(L+CR) Chihayafuru

[hai_san]

Spoiler for Ep 20:

Poor Chihaya a bad lost to her, perhaps even her worst, because even though her skill was better than her opponent, but she lost to her mentality/spirit.

Kana seems want to go reader instead of player in karuta.

[Haak]

That ending was quite unexpected to the say the least. Not just to us viewers but clearly to Chihaya as well...

[Kanon]

Whoa, I did not expect that ending either. Even though she was playing against the previous Queen, Chihaya looked like she had a fair chance of winning. She even dominated the match at some point. However, once Yumin recovered her spirits thanks to Kitano's intervention, she promptly made Chihaya lose hers and the match was decided. Never thought Chihaya would lose in a battle of will.

So, that means... bald Chihaya next week?

In other news, Kana has just found her true calling. The reader position suits her perfectly. I wonder why I never thought about it before...

[Kadi]

Just finished watching and I'm still fired up, so I feel forced to say: I hate the ugly... one.

Anyway, aren't there rules for close calls? Poor Chihaya, she's too good-natured.

[Blaat]

Do you think I would be allowed to vote for Kana and Komano in the best couple of the year award even though they're technically not a couple? (yes yes I'm aware of tough competition from Another and Ano Natsu ;p )

[warita]

I didnt like how Yumin took advantage of the fact that Chihaya doesnt have the nerve to argue back.

I would have told her to prove it, that she touched the card first (which she couldnt of course) and then told her to quit claiming she touched the card first. I would call it bullshit.

Btw, how many episodes does this anime have? Either this will have an ending I didnt anticipate.... or there will be another season.

[hero147]

I was starting to feel sympathetic for Yumin until I found out how she plays. =X

[warita]

Originally Posted by hero147

I was starting to feel sympathetic for Yumin until I found out how she plays. =X

EXACTLY. I thought that she just lost her confidence and is tired. I hoped she would find back to her old self..... but it would seem, that she can only win, when she us half cheating. To me that looked like cheating anyways.

[Kazu-kun]

It should be noted that just because she needed to contest these cards doesn't mean she didn't actually touch the cards first. For all we know, she might have been right every time she argued for a card.

In any case, Taichi is right, the one to win is whoever can keep their cool during the match. Mental strength is key!!!

[Kirarakim]

I am pretty sure Yumin probably was right and was not cheating. I think most people might let something small like that slide but I guess she was a good player because she didn't and she fought for every point. Although what she does might come off as annoying, she is in the game to win not to care what other people think.

I was more upset at her coach's behavior honestly. I get that he cared a lot about her (which is good) but he should have been more respectful to the other players.

Anyways I did feel bad Chihaya lost but you have to give this series credit, it's really great at being unpredictable with the games.

It was hard loss for Chihaya but I am sure she will be back to her usual self in no time. Even more important is what will Chihaya learn from this match to improve her own future games?


Kana discovering she wants to be a reader was a nice moment too (although I hope she also continues with competitive Karuta as well).

[hyperborealis]

You will recall Tsutomu arguing over close calls in an earlier tournament, which the anime there presented positively, as someone fighting for every inch. The same is true here: Yumin fought harder, and deserved to prevail. I bet next episode Harada-sensei yells at Chihaya big time over this.

With three episodes left, and everybody out, where does the show go now? What kind of climax can the show build up to? I'm afraid we're going to get a "And they played karuta happily ever after" ending...

[Kirarakim]

Originally Posted by hyperborealis

I'm afraid we're going to get a "And they played karuta happily ever after" ending...

I am afraid of that too. In fact I would be okay with this if I knew I was getting more of the series somehow: either more of the anime or the manga being licensed.

Heck even faster scanlations would be nice (I hate reading manga online but I think I would make an exception for Chihayafuru).

I am just really getting depressed knowing I will be deprived of this series soon.

[ars89]

It was always going to be a tough match against the previous queen. Though i'm pissed that i felt bad for her a little after finding out the way she plays. Honestly Chihaya is too nice, did she forget Harada's rule again. Her arguing pissed me off, if i was playing i couldn't hold back from punching her. Well now back to square one again for Chihaya. Right when she was getting better at her game her mental toughness failed her again.

[Utsuro no Hako]

In a good sports story, the heroes need to face some setbacks, but this is getting ridiculous. At the rate Chihaya's progressing, she won't get a shot at the Queen until she's in college.

Originally Posted by Kirarakim

I am afraid of that too. In fact I would be okay with this if I knew I was getting more of the series somehow: either more of the anime or the manga being licensed.

