What the heck you guys let’s watch some more Chihayafuru. Chihayafuru has become one of my steadiest comfort projects in recent months – it’s always a joy to watch, and every episode offers plenty to talk about in a craft sense too, whether it’s through the show’s character work, overall sports drama structure, or the individual choices that bring its matches to life. Though the show certainly has its share of dramatic and aesthetic problems, it nails that ineffable “just one more episode” appeal that is incredibly difficult to achieve and incredibly valuable to possess.

The show’s first season ended on a somewhat unusual conflict, as instead of watching Chihaya herself compete, we last saw the Queen and Master each defend their own titles. In a practical sense, that was pretty much the inevitable result of a faithful adaptation of an ongoing manga – but it also conveniently set the stage for our heroes’ next challenges, and also brought Arata back into the foreground. At this point, my only source of hesitance in starting this season is the fact that we’re probably going to be changing opening songs, and Chihayafuru’s first opening song is one of my all-time favorites. But to live is to change and to change is to suffer, so let’s just accept what we must and GET ON WITH THE KARUTA.

Episode 1

Alright, SO. First episode of the second season. This’ll be kinda interesting for me writing here, since I’ve never really covered a season two through this style of article. As a current viewer, there’s been essentially no gap between the end of season one and the beginning of season two. But as a production, these two discreet shows were spaced a solid nine months apart, and presumably the schedule for this episode was significantly more generous than the schedule for the last. I’m not necessarily expecting a big aesthetic shift (the show was always planned to be a long-running production, after all) or big animation flourishes (Chihayafuru has always stuck pretty solidly to “workmanly adaptation of strong original material), but the experience of watching shows in a manner so divorced from their original temporal reality is always an interesting one

A meaningful but ultimately difficult-to-control facet of episodic narrative art is “at what pace did the viewer experience this work?” Shows that we watch weekly give us seven days to simmer on the previous episode before introducing the next, creating a sense of in-show time and emotional connection that isn’t actively related to the show’s own in-episode choices. For something like this, I’m guessing the only meaningful disconnect will be one most people are familiar with – the sense that this episode is a reintroduction to characters we only just left. A concession to people who last saw this group nine months ago, something we’ve come to see as normal, but only because it can’t really be avoided

So far it’s about what you’d expect. The animation and general character art are much, much stronger and more consistent than the show’s average, but the overall art design is entirely the same. Chihayafuru’s overly saturated lighting actually works pretty well when the characters have this much detail and movement

Also just a nice procession of shots here. The show uses the lineup of their bodies to create a sense of intimacy and depth, creating a layered composition through the limbs of the characters that simultaneously emphasizes the cramped lived experience of their clubroom

Seeing their practice actually animated almost feels like its own kind of fanservice at this point

Kana asks the club to let her handle getting new members, which seems wise

“I hope they fall in love with karuta the way we did.” A very light touch of recap that also serves as a segue to Arata, reminding us of his current active presence. Smart directing

This is a pleasant enough song, but it’s NOT THE ONE I LOVE

Some nice visual tricks through this opening segment though, like framing their memories through the spinning karuta cards

Looks like the club will actually end up with two new members, judging by the focus characters in this OP

And now we meet Hanano, who was just dumped and needs to find a new boyfriend, “the hottest guy at this school!” So I guess we’re gonna be abusing Taichi’s sex appeal for the good of the club, then

Sumire Hanano. She has extremely unimpressed eyes, which is a good first sign. The club could definitely use a bit more sharpness – I remember first expecting Nishida to be someone more like this

Yep, there’s Taichi. Well, that didn’t take long

Oh my god, Kana planning their recruitment strategy. Kana is amazing

And Hanano responds with an amazing Taichi-hungry expression. I think I’m gonna like this girl

Taichi smartly wonders who’d actually teach all these first years, while Chihaya is already thrilled to become a teacher. Goddamnit Chihaya

