(L) Chihayafuru [Manga]

[GundamZZ]

Originally Posted by Undertaker

That's mainly only because Arata is showing interest in it.

I think you misread his statement. His statement about tsundere is

Spoiler:

In their reunion, Shinobu said the team competition is for people who don't like karuta. It implied that she did not want to be with other people.

In this chapter, Shinobu says that she has to be in the competition. She is the Queen. Everyone else is waiting to challenge her. It's her own way to reach other people.

In the last moment, Shinbou and Arata moves at same speed. It's very likely that the fever causes her defeat. She's only few nanometer from reaching the cards.


Got to love their interaction.
When Arata thinks hard, he shows the scary face. Arata's grandfather tells him that it doesn't help him from winning. Hence, he starts to practice smiling.


And she smells back. I'm falling and rolling around!

[Kazu-kun]

Yeah, what GundamZZ said is pretty much what I was getting at. At first it seemed she didn't care, but what she said (and her narration) at the end of chapter 91 implies she does care and probably wasn't being honest about it before (or she had a change of heart along the way!).

[smokeesid]

Spoiler for 91:

I don't think so. Shinobu is looking focused and without any trace of disturbance from fever while playing. I think fever only displays her determination to play

[Undertaker]

Originally Posted by Kazu-kun

Yeah, what GundamZZ said is pretty much what I was getting at. At first it seemed she didn't care, but what she said (and her narration) at the end of chapter 91 implies she does care and probably wasn't being honest about it before (or she had a change of heart along the way!).

That I would agree. IMO, Arata ius reminding her back when she had a playmate of her own age. But what she has been through these years has formed what she is right now, and I think in part Shinobu is trying to denying but at same time is drawing closer back to team (or at least partners) concept.

[karice67]

oh geez...

#92 is out in Japan...

But I really want to let you all see what happens in it for yourselves...

[smokeesid]

I think this guy has posted some sort of summary here and what I could get is all talk especially Chihaya asking why he was relaxed or something. So I could get why Karice is unwilling to post the summary. TDX will post it or release the chapter anyway.

[karice67]

All talk? Well, I guess so, but no, that's not the 'problem'. I just spent half an hour reading a really detailed blog post about the chapter, and trust me, you should wait for someone to post the scans.

If TDX will post the summary around the time that comes out, I'll translate some of the commentary from the blog I read...even though I should really be working on uni stuff...

[Eistir]

@smokeesid Thank you for posting that! By far, from what I could muster up from Google translations and a small translation from a friend, there seems to be some

Spoiler:

Chihaya x Arata development.....

EDIT:
I found a Japanese blog for Chihayafuru Chapter 92.
http://kakimoc.blog134.fc2.com/blog-entry-39.html

I can understand why karice is unwilling to give out spoilers. It is definitely something that one should see for themselves.

[smokeesid]

Originally Posted by karice67

All talk? Well, I guess so, but no, that's not the 'problem'. I just spent half an hour reading a really detailed blog post about the chapter, and trust me, you should wait for someone to post the scans.

If TDX will post the summary around the time that comes out, I'll translate some of the commentary from the blog I read...even though I should really be working on uni stuff...

And they have posted http://tdx-manga.livejournal.com/19703.html#cutid1

[karice67]

Thanks for the heads-up...I still want to wait for the scans myself though...

[karice67]

Ok, got it, so here goes.

Firstly, some slight corrections to tdk's summary:

Spoiler for end of chapter 92:

(1) Chihaya has yet to undergo the surgical procedure, which will take place the next day.

(2)After Arata tells Chihaya that whenever he plays karuta, he always returns to that old, run-down apartment where he first played her, Chihaya doesn't actually say anything out loud, she just realises that

I don't understand. I don't really understand these feelings. But, for the rest of my life

(this page is a three page panel, with Chihaya at the top and bottom and Arata in the middle)

/ (final page - with just the 'chihayaburu' card in the background)

I will love* karuta

and Arata too.

