Well folks, somehow we’re in it all over again. After the tense conclusion of the pre-Masters tournament left Chihaya elated and Taichi in despair, Chihayafuru wasted only seven or eight minutes handling the post-tournament cooldown, before immediately ramping up into the next tournament’s preamble. At this point, Chihayafuru’s overarching narrative seems to be rising up the curve of drama you generally expect from each individual arc, except applied to the show as a whole – arcs don’t really “cool down” anymore, since we’re actually approaching the story’s overarching dramatic crescendo. And with Tsutomu having made clear how high the stakes are for Taichi at this point, it feels like we really might be approaching Chihayafuru’s ultimate climax, or at least a meaningful relational shift from all that has come before.

The plain fact of it is, Taichi just can’t keep doing this to himself. In emotional terms, he’s spent his entire high school career pining for his best friend, and even making her passion his own, all without ever telling her how he feels. This situation is unhealthy for Taichi and unfair for Chihaya, and as time has gone on, it seems he’s only gotten even more emotionally dependent on her. In practical terms, we’re approaching the end of our heroes’ second high school year, and if Taichi’s planning on actually pursuing a pre-med path, he can’t possibly maintain this level of karuta study. Something has to give soon, and though I hope that “something” involves coming clean with Chihaya, I’m not sure Taichi is capable of taking that step. However things shake out, this is bound to be a tournament loaded with emotional baggage, as Taichi’s balancing act is strained to the breaking point. LET’S GET TO IT!

Episode 8

“As friends and strangers.” A title that feels very appropriate for Chihaya and Taichi’s relationship

We arrive back in Kyoto at the Golden Pavilion!

But of course, Chihaya’s been up all night thinking about Taichi

“I never knew you were so serious about becoming the Master!” God damnit Chihaya. I mean, Taichi should know his current behavior is hopeless: “if I get good at karuta, she’ll realize how much I love her” is a far less likely outcome than this, where she just thinks he’s as crazy about karuta as she is

I suppose it is technically possible that Taichi actually does love karuta? The show occasionally offers glimmers of that, but it’s just not nearly as supported by the text as his Chihaya obsession. Even in that last match, the ultimate framing of his defeat was “now Arata might steal Chihaya from me”

It seems like Harada also believes Taichi is genuinely determined to be the Master. At points like this, it becomes a little difficult to separate the usual sports drama “everyone is obsessed with this sport” character writing mentality from individual, emotionally grounded characterization. If this were an outright character drama, I’d feel more confident that my read on Taichi is correct, since it feels like the most consistently reflective of his motivations and prior behavior. But because this is also a pretty classic sports drama, there’s an underlying worldbuilding assumption that everyone in this world is going to be at least a little obsessed with karuta, and I’m not sure to what extent that assumption actually might be dictating Taichi’s behavior

Oh dang, and now we see Sudo actually withdrawing. He’s certainly a dick, but I guess he’s also a man of his word

Taichi negotiates him down to just conceding if they’re matched against each other. Taichi might have some serious Chihaya-related emotional problems, but he’s still a kind person on the whole

Oh shit, it looks like Sakurazawa herself might be competing!

Whole lot of major competitors here, including Rion and Haruka. I wonder how we’ll be following the Queen qualifiers, given Taichi is the only standard “perspective character” here

And then Taichi’s mom finds out he’s here. Welp, looks like he might have to make some decisions about his future in a real hurry!

The karuta society higher-ups are all hoping for Arata to unseat the current Master. Meanwhile, Arata has a tummy ache

Arata’s expression of surprise at seeing Taichi’s name is so charming

Alright cool, Arata is directly asking the same questions I was, and wondering where Taichi’s sudden determination to become the Master came from. I’m glad at least one person who actually understands Taichi is reacting to this situation

Shinobu is in full battle regalia, Snowmaru bag and all

She shows up in the sidecar for Suo’s motorcycle. I can kinda see why the karuta association is a little embarrassed by these two

They keep using this cool shot of Suo in shades, but I know Suo too well to fall for it

Suo very quietly explains that he’s actually planning on graduating this year, and thus once he wins his fifth Masters, he’s going to retire

This is definitely a much more conservative episode animation-wise than the last several. Lots of panning stills and whatnot, which makes sense for a transition episode like this

Suo’s announcement seems to actually clear Arata’s head, and clarify what he needs to do