The show is getting to have some visual fun with Chihaya’s ridiculous enthusiasm. That’s one of the areas where a better-animated production would definitely benefit the show – Chihaya’s persona suffers from the fact that she’s not really able to be as physically energetic as her character clearly would be. Even when it comes to character dramas specifically, certain subgenres are better suited to limited animation – like shoujo melodramas, which Osamu Dezaki essentially developed a visual vocabulary for based around single dramatic shots

Of course, a bunch of first-year girls show up for Taichi’s sake

“Does Mashima have a girlfriend?” Yes, Hanano is good

BUT SHE DOESN’T LIKE KANA UNACCEPTABLE

The empress chose Kana as her representative to keep things running smoothly, which seems wise. Taichi is smart, but he has big blind spots, and some trouble relating to ordinary people. Chihaya is flat-out useless. Kana is almost certainly the best promoter for the team

“You win if you reduce the 25 cards on your side to zero first.” Now that I think about it, this may be the first time we’ve actually seen the rules laid out in such a straightforward way. It makes sense narrative-wise that they’d do this for the newbies, but this also works as another natural piece of recap, getting us back into the karuta mindset

Kana only screws up when introducing the poems themselves, unsurprisingly. But Tsutomu’s there to get her back on track. LET THOSE TWO GET TOGETHER

Hanano was lucky to have her intro align with the season opening. They’re using lots of neat visual tricks to frame things from her perspective, the sort of stuff that they likely couldn’t spring for later in the season

It’s nice seeing the whole team all articulate their differing perspectives on what the club should do. It’s a little artificial in that this is clearly the episode/chapter’s “big conflict,” and thus we’re seeing way more disagreement than we usually would, but it still helps to define them all as individuals with their own feelings and priorities

Yeah. “We all cared about different things.” It’s the Big Conflict of the episode, which puts it in a somewhat heightened space vis a vis naturalistic character drama, but it still feels true enough to their characters

Oh my god all these photos Hanano took of Taichi. Hanano plz

“My slightly above average looks make me your typical shojo manga heroine.” OH MY GOD HANANO. Yeah, she is stealing the show effortlessly here

Chihaya getting repeatedly hit in the face by these notes is a very good gag. Again, this episode’s relative wealth of animation allows it to get away with lots of physical humor and characterization that the show generally can’t manage

“She doesn’t understand how precious time is right now.” Interesting. The threat of high school’s end approaching wasn’t a conflict at all in the first season, but I suppose the beginning of their second year is a fine time for that to become relevant

Nice explication of all their priorities. Kana values decorum, Tsutomu a peaceful environment, Taichi the Queen match, and Nishida the high school team match

Chihaya’s first thought is for Taichi’s Class A membership, which is sweet, but then she also says she wants to succeed in every single other goal, because she’s Chihaya

“I’ve never seen anyone so greedy.” Yeah, that’s Chihaya

A nice new song for this declaration, too. Chihaya’s soundtrack can get a little samey, but it understands the power of a good, reliable melodic motif

“I’m the ace!” Ahaha, Chihaya actually gets mad at these first-years second-guessing her skills

Chihaya’s support for Taichi gives him the confidence to ask about his own goals. That kid really needs to get Chihaya out of his head

One of the One Hundred Poems stabs Hanano right in her anxieties. I guess that’s one way to come to love the sport

Hanano trying to butter up Taichi was not a pleasure I expected from this show. She is proving to be an incredibly strong addition to the cast

Goddamnit Taichi stop being so unintentionally romantic you are going to break this girl’s heart

And Done

Hell yeah, Chihayafuru! This season started off in the strongest way it possibly could: not by baiting a new tournament or focusing on some other arbitrary drama, but by adding a new member to the cast who already seems like one of its strongest members. Kana, Tsutomu, and Nishida are all charming kids, but they’re also all pretty positive people – they don’t counterbalance the show’s general energy and upbeat enthusiasm. Hanano is a scheming, self-interested little gremlin, and I love her for it.

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