*You can translate this as 'like' if you really want to, but the English 'like' doesn't quite have the same range of meaning as the Japanese 'suki'. I'm inclined to stick to 'love' and just note that Chihaya doesn't understand what kind of love it is yet...

Note also that this is a pretty loose translation, because we just would't say something like "I love ~, and I love ~" in English in such a context...

Also, I've used different font sizes to represent how it's set out on the page.

Ok, and some of the commentary:

Spoiler for chapter 92 commentary:

First comment on one of the blogs is about the very first card that Chihaya took from Arata, as hyperborealis noted a while back:

Originally Posted by hyperborealis

Anyone interested in the meaning of the poems and their relation to the narrative should take a look at the Chihayafuru wiki, at

http://chihayafuru.wikia.com/wiki/Ogura_100_Poems

See, for example, what it says about #77, "Swift Waters Parted by the Jagged Rocks:"

"A nature poem which implicitly expresses the vow of parting lovers, who swear they will eventually meet again. As Kanade quoted it in Episode 10, this may be the theme poem of the relationship between Chihaya and Arata. It must be more than coincidence that this is Chihaya's very first card she won at her first Karuta game against Arata. "

Another comment was about the 'Chihayaburu' poem. In the manga thus far, the meanings of the Chihaya poem have been slowly revealed to us:

(1) the literal meaning (about the Tatsuta River in autumn)
(2) the idea that the crimson of the autumn leaves refers to the passionate and unending love of Ariwara no Narihira for Nijo no Kisaki, who had to marry the Emperor
(3) the meaning of "chihayaburu", a 'pillow word' that refers to the mighty, vigorous power of the gods. When Kana-chan explained this in the manga (ch. 63), she contrasted it with another word (araburu) that she likened to 'the power of the evil gods'. However, 'chihayafuru' can be likened to the power of a righteous god. Another analogy she made was that of a spinning top: araburu being an unbalanced top that is spinning all over the place, whilst chihayafuru is a balanced one that concentrates all its power in its spin. It appears to be unmoving still, but in fact holds a power capable of repelling all other forces. At the end of chapter 90, this is the word that Chihaya associates with Arata, with the way he plays karuta, and it carries over into this chapter as well when she asks him why he's so strong. (It isn't said out loud though, just in her head).

The blogger I read brought this up because of something Suetsugu-sensei apparently said in twitter: that Chihayafuru is about Chihaya learning the true meaning of the Chihayaburu poem...

[smokeesid]

High school love really turns into a high end everlasting romance along with marriage. Recently a friend of mine got married with her high school boyfriend.


And thanks for the explanation Karice I wanted to know what is the meaning of Chihayaburu card though I am in the midway of reading your post

And I don't think Taichi has suffered for no yield and he will end up in misery and defeat if she does end up with Arata (that is highly unlikely though) as he would be proud of his own development and the fact that he gave his all for a girl.

[GundamZZ]

I somewhat disagree with you.

Taichi's face and reaction are priceless.

Spoiler:

His face is darken after seeing Arata beaten an impossible opponent.
He starts sweating after finding Chihaya on the phone(with Arata).

Originally Posted by karice67

　

Spoiler for end of chapter 92:

　
*You can translate this as 'like' if you really want to, but the English 'like' doesn't quite have the same range of meaning as the Japanese 'suki'. I'm inclined to stick to 'love' and just note that Chihaya doesn't understand what kind of love it is yet...

Note also that this is a pretty loose translation, because we just would't say something like "I love ~, and I love ~" in English in such a context...

Spoiler:

She talks to herself, "but for my entire life...I like karuta...I like Arata".

Ok, and some of the commentary:

Spoiler for chapter 92 commentary:

(3) the meaning of "chihayaburu", a 'pillow word' that refers to the mighty, vigorous power of the gods. When Kana-chan explained this in the manga (ch. 63), she contrasted it with another word (araburu) that she likened to 'the power of the evil gods'. However, 'chihayafuru' can be likened to the power of a righteous god. Another analogy she made was that of a spinning top: araburu being an unbalanced top that is spinning all over the place, whilst chihayafuru is a balanced one that concentrates all its power in its spin. It appears to be unmoving still, but in fact holds a power capable of repelling all over forces. At the end of the last chapter (91), this is the word that Chihaya associates with Arata, with the way he plays karuta, and it carries over into this chapter as well when she asks him why he's so strong. (It isn't said out loud though, just in her head).

