Chihayafuru

[Kraco]

Episode 18 - HS






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The speed is still as slow as ever, but I'm thankful the other players, and Shinobu plus even Arata, got more screen time, while Chihaya kept winning in the background. That's something creating an atmosphere of Chihaya being really good. Shinobu slowly getting fired up is quite interesting as well, not to mention her inner struggle to dismiss that hot feeling. She wouldn't be much of a team player any time soon, but I reckon a team not minding her personality would gain quite an ace in her, if she got interested enough to join one. But then again, I doubt she would be interested in any random team. Maybe she will just try to become a part-time advisor.

Taichi going for all or nothing by betting on luck was quite peculiar. It might shake a strict guy like his opponent, but on the other hand you'd think that captain has seen plenty of desperate opponents. Statistics are on his side anyway, and that must be how he's going to play till the end. Luck is a fickle mistress and like the girls in the audience said, seldom standing behind Taichi's back. I liked his thoughts about Arata, however, even if they were hardly surprising.

[Ryllharu]

At least Shinobu has finally recognized Chihaya, Megumu, and Rion as peers (and maybe even the mannish girl). However, it was unfortunately convenient that they juxtaposed this with a past trauma where she was banned from playing people her own age because it was limiting her.

It seemed that she was starting to fall into a rut throughout the episode, coming to the realization that no one would ever allow her to truly enjoy playing the game again.

I think she is quite happy to discover that she is wrong, predatory smile and everything. Arata's soliloquy confirmed the problem that the two of them share by focusing only on individual tournaments. Unless the two of them also encourage team play, they won't have anyone to play against. Weaker players become better by forming teams with a strong player and learning from each other, as both the Girl's School and Mizusawa display.

[Buffalobiian]

Taichi going for all or nothing by betting on luck was quite peculiar.

Apparently he covered it before taking it, so he wasn't betting it all on luck. He did decide to attack instead of defend an ambiguous card, but that comes down to philosophy (when in doubt, always attack/defend first).

Again, the lack of a clear power scale means I have no idea what's going on in these matches.

[Kraco]

Episode 19 - HS






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Still during the previous episode I was thinking Fujisaki should win the whole battle even if Mizusawa got a win or two. However, I have to say I'm pretty satisfied with how this turned around. Obviously Chihaya finally had to win relatively smoothly, because she's supposed to be exceptional unlike many of the previous fights have suggested, but Taichi and Nikuman were the question marks. How to make them struggle through. Taichi made some good calls and was favoured by luck a couple of times, but he also managed to shake the opponent. That's the most unlikely part of it all, especially since the dude was just saying he's going to play as usual, yet he didn't end up doing that in my opinion. Whether that's a flaw in the script or not is open to debate, but I can view it as solid writing because they emphasize a couple of times he was looking down on Taichi. That's why he wasn't playing at 100% efficiency and allowed himself to fall to Taichi's pace. Luck favours the bold anyway, so Taichi deserved this.

It looks like Arata's VA was down with a flu or something, considering his only lines were a couple of "uhns..." Still pretty funny that what he meant as a joke to fool Chihaya, so that he could surprise her by suddenly appearing to follow the matches, turned out to be something so grave accidentally it made Chihaya cry even more. I really hope Arata himself or somebody explains to Chihaya why Arata couldn't be there among the audience. In fact I think that silly story would lighten the atmosphere quite a bit.

[Ryllharu]

I figured Taichi started pulling strategy out of Sudou's playbook. He was standing a lot to piss Eromu off, then he would take forever to pass a card, etc. He was taunting the guy, throwing him off pace. Not Taichi's usual strategy, but he was beaten at his usual cool-headed calculator game, so he went his other strategy from the old days, being a malicious jerk. That's something he is exceptionally skilled at, especially when combined with his calculating playstyle. He should know better than anyone when to pull out his other side during a match. Maybe that's his way to A rank, being a bit more like the Old Taichi (actually the immature Taichi).

I don't think it was really all that uncharacteristic when you look at Taichi's history. The only unlikely part was his bad luck ending. It must be due to Sumire's love waves.

