(L+CR) Chihayafuru Season 2

[mistress_kisara]

Yay for Mizusawa win!! I was kinda hoping Chihaya would win..you better win in the next round! And I love the part where Taichi held Chihaya's hand to help her relax

[Sol Falling]

Great episode. Probably the best resolution to the match's scenario. While I thought that Chihaya would win, this way Megumu gets to keep some respect worthy of her hype and the other Mizusawa members get some time to shine. I don't expect Chihaya to lose against the Fujisaki girl though, which should make for a good match.

My favourite moment in this episode was when Chihaya thought to Megumu that they both have to 'gambaru' so that Shinobu won't be alone. Of course I recognize that that is all totally platonic but hell if I don't love those themes and they don't make my yuri goggles go crazy. Yes! Megumu has to keep up with Chihaya/Shinobu and also enter the world of Queen-level competition. Though pride and rivalry are part of competitive karuta it would be wonderful if karuta could also lead them to becoming friends.

In any case the strength of Misuzawa really shone through in this match as a whole, with both of their A-class players losing but them still taking the win. In a way this emphasizes one aspect of the weakness of Akashi, in that if only Megumu is motivated to win for herself then the performances of her other team members will suffer. I wonder if the play of the rest of the Akashi members during the rest of the tournament was simply carried by the momentum of Megumu's dominance, with Megumu's bedrock performance lowering the morale of opposing team members while raising the morale of her own, and that morale difference being the single key necessary to win. It's notable that in the end the only other Akashi team member to win in this match against Mizusawa was the one who got focus for having resolved to play karuta for herself.

Chihaya asks a good question as to why she lost. While I liked Megumu taking Chihaya's 'Chihayaburu' card in revenge for her 'me' and 'su' cards, the incident itself was rather striking from a Chihaya character perspective. The commentary mentioned Chihaya 'taking it safe' on account of another 'chihaya' card being in-play. This sort of leads to a question, is karuta ultimately a conscious/calculated game or an intuitive one? The resolution hinted by Taichi, of 'relaxing', hints at this. In all of Chihaya's toughest matches thus far, she only really gets going when she gets into that wordless state of pure freedom/movement/sensation, right? Is that the holy grail of karuta? Is it possible for other players to reach it? And to what extent does that mean that the other issues Chihaya was worrying about, i.e. working on her weaknesses and playing in a more calculated manner, do not suffice/are a weakness in themselves?

But in any case the really fresh/striking thing in this episode for me was that moment of thought/inclusion by Chihaya of thinking of Shinobu. Shinobu's response of thinking of a karuta card was really important as well. Overall, this aspect of the Akashi vs. Mizusawa match (the interconnection between the Queen and the Queen challenger candidates/Queens to be) really made this match one of my favourites in the series.

[ars89]

That tension! Good job by Komano, his data helped him out in the end. So Misuzawa still won with Chihaya losing. Nishida really has to get it together though.o even though Kana won she won't be able to play in the finals. Tsukuba was right about the stamina. Things don't look good though since Hokuo lost 1-4. Hope they can pull it off. Honestly though i don't see how Tsukuba could win one so it'll be even harder.

[SeijiSensei]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

I'd like to see a match where Chihaya loses yet the team wins. I would have liked the outcome to hinge on a single match, perhaps Kanade's, with a different result in her case.

Well, Kana-chan did matter, of course, but I loved rooting for Tsutomu!

Another "luck-of-the-draw" ending, and one where Desk-kun opts for observed frequencies over theoretical probabilities. As a former stats professor I think that's cool. Probability has that fundamental conflict between theory and praxis at its very heart. Just like a coin flip, that "The" card should come up half the time. Yet Tsutomu's data says that "The" appears reliably more than half the time. He chooses empiricism over theory, and of course he is rewarded.

Personally think his reasoning is hogwash and results from relying on a very small sample of matches.

TL;DR…

Another boring probability lecture by Sensei

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

Even if a fifth of all the cards begin with "The," Tsutomu would likely see a luck-of-the-draw match where only one of the players holds a "The" card a little over once in every hundred matches he documents. Only if he recorded something like five readings of the "The" card for every six corresponding matches should he start to believe that the true chances are not fifty-fifty.

On an entirely different note, I thought the hand-holding scene was one of the most powerful and most touching moments in the entire show. It communicated how deeply Taichi understands Chihaya and how much he loves her. Whether the sparkles that follow illustrate Chihaya's recognition of his love for her, and whether they kindle any sparkles of her own, I cannot say. Objectively she only draws the conclusion that she needs to relax. Whether anything else was stirred within her by this moment, only time will tell.

