(L+CR) Chihayafuru Season 2

[Kanon]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

BTW, did anyone else think "you bastard!" when Taichi held Sumire's hand? I know he wasn't actually trying to manipulate her but was just genuinely happy on Chihaya's behalf?

I thought he was very smooth, even if there obviously was no hidden intention behind that gesture. So not exactly "you bastard" but more like "Well played"

[garbage]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

BTW, did anyone else think "you bastard!" when Taichi held Sumire's hand? I know he wasn't actually trying to manipulate her but was just genuinely happy on Chihaya's behalf?

on my part I was thinking "oh oh danger danger!!" of course it's quite clear what his thoughts were but still that could go wrong in so many ways...

[Kirarakim]

I realized Sumire is probably the type of girl I wouldn't get along with in high school because we were very different, except at the same time I am no longer in high school so I can see Sumire for what she is a realistic teenage girl.

I can't really blame her for not being completely mature because as a teenager she shouldn't have to be. The moment when she walked back in that room with Kana, asked if she could study the poems, and cut her nails did show signs of maturity. It will be interesting to watch her growth for sure.

Still not my favorite character but I certainly like her a lot more in this episode.

[Eragon]

I'm probably in the minority who aren't really concerned about romance in this show

No, seriously, I couldn't care less who ends up with who as long as its done in a fashion that doesn't grate on my nerves.

I'm more concerned about Chihaya's growth as a character.

Btw, is it just me or is it that, whenever Chihaya has an interaction with her family you really feel for her.

[kitten320]

^You are not alone, her family does seem to pay her less attention.

It was especially hard to watch last season yet at the same time I was just as happy as Chihaya when she discovered a notepad dedicated to her what shows that they do care.

[Hooves]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

BTW, did anyone else think "you bastard!" when Taichi held Sumire's hand? I know he wasn't actually trying to manipulate her but was just genuinely happy on Chihaya's behalf, but still.

???

I don't see anything wrong with it. You just feel that spur of emotion and act without thinking, which everyone else knew why he acted that way. (Except for Sumire probably? But she probably didn't think too much of it). There have been so many crazy interactions that Taichi doing that didn't surprise me.

[Anh_Minh]

I know he didn't mean anything by it. But if he'd been the kind of guy to string a girl along just because she's convenient to have around, he'd have acted exactly the same.

[Quadratic]

Originally Posted by Qilin

That's what I said:

She already has all the basics in mind. She understands the philosophy and subtlety that gives meaning to the verses. However, what I was pointing out rather was the fast-paced, modern culture that gave rise to her initial character archetype than Sumire herself. If you look at the way her peers were, you'd get a good idea of what I'm poking at. I'm talking about the sort of people that see love as a convenience. They expect cheap and easy gratification without putting in any effort, so they make a habit of giving up upon encountering any obstacle.

On the other hand, while she is living up to the meaning and intent of the hundred poems, there are still clear traces of the culture that brought her up that end up clashing with the new lifestyle she's trying to adopt.

Ok, I see what you're saying.


Anyway, I thought the conflict in ideas between Sumire and Kanade was interesting in that that Kanade enjoys in the poems strictly in the historical sense (Kanade's playing the role of the observer), whereas Sumire is wants to experience what the poems have been expressing, but "modernized" in the 21st century.

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

BTW, did anyone else think "you bastard!" when Taichi held Sumire's hand? I know he wasn't actually trying to manipulate her but was just genuinely happy on Chihaya's behalf, but still.

Actually, I thought it was somewhat out of character for him.
I'm trying to remember the last time Taichi was ever thankful to anyone, so this seems to be an interesting development on his behalf.
Perhaps Chihaya's ideals are rubbing off on him (heck, maybe he's becoming more like Harada-sensei with how grateful Harada-sensei felt when he encountered the original trio).
(Plus, it didn't require Taichi or Chihaya to grovel to convince the new members to join, since Kanade did the dirty work )

[Reckoner]

Originally Posted by Kirarakim

I realized Sumire is probably the type of girl I wouldn't get along with in high school because we were very different, except at the same time I am no longer in high school so I can see Sumire for what she is a realistic teenage girl.

I can't really blame her for not being completely mature because as a teenager she shouldn't have to be. The moment when she walked back in that room with Kana, asked if she could study the poems, and cut her nails did show signs of maturity. It will be interesting to watch her growth for sure.

Still not my favorite character but I certainly like her a lot more in this episode.

This is funny to me because while I thought you might have been coming down a little hard on Sumire last episode, I ended up really hating her behavior in this episode .

This show does seem to have a penchant for introducing characters in an unfavorable light before going on to develop them into likable people. I hope the same is true of Sumire but for some reason I get the feeling that I just might never like her as a character.

[fukarming]

Originally Posted by Quadratic

Actually, I thought it was somewhat out of character for him.
I'm trying to remember the last time Taichi was ever thankful to anyone, so this seems to be an interesting development on his behalf.
Perhaps Chihaya's ideals are rubbing off on him (heck, maybe he's becoming more like Harada-sensei with how grateful Harada-sensei felt when he encountered the original trio).
(Plus, it didn't require Taichi or Chihaya to grovel to convince the new members to join, since Kanade did the dirty work )

My take of that scene is that Chihaya had been very down because all the members are gone. So when Sumire shows up Taichi is overjoyed so Chihaya don't need to feel down anymore. It had little to do with "an extra member showing up" but "Chihaya don't need to be sad anymore", which is in character of Taichi that he will do anything to make Chihaya happy.

