Today we’re continuing our journey through Chihayafuru, as the team tournament finals draw towards an end! With all the establishing work Chihayafuru has recently done, this battle has felt like a validation of nearly every major character’s personal journeys, be it in a small way or a completely worldview-shaking one. While Tsutomu and Tsukuba have already fallen, our remaining three competitors each have their own fire driving them forward, whether it’s Taichi coming to terms with Arata’s presence or Chihaya finally internalizing Kana’s emotive approach to card reading. And of course, this is the last team match of the year – the last chance to shine as a group, and demonstrate their dedication to team karuta.
That “value of team karuta” point reflects what seems to be this match’s most unexpected dramatic focus, its impact on Shinobu. We learned at the end of the first season how karuta had essentially been Shinobu’s only friend, and thus she’d established a close emotional bond with the cards over time. Last episode, that knowledge was given context through learning that the adults in her life had intentionally isolated her from any peers her own age in order to foster that talent, actively forcing her to see karuta as a lonely activity. Given that history, it made perfect sense that Shinobu would have come to resent and eventually disdain team karuta, validating her own unhappy experiences by embracing the idea that team karuta is a fundamentally frivolous activity. If team karuta is bad, Shinobu wasn’t missing out, and her loneliness is just a necessary consequence of her excellence.
Of course, as it turns out, team karuta kicks ass, even if it’s not quite as serious and competitive as solo karuta. Arata framed the value of team karuta as its ability to draw new people into the sport they love, underlining the fact that even Shinobu’s lonely road demands other players – but for Shinobu, the more convincing argument seems to be Chihaya and Rion’s desperate match, a match as high-level and furious as the most competitive singles battles. Chihaya is reaching out to Shinobu without even realizing it, communicating a desire for friendship in the only language Shinobu has ever known. However this battle turns out, I hope Shinobu learns something from this day, and starts to escape her unhappy shell.
Alright, that’s probably more than enough preamble. Let’s dive right into Chihayafuru!
Episode 19
A reasonably lengthy recap this time, though not an unexpected one. Not only are we reestablishing the many tactical variables of Taichi’s map, we’re also raising the dramatic tempo to start off the drama at the same fever pitch where the last episode ended
It strikes me that we’ve got a perfect setup now for the least “gimmicky” team faceoff Chihayafuru has offered yet. Chihaya’s three aces against three excellent opposing players, no future matches to really set up material for, no strange overarching match conceit. If the show were ever to just engage in a karuta match that comes down to the tactical fundamentals, this would be the time
A very dramatic and flattering Taichi-focused composition for Tsutomu’s reflections here. And it’s as Tsutomu says – Taichi choosing to play the captain and trying to rally his team here all reflect a desire to change, a desire to push himself and gain confidence and be driven by his strength, not his insecurities. Taichi essentially needs to learn to be kind of stupid in the way Chihaya already excels at
As usual, Taichi’s matches are exhausting to watch. He might be trying to change itself, but he’s still the same incredibly high-strung player he’s always been
Kinda funny how the payoff here is “the reader actually reads the card Taichi was fixating on.” But they’ve certainly spent enough time paying into the “Taichi has godawful luck” fund, so I guess they can start drawing some dramatic payoffs at this point
Ooh, I like this. The focus has tightened much more since the last episode – we’re now just following Taichi’s match, which means the tone can get much more precise. This long sequence of Taichi with his hand raised builds tension very well; I’m not sure the show has used this largely percussion-focused backing track before, but it’s perfect for the restless energy as everyone wonders what Taichi is doing
And now a fluttering piano part joins in as Taichi moves his card, raising the tension even more. The music is doing an excellent job of representing sonically the continuous stress and sudden dramatic surges of a Taichi match
A double fault! Taichi closes the lead
Taichi’s attitude has improved, too. He was intimidated by this opponent before, but now he’s more confident his opponent must be tired, too
“Calm down. Calm down. Where am I?” Jeez, Chihaya is in worse shape than I thought. Any of her teammates would have forfeit this match long ago, and been right to
Oh wow, Chihaya actually just wins right now? That’s a little surprising – I figured we’d be getting more development for Shinobu via her investment in Chihaya and Rion’s fight, but it’s looking like this is where things will end for now. This feels like a bit of an anticlimax after that intense Taichi segment, though
Chihaya takes her win, and immediately collapses, asleep. I’m not sure if she can sleep off a shattered finger, but if anyone can do it, it’s Chihaya
We return to the Taichi match, but the tone has changed entirely. The shot perspectives have pulled back a bit, and we’ve now got the triumphant waves of horns from the show’s main theme keeping things upbeat. It’s a much less anxious atmosphere
And in the end, it comes down to luck-of-the-draw showdowns in both Nishida and Taichi’s matches. A cute callback to the time they sparred for Class A, now with both of them on the same side. And of course, ending on a luck-of-the-draw showdown plays into Taichi’s luck-focused conflict – they could either resolve this by breaking his curse and having his card be drawn, or resolve it by overcoming his luck, and beating his opponent to their own card, like he failed to do last time. Either seems plausible – Chihayafuru actually seems to possess some real faith in the power of luck, so I’m not certain the payoff will be “Taichi overcomes superstition to win through personal excellence”
Taichi and Nishida both hold onto the same card, which makes sense. If they split this, they lose – it was very lucky for them that they each won their second-to-last contests, so they got to decide the card arrangement
And with the enemy coach having established the tactical fundamentals, here’s Kana on color commentary, offering a few choice insights into the final poems!
