Dear lord folks, do we ever have a battle ahead of us. After spending two full seasons (and the entirety of their own high school lives) battling together as karuta teammates, today’s pre-Masters finals will see Chihaya and Taichi at last competing against each other. Though they’ve fought in a million practice matches, this time they’ll be competing as equals, and simultaneously representing the new vanguard of karuta champions. Though they’re not truly rivals, they share a closer and more complex bond than any other characters in this show, and are undoubtedly the show’s twin protagonists. And now, at last, they fight.

For Taichi, this battle will serve as the truest testing ground of his fundamental relationship with karuta. Taichi enjoys karuta, but he doesn’t necessarily love it, and he certainly doesn’t possess Chihaya’s overwhelming passion for the sport. What he does love is Chihaya herself – absolutely, unconditionally, overwhelmingly. Taichi’s love for Chihaya has been both a drive and a burden, propelling him to the highest tiers of karuta competition, while simultaneously having a deleterious effect on his scholastic performance, social life, and general sense of self. Taichi often comes under fire for his one-sided obsession, and yeah, it’s not exactly a healthy feeling – but at the same time, his messy and passionate feelings are one of the most human things about him. And now, having at last caught up to Chihaya’s meteoric professional rise, he can meet her as an equal in the field she loves best, and perhaps finally make her truly see him as the man he is.

For Chihaya, the meaning of this match is far more ambiguous. Taichi has always been an assumed variable in her relationship with karuta, but never the goal, and never the source of her passion. In professional terms, Chihaya only has eyes for Shinobu; she is absolutely committed to becoming the queen, and her lack of concern for anyone aside from the current queen actually ended up aiding her in her battle with Haruka. In personal terms, she’s always seemed more preoccupied with Arata than Taichi, as the lost friend who actually inspired her love of the sport. Chihaya is frankly pretty oblivious when it comes to Taichi, but now that he’s actually sitting across from her in a professional match, they might get a chance to honestly communicate in her most comfortable language.

Personal stakes aside, this matchup also promises to be a thrilling contrast of styles, as Chihaya’s classic speed and newfound strategic weapons clash with Taichi’s hyper-analytical play and hard-earned confidence. I’ve been awaiting this battle ever since we started Chihayafuru, and I could not be more excited. LET’S GET TO THE FINALS!

Episode 6

“Tatsuta River Ablaze.” YESSSSS IT IS ON

The crowd is understandably surprised at this finals lineup. Even though Harada lost, this is a great victory for his society

“I’m the up-and-coming devoted husband who picked up this game in no time!” This show is so good at very rapidly sketching charming new competitors

It’s kind of hard to imagine Retro hitting Class A. Though I suppose Taichi was an outlier – he’s belonged in Class A for a long, long time, as this tournament has clearly demonstrated. He graduated directly from Class B to the very top of Class A

Meanwhile, Taichi’s deep in his own head. Chihayafuru’s consistent light saturation actually works very well here, as the pure white of the background emphasizes how he’s drowning out the world around him

Kana’s mom notices, and gives him a moment to reset. Thank you, Mama Oe!

This is definitely a bit lopsided due to the circumstances of the semifinals, though; Chihaya spent the whole round resting, while Taichi fought an incredibly tough opponent

Chihaya actually seems to get emotionally worked up over the thought of facing Taichi, but then Arata shows up, of course

Arata’s obviously a very nice and sympathetic guy, but I relate very heavily to Taichi’s style of anxiety, so I kinda feel obligated to shake my fist

Arata is supposed to leave, but agrees to stay for the match. “I feel like I have to watch this.” All three of them, at last!

Murao also refuses to leaving, since he’s desperate to learn why he lost to Taichi. A nice subtle journey for Murao, as his passion for karuta has been so fully reinvigorated

More soft focus closeups for Chihaya and Arata’s conversation. The character art has been consistently excellent this season, and I hope it lasts

Mama Oe giving Taichi precisely the distraction and encouragement he needs. Like her daughter, her stories of kimonos and Japanese history are beautifully illustrated

Rion wants to stay, as well. Another nice character payoff, and another indication of how right Sakurazawa was to pair her with Chihaya

God, this episode is beautiful. Lovingly animated character pans, excellent use of rich contrasting colors, otherworldly embellishments of floating leaves and light fragments

Hanano’s reflection that “it feels like they’re fighting for the first time” is echoed by the focus of the camera, as we watch them carefully carry out the generally skipped setup rituals

Nishida points out Taichi’s exhaustion, which Tsutomu counters with his data suggesting that Taichi is improving faster than Chihaya

The use of the CG tatami board to allow for swooping camera movements is smartly combined with the soft-focus filters and saturated lighting, allowing for extremely energetic pans across Taichi’s unusual board state

Of course Taichi developed a secret board state just to beat Chihaya. And it’s actually a smart play – he’s remarkably good at adjusting to shifting board variables, whereas Chihaya is so used to playing against his normal placement, that he might as well have been shuffling up her placement here

And as they point out, getting Chihaya off her rhythm is basically the only way to beat her. When she’s having fun and in her element, almost no opponent can win against her

Chihaya takes the first card, but Taichi fires back with the next two!

