she argues every instance where a card is contested, then that's what she does, whether she actually touched the card first, or her opponent just brushed her fingers when they took the card first.


Karuta as we know it through the show is based on poetry and as Kana said in episode 6 at 20:32-20:35 on the history of these poems "only members of the imperial court dabble in poetry" and that's what karuta has it's roots in. Is it ok if I draw the line imperial court = refined people? And this is a game based upon these people. Does that clear up how it has anything to do with Yumi dropping her usual playing style? It has nothing to do with her behavior or strategy as you say as it's nothing more than a theory on why it would be unfit for the queen to contend for cards and be so loud about it. But you are right Kana is fixated on elegance and refinement far beyond karuta as a game but that doesn't make the historical facts she mentioned are false. How much weight each player places on those roots will obviously be different some will care a little, some not at all and other will care greatly.Not at all. Competitive karuta just happens to be about poetry. It could be nursery rhymes, lines from Enka songs, or even pictures of farm animals, and it wouldn't change the game for the overwhelming majority of its practitioners. In fact, that is exactly the reality of the game in Japan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karuta#Varieties_of_Karuta). Characters in Chihayafuru play Uta-garuta. There's also mythological monster karuta, and a nursery rhyme one.

The basis of the Uta-garuta is a fundamental part of it for Kana, but that does not extend it to that level for anyone else that we are aware of. Kana is an admitted Imperial Court Era otaku. Certainly not the previous Queen. Or any title holder. Arata's grandfather appreciated the poems greatly, but he did not live his life that way. Does Shinobu care about them at all? She seems far more the type that is Queen simply because she's good at this particular game.

Kana has gotten a bit disgusted at competitive karuta. No one that high ranking listens to the poems, except perhaps Arata's grandfather. Yumi made zero mention of it, unlike many of the other powerful opponents we've seen. It's clear she views karuta as a practiced skill or talent as she lamented over only having the title for a single year while working so hard. That's why Kana, who still wants to be involved, has set her sights on becoming a distinguished reader rather than playing.

[fireheart]

I fail to see why you believe I've dodged the question. As mentioned, she stopped the practice when she became Queen. Motivation for doing so aside (which I've also stated can only be speculation), whatever the reason, she must have felt it was wrong. She felt guilty about doing it. If she wasn't, she would never have stopped.

Shinta also answered it as well, and it deserves reiterating. Nishida didn't say she argues over cards she's won, she argues over EVERY contested card, and doesn't stop until she gets it. She argues with such confidence, that only the most self-assured opponent would continue the fight until an official would be forced to step in. While there isn't really that much doubt that she had a legitimate case against Chihaya, her karuta society is well aware that she argues in other circumstances where it is far murkier. Her "skill" is getting her opponent to concede the card, whether they had it or not. She makes her swipes for cards weakly, so these instances are far more common. That's why she is a far weaker player when she's not doing it.

There's little point in quibbling over possibilities. If Nishida says she argues every instance where a card is contested, then that's what she does, whether she actually touched the card first, or her opponent just brushed her fingers when they took the card first.

In short you're saying she should feel guilty because she's more or less cheating? As for what shinta said I've already said all I could whether you accept that or not us up to you. But if you are saying she feels guilty for cheating and getting cards she shouldn't get and therefor stopped considering what Nishida said then I got no problems saying it's possible. As I said I don't mind saying it's possible as long as you make it clear why she should feel guilty. The reason I kept asking is because I couldn't really see it clearly in your post it felt ambiguous she should just fell guilty yet no reason why, hence why I felt you never answered the question.


Not at all. Competitive karuta just happens to be about poetry. It could be nursery rhymes, lines from Enka songs, or even pictures of farm animals, and it wouldn't change the game for the overwhelming majority of its practitioners. In fact, that is exactly the reality of the game in Japan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karuta#Varieties_of_Karuta). Characters in Chihayafuru play Uta-garuta. There's also mythological monster karuta, and a nursery rhyme one.

The basis of the Uta-garuta is a fundamental part of it for Kana, but that does not extend it to that level for anyone else that we are aware of. Kana is an admitted Imperial Court Era otaku. Certainly not the previous Queen. Or any title holder. Arata's grandfather appreciated the poems greatly, but he did not live his life that way. Does Shinobu care about them at all? She seems far more the type that is Queen simply because she's good at this particular game.

Kana has gotten a bit disgusted at competitive karuta. No one that high ranking listens to the poems, except perhaps Arata's grandfather. Yumi made zero mention of it, unlike many of the other powerful opponents we've seen. It's clear she views karuta as a practiced skill or talent as she lamented over only having the title for a single year while working so hard. That's why Kana, who still wants to be involved, has set her sights on becoming a distinguished reader rather than playing.

It doesn't really matter what Kana is that's not the point it's the facts that she shared that is important. Ok so there are several other forms of karuta but that doesn't change what I said that this form of karuta is based on poetry and that some (example Kana) will care greatly, some (Chihaya) will care to a certain extent and others (probably most players) will not care at all. Again the keywords in this is that it's got it's origins in something refined and some will care while other won't care at all. That's it, unless you're going to tell me that's wrong and nobody who plays the game cares. Now if competitive karuta was with farm animals or something else instead obvious this argument doesn't hold but it's not farm animals it's poetry.

We don't really know enough about Yumi to say it's either way and it's possible the reason why she stopped had nothing to do with any of these things. So in no way am I saying it has to be this way merely that it's a possibility even though I don't agree with your view it's not impossible either given the limited information.

[Buffalobiian]

Talking about Kana becoming a reader instead of a player, if she stops improving (or ceases to play altogether), doesn't that mean Chihaya's club will be effectively missing one person for team events?

You can have her there just to lose, but I doubt anybody feels good about doing that.

I doubt Arata is going in to fill the spot.

[Kraco]

Kana might not be able to become a "professional" reader so soon that it would matter to the club. High school is only so long, after all. The club would soon need new members anyway, regardless of Kana's choice.

[Kraco]

Episode 23 - HS (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=295810)





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Two eps left and I won't claim to be able to predict how this is going to end. Unless they do some serious skipping, it won't end with a master match with any of the main characters playing. But then again, that would be a pretty shounen way of ending it, and this is far from shounen. On the other hand, this is a sports anime heavily enough. With so much emphasis on the games, a high profile ending would be expected. Though to be honest, I'd rather see, as the final match, an official Chihaya vs Arata match, not a match against the current Queen or whoever is the King. Chihaya should even be able to maintain her focus better against Arata, because she would expect Arata to be good and give his all, plus Arata's play should be highly straight-forward and consistent. In a game like that Chihaya would fare the best with her wacky, easily shaken psyche.

