Quote:
Originally Posted by Undertaker
I actually think it's natural. The problem here is that unlike other team sport, Karuta is an individual sport, at least in professional level. The only time they can compete together is during the summer. Even then, team competition is basically a mix-match best-of-5. In this case, instead of talking over about team strategy, which basically comes down to match-ups and match-flow, the more important part is individual strength which is exactly what they are doing right now.
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You're right of course, but I thought the episode was showing us that Chihaya needs to learn from her teammates (and others) how to improve her game. She can't win playing the way she always has, by relying on just her speed. So she needs to go outside herself, to other people, to develop her capabilities.
You see a little bit of a team approach to self-improvement in the episode, when Kana and Tsutomu critique Chihaya's approach, and when Chihaya suggests to Kana she do exercises to improve her playing posture. But Team Mizusawa is a little mixed here: Tsutomu doesn't want to share with Nishida; Nishida and Taichi don't offer advice the way Kana and Tsutomu do, since they are wrapped up in their own duel; and Nishida's explanation of Harada-sensei's advice when Chihaya takes the Chihayaburu card is off-target.
On the other hand, it wouldn't be good if someone just explained to Chihaya what to do--that would be too easy. The anime seems to be showing that her effort to figure out what to do is itself the growth process she needs in order to improve her play. She makes herself able to sustain her concentration past her habitual ten seconds; she makes herself able to study books about the Ogura hyakunin isshu. So far, Chihaya is figuring out what to do on her own, but with the help of others.
You see this whole theme of self-transformation with others' help repeated with Tsutomu, by the way. He overhears Chihaya's advice to Kana about doing exercises, he engages Kana in a conversation where Kana tells him her strategy to improve her play in the context of her smaller size. These discussions then lead him to affirm to himself his capacity to improve himself in despite of his physical limitations: "I can change. / I know it." So if you want a main idea for the episode, this is probably it.
So far, Chihaya, Kana, and Tsutomu are well engaged in this "self with teammates" approach. Taichi and Nishida, not so much. It is not a criticism, but just an observation, to note that both are working outside Team Mizusawa: Nishida is calling in tips from his old sensei, and Taichi is relying on familiy money to fly him around to tournaments. As the anime puts it, they are both being "sneaky," in that they are acting for themselves as individuals and going behind the team's back to do so. Yes, they ought to take advantage of whatever edge they have--that's fine. All the same, there is a bit of a split in the team on this issue. The fact both guys get their lunches handed to them may be coincidental--but it might also be a comment on their approach. We'll have to wait and see if the anime develops this idea or not.
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GundamZZ, thank you for your wonderful and brilliant comments on "green house." You and Undertaker are really Kana-chan for this forum. Please post more often.