Taichi’s profound understanding of Chihaya’s strengths and weaknesses dictated his whole board state. He’s separated all the cards she’s personally attached to, making sure she has to make precise decisions about where to aim, and also playing on her current fear of committing faults. This is karuta being played at a level we’ve never seen before – karuta undertaken with a complete understanding of your opponent’s strategy, and thus a battlefield perfectly designed to mitigate their strengths. Obviously he can only currently do this for Chihaya, but this level of counterplay makes it seem like Taichi’s ultimate potential is limitless

That itself might be the truest “happy ending” for Taichi – learning to love karuta even aside from his obsession with Chihaya, and embracing his potential as one of the game’s genuine best players

Of course, Taichi’s strategy of splitting up similar-sounding cards is now at least partially countered by Chihaya’s increasingly precise understanding of tone differentiation

Frankly, this is probably two of the five best karuta players in the world, playing at their peak against the opponent they know best. The crowd is lucky to see this

The observer compares this to Shinobu and Arata’s last match, which at this point seems less flattering than simply correct

The long front row of Taichi’s formation is brilliant. Not only does it separate Chihaya’s best cards, and also allow for cleaner thrusts, it also simply distracts Chihaya, while he can take any cards behind that front line. And goddamn, it is such a credit to this show’s steady illustration of karuta strategy that we can actually understand how smart his choices are, and the precise ways they’re improving his matchup against a more technically proficient opponent. Taichi cannot match Chihaya’s speed or hearing, but he has plenty of weapons of his own

“Just how strong is his concentration, anyway?” Taichi’s greatest strength and weakness in one, but in a match like this, his powers of analysis are honed to a searing point

I’m glad Hanano has reached the point of karuta understanding where she can actually appreciate just how impressive his play is. Her crush felt kinda sad when it was just based on his looks

Taichi is playing not just the board, but Chihaya’s mental state, and it’s working. Her play is incredible, but her concentration has always been a strong point of attack, and Taichi is better able than any other person to take advantage of that. Chihaya takes the first fault!

It’s so rewarding seeing them actively work to internalize all the lessons they’ve recently been learning, right as those lessons become most crucial. Taichi doesn’t get confused about his own placement, because he learned Arata’s strategy for memorization. Chihaya successfully avoids falling into a negative mental spiral, because she remembers Sakurazawa’s advice on posture. These aren’t lessons drawn out of a hat – these are direct responses to their greatest weaknesses, fruits of their training coming through when they need them most

Chihaya regains her composure by remembering that ultimately, she’s still playing against Taichi. I wonder if that means this won’t really lead to her genuinely reevaluating Taichi – he’s certainly presenting himself as a new threat, but her victory might depend on her seeing this as just one more game with Taichi

Hanano sees this differently – she actually tears up as she realizes how closely Chihaya is finally watching Taichi. This has been his mission all series long, a desperate cry of “please Chihaya, look at me”

And Kana points out another truth, that they each bring out the best in each other. Kinda amused by this panning shot of Arata just floating above them like friggin’ Mufasa

“Why aren’t I the one playing against Chihaya right now?” Oh DAMN. An unexpected dash of jealousy from Arata, right at the end!

And Done

HOLY CRAP THAT MATCH, THAT EPISODE, THAT EVERYTHING. That was undoubtedly one of the very best episodes of Chihayafuru, and quite likely the best episode of the entire series. Arcs and arcs worth of character development, strategic development, personal journeys and long-held hopes, all coming together in one of the most thrilling and beautifully executed matches yet. Chihaya and Taichi’s strengths bounce off each other brilliantly, and it was incredibly rewarding to see Taichi reveal all the unique tactics he’d developed just for fighting Chihaya. However this match ends, this episode was an incredible celebration of all the things this show is good at, all the work it’s done in illustrating the strategic complexity of high-level karuta, and all the time we’ve spent coming to love these two young karuta champions. Chihayafuru’s third season has been terrific from the very start, and this stands as a new peak in this rich and wonderful show. Thank you for this, Chihayafuru.

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