Oh my gosh you guys, we are far too close to the end of this season. Do I even want to watch this episode of Chihayafuru? The show has been my most reliable, persistent joy this year, and I always enjoy stuffing myself with more karuta drama, but knowing we’re only two episodes away from the end of the season sure does put this in a somber context. At this point, I am profoundly happy I actually waited this long to watch Chihayafuru – at least now we know there’s a third season coming eventually, and all light won’t simply vanish from the world when this tournament ends.

Anyway. Sorrowful end-of-season context aside, we’re currently in the middle of a thrilling match between the two characters whose skills have been built up more than any other: Shinobu and Arata. The Master and Queen split of professional players means Arata could never actually challenge Shinobu for her throne, so their fight here could potentially be the only time they get to compete professionally. And beyond the inherent thrill of seeing their thoroughly established skills in action, this match is also acting as a full reintroduction to Arata’s skills more generally, as well as a continuation of Shinobu’s insecurity-driven isolationist act. This battle is firing on all cylinders in terms of immediate tactics, character arcs, and larger Chihayafuru themes, offering a worthy sendoff to what’s been a generally thrilling season. Let’s get to the mats and watch some Chihayafuru!

Episode 24

And we return where we left off, with Chihaya tearfully congratulating Taichi on his long-awaited move to Class A

Taichi’s “arc” here wasn’t really an arc at all – it was basically just a persistent conflict that rose and fell in immediate relevance based on the demands of other stories. Thus we get this sort of disjointed flashback that touches on both moments where he expressed complacency regarding his position and moments where his luck stopped betraying him. This muddled route to victory is actually far more realistic than something like Shinobu or Chihaya’s very focused arcs, but also less satisfying. Reality rarely gives us well-paced and thematically coherent personal journeys

Chihaya is still crying on the floor. I appreciate the idea that this moment is more important to her than Arata and Shinobu’s match in a character/thematic sense, but damnit I REALLY WANT TO SEE THAT MATCH. Get up, Chihaya!

“Taichi is Class A now, which means… he’s a rival.” Chihaya doesn’t see boys or girls, she just sees RIVALS and bystanders. Of course, even this probably feels like a win for our boy Taichi

Hanano sees Taichi grabbing Chihaya’s wrist and gets all mopey

And Kana offers some sympathy in the form of a relevant poem. These two have a pretty one-note friendship so far, but that feels like a difficult-to-avoid consequence of Kana essentially representing Hanano’s tenuous link to karuta. I don’t think Hanano will ever give three shits about karuta, so I’d instead like to see the series simply elaborate on her friendships with the others, and give her a more personal and believable reason to be invested in this group

Tsukuba is in the group D finals, to the surprise of all his teammates. Oh Tsukuba

They use Tsukuba’s intensity to essentially try and draw a link between Hanano’s passionate feelings and the more karuta-related passion of her teammates. It sorta works – I can believe Hanano respects and relates to their passion

Chiyaha WHAT is it NOW we need to GET to the ROOM

Alright, she’s scared, that’s understandable. But I’M not scared, and I WANT TO SEE THE MATCH

Whew. Sakurazawa stops by, and strong-arms both of them into entering the room. “If you’ve chosen this path, there’s nothing you’re better off not knowing.” Sakurazawa continues to be a wonderful addition to the cast

Another thing I like about sports shows: they tend to offer strong roles for adult characters, something that’s not true of many other anime genres

The door slowly opens, and we get a dramatic underwater effect, as the screen is draped in a blue filter and bubbles spin slowly towards us. Arata might be winning, but I assume Chihaya would have been viscerally reminded of Arata’s play style regardless of how this match was playing out

Nishida is the only member of the team who’s actually been here, meaning we can get a relatively graceful summary as he reflects on what he “wishes he could show” to the other two

Nishida’s a good commentator. He efficiently reduces his summary of the fight to a standoff between Arata’s naturally fortunate positioning and powerful strokes and Shinobu’s card targeting and accuracy

Arata’s underwater motif lends a sense of overwhelming inevitability to his matches – the sensation of literally drowning against him

Looks like Arata’s big return isn’t disappointing the critics – he’s so methodically efficient in his play that he’s actually making the gallery feel sorry for Shinobu