I was more impressed with Nikuman winning by turning the game to his advantage. He has a game sense too, just a different one from Chihaya, Rion, and Shinobu. He's more like Arata.

edit:
I can't wait for Shinobu's reactions to that match and Mizusawa's celebration afterward. I bet she's going to nag Arata into being on her team (transferring schools if she has to).

I'm also expecting that Chihaya will be too hurt to play in the individual tournament this year, which will only make Shinobu more irritated. With their win, she is probably hoping for a rematch now, particularly since she finally remembered Chihaya.

[MFauli]

First of all: Damn, those lips! Fujisaki´s coach is my new favorite anime-girl. Try not to disappoint me, H-community :/

For the episode:

Taichi´s win was great, especially his "we will make three wins", just when the whole audience bet against them. I also liked Taichi´s changed playing attitude. Yes, as Ryll said, doing lots "unnecessary" moves to shake up the opponent.
Now, what I really hated was how unimportant Nikuman´s match was presented as. Sure, they had a short "he´s winning because of unparalleled experience"-scene, but that was waaaaay too brief. Come on, this was the final match in the most important team member competition, so put some more cinematic significance in it!

The way Mizusawa won also wasnt that great. Draw of the luck. ugh. Really, Taichi still doesn´t deserve a clean win? Sours the outcome of the whole battle.

Worst moment: When Chihaya was depressed after their victory, just because she couldn´t spot Arata. Seriously, get a life of your own, bitch! Now im 100% against a Chihaya-Arata couple, and I hope it´s Arata who turns away her romantic feelings. What a needy bitch.

[Buffalobiian]

Now, what I really hated was how unimportant Nikuman´s match was presented as. Sure, they had a short "he´s winning because of unparalleled experience"-scene, but that was waaaaay too brief. Come on, this was the final match in the most important team member competition, so put some more cinematic significance in it!

I can't think of how they'd do it any other way. Nishida's always been strong, but his strength (experience/flow) is never something specialised enough that could be shown interestingly on screen. He's good... because he is. I'm not all that sure how "flow" works either. Is it reading your opponent, or getting used to the speaker? You certainly can't "predict" what cards the reader will read based on the first half of a match since the draws are random.

(by predict, I mean guessing like "She'll read a one-syllabal card because the reader likes to do that after a multi-card", not the Taichi-memorisation-predict.)

[Ryllharu]

Gotta agree with MFauli, there's only one term for those lips, probably not appropriate to write on the forum with Buff around, but it rhymes with "rock ducking."

It's not really a surprise they minimize Nikuman. The main characters are Chihaya, Taichi, and Arata. Always has been. Everyone else has always been secondary, even if I want to see more and more of Shinobu now that she's shown some personality.

(by predict, I mean guessing like "She'll read a one-syllabal card because the reader likes to do that after a multi-card", not the Taichi-memorisation-predict.)

That would be cheating, since the cards are randomly drawn and the reader doesn't even know what order they will come out.

It's more like Nishida knows instinctively the things that Deskmoto researches. He plays defensive karuta, so he knows where to move his cards the best, making it really hard on his opponent. He has a feel for opponents' playstyles, but is thrown off by the real weirdos, so you can tell he has strategies for playing against formalized styles. It's the really aggressive girls that throw him off, probably because of playing with Yumin.

[MFauli]

Well, one way of presenting Nikuman´s playstyle could have been by showing a time-lapse of how he becomes stronger the longer the match goes on. You know, something alone the lines of "and before his opponent even realized it, Nishida´s trap had gone into full effect", lol. Instead ... they only said that. Which left no impact on me as a watcher.

[Buffalobiian]

That would be cheating, since the cards are randomly drawn and the reader doesn't even know what order they will come out.

Indeed. It's not compatible with how karuta plays out, but I listed it to show the type of "guessing" Nikuman's experience would have given him had it been under different rules. He's shown previously that he counters strategies as his play style, so I didn't get why his "guesses would be more correct", according to his opponent this episode. That's more of a Chihaya thing.

[Kraco]

The way Mizusawa won also wasnt that great. Draw of the luck. ugh. Really, Taichi still doesn´t deserve a clean win? Sours the outcome of the whole battle.

