Chihayafuru

[MFauli]

no better way to ruin a day than releasing recap episodes. sigh ....

[Kraco]

Haha. Back when I said this season will never even get to the individual matches, I thought I was joking, but now they are using the precious episodes on recaps. If they waste spend three eps on this final match, would they have enough eps left to cover the individual matches part of the tournament? The team matches will have been running for 10 eps soon, and they aren't over yet.

In any case I would be anything but surprised if neither Chihaya nor Taichi got a chance to face Arata anymore (in fact I wouldn't be surprised if Arata didn't get to play at all before the season is over, aside from that one illegal match). The author is a bloody sadist.

[Buffalobiian]

Chihayafuru recaps are one of the better ones. I even watched it for the funny little tidbits.

But I'd rather have the real thing, so yeah.. poor choice.

[David75]

Chihaya herself stated the Queen title is not as important as team matches to her.
And I believe Shinobu will herself be converted.

[shinta|hikari]

Converted to what? Shinobu does not even have a team. She might grow to respect team matches, but it will never be as important to her as the individual match.

I wonder why Karuta is divided by sex. Isn't it a game where males and females can compete equally?

[Buffalobiian]

I wonder why Karuta is divided by sex. Isn't it a game where males and females can compete equally?

I think it might be a tradition thing, given the nature of Karuta. I'm not surprised if the practice simply stemmed from the times when everything was split between male/female.

Found this on wiki btw:
Lately, the game has begun gaining international players as well. In September 2012 there was the first international tournament, and players from the U.S., China, South Korea, New Zealand, and Thailand participated .

That just yells success. (I'm looking at you, MFauli.. >_>)

[shinta|hikari]

Who won?

If it wasn't Japan, Arata and Chihaya's delusion about being the best in the world are pretty much dashed.

[MFauli]

I wonder why Karuta is divided by sex. Isn't it a game where males and females can compete equally?

Obviously because e female´s brain isn´t as big and capable as a male´s


:>

[Ryllharu]

I assume it is because they have a shorter reach on average, as well as the potential for lower endurance. For example, female distance runners tend to be a bit behind the male runners at most events.

Separating it is not as insulting to women as shogi leagues are, where their intellect is deemed inferior. There is a physical aspect to karuta, making it more like regular sports where genders are separated.

It's always better to have two champions that one. However, this is a noticeable point of contention for Shinobu, who loathes the current Meister.

[MFauli]

Well, let´s not act as if separation by gender makes sense in the real world, either. Like, why are there still bathrooms for men and women? Because men would rape? Because it´s embarrassing, lol? Makes no sense.

And whatever, at least men and women ARE playing each other in Karuta. Just not at all times.

[Buffalobiian]

@MFauli: because cubicles aren't entirely peek-proof.

[MFauli]

@MFauli: because cubicles aren't entirely peek-proof.

So what defends me from being peeked on by a gay guy? Can we have separate toilets for straight and gay guys please?

:/

[Buffalobiian]

You can argue for that when same-sex attraction accounts for equal to or more than half the population.

Exceptions exist and you just have to deal with it. You don't ask the butch girl to compete with the men.

[Kraco]

Episode 17 - HS





- - - - - - - - -




A couple of minutes in I was thinking haven't we seen this exact same thing for a dozen times already? but in fact it fortunately started to change after a while. Though I'm slightly annoyed by how each and every match seems to repeat the exact same from a deep struggle into a victory theme, I still have to admit the author does have what it takes to come up with something new, exciting, and refreshing. Nevertheless I do wish her editor had told her to change the repetitive pace... If she had, there wouldn't have been any bad taste in the beginning when even this final match looked like a carbon copy of the earlier ones.

Shinobu being there with her weird personality is a big bonus, naturally. I kind of hope Chihaya will go to talk to her when this is all over and Shinobu will blurt out the whole Arata fiasco. Perhaps Arata has such a serious image in Chihaya and Taichi's minds that such a story would both shock and amuse them.

[Ryllharu]

Can't remember her name. Gave up. 'Yama-chan!' My favorite bit of the episode, second only to Shinobu blowing her nose on the sleeve of the guy next to her. Two of a kind, Shinobu and Chihaya.