A strange phone call at any rate. No wonder Arata was wtfing when it ended.

[Ryllharu]

A strange phone call at any rate. No wonder Arata was wtfing when it ended.
I expected nothing less from Beauty-in-Vain.

After the verbal reprimand she was given, I was a bit surprised that we didn't get to see Chihaya performing a dogeza to Yumi for not thanking her. I still think Yumi's society head is an asshole who should be barred from attending events for his outbursts.

As for Arata, I'll admit I was half-expecting him to transfer to their school or something silly (and very shoujoesque) like that. He's got no challengers left in his society. If he wants to get better (or back up to his prime), practicing against 9 year olds isn't going to help. Chihaya could probably beat him as it stands right now, and Taichi's superhuman memory would likely give him a challenge.

[shinta|hikari]

Well, we all (including the people in the show) know how much talent Arata has. Given about as much time or less as his retirement, he should be back to his level when he stopped.

[Kraco]

Chihaya could probably beat him as it stands right now...

I wouldn't be so sure about that. I'd say it would be a very 50-50 match. Arata made it to the fourth round, for example, which was farther than Chihaya managed. Of course one could hypothesize (like she's doing herself) that she lost below her standards, but that's too soft thinking considering these people are close to the top. Nobody wants to listen to the thousand and one excuses of a sportsman. As much as I blamed and dislike Yumi, in the end she did beat Chihaya, and that's it.

Yeah, for a moment I also thought Arata would suddenly move back when they were talking about lack of suitable training opponents, but this hasn't really been that sort of a story. This is quite brutally realistic in many respects. I think they would need to come up with a reason other than simply karuta. Though I wouldn't mind at all if the reason was Chihaya herself, haha.

[MFauli]

Just finished watching ep 3. God, I really had some catching up to do with this season´s anime.

Liking it, though I really hope this isn´t one of those "shows you happy flashback, then one of the characters dies"-anime. It kinda has got that feel :/

Though, while I´m highly enjoying this show, I can´t help but feel that Karuta is an extremely lame game. As far as I understood it, the narrator reads the text that´s on one of the 100 cards, and you have to grab that card quicker than your opponent. Well, that sounds like a 100% child´s game. But this anime makes it appear to be on the same level as, let´s say, Go. Am I missing some important rule that creates more depth than what I just described?

Anyway, great characters, and I can´t wait for when Chihaya shows her sister that she´s got a nice dream herself and isn´t relying on her anymore.

Edit:

Watched ep 4. Well, fuck :/

[Buffalobiian]

I was really hoping that the Karuta club was going to hold their own Christmas party right after the lackluster class-based one.. but all we got was a call to Arata.. :S

[MFauli]

aaand episode 14 finished. I love the hand-animation, reminds me of the overexaggerated writing in Death Note. The Queen is also mightly cute <3

Still, this whole Karuto-game seems really lame. The anime makes it exciting, but when I imagine playing it myself, well, duh...

Edit: Oh, what I wanted to say: Arata is maybe the first "genius character" in a manga/anime that I don´t hate. Actually, I really like him. His complete lack of arrogance makes him a likable person.

[Buffalobiian]

Still, this whole Karuto-game seems

Karuta.. >_>

[MFauli]

Karuto, Karuta, Kabuto ... THAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU CUT OROCHIMARU OUT OF THE PLOT, Kishimoto!

back to topic, lol.

[MFauli]

Chihayafuru 24 (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=297686)

Well, seems like Chihaya and Taichi have to activate their super saiyan mode soon, if they intend to keep up with these monster player. Love how this anime is surprisingly shounen-like, even though the artstyle (the eyes, mostly) remind me of shoujo-stuff.

My main gripe with this anime, however, are the non-existing power levels. One time, Chihaya dominates, next time she loses to a much worse player. And this whole Karuta-thing has to be rather small scale, when it´s seemingly so easy to reach the top. Though I figure that part of the problem was skipping Chihaya´s way up, skipping directly to her being in class B, then entering class A. It just feels like there´s not much room to go up, when Chihaya already had a match against the most powerful opponent.

But, of course, the anime is very entertaining, so that´s just some minor complaint.

[Marik]

[HorribleSubs] Chihayafuru 24: 1080p (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=297681) | 720p (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=297680) | 480p (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=297677)


Chihayafuru 24 (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=297686)

Your link is for Brave 10 - Episode 11.

[MFauli]

oops, sorry, the HorribleSubs-website is kinda messed up for me atm :(

[Kraco]

Wtf, Shinobu. Too much ice cream is too much! I can't even consider her a robot anymore.

This episode managed to be mildly exciting despite the players being people I don't care for. If the next, last, ep shows the end of the King final, I guess there won't be any time left for anything much else anymore. As outrageous as it is, there won't be a match between Arata and Chihaya, leaving us forever in the dark about their relative skills levels.

[Ryllharu]

Yes, but Shinobu finally got a personality. It's interesting that she and Kana are so opposite, yet so alike. Both are in love with the material, rather than the game. Kana loves the poems, Shinobu loved the pictures, or the cards themselves. Her weight gain also seems to fit with her newfound personality. For someone who as a child would seek out the scattered 100 cards, it would carry that she would eat however many ice creams it took to get the super-rare item(s) of her favorite niche character.

She's a bit more human now, and Chihaya displayed an alarming level of insight for someone so dense. While the audience had to learn all this through flashbacks, Chihaya learned it through careful observation and the slow-motion replays of Shinobu's play style.

It is also intriguing that Shinobu finds Hisashi repellent. Certainly not an emotion we would expect to see out of her. Yet, it was pretty obvious he was actively matching the score differential of the Queen match, as if to shove it in the two girl's faces that he is that much better than they are, he can simply control the game however he wishes. Perhaps the previously-robotic Shinobu is disgusted that he's more egotistical, and has no love for the game. He's willing to throw a domination victory away for the sake of displaying he's superior in every way to Shinobu. Not only is he mocking her with the scores, he also hit her with that card, seemingly deliberately. He has no love for the cards or poems, only his display of skill. No wonder she hates him.

Of course, no episode of this series would be complete without a little humor (and Chihaya Reaction Faces), and Chihaya being harassed by Taichi's mother certainly covers that angle.

