Hello again, everyone. You all ready for Taichi’s Birthday Party Tournament? I know I certainly am – frankly, I wasn’t aware quite how much stress I was carrying for the sake of these mixed-up kids, until Chihaya suddenly announced it was time for a birthday party.

Though the friction of misunderstandings and hidden romantic longing has always been a key element of Chihaya and Taichi’s relationship, Taichi’s increasing feelings of inadequacy as a player, as well as his insecurity regarding Chihaya and Arata’s relationship, have recently made it so they can barely even communicate with each other. Taichi is a tightly wound ball of anxiety and inferiority, and by throwing this party tournament, Chihaya will hopefully prove to him that he is loved regardless of what he chooses to do, and that he can still play karuta just for the fun of it, and not only to prove his value. We are fixing your headspace whether you like it or not, Taichi. Let’s get to it!

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Strap yourselves in everyone, it’s time to WATCH CHIHAYAFURU and GET SAD. Last episode concluded on a brutal punchline, as Chihaya and Arata accepted first and second place tournament finishes, while Taichi was forced to return home after losing to Arata. While all three of these friends are now racing to surpass each other, Taichi has suffered from feelings of inferiority all through his karuta career, and both Chihaya and Arata recently securing “destined matches” against the Master and Queen likely hasn’t helped those feelings. As his two friends soar ahead, Taichi is likely feeling increasingly left behind, distant from them in both a professional and personal sense.

Fortunately, it seems like Suo might actually have taken an interest in Taichi’s destiny, and be willing to give him some training in Master-style karuta. Suo’s defensive karuta style, which depends so heavily on exploiting the psychology of the opponent, seems tailor made for Taichi – ever since Harada pointed out that Taichi is better-suited to defensive karuta, I’ve been waiting for him to study under the true master of the form. That’s my top hope for this episode, but whatever comes, I’m eager to explore another episode of Chihayafuru!

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What the heck are we even doing now, folks? Following its initial tournament and the Chihaya-Taichi faceoff, basically all the rest of season three has so far been dedicated to the leadup and dramatic battles of the Master and Queen challenger matches – and now, those matches are over. Both Harada and Haruka proved themselves unable to defeat the defending champions, and the gauntlet has already been thrown down for Arata and Chihaya’s next-year challenge. But that challenge is still twelve friggin’ months away, and in the meantime, Chihayafuru’s stars will be navigating their last year of high school, and deciding where their lives go from here. After a long, long segment of purely tournament-focused drama, Chihayafuru is at last raising its head back out of the sand, and acknowledging a wider world once more. So where do its characters go from here?

For Taichi, the next step seems to be “reclaim confidence through seizing more tournament victories.” Taichi’s ideas of self-improvement all generally end up being some kind of self-flagellation, and with his mother now actively aware he’s been disobeying her, it surely won’t be long until he has to directly confront their differing perspectives on his future. For Chihaya, the end of this tournament means the questions she’s been delaying answering return to the foreground: what steps will she be taking to actually become a teacher, and how is she planning to answer Arata? And for Arata himself, well, he’s always been the wildcard – though having now challenged Suo directly, I imagine he’ll soon be consulting with Harada, or perhaps powering through more tournaments of his own. Whatever happens, the narrative gates have been opened wide, and I’m eager to see where this story now goes. Let’s get to it!

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