I’m gonna watch more Chihayafuru and you can’t stop me! Having devoted the entirety of this morning to writing over three thousand friggin’ words for a different Current Projects article, this afternoon I’m cooling off with Chihayafuru, my designated comfort watch. So far, the show’s second season has mostly been dedicated to integrating Hanano and Tsukuba into the natural rhythm of the karuta club. It’s been a somewhat bumpy ride to get there; the second episode had to rely on some pretty contrived conceits to solidify Hanano’s membership, and Tsukuba’s personality has only really come into focus in the most recent episode. But that episode also effectively acted as the hard sell of their merger into the group, and at this point, they’re integrated well enough that the natural interactions of them and the other members going forward should finish the job.

With Hanano and Tsukuba-related club integration drama consuming the first day of the team tournament, I’m guessing we’ll now be returning to the original five players, and focusing on the actual tactical back-and-forth of them versus their day two opponents. I’m very excited for this; the previous year’s team tournament was utterly overshadowed by integrating Tsutomu into the group, and so this could be the first time we see our five leads compete together in a purely tactics-driven match, uninhibited by some character’s specific arc-related needs. Chihayafuru’s tactically focused matches often tend to be its biggest highlights, so I’m very ready for what today might bring. Let’s get right to it!

Episode 4

Opening with a lovely outdoor shot of the seashore through leafy foliage. I assume we’re in the south somewhere?

Ah, visiting Arata again, at his grandfather’s grave. It’s been three years, apparently

The tone here seems intent on demonstrating that Arata has arrived at a healthier place regarding his grandfather’s death. Even though he’s visiting a grave, the music is a bunch of upbeat flutes, and there are some goofy comic beats with his dad. Tone as storytelling here – Arata’s not directly telling us “I’m no longer crushed under the weight of my grandfather’s absence,” but the music and scene priorities say the same thing

Ah, so Arata’s dad never got along with his own father, since dad wasn’t interested in karuta

“You have to exchange more emails, or your friends in Tokyo will forget about you.” I can’t imagine there’s much chance of that

Hah, even Arata knows how safe he is

Bright sunlight as Arata looks towards the sea. This seems like a pretty key emotional moment for him, and he capstones it by pinning some wish on winning the high school national tournament

What is Arata’s accent? He basically adds a little trilling emphasis on the end of a lot of words, which is presumably a regional thing. I’m happy to be used enough to Japanese to notice it, but I don’t actually know what region it signifies

“To tell the people in the capital that I make for the islands.” I’m guessing an allusion to Arata’s new journey, but these card openings often don’t make for particularly meaningful episode titles

Harada-sensei looking as upbeat as ever. He’s a very charming coach character

“Based on his effort during practice, Taichi should be Class A by now. He’s put in so much effort, so why can’t he win a tournament?” This feels like such an arbitrary way to denote class changes. You could get lucky with your pairings at one tournament, or run into unfavorable opponents five tournaments in a row, and this decides whether you get to advance? Though I guess karuta just isn’t that strictly organized as far as sports go – after all, it’s the clubs that ultimately decide who gets to ascend to Class A, and a player like Yumin wouldn’t succeed at all if referees existed

“It seems like he just has terrible luck. He can never catch a lucky break when he needs it most.” I’m glad the show acknowledges this system is kind of bullshit. Taichi substantially outplayed Nishida during their big match, but the cards just fell in Nishida’s direction, and that was that

“Don’t concentrate too hard.” Oh my god Taichi, how do you always make this sport look like such suffering. Is Chihaya really worth this

Regardless, looks like this episode will be focusing on Taichi’s unfortunate professional circumstances, which I’m all for

Looks like Homei is the rival team this year. Their leader Tsuboguchi was the masters contender for last year, which means he was the second-best in the nation while still in high school. Fortunately, this is a team match, so they can just match him against Tsutomu and forget about him