[Kraco]

Episode 25 Final - HS (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=299698)




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I'd say this was a very good last episode, considering the series, but I'm too pissed off by the lack of a Chihaya vs Arata match. I suppose they simply ended the anime at a totally random point of the manga and thus from an artistic or narrative point of view this is cool - the mangaka is (or was) simply saving it for a later time that will work well in the manga, but it ruined much of this anime show for me. As much as I enjoyed this, and consider this easily a top show ending this season, it still makes this feel disastrously incomplete on its own. Like any canned story without an ending of any kind. Yeah, I don't care about the Master/Queen match in that sense, only the omission of the C vs A match.

Yumi's sensei is annoying, but he did have a very good opinion of the waste of having such a master and queen with little prospects of becoming teachers themselves.

Taichi becoming a sadist was funny. He totally has the personality and looks for it.

[Ryllharu]

With the series ending in a "random" spot, there's hope that it will get a second season if it is popular enough. The manga is surely well ahead at 16 ongoing volumes. It's the kind of series with mass appeal too, so I'm keeping my hopes high.

I felt like the true climax this episode was Deskmoto telling Chihaya that she has 20 first syllable cards. She was pretty downtrodden after watching the Master and his supposed 28 singly syllable cards. If she has 20, that means she has a strong chance of dominating any given match, especially now that she's got a handle on managing her speed to reduce the number of faults she has.

The other important point for me at least, was Taichi realizing that Arata doesn't think of himself, or anyone really as a genius. There are many strategies, many ways to win at karuta. Chihaya saw this in her own way by facing powerful opponents. You only have to make sure that you get to the card first. The how isn't important. Now Taichi has learned he doesn't need super-human hearing, insane focus, or spending all his brainpower trying to remember which cards have been read already (and thus treat remaining cards as single-syllable cards). He can use a combination of these skills, and make up for his lack of pure speed, and or other specialized skills.

If it is possible to have a three separate climax moments in an episode, it was Kana seeing that competitive karuta still has a subtle reverence for the poems themselves, as long as they are read in a way that evokes the whole poem. It can be abbreviated, the reader is still imagining the rest of the poem in his/her head. It allowed Kana to make peace with her perceived rift between playing and reading. Which tied nicely into the next bit, as I also gained great amusement at Kana's ORZ moment learning she had to become A-class anyway. There is no avoiding getting good at karuta for Kana.

I was similarly amused at the Empress' vehement defense of the karuta club. That was a bit cruel on the school staff's part. Demanding five new members, or they give it to the band, who can certainly cram into a classroom. The karuta club's room really isn't that big, unless the building has a much larger storage room we hadn't seen.


Great show. Far and away the best show ending this season.

[MFauli]

So there´s no second season confirmed? Bummer.

Really enjoyed the whole show, not a single boring episode. Initially I feared that is would be a shallow romance anime, featuring a stereotypical love-triangle between Chihaya and Arata/Taichi. But it turned out to be a much more Shounen-like experience, though with a more delicate approach.

I´d love to see more, especially from Taichi and Arata. Chihaya is the main character, but she already dueled the current queen and didn´t seem too much weaker than her, so I´m not that interested in her progression - she´s already at the top. Meanwhile, the current meijin seems invincible, but both Taichi and Arata seem to be extremely passionate about becoming stronger. Worst omission is a fully-featured Arata-match. Afaik the only one we got, after the time skip, was one he lost, because he had just returned to playing Karuta. He seemed to be a real prodigy, so I really wanted to see him playing after he got back into the game.

If I had to name one complain, it´d be the steep, narrow power up, or power levels. I mentioned it in an older posting, but maybe it´s the fault of the time skip. Anyway, with Chihaya having already fought the queen, it feels like the world of Karuta is a very small one. 16 volumes you say, Ryll? I wonder what all those volumes are filled with.

And again, aaanyway: Great anime, bit of a random ending, but highly enjoyable.

[Buffalobiian]

I was never fixated on a Arata vs anyone-else match, so this ending point was as good as any for me. As Ryll pointed out, there were plenty of parts here that made for a suitable climax.

This episode had our main characters see the peak of Karuta for the first time (or the first time that it really mattered anyway), and at the same time made them realise how steep a climb that peak will be. Regardless of that fact, they mustered the resolve to head towards that instead of turning back (be it qualifying for Master/Queen or just Class A). With an ending like that, I really can't complain.

A second season would definitely be welcome. Chihaya's hot, so I'll always look forward to more of her, but more than anything I want to see how much more S Taichi gets. xD (It's funny because I can't imagine being more S will win points from Chihaya, but he'll do it anyway).

Deskmoto will need to build up some of his own skills before he can utilize that scholar-brain of his to his own benefit, otherwise he'll just be the data centre for the team. If this club had a manager/coach roll, it would be him.

[Marik]

Chihayafuru Anime's 2nd Season to Launch (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2012-06-08/chihayafuru-anime-2nd-season-to-launch)

[MFauli]

WTf

NICE

Didn´t expect a second season for this anime. Were happy about that news.

[Kraco]

Holy muthafucking shit! I seriously wouldn't have expected to see this kind of news outside of April 1.

[Ryllharu]

Fantastic news.

[Marik]

2nd Chihayafuru Season Slated for January (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2012-09-12/2nd-chihayafuru-season-slated-for-january)

[Kraco]

S2 Episode 1 720p (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=391965) | 1080p (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=391966) - HS




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I'm satisfied with this beginning of a season. While I can't say I'd be interested in any of the characters aside from the main ones from the first season, adding first years is essential in the bigger picture. They are a school club, after all, and constantly on the brink of destruction due to low numbers. So, even if this takes time away from high profile matches, it's still much needed. And I won't actually mind n00b matches either, should some of the newbies actually stick around to play now that they noticed they can't simply loiter in the club room ogling Chihaya and Taichi. A match is a match and good as long as both participants give it their all (and their levels aren't too far apart).

[Ryllharu]

Hmm, I don't know if I agree, because I thought Sumire was a great addition to the cast. She is a refreshing bit of "normal" to contrast the two karuta-obsessed female members of the club. Sure, she's crazy in her own way, but between the, "I'm the ideal shoujo heroine" scene, tearing up over her own type of poem, and madly chasing after Taichi only to be shot down in the same episode, she's exactly the type of character who might grow to love karuta on a secondary basis, rather than liking it beforehand. That makes her more like Deskmoto, who was dragged into it, but found his place.

