Sorry for double post.
On-Topic
I came with the same mixed feelings like the rest of you guys out there as why Mana and friends don't even realize a clue or raise suspicions about Ai-chan granting the power to make appear royal stones whenever she touches any gift handed to the Cures as present.
Also, where is Joe out of all things?
And, to whom belongs the blue jay or parakeet spying upon the Cures whenever Ai-chan makes her magic to work?
My hunch came too early in this episode to say that looks like the writers have now abandoned the trope of "let's build up the recurrent character of the week before he or she becomes the sacrificial lamb to become the MoTW fodder" for good.
So sad!
I thought I would enjoy this Rika-centered episode but turned generic, particularly because I'm not acquainted with karuta and seemed so foreign to me. If, on the other hand, this episode had dealt about shogi, then I would have felt more familiarized with the subject.