Okay, they probably won’t do that, fine

Oh, he’s the advisor, not one of the players. Well, still pretty intimidating

“Go easy on us, reigning champions.” I like how they’re setting up the opponents as the scrappy underdogs here. It’s a nice subversion of the usual form that embraces how Chihaya’s team are actually the favorites this year

We’re also likely working to flesh out Tsuboguchi as a future competitor, as well as a member of the commentary crew

Harada: “An individual match is a team match. A team match is an individual match.” Thanks for that, Confucius

I mean, “team matches are individual matches” is easy. You can’t assume you’ll be carried by your team, you must fight as if victory or defeat are entirely in your hands

Oh wow, Tsuboguchi’s strategy is next-level. He has Chihaya’s opponent ask for her number, which throws her off her game… but more importantly, completely sideswipes Taichi’s focus. Taichi is clearly the leader of their group, but that itself can be a weakness – Taichi is a good leader because he’s constantly focusing on everyone around him, but having him focus on Chihaya more than his own match means he’ll easily fall

“They’re switching readers every round this year.” A significant disadvantage for Chihaya, who becomes stronger the more familiar she is with a reader’s vocal patterns

Tashiro, the reader, is inexperienced, and thus reading out cards at awkward rhythms. An interesting conflict that we’re only able to experience now because we understand all of the players’ individual quirks, as well as the pace of the game. This is also a very good conflict to apply specifically to a team match, because teams can be so lopsided in their play skill, meaning a much more overall experienced team will be harshly affected by the cards not being read out correctly, whereas a less experienced team will be at less of a disadvantage

This match is everything I was hoping for, and Tsuboguchi is the perfect opponent. We’re getting to see Tsuboguchi the general fight Taichi the general, as opposed to focusing on individual player matchups, and it’s terrific. Taichi shines when it comes to this sort of overthinking, and I hope the show finds more ways to take advantage of his personality like this

Taichi’s opponent seems to be cursing the cards to conjure the right one, an appropriate quirk for a match focused on Taichi’s bad lack

I really like the unique look of his opponent. I’m also just a fan of this hairstyle where you pull your bangs directly back – it basically doesn’t exist in America, but it always looks really cute in anime

Harada diagnoses Taichi’s core issue as self-confidence. Taichi is unable to believe his issue is a lack of luck, which is generally a good thing, but he’s taken it to such an extreme that he doesn’t believe he’s skilled at all, and can’t rely on that skill

“Play like you can guess what card’s coming next.” It’s interesting how all these things that would be illegal, or at least considered bad sportsmanship, in other games are actually valuable strategic choices here

The empress arrives, and she’s fucking pissed about the air conditioner being broken just over her team. That is a pretty messed up handicap they’re working under

As usual, this Taichi match is incredibly painful to watch. Taichi is suffering

Ahaha, he asks for a towel and gets tossed five. BUT CHIHAYA HAS THE ONLY TOWEL IN HIS HEART

The towels act as a nice visual metaphor for the support he so often doesn’t realize is waiting to help him

Yessss, Hanano’s going to scout out their finals opponent. BE THE SNEAKY ONE, HANANO. WE NEED YOU

Taichi’s comeback receives a new variation on the show’s main musical theme, accompanied by uptempo drum kit percussion. The color fades, creating a dynamic contrast between his yellow hakama and the black background. This is a very well-sold turn, though I’m frankly not sure what personal revelation it’s intended to accompany. Taichi basically just resolved to do his best

And in the end, his obsession is illustrated as a strength, his mantra of the cards that haven’t been taken melding gracefully into the background music. This is a very well-composed sequence, and also a uniquely Taichi sequence

And Done

Hell yeah, that episode was awesome! I got exactly the tactically-focused match I wanted, and even better, it was focused on my favorite player, Taichi. I always comment on how Taichi’s matches are painful to watch, but that’s partially due to how clear he makes the dramatic variables of any match. He’s certainly as emotional as any of them, but he’s able to articulate the mechanical back-and-forth of a match the best of any player, and here that was applied both to his individual match and his work as the team leader. This was a fantastic payoff episode, and I’m excited for the finals. Karuta ho!

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