Not at all. It wasn't just luck. Taichi and Nikuman synchronized their remaining cards so that the chances of winning the whole championship was 50%, not 25% like it would have normally (purely randomly) been. When both players have only one card, it tells their levels are roughly equal (because the game is certainly statistically speaking so long that luck alone won't ever win it). This is quite an achievement for Taichi who is till class B while his opponent was the fricking captain of the super karuta school team. Saying it was just luck would be spitting at Taichi's face. He did bet on luck a couple of times, but, like I said before, it didn't feel unnatural in this particular case, and luck favours the bold, like the saying goes.

[Buffalobiian]

See, I didn't get that whole 50% thing. The opponents had different cards from each other while Mizusawa had one of the same type. There are at least 3 cards in play. 50% just doesn't make sense as a number.

[Kraco]

Did Fujisaki have two different cards (I can't check that now)? If that's so, then you are correct. But nevertheless, it still allowed Mizusawa a significantly higher chance. The opponent only needed one victory anymore, Mizusawa two. So, they evened that out by this synchronization so that it was, in that sense, 50-50. Though I guess statistically it was still 66-33 if Fujisaki had different cards and winning either would have made them win the team match. But even so it would have been much better than Taichi and Nikuman both needing to win separarely, I reckon.

[Buffalobiian]

Did Fujisaki have two different cards (I can't check that now)?

I had a look again, and I suppose Fujisaki must have both "No more" cards, since the captain said so, while Nishida said he sent "No more" across as well. It threw me off because so much emphasis was put on Mizusawa's cards (and Taichi's in general) that they never covered Fujisaki's. By failing to mention that Fujisaki's side was also synchronised my reasoning defaulted to them being unsynchronised.

But all is well now in the logic of karuta.

[Kraco]

Episode 20 - HS






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Man, this episode would have been worth watching only to see the permanent expression of absolute dejection of the unlucky bastard who got Arata as his first opponent. I hope we will see some of that match as well just for the laughs, not just Chihaya's painful struggle.

Still, it looks like the plot is hell-bent on making Chihaya an eternal underdog, no matter how good she gets. Of course it would have been nigh impossible for such an obstinate karuta lover to drop out voluntarily. However, considering everybody in that room has high skills and potential, it would be very weird for Chihaya to get far at all playing with her weaker hand for the first time. Perhaps if she had played a lot with her left hand against the other Mizusawa students, to even the odds in practice matches, she wouldn't be so handicapped.

I feel sorry for Arata; he still considers Taichi one of his good friends, just like Chihaya, and doesn't have any idea Taichi probably hates him already at some level. They don't interact, let alone meet, so much anymore that it would have any immediate consequences, but it's still a pitiful situation, and I hope Arata won't need to learn the truth the hard way or during any critical moment.

[Buffalobiian]

I feel sorry for Arata; he still considers Taichi one of his good friends, just like Chihaya, and doesn't have any idea Taichi probably hates him already at some level. They don't interact, let alone meet, so much anymore that it would have any immediate consequences, but it's still a pitiful situation, and I hope Arata won't need to learn the truth the hard way or during any critical moment

It goes both ways. Arata thinks of Taichi as a friend (I wouldn't say Taichi doesn't consider Arata his friend, but he considers him "dangerous" more than anything else), but Taichi has a friend who he can't accept 100%. Taichi is popular, but he doesn't actually have many real friends. The original trio are the closest, but Chihaya is oblivious to his feelings and Arata (unknowingly) threatens them. Taichi is the most observant and sees the entire picture, but is feels powerless about being able to clean up this mess.

I don't think Taichi "hates" Arata, but he feels extremely insecure and (thinks he) knows that if Chihaya had to make s choice out of the two, he's out. Despite having everything from good grades to money and looks, Arata stands as a constant reminder of what Taichi really wants*, but could never get:

1) Chihaya's attention.
2) Excellent karuta performance.

(* mostly #1)

We can take Taichi's comment two different ways:

"What am I doing here?"

-What am I doing playing Karuta (when I'll never be as good as Arata or Chihaya) anyway?
-What am I doing in B-class, when all my real targets are in A-class?

The second situation would be funnier, if the two meet at the finals and Retro gets owned because he interpreted Taichi's sigh wrongly.