This show’s depiction of Arata in his element is terrifying. As opposed to Chihaya’s jubilant energy, or Taichi’s frantic mental concentration, Full Power Arata is a still pool, quiet and deep, ready to swallow you whole. He’s fully present, and yet his eyes seem far away, already moving towards the next victory

Suo really embracing his role as a cryptic old sage of karuta. He tells Arata that he’ll be Master one day, but not the next Master, and furthermore that his karuta “doesn’t excite me”

If his prophecy is to believed, it could line up with a pretty tidy conclusion for Taichi’s narrative – winning now and becoming the next Master, but retiring basically immediately, in order to pursue his scholastic future

“Meanwhile, the main character was lost on the Golden Pavilion parade grounds.” Fantastic transition. We rarely get any exposition courtesy of a narrator outside of the narrative itself, but it’s clear that the manga is full of these little bits of creator commentary, which generally just get translated into outright text notes written on the screen. However, for a shot based entirely around this punchline, it makes sense to forego the show’s usual style and emphasize the narrator’s commentary

Mashima’s facing the relatively new player who beat Retro

“What is it I want to become so badly that I’d miss my class trip?” It seems like even Taichi isn’t fully sure what he’s doing here. Perhaps this could actually be a positive breakthrough for him – a realization that his passion for karuta and passion for Chihaya can be separated, and that he still loves this game and wants to be the best even without her approval. They’ve definitely been seeding his potential throughout, but the aftermath of the pre-Masters tournament was basically all about his relationship with Chihaya

Aw shit, Hanano to the rescue with Taichi’s mom!?

This is a pretty nice use of Hanano and Tsukuba, who really don’t have much to do outside of the context of a team tournament

A karuta player who relies on his good lucks to charm his opponent is immediately destroyed by the oblivious Harada. I like how this arc is kind of riffing on Chihayafuru’s own tendency to give its challengers intricate backstories – these characters rush to get in their bit, but these rounds are basically being summarized, so they’re just getting demolished immediately afterwards

Hah, Sakurazawa’s so brutal. “My students are doing terribly this year. Why did they even come here?”

Haruka and Rion both make it through, unsurprisingly. It feels like both Rion and Sakurazawa have essentially been promoted to perspective characters at this point – they’re not literally part of Chihaya’s team, but they’re on the audience’s side now

Harada is exhausted by his match

Ooh, I love Taichi’s pep talk for Retro here, where he breaks down their opponent’s strategic tendencies, and then emphasizes that he knows Retro is better than that. It seems like Taichi may truly be embracing a positive love of karuta, which in Chihayafuru is pretty much always tethered to viewing the sport as a communal activity. In the past, whether he won or lost, Taichi tended to suffer alone, and isolate himself in the wake of matches. If he’s learning to turn his matches into positive experiences for both himself and the people he cares about, he might actually be moving towards a positive and rewarding relationship with karuta, both in a personal and thematic sense

And Taichi’s kindness actually forces Retro to be more honest with himself, and admit that he’s very likely just reached his current ceiling

Hanano is body-blocking the door to keep Taichi’s mom out. HANANO THE GOAT

And Taichi even gets to see her speech! Dear lord would that ever be a positive development – Taichi actually falling for Hanano would be way healthier than his current obsession. Also, the two of them are both kinda jerks and I love them both and they’d be really cute together

I appreciate this halfhearted effort to hype up Taichi’s opponent in the ten seconds before their match is actually announced. Truncated tournaments can only do so much

As Arata’s long-ago “Mashima, you’re a coward” still rings in his head, Taichi thinks “I want to be someone who isn’t me, but… I also want to be me!”

And Done

Hoo BOY, that was a heavy one. I was right in my guess that this tournament would be far more focused on this show’s central emotional conflicts than tactical battles, at least for its first act. It felt at first like Taichi’s motives were awkwardly confused, but as it turns out, that was an intentional reflection of Taichi’s own ambiguous feelings, and his desperate desire to escape his own negative impulses. It was unkind of me to assume he’s in this tournament purely for Chihaya’s sake – rather than returning him to her shadow, it seems like losing to her in the pre-Masters finals actually shook him out of his rut, and made him reassess what he wants out of life, and who he wants to be. Taichi is Chihayafuru’s most complex, morally ambiguous, and at times frustrating character, and I’ve come to greatly care for this messed-up kid over the course of its ambitious run. I hope he finds a goal that makes him happy over the course of this battle!

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