Aesthetically, she plays off Chihaya as well, considering she cares about her youth and physical attractiveness, whereas Chihaya is "Beauty in Vain." Sumire puts effort into her appearance and looks "above average" according to herself, while Chihaya miraculously resembles her model sister, but doesn't care about her looks or general style (any stylish clothing is 100% hand-me-downs from Chitose, given away after being worn once or twice).

Besides the fox-faced guy who will obviously get his own episode shortly, the other 18 members obviously aren't going to stay, especially after they find out that Taichi won't even be there two days a week, nor will they be allowed to participate in tournaments unless they are good enough. Maybe a token set of 3 or 4 will stay so that the karuta club can keep the room, but they'll just be playing the easier, more casual versions of karuta I'm sure.

This episode did not disappoint though. I smirked and chuckled throughout.

[Kraco]

Hmm, I don't know if I agree, because I thought Sumire was a great addition to the cast.

If she starts to play, she will be a great addition. But I'm not sure I'd want a character who doesn't play, yet would still chase Taichi and possibly make light of karuta.

[Ryllharu]

If she broke out into tears, she will at least look into reading more of the poems, so that's a good step in the right direction. She's also chasing after Taichi and following him to the society. I don't think she would dare make light of karuta once she sees how much Taichi enjoys it. It would ruin her chances (slim as they are). She might later in a fit of frustration, but I'm certain Chihaya can win her over.

On an unrelated note, I want to see more Chitose this season. She's a more complex character than they let on at the beginning, considering her major reason for becoming a model is to pay off the mortgage on the house. She deserves a little screen time. Maybe her bossing Chihaya around or even cheering her on a little.

Same with Shinobu now that we saw the Meister and how much she hates him. She's not just a karuta robot that we first thought.

[Kraco]

What I want to see is the bloody Arata vs Chihaya match. Everything else is secondary.

[MFauli]

You mean Arata vs Taichi, yes.

@episode 1: Enjoyable, but nothing special. I actually find myself rooting for Sumire in her quest of making Taichi fall for her. A beauty like Chihaya not realizing how pretty she is, is rather annoying. It´s the kind of girls that get anything without having to put effort in it. Sumire´s "I want to have a choice, too!" made my like her.

And yes, obviously the grey haired first-year is gonna join the main cast.

[Kraco]

You mean Arata vs Taichi, yes.

Not at the moment. I at least hope Arata is still closer to Chihaya skills wise, not Taichi. That's why I, in fact, wouldn't really want to see Arata beat Taichi. A match with Chihaya could go either way realistically, and I'd be happy with either outcome. But Taichi beating Arata right now would basically remove Arata from the picture completely, which would be a catastrophe as far as I'm concerned.

[MFauli]

Hm, i´m simply not interested in an Arata vs Chihaya-match. If only because those two don´t feel like rivals to me. A match between them would be ... cute. Nostalgic. nice. "neat". But it´s more something that should happen in the last episode of the series, like when Goku challenged the re-born Boo aka Oob.

Meanwhile, Arata and Taichi aren´t thick friends. They´d go at each other as true opponents/enemies (assuming both are of similar skill). Considering there´s also somewhat of a love plot surrounding the triplette of Chihaya, Taichi and Arata, a match between the two male choices would be all the more interesting.

[Buffalobiian]

Meanwhile, Arata and Taichi aren´t thick friends. They´d go at each other as true opponents/enemies (assuming both are of similar skill). Considering there´s also somewhat of a love plot surrounding the triplette of Chihaya, Taichi and Arata, a match between the two male choices would be all the more interesting.

Well I'm a Taichi-fan, so I'm rooting for this as well. Plus, given that the first focus is to get Taichi to A-class, this would also be the match-up that we can realistically expect. In fact, I really want to see a match where Taichi actually owns through complete memorisation, with a body that can keep up.

I'm all for the addition of Sumire as well. It's about time someone else is putting in effort in the romance department other than Taichi. The fox guy doesn't seem like a threat at all against Taichi, but given his demeanor and Chihaya's eagerness to teach first-years.. he might be able to piss him off a bit.

[Kraco]

Well I'm a Taichi-fan, so I'm rooting for this as well. Plus, given that the first focus is to get Taichi to A-class, this would also be the match-up that we can realistically expect. In fact, I really want to see a match where Taichi actually owns through complete memorisation, with a body that can keep up.

I don't follow you at all. What realistically expect? Because that would decide who gets Chihaya? (Which obviously isn't true at all.) Arata is the obsessed kid who got those two to play in the first place and was already back then relatively close to the top. In my opinion it would be a bit unconventional story telling if he now was at Taichi's level, not closer to Chihaya. Of course it's not like Chihaya would anymore win 10 matches out of 10 against Taichi, likely, but there's still a difference, which also meant Taichi isn't yet A-class. Arata made it to the A-class ages ago.

Anyway, I also hope for a serious Arata-Taichi match eventually, but if it happened soon and Taichi won, I'd be quite displeased. The Arata-Chihaya match I'd want the most doesn't need to be any official match in any capacity. I simply want them to meet over the cards and see how close a match it'd be.

[MFauli]

Weren´t the men at the championship in season one generally better at Karuta than the women? Not sure if I remember that correctly, but I think so. If so, Chihaya isn´t really the Karuta-player to measure others against. What I mean is: Arata is likely stronger than Chihaya. Taichi being close to Chihaya would be devoid of significance, because he´d have to become even *stronger* than her to stand a chance against Arata.

Of course, as I mentioned, I´m not entirely sure about the difference in strength between men and women at Karuta. There´s just a scene popping in my mind where Chihaya was stunned by the men´ finale, iirc.

[Ryllharu]

Arata made it to the A-class ages ago.The issue there is that Arata hadn't played in a year or so after his grandfather died. His A-class skills foundered. At the time they met at his house, Chihaya was very likely better than he was. She can probably defeat him with a little difficulty by the end of the first season, now that she developing real skills in addition to raw reaction speed. Fortunately, their visit convinced him to take it up again, so it won't be too long before he gets back into shape, so to speak.


Weren´t the men at the championship in season one generally better at Karuta than the women? Not sure if I remember that correctly, but I think so.Hisashi, the reigning Master, is an outlier. He is excessively good, and a total asshole who looks down on and mocks everyone else. That's why Shinobu hates him. He deliberately hit her with a card to distract her. Someone normally very skilled playing him in the final is similar to any new A-rank having the bad luck to play Shinobu in the first round. He's that good.