Yeah, they’re really playing up the luck angle – reminding us that Taichi has never won in a luck-of-the-draw, and emphasizing how his opponent actually has good luck. It’s an odd dramatic focus; luck isn’t something you can govern, it’s literally all the stuff that is beyond your control. Even if Taichi’s luck changes here, it’s not like he himself accomplished anything, or learned anything that will help him in the future
A well-observed moment here with Taichi, where he breathes, gets into a negative mental loop, and then resets by breathing again
And here we are, at one of the most naturally exciting moments in any karuta match – the moment where it’s down to one or two cards, and thus most cards read will be dead cards, leading to constant high-tension readings one after another. Chihayafuru was smart to recognize that these setups are about as exciting as karuta gets, and must be used sparingly while given appropriate focus
“Is it futile to keep remembering these?” I suppose that’s one way to direct this conflict – frame Taichi as at his wit’s end in terms of motivation, so his card being called can act as a sort of thematic “the world believes in you” validation of all his efforts. But that just doesn’t seem to sync very neatly with his actions up until now in this match – this match has been all about him establishing a healthier attitude towards play by learning from his teammates
On the other hand, I’m really enjoying this electric bass-driven version of the main theme. Very good music this episode
Chihaya wakes up and Taichi gets his card. Thank god. That poor boy has suffered enough
And Mizusawa takes it. God damn. They’re not gonna be unknowns from here on!
“Rion, listen to me. None of our players could beat Ayase-san.” Yep. Rion could have won her match, but none of their other competitors could have – Megumu was probably the only person in this entire tournament who could beat Chihaya, and she only did it by inches. Chihaya is world-tier at this point, and it’ll be interesting seeing how the show manages that going forward
Of course, as I’ve said before, Chihaya seems to have been carefully designed to be a player who can “play down” depending on her opponent’s level. Chihaya gets flustered easily, Chihaya is a momentum-based player, Chihaya can’t handle unfamiliar variables well, Chihaya gets stuck in bad mental patterns – all of these thoroughly established qualities mean that while her fundamental skill is nearly at Shinobu’s level, she can easily make matches against weaker players exciting by screwing up in some other way
A nice moment between Rion and her coach. I really, really like this coach character, and hope we get to see this team again
Alright, tournament over, time to mope about Arata
And Done
MIZUSHIMA IS VICTORIOUS! MIZUSHIMA IS UNSTOPPABLE! QUAKE BENEATH THEIR MIGHTY KARUTA BOOTS!
Yeah, that was fun. Neither Chihaya nor Taichi’s matches played out exactly like I’d expected, but the show was very successfully able to pull this match’s drama together into one key moment that essentially served as Taichi’s fortune-related breakthrough. Taichi’s luck has been screwing him for a full season now, so even if there’s not much to be drawn in a thematic or character-growth sense from him just finally getting the card, it still felt like an earned victory. My only real complaint with this episode would be that it didn’t carry through on the Shinobu material from the last couple episodes, but presumably that will brought up in the singles tournament. Now I just have to hope Chihaya isn’t too injured to face her rival once again. Bring on a Shinobu match!
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