“Why am I doing so poorly? Ah – I discriminated. I looked away from everyone.” In contrast with Arata’s extremely cold, methodical play, all based on a coherent match game plan, Shinobu is a far more emotionally driven player. She sees the cards as her friends, and that is her strength, but it also means that when she’s forced to instead adopt a unique strategy that favors certain cards, she loses that edge. Shinobu is so fundamentally strong as a player that she’s never had to address the major weaknesses of her style, and that’s hurting her against an opponent as strong as Arata

This is a smartly designed conflict that works for both the short and long term. In the short term, this sets Shinobu up for a dramatic comeback based entirely in “I remember and reemphasize the kind of karuta I am good at.” Simultaneously, this also moves us towards a longer-term project where Shinobu might eventually find friendships outside of the cards, and thus not be so hobbled tactically by her feelings towards the cards. Then again, Shinobu’s genuine love of the cards has also consistently been presented as something Chihaya lacks – so we’ve established all the pieces necessary for a future arc where Shinobu and Chihaya each improve on what they lack by learning from the other

Some really great color work and overall compositions in this episode. Nice symmetrical layout of their bout leading naturally into this fluid cut depicting a reflection in Shinobu’s eye

So even when Arata’s reactions are slower, his actual movement speed is insane enough to beat Shinobu to a card on her own side. They weren’t building Arata up for nothing, I guess – in one tournament, he’s demonstrated he’s significantly stronger than every single non-Shinobu, non-Master player in the cast

Nishida comments specifically on his extremely calm demeanor, which leads into Chihaya remembering that spinning top analogy Kana used explain different kinds of energy. Arata exemplifies “impassionate” – brimming with energy, but still as ice

That leads us naturally into a flashback, where one of the other coaches tells us “he wasn’t always a karuta master,” and that sends us towards Arata’s grandfather teaching him about the importance of not just visualizing movements and victory, but centering yourself in a mental place where you’re most comfortable and free to move

“When did you have the most fun playing karuta?” Meaning we’ve now established a direct link between what the show is depicting as Arata’s most crucial weapon, his unflappable/”impassionate” nature, and his memories of playing together with Chihaya and Taichi. Which in turn ties us back to Shinobu’s conflict – when she asks “what secret weapon do you have that I don’t have,” the answer will actually be “memories of loving karuta with friends.” Extremely cohesive character beats here – their personal stories naturally facilitate their journeys and arcs

“Arata’s body grew enough that he could play the way he visualized.” That’s a very precise and smart read – that Arata’s now a better player because he’s always relied on his visualization, but his visualization was always based on his grandfather’s movements, and now he’s tall enough to match those movements

The Queen’s been pushed into a corner! She might have to use… THAT (that being her Snowmaru fluffy towel)

“My matches weren’t easy, either.” I’m sure both Megumu and Chihaya would be happy to hear that, though she’d never ever tell them

Shinobu begins to fight back through her signature weapon, precision

Great stuff. We now see Shinobu fighting at her absolute best to beat Arata, which is giving Chihaya precisely the experience she needs for her own improvement. She’s been working on precision for months now

Chihaya starts actually swinging and Taichi grabs her arm. Goddamnit Chihaya

“The one with the stronger tie to the cards is me, Arata.” But he just smiles back. He refuses to compete according to her rules

OH SHIT HE TAKES IT. ARATA WINS BY TWO

I really, really liked their choice to shift the last few cards to a montage, and to then draw out the actual reveal of who won. That put us viewers directly there with the audience, momentarily stunned, wondering what madness just unfolded

Jeez, what a splash for Arata. A year and a half away from karuta, and he beats the Queen in his first tournament back

Gorgeous shots as Arata congratulates her on making it through with a fever. This is a crucial moment for Shinobu – her style has been beaten at last, and so Arata extending a hand here is the strongest argument anyone could make for the value of playing with people you trust

And Done

Hot DAMN. There was no screwing around this episode – that was all meaty match stuff from start to finish, cataloging what was easily the most high-level match we’ve witnessed so far. We’ve technically seen Shinobu defend her throne against Yumin, but that battle didn’t really have much a close focus on the individual card exchanges – here, we saw Shinobu and Arata’s very different playstyles contrasted with extreme clarity, as well as the philosophies behind those styles. This was a thrilling match, and if we have to wait on season three for its followup, I guess I’m okay with that. Season two is concluding in style!

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