Men and women play each other at other regional tournaments (like rank advancement ones) frequently. It's only the Master and Queen qualifying tournaments that are split between men and women.

The official matches are similar to shogi, which does it the same way.

[Kraco]

Hard to say about the levels in general, but the male winner surely was worlds above his opponent. How the losing man would have compared to the Queen... who knows, though it would be interesting to know, that's for sure. If the top matches are separated for men and women, then there can't really be a high profile official match with Chihaya vs Arata or Taichi even in the future.

Arata took the break so it would be realistic to assume his skills lowered just a bit, though since he was keeping himself fit otherwise it's not like anything should have collapsed. That's why it's very hard to guess how he compares to Chihaya. Maybe he's still better, maybe he's at the same level. Nevertheless, he's not up there in the clouds like the overpowering winner dude.

[Ryllharu]

Defeating Hisashi is Arata's task to complete. He'll have to bring the title back to his family, as it was before.

Beating Shinobu (in turn keeping her at a high level of passion about karuta) and very likely befriending her along the way, is Chihaya's task. Their innate fashion preference both involves the same weird brand, though Chihaya benefits from her sister's hand-me-downs and desire to keep Chihaya from embarrassing her.

Taichi's task is to beat Arata, which theoretically will win him Chihaya's affection (it won't). I don't think he cares about becoming the Master/Meister...but that would make his mother happy. ;)

Kana's task is to become the reader at the Queen match between Chihaya and Shinobu.

Everyone else is secondary with regards to the finale.

(Except maybe Sumire, who's task will be to comfort Taichi after he loses all hope of winning Chihaya's heart.)

[Buffalobiian]

The Arata-Chihaya match I'd want the most doesn't need to be any official match in any capacity. I simply want them to meet over the cards and see how close a match it'd be.

I was thinking of the king/queen qualification matches. If Taichi getting to Class A is a priority, I was expecting that to come up soon - hence the expectation that the men would get a round. Ryll reminded me that there are also mixed gender matches though.

[shinta|hikari]

Shinobu X Arata.

[Kraco]

Shinobu X Arata.

What?

Shinobu X ice cream factory owner.

[shinta|hikari]

Is that a romantic pairing or a karuta match pairing?

[Buffalobiian]

Romantic.

That's the impression I get when someone says ??? X ???

[Kraco]

That's the impression I got as well.

Although an ice cream factory owner might be able to distract Shinobu so much that beating her in karuta could be possible.

[Kraco]

Episode 2 720p (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=394371) | 1080p (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=394372)





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The mascara joke was totally a 100% gag manga joke. I was kind of surprised to see it here, though it surely made me laugh.

Quite an interesting pair of new members, none the less. Although just two isn't enough, so I wonder how it will end up. The OP seems to confirm just two, but who knows. It's not like OPs didn't regularly use the trick of later adding characters to certain scenes that would otherwise spoil. The foxy dude was quite surprising with his delusions, even if Hanano keeps stealing most of the attention.

[Ryllharu]

even if Hanano keeps stealing most of the attention.As well she should. Her outlook on karuta nicely compliments Chihaya's and Kana's. The boys are much more focused on the competitive aspects of karuta, while the girls appreciate the cards/poems themselves more.

[Buffalobiian]

The foxy dude was quite surprising with his delusions,

I wouldn't be quite so sure about that. If his fingers are any suggestion, he's experienced. Perhaps not competitive with the current rules, but he's someone I expect to see a sudden spike in performance once he comes to grip with the mainland rules.

[Kraco]

Episode 3 720 (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=397070) | 1080 (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=397083) - HS





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A fine episode. It seems like no matter if it's a bigger or a smaller match, this show manages to make it feel like it matters. Desktomu made the best decision by allowing the new people to play. Nothing will integrate them better than giving them a bit of equal treatment, even if they were doomed to lose. Still, Sumire's opponent was pretty funny.

Looks like Shinobu (who stopped eating ice cream, it seems) knows Arata from way back. What is this, a double triangle?

Edit: A second female since Chihaya counts as a male, haha.

[Ryllharu]

Desktomu made the best decision by allowing the new people to play. Nothing will integrate them better than giving them a bit of equal treatment, even if they were doomed to lose. Still, Sumire's opponent was pretty funny.

Looks like Shinobu (who stopped eating ice cream, it seems) knows Arata from way back. What is this, a double triangle?

Edit: A second female since Chihaya counts as a male, haha.
Deskmoto is damn impressive. He managed to both ingratiate the new members by including them in the matches, as well as show how carefully he calculates the matches. He's giving off club president vibes already. He thinks about this kind of stuff in the right way. It's not about simply winning, but winning and making the club have strong bonds along the way. He ended up coming off a lot less narrow-minded than Nikuman or Taichi.

For Sumire, getting repeatedly touched and assisted by her opponent has got to rankle. I like that she took Chihaya's performance as inspiration. If she gets better, she won't be pitied, and she won't have to tolerate their creepiness.

It certainly wasn't clear what Shinobu was thinking. They are from the same region after all (at least I seem to remember them being from the same region), so it isn't a surprise the two of them have met before. It really could go either way. Shinobu might be looking forward to it because Arata beat her resoundingly in the past, Arata is one of the few people who can really challenge her, or because she's smitten.

I'm a bit curious how she lost all the weight.

Kana is really mean, but it made me laugh.

[Buffalobiian]

Shinobu knows Arata? Sweet!

Throw her at Arata, and I'll have my Taichi X Chihaya pairing! Come to think of it, I wonder how Deskmoto's academic studies are going. He was second in his grade, but he had to study his ass off while Taichi kind of just does it. If he's so into karuta right now, what about his future aspirations?

The teacher made a good point about the career forms. Chihaya's good enough to go pro if she wanted to (her job will only be something to make a living out of anyway, assuming professional karuta doesn't make money), while Taichi will likely be good at whatever he decided he wants to do. Deskmoto himself implied that he doesn't really have a passion or talent for karuta, and I believe the same applies to studies (though he is more successful at that).

[Kraco]

Episode 3 720 (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=399491) | 1080 (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=399494) - HS




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This keeps getting the blood pumping. Taichi's problems are quite multifaceted, but at least he occasionally overcomes them. Perhaps he now caught a permanent idea as well, especially if he still remembers the geezer's words and realises what he did during the latter half of the match.

Chihaya never getting intimidated but only inspired by seeing tough players is quite nice, and a sure sign of how pure she is. It makes me want to see her play against Arata all the more... Speaking of Arata, his old man was quite funny. Kind of a boyish dude.