[Eragon]

Originally Posted by kitten320

^You are not alone, her family does seem to pay her less attention.

It was especially hard to watch last season yet at the same time I was just as happy as Chihaya when she discovered a notepad dedicated to her what shows that they do care.

Its not just less attention, they downplay any and all her achievements(except for her Dad)

Yeah that scene really pulled my heartstrings. Its especially hard to watch since Chihaya is so straightforward and naive, like a kindergartner.

[Anh_Minh]

Well, yeah, but even her clubmates agree that what she's drawn was lame.

[Eragon]

^ I wasn't sure what she was showing her mother so, I assumed something different.

[EroKing]

[Hooves]

Originally Posted by Eragon

^ I wasn't sure what she was showing her mother so, I assumed something different.

Chihaya has many things drawn on that little sketchbook. But since everyone knows her extreme love for karuta. Chihaya probably showed the T-Shirt design to her mother.

[Kirarakim]

Come to think of it while the I said there are no one dimensional characters in the series and I am happy with Sumire's signs of growth, I will say Chihaya's sister is a bit of a weaker character.

She always comes across as really vain and rude to Chihaya. I just wish there was more to her. Well at least she has a rather small part in the series as a whole.

[Kanon]

That's probably because she has very little screentime that she comes across as a weaker character. Our perception of her would change if we learned more about her. Or maybe not. She could very well be a genuine bitch

[hyperborealis]

Oh, I'm ok on Chitose--we find out at various points that she's a B-list model, struggling to make a living (she's living at home, after all), with dreams of getting financial security for the family by making it onto one of the classical Japanese TV shows. She's not very nice to Chihaya, but she does care for her family.

The one character I really don't get is Taichi's mom. I don't think she ever is shown to be other than Ms. Pressure. She confuses me, since she contradicts the rule that Suetsugu is sympathetic on one level or the other to all her characters.

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The title poem for this week's episode is #41. Here's Mostow's translation:

My name already
is bandied about with
rumors I'm in love--
though, unknown to anyone, I thought,
I had only just begun to love her!

The poem draws a contrast between the public perception of the speaker's passion and the speaker's own sense of his own feelings. It is almost as if there are two different versions of the poet's love: that which gave rise to the rumors, and the internal, immediately recent passion, which the poet thinks unknown to anyone.

Kana uses this same dichotomy to convince Sumire to overlook her embarrassment at confessing her feelings for Taichi in the club room. "Do you really think that the president knows your / true feelings after hearing that little outburst?" The outburst fuels the public perception of love, but it does not express Sumire's "true feelings," the inward passion that is the deep reality of Sumire's feelings.

Kana divides outburst from feelings by appealing to the discipline of traditional poetry's formal rules. Sumire takes her point by accepting karuta as the discipline whereby she will prove and express her own deep feelings of love. Thus we get the episode's satisfying climax, where she dedicates herself to memorizing the poems, and finally cuts her nails.

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Originally Posted by Quadratic

Kanade enjoys in the poems strictly in the historical sense (Kanade's playing the role of the observer), whereas Sumire is wants to experience what the poems have been expressing, but "modernized" in the 21st century.

Brilliant.

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I liked how the team moved forward in this episode. Nobody can understand why Chihaya cares so much about the first-years, until she explains her feelings of responsibility for collapsing at the nationals. Before that, the other team members were resisting her (Nishida's shooting down her seconding Tsukuba's request Taichi teach him the basics), and feeling annoyed by the first-years. Afterwards, Kana chases out after Sumire, and Nishida volunteers to teach Tsukuba himself. Sweet to see. Chihaya is carrying the team forward with her beautiful passion.

[Kirarakim]

Originally Posted by hyperborealis

Oh, I'm ok on Chitose--we find out at various points that she's a B-list model, struggling to make a living (she's living at home, after all), with dreams of getting financial security for the family by making it onto one of the classical Japanese TV shows. She's not very nice to Chihaya, but she does care for her family.

Well the anime hasn't done a good job of showing this. Instead it displays Chitose as vain and self centered.

The one character I really don't get is Taichi's mom. I don't think she ever is shown to be other than Ms. Pressure. She confuses me, since she contradicts the rule that Suetsugu is sympathetic on one level or the other to all her characters.

I can see Taichi's mom as sympahthic in a sense. I am sure she does want the best for Taichi, she just probably doesn't realize what she thinks is the best is quite the opposite.

[Sphire]

So far, nothing too big has happened. I can't say I really care for the romance aspect of the show, since it has never really been delved into much. I wouldn't say the show or characters are 1-dimensional, but so much is put into Karuta (and stuff surrounding Karuta) that character growth is mostly just there really.

As for Sumire, her rant was good, but her love seems so shallow that it renders it pointless. For now at least. She's got plenty of room to grow though, with small signs that she already has.