(L+CR) Chihayafuru Season 2

[Kazu-kun]

Originally Posted by thundrakkon

Essentially, if it wasn't Taichi centric, it was not to your liking. At least that is one way to interpret it.

Then don't interpret. I did say this part of the manga was the part I liked less, and the moments centered on Taichi were my favorites. I didn't say the problem, the reason I didn't like this arc as much as the rest, was that it wasn't centered on Taichi.

Now that's clear, let's move on please.

[thundrakkon]

Originally Posted by Kazu-kun

Now that's clear, let's move on please.

Agreed.

I very much expect Chihaya to defeat Megumu. That will be another character growth for Chihaya towards her dream to become Queen. No female is going to defeat Shinobu in the meantime until Chihaya is ready.

I'm hoping that the team wins the national tournament, but Chihaya will still lose to Shinobu in the individual tournament. That leaves her final year, when hopefully Arata joins the team and Chihaya and Arata really power-up as they practice with each other everyday. Then, in their senior year, Chihaya becomes Queen while Arata becomes Master.

While Taichi gets together with Shinobu...

[kitten320]

I don't care about Taichi so have no idea form that idea came from 0_o

If anything his jealousy is getting annoying so it is one of the things I'm glad was avoided in the episode. However, pacing issue would be there even if Taichi said something.

Really, grouping everyone just because you don't like something is pretty silly.

[Kirarakim]

Okay let me get out of the way what I didn't like: the camera guy scene was overly silly but it lasted about 2 minutes so it's not a major issue for me.

I thought the rest of the episode was regular Chihayafuru goodness. The ending was especially beautiful.

Anyways I got annoyed at everyone underestimating Team Chihaya (like I think we were supposed to) where I kept thinking they better beat them.

But I have to admit after watching Megumu's back story and how she and her team mates put in so much effort into it I really appreciated their side of the story. I think Megumu was wrong to say "just let us play the finals" and to ignore the team they are playing now but I do appreciate her and her team's passion for karuta. In the end I think whether she or Chihaya wins they will both gain something positive out of the experience (Chihaya's team better win though )

But the ending of this episode with Chihaya and Kana is where the true beauty of the episode shined through. I think one of the strengths of team Chihaya is even if they have moments where they are lost, somehow they know how to pick each other up. I love themes of friendship so maybe that is why the karuta team matches really resonate with me.

Anyways I also love the seasonal poems so I enjoyed the poem dedicated to the refreshing end of summer. Chihaya now feels refreshed and is ready to fight.

Kana is right this day does define their entire summer. They worked so hard to get where they are and that is why whether you lose or win you want to put your all into every match.

[DragoonKain3]

Pfft. This episode sucks because its Taichi-centric? Nah, this episode sucks because it's not Shinobu-centric enough; heck she even got no screen time, therefore this episode is the worst!


Seriously speaking though, seems like the animators are starting to run out of source material, that they have to include more of the 'no names' and their backstories. I don't mind it yet, but there's a reason why I stopped reading/watching the likes of Naruto and such. But I guess it can't be helped, since the source still is ongoing, and it's not like the 'fillers' are boring as of yet. It's just interesting to see compared to the first season, where they blazed through the tournaments within maybe 2-3 episodes.

[Kirarakim]

Originally Posted by DragoonKain3

Seriously speaking though, seems like the animators are starting to run out of source material, that they have to include more of the 'no names' and their backstories. I don't mind it yet, but there's a reason why I stopped reading/watching the likes of Naruto and such. But I guess it can't be helped, since the source still is ongoing, and it's not like the 'fillers' are boring as of yet. It's just interesting to see compared to the first season, where they blazed through the tournaments within maybe 2-3 episodes.

It's not filler it's in the manga.

I think people's memories are faulty. Yes we didn't have the Omi Jingu team tournament last time but telling the back stories of opponents and other characters is definitely not new to this season. In Chihayafuru you can say everyone has a reason to play karuta.

Everyone might be getting weary because we have been in the same location for so long and will probably be there even longer (since we haven't hit the individual tournament yet).

I think it is very likely that we will stay at Omi Jingu for the rest of the series (maybe they will have time for a small arc after Omi Jingu if there is a small arc in the manga after this).

Anyways I think the "slow" pacing isn't because they are running out of material but because the director probably knows where he wants to stop in the manga. Unfortunately this is not an ongoing anime but the manga is ongoing. We only have 25 episodes. So what does the director do?

Rush through everything and end on a point that doesn't feel like an ending or try to guide the anime so we end at a point that feels at least somewhat conclusive? In the first season they had the luxury of ending at the end of first year of HS but the director might not have that luxury of the same stopping point (end of a school year) this time around.

