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During the first few episodes, I liked how they presented Chihaya, Taichi and Arata's friendship, extending it into their high school lives, even though Arata had been separated from the group. The introduction of characters such as Kanade, Nishida and Tsutomu added more spice to the series, and it was fun to see the karuta club members interacting with each other and enduring karuta matches together.
As the series progresses, it becomes clear that karuta is not the main focus of Chihayafuru, but the characters. We get a glimpse into almost every character's personalities, interests, thoughts, doubts and fears, even minor ones such as Shinobu Wakamiya and Yumi Yamamoto. In the end, most of the characters get a chance to shine on the stage. Most of their backstories and motivations are interesting; soon, I find myself watching Chihayafuru not for the matches, but the characters.
Another aspect I like about Chihayafuru is that it maintains screentime of the characters, thus resulting in them being well-developed. We didn't get to see much of Arata at first, but later on we see him living in Fukui, and his eventual return to karuta. Even though he isn't with Chihaya and Taichi and was absent for some time in the beginning, he doesn't feel like a minor character at all in the series.
If there's a second season coming up, then I'll be absolutely delighted, because Chihayafuru has been a wonderfully heartwarming ride so far, and the last episode was no less better than the previous ones. This is a series I'd recommend to an anime watcher or fan. 8.5/10 for Chihayafuru.
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