[MFauli]

I, too, hope this episode marks a permanent change in attitude, regarding Taichi. It´s hard to watch this supposedly strong player almost lose to a newbie player. I want him to be top of the crop, and he´s certainly got the skill.

[Buffalobiian]

I, too, hope this episode marks a permanent change in attitude, regarding Taichi. It´s hard to watch this supposedly strong player almost lose to a newbie player. I want him to be top of the crop, and he´s certainly got the skill.

I thought it was a mistranslation last week, but it makes sense now (Retro's comment about letting Taichi having more skill than Porky while being stuck in B class).

Did he run out of time to qualify for A class for the Master Tournaments? I remember last season that Harada was okay with promoting Taichi to Class A since he's performed well enough in several B tournaments but Taichi refused. If he realises he's got the right amount of skills, along with his time restraint, he might be desperate enough to accept the offer if there are no other alternatives.

100 bucks says Arata wants to move to Tokyo next year if he wins.

[Ryllharu]

I wouldn't take that bet. Of course he wants to be reunited with his friends. Even now, there isn't really anyone who he hangs out with. Just the older guy at his karuta society, and the neighbor girl who seems to be sweet on him. He was friendly to them, but Arata doesn't seem to have any friends other than those two. When he isolated himself after his grandfather's death, the problem only got worse.

I guess the bigger question then, is what Shinobu will do if he does. That flash of memory she had was simply too ambiguous. Does she like him, or think of him as her favorite rival? I fear the more and more we learn about her, the more I can't help but see her as the melancholic version of Chihaya.

Taichi getting hit by five towels at once made me laugh aloud. Damn his popularity! This is why he doesn't need Chihaya. He's got so many alternatives, one of them is even a cougar!

[Kraco]

Episode 5 720p (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=401976) | 1080p (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=401977) - HS








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I can't understand why I find this obscure game that I would never bother to play so interesting in this show, and no better can I understand how, after so many matches and even after the same opponents, the matches still stay so fresh. Somehow new problems, new unexpected conditions, never seen before setbacks, but also novel paths for further skill development are opened in fights that technically don't even matter so much like the one in this episode. Yet nevertheless it's pulled off successfully. Truly remarkable writing.

It's nice to see boobies totally dominate her opponent, as well, when the rest were facing problems. But still nicer was the look on Amakasu's formerly self-assured face when Chihaya finally stopped her practice and instead combined the two master skills.

[Ryllharu]

I find it fascinating because it is never about particular cards, particular skills, or really...even aptitude. It is presented as a purely mental game. Nikuman lost because he was distracted. Kana is winning above her usual skill level because she is focused on Sudo, while her opponent is distracted over meaningless things.

They are able to mix the latest micro-drama and weave it into a given game. That makes every match harrowing.

I am a bit stunned that Kana's opponent mentioned her boobs aloud to her. Particularly as a disadvantage. No wonder she got even more fired up. Did they not watch TooMuchIceCreamobu's Queen match? She had gotten fat, her boobs were bigger and she was admittedly slower, but that didn't change a thing. To a degree, it isn't physical, it is mental. No match pointed that out better than the match Chihaya lost to the "Lucky!" older cutesy lady last season.

[MFauli]

don´t remember ... what were these other master skills that Chihaya decided to use at long last at the end of this episode? Focusing on one syllible cards?

I guess Houko is a really strong team, but I said that about season 1 and I´m saying it here: This constant variation in strength makes Karuta look a little bit too much like a child´s game. In season 1, Chihaya was able to play against the number 1 female player in no time. Now, her and Taichi are struggling against there opponents in an inter-school tournament. That´s probably just the reality of Karuta being a small, not-that-popular game. But it kinda cheapens it imo.

But that doesn´t change the fact that I love watching these matches, even if I hardly understand the game. In that way, it´s almost like "Akagi" (though I definitely understand Karuta more than Mahjong, lol)

[Ryllharu]

Chihaya played Shinobu by random chance during a qualifying tournament. It was fortune, or misfortune depending on your point of view. As they said in this episode, Chihaya lost by 20 cards. Currently, she is playing against someone who lost to Shinobu in that same tournament by 24 cards in the round right before Chihaya played Shinobu.

It's not really some huge variation in strength. Chihaya and Amakasu are pretty much on equal footing, with Amakasu having a slight advantage because he was already used to Sudo's rhythm.

[Buffalobiian]

Right at the beginning, I was already betting that Taichi would win for his team. Half-way through before Nishida lost, I had a feeling that it would be the three "weakest" players who'd win. Given how they finished the episode though, Chihaya should still pull it off.

I'm not so sure about Deskmoto.


don´t remember ... what were these other master skills that Chihaya decided to use at long last at the end of this episode? Focusing on one syllible cards?

The queens' strength was her efficiency and accuracy.. where she could reach a card with the shortest possible movement and the least amount of wasted energy.

The master had sound recognition on his side, where he was able to hear cards faster, and differentiate the pronunciation of cards better than other people.

Chihaya's natural affinity falls into the Master's category, while she's aiming for the queen's skills. It's not a bad way to go, especially if each person's "one syllable cards" is pre-determined more or less by your natural hearing ability.

Back to Taichi's match, we haven't had any real views on why Retro's still stuck in class B. If Taichi's recovered from his mentality problem, then it shouldn't be a problem against someone who is well and truly stuck in class B due to skill.

[Kraco]

Episode 6 720p (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=404420) | 1080p (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=404424) - HS




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Although it's beside the point, but there's no doubt Chihaya would have won her match if she had used the combination master skill from the beginning. Yet I think she learned much more this way, and since two best go forward to the national championship, it was ultimately better like this for Chihaya. Not necessarily so for the rest, but I think Taichi really needed at least his own victory, even if it was wasted in the end on team level. But perhaps as a team they will now learn to pay attention to team tactics, should something similar happen in the future. Chihaya is an airhead, but as long as it's anything Karuta related, even she would learn.

I'm glad Arata found just the right thing to say in his email. Taichi's expression was as dark as oblivion, but that was to be expected.

[Ryllharu]

What an amazingly tense episode! Even though it doesn't matter at all who won, they managed to ratchet up the tension to enormous levels!

Also, a totally badass strategy play by Taichi. He got Retro all wound up, then made a definite fake for the card. There was no way Taichi knew which one it was, but he went so intensely for it that Retro fell for it.