Spoiler:

She asks him how can he stay laughing and playing karuta against such strong opponent known as Shinobu-chan.

In the previous chapters, Chihaya described Arata as the spinning top, not chihayafuru. In this instance, Arata was displayed his speed through the steady and immense force. It was the result of his daily 500 times swing practice. The word "chihaya" was written as "thousand speed". In Chihaya's eyes, Arata becomes the spinning top(he was water flow before). "Chihayafuru" is the description of his playing style.

[karice67]

Originally Posted by GundamZZ

Spoiler:

She talks to herself, "but for my entire life...I like karuta...I like Arata".

I didn't mean 'loose' as in the meaning, just that we wouldn't use that grammatical structure when speaking in English - i.e. it sounds quite unnatural.

Originally Posted by GundamZZ

Spoiler:

In the previous chapters, Chihaya described Arata as the spinning top, not chihayafuru. In this instance, Arata was displayed his speed through the steady and immense force. It was the result of his daily 500 times swing practice. The word "chihaya" was written as "thousand speed". In Chihaya's eyes, Arata becomes the spinning top(he was water flow before). "Chihayafuru" is the description of his playing style.

Spoiler for response:

The spinning top actually comes from Kana-chan's explanation of chihayaburu, back in chapter 63, so I would say Chihaya was using "chihayaburu" to describe Arata in the previous two chapters. Kana-chan also noted that there are several ways to write "chihayaburu" in kanji - I need to see chapter 90 in Japanese to see which one they used.

And rather than "a description of his playing style", perhaps "a description of the way he plays", because 'playing style' seems to be more about whether one is offensive (like Chihaya) or defensive (like Shinobu).

[Undertaker]

I think both of you are correct here my take is that the scene has double meaning.

The 'chihayafuru' was not spinning top itself but the 'motion' of the spinning top which Kana did made a reference to way back.

At same time, the kanji used for "chihaya"does literally means "thousand speed" and "furu" would be vibration. But that is contangent on Arata is similar to the way a spinning top is, looks still (calm) but is acutally storing all his energey at one point (goal) and will act accordingly.



BTW, in chapter 90, it wasn't Chihaya who refer Arata's approach as "chihayafuru" it was Nishida.

and here is the raw for 91 and on 2nd page it states the the Kanji used.

http://tieba.baidu.com/p/1490703614

[karice67]

Originally Posted by Undertaker

I think both of you are correct here my take is that the scene has double meaning.

Er...not that I think it matters, but we can't both be right, because GundamZZ was saying that Chihaya hadn't associated "chihayaburu" with Arata in chapter 90, whilst I am saying she had (because the spinning top is the image that represents the 'great power' meaning of "chihayafuru" - or it has been, since ch 63).

Not trying to debate anything, just clarifying where I actually disagreed with GundamZZ.

Originally Posted by Undertaker

BTW, in chapter 90, it wasn't Chihaya who refer Arata's approach as "chihayafuru" it was Nishida.

I disagree: Nishida may have been the one saying that 'what really scares me about Wataya Arata is how he's so calm in all situations', but on the following page, it is Chihaya who is recalling Kana-chan's words about the chihayaburu card, that [paraphrasing] it looks like a perfectly spinning top, standing still but actually concentrating all its power in one spot etc => final page with Arata and "chihayaburu".

It all also supports the idea from Suetsugu-sensei, mentioned by the blogger I read, that Chihayafuru is about Chihaya learning the meaning of the "chihayaburu" poem.

And thanks, but I do have chapter 91, and was fairly sure it'd have been the same kanji. But it's not something I wanted to say without having seen chapter 90 in Japanese.