More importantly, Shinobu remembered Chihaya's name! She's definitely the type to only remember the name of a person she deems a worthy challenger.

I also like the idea that the person who causes the injury is far more affected than the person receiving the injury. The effect is probably magnified by the fact that Rion appears to be a fairly considerate person. Winning isn't everything to her, enjoying the poems her grandmother reads is. So she doesn't have the nasty disposition to take the advantage of Chihaya's hurt finger. Then again, I wonder if even Sudou would be that cruel. He probably would, but he'd never injure someone intentionally.

Still, I can't really understand how Chihaya got hurt. Her hand twisted upside down so that her fingernails would be tapping the card. If Rion pressed down on Chihaya's fingertips, that normally wouldn't cause an injury, because the nails would protect it from being jammed in the first place. It's not like Rion dropped a hammerfist on Chihaya's fingers, she just pressed down.

Lastly, I can understand the Fujisaki team captain's perspective. That's one sexy teacher (bonus for her VA being Hayashibara!). But as cool as she comes off, it's pretty clear that she is an airhead. She stated that her back and shoulders got sore over time, and stresses upper body strength. She didn't seem to realize that was due to her chest, not her lack of stamina. She clearly didn't have Kana's perfect posture to support their weight.

[MFauli]

Hurting yourself during Karuta. Yeah, it doesn´t get more pathetic than that. Man, remember all those injured Poker-players? No? Me neither.

The author couldn´t have made this game between Chihaya and Rion more boring. So now that Chihaya hurt herself, Rion isn´t playing at her best anymore. Awesome. Not.
Moreover ... WHY is it presented so boringly? In the past, we´d get super dramatic close-ups and slomos of the players´ hand movements. Now we get a wide angle perspective, while Shinobu comments on how bad those players are. Okay.

Best scene: The four boys standing up and slapping themselves in sync. The coolest way would be if the match ended with Mizusawa winning all 5 games. Yeah, unrealistic with one total beginner in their team, but maybe...

Favorite character: The ero guy on the other team. He´s sooo right. Nothing hotter than an attractive teacher <3

[Ryllharu]

Hurting yourself during Karuta. Yeah, it doesn´t get more pathetic than that. Man, remember all those injured Poker-players? No? Me neither.

In defense of that, poker players aren't slapping their hands into the felt table 20-40 times a game. Repeatedly plunging one's fingers into tatami mats at stiff/reinforced playing cards. Tsukuba's family uses wooden cards.

If this was hanafuda, I might agree, but it is closer to playing wack-a-mole with bare hands.

Jamming ones fingers I understand, just not how Chihaya managed to do it. Kana definitely hit the mat wrong during her previous match. Chihaya shouldn't be hurt, especially not as bad as she seems to imply it is.

[Buffalobiian]

@MFauli: it's boring right now because of how episodic it is. Same formula, doing it over and over again. Kamisama Dolls also followed a set formula and I enjoyed it slightly less after I noticed it, but at least the content is different each ep. Here, even the content is repeated. I have to wonder if the studio is screwing up, or the manga did.

[Kraco]

Jamming ones fingers I understand, just not how Chihaya managed to do it. Kana definitely hit the mat wrong during her previous match. Chihaya shouldn't be hurt, especially not as bad as she seems to imply it is.

I doubt she's really in as much pain as she makes it look like. She's probably simply not used to handling any pain. If it was anything serious, she wouldn't be playing anymore, especially in the individual tournament later. I guess her finger just got twisted or squeezed a little. But it's just fine if it hurts the opponent's chances. Rion had an edge anyway with her beloved grandmother reading. She has probably heard her reading so many times she gains free milliseconds and is also extra motivated by it. She's so flawed a player that she'd need to develop fundamentally. I don't think winning a match despite the flaws would serve her well, no matter what the manager thinks.

[MFauli]

new ep is out.

Dat dragging out. ugh

I don´t know how I feel about a hypothetical victory for Mizusawa. Taichi really shouldn´t win his match at this point. Were it not for the early deficit, he could have believably won, but now ... Well, I guess he will win, but it´ll feel a bit forced.
Though I´m disappointed that Desktomu-kun lost. Really had hoped he wouldn´t be a one-time-star.

And damn, Fujisaki´s couch is hot. Yes, it had to be said again. :>