Alright, let’s get back to work on our journey through Chihayafuru! Now that the last episode is out of earshot and we can be brutally honest, I’ll be frank: what the fuck was that. We started that episode concurrently with the beginning of the team tournament’s semifinals, and by the end of the episode, I’m pretty sure we’d only made it through four, possible five actual cards of that match. Yes, sure, the episode had other priorities (like building up Chihaya’s opponent Megumu as a Yumin-tier side character), but that’s such a glacial pace of conflict on its face that I can’t help but grumble a bit. Good fiction is able to make tiny moments feel like endless gaps of time, but Chihayafuru’s last episode wasn’t entirely able to keep its twenty minutes from feeling a whole lot like two minutes of actual action stretched into twenty minutes of episode.

That said, all the buildup that consumed Chihayafuru’s last episode should theoretically be paid off right here in this one. Megumu has now been sturdily established as an opponent who embodies many of Chihaya’s own skills, but who feels more comfortable executing on her overall range of abilities than Chihaya. With a full episode of arc-tending and character-establishing behind us, we could be diving into one of the most fully tactics-focused episodes of the show so far, and I’m thrilled to be here. Let’s get right back to Chihayafuru!

Episode 13

A much shorter “recap” segment this time, just pulling us back to Kana reaching out for Chihaya’s shoulder. This makes sense – Kana’s movement was essentially the transition to the epilogue for the previous episode, the moment where we started building anticipation for the match to come. Now we start right there, at the starting line for this fight’s actual dramatic mountain

This is also interesting in that it’s one of the first times Chihaya is able to take advantage of Kana’s power, her attunement to the poetry of the cards. Chihaya has remarked before how she lacks that personal connection Kana and Shinobu possess, and here Kana is expressing that connection in a very unique way – instead of hyping her up, thinking about the serenity of the poem helps her cool her head and center herself. If Chihaya can master this power, she’d be a better player, but I think it’s more likely that this will remain one of Kana’s signature contributions to the team. Chihayafuru already struggles enough giving all of its team members meaningful, unique things to do

“Let’s have a good match!” You don’t have to rub in the fact that last episode was preamble, Chihayafuru

Taking a closer look, it seems like there’s just one opponent standing between Megumu and Shinobu in the OP. Interesting – she might be who Chihaya faces in the team finals, but we’ve still got a full cour of show here, so I’m not sure what else we’ll be doing

Kinda interesting how Chihayafuru is a little naturally constrained by the actual annual karuta tournament structure. You can do stuff like having Taichi go to a bunch of local tournaments to try to raise his rank, but when it comes to a team tournament starring the national all-stars, this one event is it. Last season used this tournament as its climax, but this season’s relative lack of introductory material means we hit it much sooner in the season’s structure, making for a somewhat less dramatically traditional experience

Chihaya’s attack was so effective she surprised herself, thus losing her competitive focus. That is an incredibly Chihaya thing to do

“The match will be decided by Ousaka Megumu’s performance.” Speaking of characteristic actions, it is so very Sudo to watch Chihaya’s play, decide that she’s so unevenly skilled and emotionally fragile that it can barely even be called tactical play at all, and jump to focusing on her opponent’s play

Also nice what a rich comment gallery we now have. We have Chihaya supporters, Megumu supporters, various flavors of neutral, people who focus on the emotional interplay and people who focus on the tactical mechanics, etcetera. Chihayafuru finally has the Greek choir necessary to continuously bounce between players and active commentary, maintaining energy without burning through the match’s actual actions

Yeah, Megumu’s calm is one of her main skills, and consummate troll Sudo would definitely respect that since it counters him so well. Sudo does best when he can emotionally sabotage his opponent, which is a strategy so hard to make honorable that it’s no wonder he swiftly graduated to the commentary club

Chihaya attempts to contest a card, but gets so flustered when Megumu concedes the card without arguing that she misses the next card. Oh my god Chihaya

Oh damn, some Tsutomu focus?

Tsutomu demonstrates he’s actually some kind of detective savant who really should be applying his skills to something other than karuta, using Hanano’s “your opponent had a singer’s fan towel” comment to successfully identify her favorite cards

Some nice illustrations of how this is all a team effort, like Tsutomu and Hanano bouncing off each other, and Kana declaring “we all got my favorite card!”

A new girl offers a single sharp comment from the stands. Pretty sure this was the final opponent between Chihaya and Shinobu from the OP

Chihaya takes another clean hit. This episode is doing some nice work with soft focus and light to accompany the big momentum shifts. I mean, “soft focus and light” are basically this show’s entire aesthetic toolkit, but they’re being applied smartly here

Speak of the devil. Heavy shadow for Megumu’s first moment of vulnerability

The moment Megumu demonstrates she’s not invincible, we finally get some insight into her own head. She doesn’t actually want to be Queen

Ah, that’s the trick. So this is neat because it gives us more Megumu characterization, but the actual dramatic reason for this shift is that Chihaya has at this point figured out some trick to Megumu’s play, and we have to leave Chihaya’s head for a bit to build up suspense as to what she’s discovered. The fact that everyone else is now saying “what’s up with Chihaya’s play” makes that clear

Megumu is stunned by Chihaya’s conviction. While she herself doesn’t care for becoming Queen, Chihaya’s passionate behavior demonstrate her own desire for the title. A nice little cut of animation to elevate that declaration, spinning around Chihaya

Another shot of that girl from the crowd. Just some slight seeding at this point, to make her feel more like an ominous inevitability than a new challenger appearing out of nowhere

Chihaya’s moved from taking advantage of her strengths to conquering her weaknesses. We are pretty decently far into her professional arc at this point

And Chihaya now understands that her strength is built up by the support of her friends. Meanwhile, Megumu sinks and her team crumbles around her

It’s nice seeing Megumu shift from her general calm to actual investment in this game. She’s no longer offering team cheers, she’s got winning to do

“Youth… it brings a tear to my eye.” Megumu’s coach is so adorable

It really feels like you can actually sense Chihaya’s increased speed, too. When she has a particularly impressive round, the tempo of her movement is totally discernible

And Chihaya finally recognizes how similar she is to Megumu

Deep in an emotional hole, Megumu is dragged out by her teammate’s voice, shouting a cheer for the first time. This is a really nice little arc for her

Hah, I love how Megumu fighting for her own sake for the first time is represented through a moment of rules lawyering

And Done

Hell yeah! That’s what I’m talking about. This episode was a barn-burner from start to finish, depicting a very close battle between two extremely well-matched opponents. The preamble of last episode makes more sense now – Megumu isn’t just a Yumin-tier one-off, she’s getting a full arc, and this was likely the second of her three dedicated episodes. Megumu acts as a fine foil for Chihaya and an engaging competitor in her own right, and it’s always fun to see Chihaya have to fight to overcome an opponent who’s right there next to her skill-wise. This was a thrilling episode, and I’m just as excited for the next one!

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