I must say that if I was a girl, I would be so in love with Taichi after that. Handsome, strong, caring, and understanding me so deeply, how could I not.

[novalysis]

Oh, make no mistake about it. That scene where Taichi unclenched Chiahya's fist has got to be one of the most vivid and blatant form of ship-teasing between the both of them, in every episode of Chihayfuru so far. It might sound stupid, but I actually squeed at that scene. It is an immensely powerful scene/

[GundamZZ]

Finally, Shinbu-chan practices the poem and misread the word as "Wataya". Chihaya's thought finally reaches Shinobu... It is scary. ^_^;;

Two of top three players in Chihaya's team lose the match. It is usually the end for them, but her team miraculously win the match.

Megumu-chan and her team mates cry at the end. It is touching, but they were shuffled aside as side characters sequentially.

It's nice to find the growth of Chihaya's team members. Too bad. The next match will be tough. Both Chiahaya and Kana seem to hurt their hands.

Spoiler for somehow off-topic:

I can relate to their frustration, because I injured my hands with the bicycle handles. When I learned to ride the bicycle, I grabbed the handles tightly. I applied too much force on the handles. A tiny part of my skin was torn. Of course, Chihaya and Kana seem to suffer more serious injuries.

[YourIdeas]

Originally Posted by GundamZZ

It's nice to find the growth of Chihaya's team members. Too bad. The next match will be tough. Both Chiahaya and Kana seem to hurt their hands.

Spoiler for somehow off-topic:

I can relate to their frustration, because I injured my hands with the bicycle handles. When I learned to ride the bicycle, I grabbed the handles tightly. I applied too much force on the handles. A tiny part of my skin was torn. Of course, Chihaya and Kana seem to suffer more serious injuries.

I don't think they hurt their hands. Chihaya was clenching her first hard enough to leave nail marks, which is why Taichi relaxed her. (it's not injured, just slight marks that will disappear) Kana is just tired and Tsukuba is the only one to "realize" this. (I think initially, he just wanted to use that as an excuse to play, but then got surprised when she actually was tired).

[thundrakkon]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

On an entirely different note, I thought the hand-holding scene was one of the most powerful and most touching moments in the entire show. It communicated how deeply Taichi understands Chihaya and how much he loves her. Whether the sparkles that follow illustrate Chihaya's recognition of his love for her, and whether they kindle any sparkles of her own, I cannot say. Objectively she only draws the conclusion that she needs to relax. Whether anything else was stirred within her by this moment, only time will tell.

I must say that if I was a girl, I would be so in love with Taichi after that. Handsome, strong, caring, and understanding me so deeply, how could I not.

Yes, that was a huge ship-tease, and it shows that Taichi really cares about her and pays attention to her. However, at the same time, this scene could have easily been replaced with Arata, and we would have essentially the same action, if not an additional few words added. Arata would have been just as observant and just as caring. If Taichi did not stop Chihaya twice from looking for Arata, it would be Arata at this point stopping Chihaya from clenching her first, followed by the usual NTR-faced Taichi.

What does that say about Taichi and Arata? That maybe they are more the same when it comes to Chihaya. However, the big difference is that Arata has spent way less time with her than Taichi, but at times, his connection is just as strong if not stronger. Imagine how it would be if Arata actually had the opportunity to spend more time with Chihaya.

Either way, this was a huge step forward for Taichi. However, it still looks like Chihaya has not noticed at all when it comes to Taichi, as far as feelings go.

[Haak]

Hell yeah, Tsutomu! Flip some fucking tables!

[kitten320]

So we got what most people wanted, Mizusawa winning while Chihaya lost.

Well Tsukuba stands no chances so one loss is coming for sure. Though wonder if he will get at least one moment to shine.

Well Mizusawa defiantly will be remembered now.

[Kirarakim]

Haven't watched the full episode yet just the first part with Arata and oh my he loves BOTH Chihaya and Taichi so much.

Arata I love you....you are right it's not about Chihaya/Taichi or Arata/Taichi. It's always been Arata/Chihaya/Taichi. I can only ship the 3 if them together, the most beautiful OT3.