Concerning Chihaya, I loved the fact that she didn't argue that she tapped the corner of it or something like Yumi did to Chihaya. The contrast between their behavior is what makes Chihaya so incredibly likable, and what made it so easy to hate Yumin for beating Chihaya that way last season. Chihaya knew that they had hit it at the same time, and knew that she had lost as a result. She was able to display a grace that we so rarely see in her. Especially interesting, because while they were declaring Hokuou the winner, it appeared that Chihaya was bowing to them in respect for their defeat. In fact...she was already asleep. :D

Correspondingly, Sudo recognized that Amakasu couldn't possibly have taken it, and it was also nice that Amakasu was brave enough to admit that he only went for it because Chihaya attacked it.

It also seems Sumire has made another big decision in terms of her personal growth. She threw away a chance to go home with Taichi in order to join the society, not because she wants to get closer to Taichi romantically, but because she wants to be a powerful player on that team, she doesn't want to just sit on the sidelines next time around. The same goes for Tsukuba and his brothers, but their decision was a far easier one to make.

[Buffalobiian]

The contrast between their behavior is what makes Chihaya so incredibly likable, and what made it so easy to hate Yumin for beating Chihaya that way last season

This is all based on the assumption that Yumin was in a 50/50 situation when she contests those cards.

-If Chihaya let Amakasu have the card 100% when she knows it was simultaneous, she'd be lying to herself.
-Similarly, if Yumin had said her strikes were simultaneous when she believes she was the faster one, she'd be lying to herself.


Also, a totally badass strategy play by Taichi. He got Retro all wound up, then made a definite fake for the card. There was no way Taichi knew which one it was, but he went so intensely for it that Retro fell for it.

I don't think he intended to make Retro commit a fault. It was just the side effect of his determination to attack Retro's side. He moved as soon as he heard "The fall", but swept upwards when he heard "wind" instead of "paddy".

Retro's fault was a bonus for him and not the intended outcome of his plan.

[Ryllharu]

This is all based on the assumption that Yumin was in a 50/50 situation when she contests those cards.

-If Chihaya let Amakasu have the card 100% when she knows it was simultaneous, she'd be lying to herself.
-Similarly, if Yumin had said her strikes were simultaneous when she believes she was the faster one, she'd be lying to herself.
Ah, here comes the Yumin defense brigade again. We've been through this before.

Yumin contests every close call. That's her style. Badger her opponent into admitting they didn't take the card, even when they might have thought they did. It takes an opponent like Shinobu to best her thoroughly, where there is no question that only someone as accurate and swift as Shinobu could have flung exactly the single card across the tatami. Chihaya unquestionably won a few cards that Yumin stole from her. Chihaya lacked the skill and confidence at the time to refute her, because despite her "beauty in vain" status, Chihaya plays with grace. Yumin prominently doesn't.

Yumin stands right on the border of cheating. Just like they said Hakuou did in this episode. Arguably, Yumin did cheat when she beat Chihaya.


I don't think he intended to make Retro commit a fault. It was just the side effect of his determination to attack Retro's side. He moved as soon as he heard "The fall", but swept upwards when he heard "wind" instead of "paddy".

Retro's fault was a bonus for him and not the intended outcome of his plan.
Taichi knows he's not fast enough to beat Hakuou's second best with a card on his own side. He had to move on every card. They have made it clear you cannot take an opponent's card that late in a match on their own side by not moving ahead of time. That's the whole point of blocking the card with your fingers on the tatami.

What Taichi did was pursue the first dead card aggressively, but obviously backed off when he recognized the dead card. The winning hand, Taichi attacked even more aggressively and with confidence. That caused Retro to not only defend his card, but also drop his hand on top of it. If Taichi was so sure that it was the winning card and went all out to get it, of course it would be the right one...right? It's precisely the same thing we saw moments later when Amakasu only moved because he saw Chihaya going for it.

Don't forget that deep down, Taichi is used to playing dirty too. He's the master of mind games. He knows how to win that way.

[Buffalobiian]

What Taichi did was pursue the first dead card aggressively, but obviously backed off when he recognized the dead card. The winning hand, Taichi attacked even more aggressively and with confidence. That caused Retro to not only defend his card, but also drop his hand on top of it. If Taichi was so sure that it was the winning card and went all out to get it, of course it would be the right one...right? It's precisely the same thing we saw moments later when Amakasu only moved because he saw Chihaya going for it.
Retro lost his cool because Taichi's attitude made him believe that Taichi had a chance of getting his card, which made him desperate enough to take the card before Taichi instead of simply defending it until he was sure. (He most likely doesn't know if there were any more "The fall" cards left).

I don't think Taichi's thought process involved "If I attack aggressively, I can make Retro commit a fault because he'll be on edge". Instead, I believed it was "I have to move at every card in order to have a chance to take their side". Mashima moved before he knew which card it was because he needs to be close to the card when the 3rd syllable is pronounced.

My interpretation is that Taichi was desperate to take those cards, which forced Retro to act rashly. It wasn't as if Taichi acted desperately in order to make Retro act rashly. After reading your explanation though, I agree that he's certainly capable of such mind games.. and I'm less sure than I previously was.


------------


It's arguable whether or not Yumin cheats, but I was pretty put off when the coaches said Hokuo's strategy was "borderline cheating" this episode. It's legitimate strategy - period. There's nothing "borderline" about it.

[Kraco]

but I was pretty put off when the coaches said Hokuo's strategy was "borderline cheating" this episode. It's legitimate strategy - period. There's nothing "borderline" about it.

It just displays poor sportsmanship. Kind of like in football or ice hockey the team with a lead hoarding the ball/puck and playing it safe until the last half/period is over.

If Chihaya was more guileful, she could have pulled off a diversion: First seemingly going for her own card, which would have made Amakasu hesitate enough to lessen his guard (since he was so tense and only moved because Chihaya moved), and thus potentially allowing her to snatch his card.

[MFauli]

Nice episode, but I´d wish the creators hadn´t chickend out and let Chihaya and Co. win the match. When the draw-of-luck situation was explained, I actually expected everyone to tag along, EXCEPT Chihaya, who would, to everyone´s surprise, attack the opponent´s card ... and get it!

Guess that would have been flashier than what we got and this anime is supposed to be more subtle, so whatever.


On a sidenote: Chihaya looked super hot in that one sceen with blue background <3

[Buffalobiian]

If Chihaya was more guileful, she could have pulled off a diversion: First seemingly going for her own card, which would have made Amakasu hesitate enough to lessen his guard (since he was so tense and only moved because Chihaya moved), and thus potentially allowing her to snatch his card.