Hopefully after saying all that the director actually does choose a good stopping point.

[GundamZZ]

This episode has good and bad.

Anime/manga has tendency to show camera hobbyists in the negative light. Well, it's not entirely wrong(example: Phonto Kano anime). At least, they can show more normal camera hobbyists in other countries.

The bad part is they haven't shown Shinobu an Arata's interaction. Based on the current progress, it has to be waited for more episodes. The good part is they put a lot of time in this match. This match is probably the most important group match for Chihaya. She's playing the girl who shares the same dream of becoming the dream. Even Chihaya is losing, she shocks Megumu by taking away Megumu's "dream card". Since Megumu's first name contains the word "dream", it was the shock to her and her teammate. Megumu's team shows they have stronger bond and friendship than Chihaya's team. After duke it out, both Megumu and Chihaya learan something from the match.

There is another good part. The Fujisaki girl from the opening theme makes her first appearance.

[Sol Falling]

Oh man, I was thinking this before, but I love hearing the Akashi Joshi girls speaking Osaka-ben. I dunno why, maybe it's because of Toki from over in the Saki Achiga-hen anime, but somehow it's super cute when girls talk that way. The sound in this episode was super delicious.

Beyond that, episode was okay. I basically agree with some of the 'poor pacing' comments--aside from the opening recap, there were also two other slow/pointless parts: 1. Megumu's photo fanclub doing their flashback, and 2. Tsukuba-kun going into painfully slow detail about how disadvantaged everybody was/poorly everybody was doing. By the end of the episode, I sure was thinking "You can't end there! Nothing's happened yet". I do admit the rest of the stuff was pretty good stuff though. Still enjoyable for sure.

Seems to be a subtle contrast in Mizukawa and Akashi's perspectives this time around. Chihaya talks about how 'this Omi Jingu tatami is a tatami for five', and how she couldn't have gotten there without her teammates. Basically emphasizing her team spirit and appreciation for everyone. Meanwhile, the Akashi Joshi flashback indicates that the team is actually doing everything for Megumu. The team's goal is to make Megumu Queen, and their aim in participating in the team tournament is to give Megumu experience by playing other teams' aces rather than especially caring about the trophy themselves. Essentially, Akashi Joshi has centred themselves around a single individual.

Is either way 'better' or more correct than the other? I guess the story might say something about that next episode. For now though, I'm comfortable just saying that regardless, Akashi Joshi are undeniably strong.

[Blaat]

Originally Posted by Kirarakim

It's not filler it's in the manga.

I think people's memories are faulty. Yes we didn't have the Omi Jingu team tournament last time but telling the back stories of opponents and other characters is definitely not new to this season. In Chihayafuru you can say everyone has a reason to play karuta.

I think the big difference is that last year we didn't get to see 'pointless' matches this is mostly thanks to Chihaya fainting or being so obsessed with her loss that she forgot about her friends that are still playing. This skipped out on a lot of matches and we only got to see the finals.
This time though it's completely different we do get to see these matches along with an obligatory flashback.

But now we finally have an important match something we've been missing so far, Megu-tan is a big opponent and what do we get instead?

• A flashback focussing on the three stooges;
• Sumire/Tsubaka hijinks (admittedly amusing but the timing is not so great),
• Tsubaka still lying to his brothers because of a perceived pressure (he needs to see someone about this;
• Tsubaka reminding the viewer that Kana lost all of her matches and this is Tsubaka first match both which is mentally difficult;
• Building up Fujisaki (sheesh I wonder why?);
• One of the organizers thinking Arata is friends with Hiiro-kun;

I know this doesn't sound a lot but it felt like these moments covered most of the episode instead of the big match against Megu-tan.

Originally Posted by Kirarakim

I think it is very likely that we will stay at Omi Jingu for the rest of the series (maybe they will have time for a small arc after Omi Jingu if there is a small arc in the manga after this).

A lot of people are speculating this and I think it's time to reveal how much this season will cover

Spoiler for How much this series will cover/Manga spoilers:

Yes the rest of the series will cover Omu Jingu only. In fact in the manga the second year hasn't ended yet even though there are plenty of chapters left to adapt

[Kirarakim]

Blaat thank you for the spoiler

I think it is wrong to say matches are pointless just because they aren't the top teams. I like that we got the whole team tournament this time. And for the players whether it is an easy or hard match, I think the point is you get something from every match (and looking at the episode that is why Megumu was so wrong to say she just wants to play the finals already)


I won't deny that there was definitely some fluff in this episode that could have been cut. Although the blame is probably more on the manga-ka. The director might feel he has to keep that in to reach the point he wants in the story.