[Kraco]

I don't think Taichi "hates" Arata, but he feels extremely insecure and (thinks he) knows that if Chihaya had to make s choice out of the two, he's out. Despite having everything from good grades to money and looks, Arata stands as a constant reminder of what Taichi really wants*, but could never get:

I don't think, either, that he's consumed by wrath, and thus I wrote at some level. Because how far is that from hating? Arata called him his friend, yet Taichi called Arata an enemy out of earshot. Do you call your friends enemies? A rival would be still cool, since they have invested much in a competitive sport, so there's nothing wrong about a friend being a rival. But an enemy? An enemy is the opposite of a friend. Especially when a girl gets involved. Like you said, Arata even has the two bonuses of being better at Karuta plus the history and long distance have made him even more dream like for Chihaya. I also think a little hating would suit Taichi's personality. We have seen him do underhanded tricks and have dark thoughts in general.

-What am I doing playing Karuta (when I'll never be as good as Arata or Chihaya) anyway?
-What am I doing in B-class, when all my real targets are in A-class?

The second situation would be funnier, if the two meet at the finals and Retro gets owned because he interpreted Taichi's sigh wrongly.

I took it to mean the second choice. But who knows. If he gives up karuta, he gives up Chihaya. But it's not like that would be impossible either. Or would be in real life, but I hardly see it happening in this show!

[Ryllharu]

-What am I doing playing Karuta (when I'll never be as good as Arata or Chihaya) anyway?
-What am I doing in B-class, when all my real targets are in A-class?

The second situation would be funnier, if the two meet at the finals and Retro gets owned because he interpreted Taichi's sigh wrongly.

It's absolutely the second one. He's not only lamenting that all the people he really wants to beat (Arata, Nikuman) are in A-Class, but also that he can't "defend" Chihaya while they are separated. Arata basically has free reign over Chihaya's heart right now. Normally, I would say karuta has free reign over Chihaya's heart, but since karuta has always been the vehicle that reunites her with Arata...

Of course, Chihaya has her own rival of both karuta and love to worry about. Shinobu peering over the table and then visibly pissed she didn't get to play Arata right away (and subsequently not giving a shit about who her opponent was after that) was amusing. Not to mention the two of them are basically on the same wavelength when it comes to personal taste. I also love that people are still talking about her weight loss.

What does annoy me is, as Kraco mentioned, Chihaya always has to be cast as an underdog somehow. It's very disappointing that she never really gets to shine lately. They allow her team to win the tournament, and now suddenly she has no chance to win or even get very far into the individual tournament. Last time, fainting ruined their chances as the team tournament. For every win, Chihaya has to lose just as much on one of her other goals. Worse, she's unlikely to proceed to the second round since she's paired up with the Takarazuka girl. She might win by emulating Arata and Shinobu's 'middle finger exactly on the edge' strikes, but it will feel cheap if she wins either way.

[David75]

I wonder if they'll choose the idea that Chihaya will discover that she's in fact even more of a monster when playing with her left hand.
She might win her match with draw of luck or anything that will maker her barely pass. But that will already show how great her left hand skills are. And then she'll proceed to the top, improving each match.

As it is, there's little she can do to match the Queen. So my guess is that it has to be a technical shift.
Explanation: Left handed people have shorter brain to muscle connection, hence better reflexes. Chihaya probably is already unmatched in that area. Add a little more speed and she probably will be untouchable.

[MFauli]

Nice, Chihaya, got yourself another excuse for not winning. siiiiiigh

Whatever, what annoys me the most that she only thought about using her left hand like 10 minutes prior to the start of her first match. Why couldn´t she think of that the night before? Then we´d get to see a flashback that shows how Chihaya trained using her left hand all night long. Now it´s just stupid. Either she completely ruins her right hand (it´d probably end with some bs "it works up until the finale, but suddenly it hurts too much against Shinobu"), or she´s being made into a super-genius who can use her left hand just like that. Ni-Touryou anyone? Ryouma vs Chihaya :>

Favorite moment: Taichi declaring Arata his enemy...in Karuta. I hope they follow through with this sentiment and make them openly enemies. Though, with the current mood, Taichi could never win. I mean, in Manga/Anime, it´s always the more humble character that wins, and Taichi is too aggressive at the moment.

Also, daaaamn, do I hope Shinobu gets a good ass-kicking during the singles-tournament. Can´t stand arrogant attitudes like hers. Bow down, bitch!