[hyperborealis]

Yes, the scene where Taichi unclenches Chihaya's hand is a perfect ship-tease. Taichi expresses his concern and his love; he gives us a beautiful moment of romance. Chihaya finds in the moment the answer to her question why she was not able to take the last cards, that she needs to relax: she gives us a beautiful moment of development as a karuta player. Once again, romance and karuta are perfectly synchronized in the parallel lines that never meet.

I don't agree that Taichi understands Chihaya, or has grown closer to her. What he does here is a wonderful expression of his concern. It relates to the scene in the previous season, where he watches silently in pain when Chihaya wracks herself after being beaten by Shinobu. Taichi is a kind person, who in his love for Chihaya hates when she feels bad, and wants chivalrously to take all that pain away from her. But Chihaya needs that pain, as a way to grow, and to find her way to the next level of karuta development. Taichi in his kindness would rob her of all that. So I disagree that this scene shows Taichi understanding Chihaya.

[Anh_Minh]

She doesn't need to destroy her hand just before the final match, though...

[Kirarakim]

Finally finished the episode and I thought it was utterly fantastic. But the best part of the episode was definitely that the last match came down to Komano and he won not by luck but by taking a gamble. Just absolutely wonderful.

Originally Posted by hyperborealis

level of karuta development. Taichi in his kindness would rob her of all that. So I disagree that this scene shows Taichi understanding Chihaya.

Not really sure where you can say Taichi was just being chivalrous or that it was a good thing that Chihaya was clenching her fist so hard she was actually hurting herself (her nails were going into her skin).

Please note I don't actually see this is as a romantic moment between them. For me it was a shared moment between friends and team members. Taichi could understand Chihaya at that moment because he wasn't angsting over his romantic feelings for her.

He was trying to help her relax. Don't put all the burden on yourself. Remember when before Taichi made the mistake to say Chihaya "you have to win" and this to me was the opposite of that declaration.

But I know Hyperborealis you and I will probably never come to an agreement over Taichi.


edit: Forgot to mention I also loved when Chihaya said we have to catch up to Shinobu so she won't be alone.

The connection of a rival as a lover is really beautiful. While Shinobu might seem haughty and rude at times, I admire her because she really does want someone to challenge her.

To always be better than everyone else, well there is no fun it that because you can't even grow any farther.

[DragoonKain3]

Happy because of the Chihaya/Taichi moment. Taichi really knows how to play his osananajimi role correctly.

Sad because Wataya doesn't give Shinobu the time of day. C'mon Wataya, not even one match to entertain Shinobu?

[pagan poor]

Aside from the shipping discussion, I saw the Taichi unclenching of Chihaya's hand as a method of telling her that the team can't have her be overemotional over her loss as they have another match for the finals to prepare in a very short time. Obviously they all need to refocus as this is for the championship. The pressures are bad enough for the final team match without having to carry along the baggage of the extreme emotions of an individual loss of previous one.

[Kanon]

Very pleased with the final result of the match. Chihaya lost, but her teammates managed to secure the win. This highlights that while she's their ace, the other member of the team matter as much as her. Desk-kun was particularly impressive. He didn't let the pressure crush him and managed to win on a gamble. That required some serious guts. On the other hand, I was disappointed Nishida lost first once again. He always seems to screw up during the most important matches. I hope he'll make up for this next week.

Plenty of beautiful and powerful moments in this episode: Chihaya saying her and Megumu should catch up to Shinobu so that she won't remain alone, Taichi uncenching Chihaya's first, Nishida realizing Tsutomu is becoming an expert player, Megumu finally getting upset over a loss (even though she won!) and deciding she wants to keep playing karuta and aim for the top. Marvelous stuff. Loved the Arata/Shinobu scenes too. Shinobu's got such a sharp tongue.

Looking forward to the final. I'm curious to find out what Fujisaki's coach has planned. I assume that cute red-headed who's been observing Chihaya's match will get to play. They've put a lot of emphasis on her.

[Anh_Minh]

I'm not sure we should praise Tsutomu to high heavens for the way he won. Calling it a "gamble" is nice and all, but ultimately it was just dumb luck that the card he was waiting for got called first.

(Though I'll commend him on not giving up, of course.)

[Kirarakim]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

I'm not sure we should praise Tsutomu to high heavens for the way he won. Calling it a "gamble" is nice and all, but ultimately it was just dumb luck that the card he was waiting for got called first.

(Though I'll commend him on not giving up, of course.)

I don't really think it was just dumb luck though. It was luck but he did have a strategy behind it.

[Anh_Minh]

He had a superstition. So, yeah, dumb luck.