And well there was still a lot of great stuff in this episode as well. I actually really liked how the episode ended on that scene with Kana. I thought it was a great place to conclude the episode (even if it means we will have another episode of this match)

[SeijiSensei]

If we get to the actual Queen tourney, and that's looking more and more uncertain given the current pacing, then spending a bit of time on Megumu makes sense. Chihaya might have to face her again on her way to playing Shinobu. Otherwise I wanted this whole match to end in this episode.

Even if the pace picks up again, we'll still have another episode with Akashi Joshi, at least one episode, and more likely two, with Hokuo, then at least two and maybe three or even four episodes with the individual matches if they include any focus on Shinobu and Arata. Megumu will be back for those as well. That still leaves at least half a dozen episodes to cover the Meijin/Queen competition. Unless Madhouse is pretty certain about getting to produce a third season, I, for one, will be disappointed if we don't get to see Chihaya v Shinobu in the Queen finals, especially after the amount of time they have spent on Shinobu this season.

[Kirarakim]

I think it it very doubtful Chihaya will get to the queen match this year. It will probably happen in her final year of high school (not in this season of the anime)

Also we don't know what teams are making it to the final.

[Arya]

Good episode, but I agree about the pace being a bit over the place. But I think it was deliberate. I don't know you guys, but I was waiting to see eagerly the match between Chihaya and Megumu, so each time they changed the subject I was like, come on, who cares about those camera guys?!?? That happened basically each time they focused on everything else than the matches.
I have to say that focusing on Megumu's back story was right, but in the end they structured this episode to boost our anticipation for (aka drag us to) the next episode. A common plot device.
By the way I'm expecting Chihaya losing her game, but the team winning the match. Kana-chan is doing good this time too. Even because I prefer her losing against Megumu than one of those Tokyo elitists

[Kanon]

Originally Posted by Kazu-kun

It isn't if you compare this tournament to the first one, which had a considerably faster pace. This tournament is dragging, but unfortunately it was the same in the manga too. This tournament was the part of the manga I liked the less, except for some isolated moments here and there (mostly centered on Taichi).


Nothing we can do about it though. I was hoping the staff would cut the irrelevant bits to increase the pace a notch but it's obvious it isn't going to happen so...

Last year's tournament was shorter, but there were special circumstances. The way I see it, it was only intended to be a sort of preview. Now this year, the team is fully ready and we're really getting into the meat of it. They are most likely going to win so they can't rush this. We need to witness how they got to the top. It will be all the sweeter when they finally win.

Now I agree some scenes like the three stooges' flashbacks were unnecessary, but that's how it is...

Originally Posted by YourIdeas

I'm not worried about the fact it's karuta. (If I was, I wouldn't even be watching Chihayafuru anyways) I'm just worried about the pacing. This particular event is probably gonna go up to about episode 16-18, which leaves few episodes for any other important events. There's still the Queen/Master qualifiers for Chihaya and Arata, A-class for Taichi, etc. and those would probably have to feature their own single-episode focuses. As interesting as it is to see our heroes battle scary fake foreigners and quiz masters, I'm far more interested in seeing Chihaya battle higher level opponents, like Megumu.

I understand where you're coming from now. It's indeed a bit frustrating to be "stuck" in this tournament for so long when where there are some many exciting events to look forward to.

As somebody used to Akagi and Kaiji's pacing where a single match can take a whole season, I don't feel like this tournament is dragging at all. The length of the matches seem perfectly fine to me, there are just more of them than usual.

[LKK]

I'm going to go against the majority opinion and say that I enjoyed this episode through and through including the camera guys' flashback. I like the fact that we're seeing the motivations and thoughts of not just our team but of other teams and the audience members as well. I found it interesting that everyone in the audience (except Suoh) dismissed our team, silently agreeing with Megumu's rude comment about the finals. I also loved the little written thought comments. Thank goodness CR decided to translate the on-screen text. Suoh's senpai wondering why he was suddenly forced to hold Suoh's end of the banner. I especially liked the player opposite Retro-kun way at the far end of the row. Retro-kun's habit of wriggling his fingers over the cards as if he's magicking them is creepy. Again and again, "creepy", "creepy", "creepy". Every "creepy" made me laugh because the poor player is so right. Then the crowning glory of the episode, the calming and uplifting interplay between Kana and Chihaya. The event was so effective, it even stopped the rain and brought out the sun. Comedy, tension of a possible loss, and a cap of renewed purpose -- sounds like the elements I like best in Chihayafuru to me.

[Kirarakim]

What I don't understand is why people think there can't be pivotal moments in this tournament (both the team and individual matches). We don't need to leave Omi Jingu to get pivotal moments. And really if you think about it if they left we would just get Karuta in other locations.