Something interesting I just stumbled across: Chihayafuru Bilingual Edition. From what I can learn through Google, it's intended for people learning English and contains the text in both languages. Looks like they've done the first two volumes, which puts them behind the scanlators, but I'm sorely tempted.

[Leo_Otaku]

Wow that is really petty to argue a close call almost every time. You would think it was someone calling wolf or something. That is hardly seems fair to me. Not sure if the calls were true or not, but it just seems really in called for in most cases.

Great episode

Originally Posted by Kirarakim

I am afraid of that too. In fact I would be okay with this if I knew I was getting more of the series somehow: either more of the anime or the manga being licensed.

Heck even faster scanlations would be nice (I hate reading manga online but I think I would make an exception for Chihayafuru).

I am just really getting depressed knowing I will be deprived of this series soon.

Hard to say Madhouse sometimes takes a liberty and makes an ending or they stay true. Not sure about a sequel.

[maplehurry]

I am pretty sure Yumin probably was right and was not cheating.

I am inclined to believe otherwise because chihaya can even sense shinobu touching the card 1st when it's really close. What's the chance that every one of those close call are legitimately Yumin's win and Chihaya missed her sense every single time there ? But obviously I am not sure.

Either way, chihaya's responsible for her loss and should learn from this. I never get the impression Chihaya's good enough to even get 2nd place in this tournament anyway (like most other anime protagonists would have).

[Proto]

Hahaha, it is all part of the game people. As a person who has played a lot of club chess tournaments against adults in the past, I can tell you that some ol' people will use every trick on the book that is barely valid by the rules to psyque you out. And you know what. It's all part of the game. So a part of becoming a better player is learning to deal with it.

Chess, checkers, go, karuta is as much of a mental/physical game as it can be a psychological game.

[Guardian Enzo]

Originally Posted by Blaat

Do you think I would be allowed to vote for Kana and Komano in the best couple of the year award even though they're technically not a couple? (yes yes I'm aware of tough competition from Another and Ano Natsu ;p )

You certainly have my permission. They're so adorable it makes my teeth hurt.

Originally Posted by Utsuro no Hako

In a good sports story, the heroes need to face some setbacks, but this is getting ridiculous. At the rate Chihaya's progressing, she won't get a shot at the Queen until she's in college.



Something interesting I just stumbled across: Chihayafuru Bilingual Edition. From what I can learn through Google, it's intended for people learning English and contains the text in both languages. Looks like they've done the first two volumes, which puts them behind the scanlators, but I'm sorely tempted.

Huh - interesting, because I'm using Chihayafuru in Japanese (and a book of the 100 Poets) to help me learn Japanese.

[monir]

Add to what Proto said, the biggest effect she had on Chihaya was how she was disrupting the flow of Chihaya's game. It was a sound strategy. A lot of sports uses it. For example, in American Footbal, timeouts are taken to ice the kicker. In Basketball, time outs are taken to slow down the opponent who suddenly was making almost all the shots. Pretty much the attempt is to disrupt the flow, to slow down the pace, and in turn make your opponent to lose focus and concentration while you regroup. To overcome such attempts, mental strength is a requirement. As Chihaya often demonstrated through out the series in her loses and in her wins, that she has ways to go before she overcomes her lacking in mental toughness.

[ipodi]

Originally Posted by monir

Add to what Proto said, the biggest effect she had on Chihaya was how she was disrupting the flow of Chihaya's game. It was a sound strategy. A lot of sports uses it. For example, in American Footbal, timeouts are taken to ice the kicker. In Basketball, time outs are taken to slow down the opponent who suddenly was making almost all the shots. Pretty much the attempt is to disrupt the flow, to slow down the pace, and in turn make your opponent to lose focus and concentration while you regroup. To overcome such attempts, mental strength is a requirement. As Chihaya often demonstrated through out the series in her loses and in her wins, that she has ways to go before she overcomes her lacking in mental toughness.

In football (American) and basketball, coaches do call timeouts to interrupt their opponent's flow of the game. But, doing so has a cost - the team that called a time out has one less time out to use.

In karuta, there is no cost to anyone who wants to resort to such cheap trick. You know who Yumin reminds me of? In last World Cup when the US faced Sengal, those Sengalese started to fake injuries and rolled on the ground for minutes before returning to the game as if nothing had happened. They also walk slower to retrieve the ball. They did all these once they pulled ahead in an effort to run down the clock. It was an infuriating game, and they earned no respect from doing so.

Yumin is a cheap player. Yeah, a win is a win, but is that how you want to build your reputation? I also have a hard believing that she was being honest in all the disputes she raised.