Nah, I don't think that would have worked. Hokuo wasn't interested in attacking the opposing side.

Amakasu defended because he saw Chihaya attack his card. Had Chihaya tried moving for her own card instead, Amakasu would have just defended his own card just the same.


It just displays poor sportsmanship. Kind of like in football or ice hockey the team with a lead hoarding the ball/puck and playing it safe until the last half/period is over.

I call that risk reduction. The difference lies in playing for fun, or playing to win - the same dilemma Retro had.

edit: though it seem Wiki agrees with you


Sportsmanshipers (or sometimes sportspersonship) is an aspiration or ethos that a sport or activity will be enjoyed for its own sake,...

[Kraco]

I call that risk reduction. The difference lies in playing for fun, or playing to win - the same dilemma Retro had.

edit: though it seem Wiki agrees with you

What can I say? I'm a Chihaya X Arata shipper, and those two play it for fun, even if they go to great lengths to get better and have highest ambitions. For them the game is not just a tool to achieve something.

[MFauli]

Buff didn´t know what sportmanship is ... tragic :(

[Buffalobiian]

Buff didn´t know what sportmanship is ... tragic :(

Hah, I knew the general stuff about playing "fair" (no cheating), not blaming environmental elements for your loss, not putting down your opponents etc etc. What I didn't know was whether there was something specifically addressing the desire to win the competition or whether there was a "proper" way to play a sport.

I don't really look down on shirt-pulling in football, for example. There's a rule to say you can't pull shirts, but if someone is willing to risk the penalty to do it then it's their choice. If they can do it in such a way that the ref never notices, then it's the ref's fault.

Sportsmanship says you have to play "fair", but there's no line for where to draw fairness. Some clubs have more money than others, better shoes, more suitable training grounds. When you think about it that way, you can argue that true fairness only occurs when there are no rules.

[MFauli]

"It´s alright as long as you don´t get caught!"

Someone remind me to never play sports with Buff lol

[Ryllharu]

He's Australian. I can't say I am surprised to hear his take on sportsmanship. Criminals...the whole lot of them!

/spits

[Buffalobiian]

It's basically my take on life being applied to sportsmanship: risk/gain + freedom of choice.

(and if a law isn't stopping crime effectively, don't blame the people. Blame the enforcer/law)

I have my own personal morals (more or less) as well, but it's not something I believe I should enforce on other people or openly judge them by - hence "don't really look down on" instead of wording it as "I think it's okay and do it myself". ;)

Morals are potentially self-imposed limits that can cost you gain/performance though. Once that potential gain/performance exceeds the value you place on your own morals, you'll choose not to follow them.

Talking about sportsmanship, what about the whole "I'll put all my cards in one corner and swipe them all!" tactic?

[Ryllharu]

Talking about sportsmanship, what about the whole "I'll put all my cards in one corner and swipe them all!" tactic?If you're constantly swatting your own 4-8 cards each time, you'll get a number of them, but eventually, your opponent will be able to get their remaining card(s), while you start committing faults. You have to start moving before they have a chance to target the correct card.

It works only when the end of the game is near, you are vastly outnumbered, your opponent is faster than you, and the odds are in your favor (as in they have two cards at most). Using it more than two or three times in a row is a way to lose for sure.

[Buffalobiian]

If you're constantly swatting your own 4-8 cards each time, you'll get a number of them, but eventually, your opponent will be able to get their remaining card(s), while you start committing faults. You have to start moving before they have a chance to target the correct card.

It works only when the end of the game is near, you are vastly outnumbered, your opponent is faster than you, and the odds are in your favor (as in they have two cards at most). Using it more than two or three times in a row is a way to lose for sure.

So.. it's "fair play"?

[Ryllharu]

In a sense, yes. You are playing with a huge risk. If the reader calls your opponent's remaining card(s), you lose.

That's why you don't see a player do it repeatedly other than to close the gap toward the end of a match. Huge gamble, only moderate reward (back to even with opponent). Not only is it poor form, it's also a great way to lose, and not at all guaranteed.

What Hakuou did was guarantee their win. All they had to do was protect their own cards, no skill involved. Thankfully, Taichi tricked Retro into screwing it up.

[Kraco]

Talking about sportsmanship, what about the whole "I'll put all my cards in one corner and swipe them all!" tactic?

I thought that was really bad taste and definitely a tactic employed by one only concerned about winning, not one enjoying or honouring the game. Although... I suppose everybody has their own way of enjoying games.

[Kraco]

Episode 7 720p (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=406678) | 1080p (http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=download&tid=406690) - HS





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Hmm... Even an episode practically without any games was very enjoyable. I suppose the mangaka is quite careful not to mix in overly much non-karuta stuff into the story, of which I'm very grateful, and no doubt it's also something that makes this whole series work so wonderfully: It sticks to the business. Still, little bits like this do help enourmously to understand the characters, and when you understand them, their matches also matter much more emotionally. Naturally it made me very happy Chihaya called Arata after being asked the question. It might not actually mean as much as it could because the fact is she's spending almost every day with Taichi but hardly sees Arata ever. So, even if those two guys mattered equally much to her, she would have still called Arata in any case.

I like Sumire a lot more by now than I thought I would. She's got lots of personality in a short time and tries her hardest in her own way - just like the rest.

[Buffalobiian]

Naturally it made me very happy Chihaya called Arata after being asked the question. It might not actually mean as much as it could because the fact is she's spending almost every day with Taichi but hardly sees Arata ever.

Totally. Had Taichi been in Arata's position I'd think Chihaya would have done something similar (if she knew they were both playing Karuta that is). It's not set in stone though, since Taichi isn't the Karuto God that Chihaya sees Arata as.

Sumire without make-up... lol. I almost feel sad for her there.

[Ryllharu]

I like how the two Ayase sisters use each other to keep themselves motivated at times. Chihaya used Chitose when she was first starting out as the reason to be the best at something, and when Chitose was starting to lose her momentum, she looked to her little sister recovering from a loss and getting right back to it. Though skipping university isn't really the best message...she could at least go for a business degree or something.

I knew when Sumire asked her that Chihaya would mention Shinobu...but that's why we like her, isn't it.

[Buffalobiian]

I knew when Sumire asked her that Chihaya would mention Shinobu...but that's why we like her, isn't it.

But as soon as the "comedic" answer is over.. it was right back to Arata. :(