Even though we have been in Omi Jingu I think the story has still had a good mixture of both Karuta and non-Karuta moments (character building)

It looks like this high school tournament was just a really long arc in the manga. I hope Kanon is right and they win the team tournament (although I am trying not to get my hopes up in that regard) but I can also see a lot of possible great development with the individual arcs.

If the series left Omi Jingu what do you expect to happen. Chihaya is not becoming queen yet. And there is not going to be any resolution of the romance element so lets get that out of the way.

But at Omi Jingu we have a possible win for the team, possible movements up to new classes (Taichi, Kana & Komano, maybe even our two first years can benefit from this)

And even if it is not the Queen match we can still have a rematch with Chihaya and the queen. We also know Arata is going to play in the individual tournament so there is a lot of great potential for the A match.

So basically even if we end at Omi Jingu we are not really missing out. We already knew the anime was not going to conclude everything because the manga is still running.

Okay for some reason I fail at being precise. So please forgive the rambling of my posts.

Edit: To clarify I do understand the complaints about wasting time with individual moments: camera guys, extended flashbacks, and unnecessary comments.

I am talking more about what the 2nd season is doing as a whole.

[SeijiSensei]

I understand your point of view here, Kim, but you have to admit there would be more drama if Chihaya and Arata were playing in the Queen and Meijin matches than competing to be the top high-school players. I also wonder how the relationship and personal growth issues get to play out if there is simply an unrelenting focus on karuta matches for the next thirteen weeks.

[Yume Hanabi]

I don't think they're quite ready yet for the Queen-Meijin matches, and that this school tournament will be a pivotal point for all of them. I liked that we got to see all the matches this time; top tier matches are more exciting, of course, but there's still a lot to gain from every match. The matches against the Chiba team and the quizz guys were especially interesting because they were confronted with very different styles of play than usual, and their reaction at first shows that they still really lack experience (they let themselves be distracted by the unusualness and it took them a while to focus again). I think they had a lot to learn from those two experiences.

This show is very character-driven, so I really don't mind if the plot moves at snail pace.

Anyway, coming back to this episode, I'm expecting Kana to get more spotlight this match. I really hope we'll get to see a victory of hers in details soon.

[Kirarakim]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

I understand your point of view here, Kim, but you have to admit there would be more drama if Chihaya and Arata were playing in the Queen and Meijin matches than competing to be the top high-school players. I also wonder how the relationship and personal growth issues get to play out if there is simply an unrelenting focus on karuta matches for the next thirteen weeks.

I think you are misinterpreting the importance of this tournament though.

Obviously the Queen and Meijin match is a huge deal but so is this high school tournament especially for our mostly high school students. They both are played at Omi Jingu after all.

I know it's not exactly equivalent but I kind of think of this high school tournament as the Koshien of Karuta. It is a really big deal and well unlike the Queen and Meijin match this tournament can involve all of our main characters.

As for personal growth issues I think those are actually tied to karuta in this series.

Although I would like for them to move away from the high school tournament so I can see Harada Sensei play.

[Trajan]

I have a slightly different take on the pacing issues of this arc. On its, own, this episode is fairly well-paced as an introduction to the "important" matches in the tourney. We're introduced to the remaining coaches, and get the backstory on a character that should have some impact on the events of the series and Chihaya's development as a player/person. I can't really complain.

The problem is that the pace of the earlier episodes of this arc was far too slow. It took four (!) episodes to get through the preliminary matches. At this point, like Kana, we're a bit worn out from viewing entire episodes devoted to single matches and the backstories of tertiary characters who we will most likely never see again. I just want to shout at the screen, "I get it, different people love karuta for different reasons, let's move on!" It takes away from the time available to develop the main characters and lessens my interest in the imporant backstories, like Megumu's, when I've just sat through backstories for the foreigners, the quiz bowl guys, Fukui West, etc. And Lord help me if I end up having to sit through backstories for the entire Fujisaki team and its coach in one of the next episodes!

Now, I know that this is an adaptation of a manga, and this is probably the pace the manga set, but I've never understood the obligation of the anime to recreate the mistakes of the source material. I believe that the manga should be looked at as a draft to be improved, not unalterable storyboards, but I'm in the minority on that one *shrug*.

Originally Posted by Blaat

But now we finally have an important match something we've been missing so far, Megu-tan is a big opponent and what do we get instead?

• ...
• One of the organizers thinking Arata is friends with Hiiro-kun;

Spoiler for Why that might be important:

If Hokuo loses and Chihaya's team ends up playing Fujisaki, maybe the organizer allows Arata to watch, since his "friends" have been eliminated?