[Undertaker]

My bad than, I totally assume the comment in a wrong way.

As for end of 90, I guess it can be taken that way, again I just assumed that Nishida was the one that that the referecnce and it just happens to echo back to what Kana was saying, since Chihaya doesn't look to me like she is in deep thought...

[karice67]

#93 is quite 'heavy' in terms of events, so I only have time to make a quick summary based on one of the blogs (other one hasn't written their entry yet):

Spoiler for chapter #93:

Chihaya's surgery is successful.

When the other members visit her, Chihaya asks them to look at her summer homework, one of which involved writing some tanka poems (i.e. poems like those in the hyakunin isshu). Chihaya wrote 4 poems, two of which are based on poems from the hyakunin isshu, and two of which allude to her feelings for Arata. Kana-chan seems to realise this.

Chihaya then calls Sakurazawa-sensei to thank her for the video of Arata and Shinobu's match, and also asks for her opinion about them. Sakurazawa-sensei says that Arata's way of playing shows a balance in the way he uses both left and right hemispheres of his brain. He doesn't have Chihaya or Suou's level of hearing (感じ), but he can hear the 'half-tones'. i.e. take "ura" and "uka" - Arata doesn't have to hear both syllables to distinguish between them, he is able to react merely from hearing the consonants (k or r) at the start of the second syllable. As for his memory...the way its described seems to suggest that he has a photographic memory... Moving on to Shinobu: Sakurazawa-sensei seems to suggest that one of the reasons Shinobu seems like she's so well connected to the cards is because she has great confidence in the way she plays.

Sakurazawa-sensei then invites the Mizusawa club to a camp with Fujisaki (and several other schools) - hosted by Fujisaki. Chihaya is excited about going with everyone...but Kana-chan tells Taichi that she will "do something about the first years, so please go to Shizuoka with Chihaya-chan, just the two of you".

The camp is quite intense, filled not only with matches, but also running and stretching exercises. She also tells all the attendants to find their greatest contradiction in karuta (which is a sport of contradictions - e.g. if one tries speed up, faults tend to increase and one falls behind the opponent instead).

Sakurazawa-sensei never became Queen, but she was the challenger five times - 'the strongest challenger'.

Er...'love stories' also form a significant part of the camp in terms of the number of 'couples' focused on...but I'll leave that for now.

Taichi goes off to learn some stretching exercises from the new Fujisaki club captain. Chihaya spots them, and seeing that, Hyoro-kun (Retro) tells her that she'd better watch out for Taichi too (as a rival). Chihaya responds with "what are you talking about - I always beat Taichi". But Hyoro notes that that's only during practice matches, and that he thinks that Taichi is stronger when she's not around. (Note also that Taichi won all seven of his matches at the camp.)

The chapter finishes with Chihaya narrating that "It looks like I still don't know anything at all, even about Taichi".

oops...that was longer than I'd expected...

Spoiler for short comments:

• ah...so Kana-chan hadn't realised before? Hm...
• more importantly though...what Kana-chan did in this chapter - and the fact that Taichi accepted it, even though he should really be thinking about what benefits the team because he is their president - leaves me with incredibly mixed feelings...

edit: I think I'll need the other blogger's summary before I can comment on the 'love stories'. The blogger I've taken the above from tends to focus on the karuta parts of the manga, whilst the other one tends to write a bit more about all other aspects of the manga.

[GundamZZ]

Originally Posted by karice67

Spoiler for short comments:

• ah...so Kana-chan hadn't realised before? Hm...
• more importantly though...what Kana-chan did in this chapter - and the fact that Taichi accepted it, even though he should really be thinking about what benefits the team because he is their president - leaves me with incredibly mixed feelings...

edit: I think I'll need the other blogger's summary before I can comment on the 'love stories'. The blogger I've taken the above from tends to focus on the karuta parts of the manga, whilst the other one tends to write a bit more about all other aspects of the manga.

Don't know what you mean.

Spoiler:

[reccaryu]

Thanks for the summary!