Quote:
Originally Posted by Kazu-kun
I don't think that's the case. Taichi knows that he will never overcome his fear of losing (ingrained into him due to his family) unless he challenges himself and faces that fear head on. Karuta is one such challenge. He's not playing to get Chihaya; he's playing to become a man who can face a seemingly impossible challenge without running away. Heck, he himself states this more than once.
No, being Meijin isn't important to him except as a challenge to further test himself. And he hasn't expressed any interest in the title yet.
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I only half agree (ie. that he is facing his fear head on).
Taichi's position in karuta is directly related to where he stands in his relationship with Chihaya.
The fact that Arata and Chihaya are in class A, whereas Taichi's in class B, is the idea that Arata and Chihaya are (seemly) closer together, despite him physically being closer (Let's not forget Taichi getting ticked off/sad whenever Arata and Chihaya actually come in contact).
Him not progressing his karuta skill is the same as him letting Chihaya slip by (again).
This is his tragedy.
Taichi has stated many times he wanted Chihaya to look at him.
As a kid, Taichi was (supposedly?) superior to Chihaya in every way but doesn't seemed to care.
Yet, Arata enters the picture and is superior in only
one aspect and Chihaya's been fixed on him ever since.
The important thing is that Chihaya and Arata have the same interests (karuta), thus Chihaya is fixed on Arata because he is superior to her in the same hobby (ie. karuta).
In order for her to look at him, he needs to catch up to her skill level in the hobby that she enjoys, and in order to "win" her, he needs to beat his competition, Arata who is aiming for Meijin.
And yes, he has made some cursory interest in Meijin (once in the childhood flashback, and the last ep of season 1).
In this episode, Chihaya shocked Taichi by saying her the most important goal is to get Taichi to class A.
This is the acknowledgement/inspiration Taichi needed as proof that class A = another step closer to getting Chihaya, because this is his hint that she will look at him.