(L+CR) Chihayafuru

[hyperborealis]

A little browsing at the Omi Jingu Shrine web site, with the help of Google Translate, reveals that the Queen championship match is coming up on January 7th. It's a pretty big deal--apparently it's televised.

http://translate.google.com/translat...6%2F%23page126

If you go through the Shrine's calendar, you will see that last year's national high school team championship took place on July 23rd. We know from the dates on Chihaya's emails to Arata that the regional championship takes place 6/22. So as you might expect, the show tightly follows the real-life karuta tournament calendar.

http://translate.google.com/translat...8%2F%23page128

A good sign for Mizusawa--last year's winner was from Tokyo. Interesting too to see that 3rd & 4th places were taken by girls' schools--evidence if any one needed it that karuta is a sport in which gender differences play no role.

I wonder why then there is a distinct competition for women, leading to becoming Queen? Is that a cultural decision? or is it instead the case that at the highest levels one gender does in fact predominate?

[LKK]

Originally Posted by hyperborealis

I wonder why then there is a distinct competition for women, leading to becoming Queen? Is that a cultural decision? or is it instead the case that at the highest levels one gender does in fact predominate?

Isn't there also a similar competition for males? Leading to the title of king or master? Isn't that what young Arata said he was after?

[Kazu-kun]

Originally Posted by hyperborealis

I wonder why then there is a distinct competition for women, leading to becoming Queen? Is that a cultural decision? or is it instead the case that at the highest levels one gender does in fact predominate?

It must be a cultural thing. If they didn't have distinct competitions for men and women at the highest level they wouldn't be able to have both a Queen and a King.

[Grifis]

So I watched ep 11 for those last seconds of Arata. This show really needs to get him into the picture (and for me if not for anyone else.) I see Arata as an underdog because he has no screen time. Taichi's development already earned him a legion of fan(boys/girls) already and Arata is losing out because he's not in the picture. Out of sight is out of mind. Taichi has enormous advantage. He is right next to Chihaya. He has his chances.

I see that Arata sent the Birthday text back in ep 9 because he knows Taichi likes Chihaya. Since Taichi knew Chihaya first, it's kind of like Taichi already "claimed" Chihaya. (It's the unspoken code between friends. *cough*) It does look bad if he makes any move on the girl his friend likes. (Meanwhile, Taichi doesn't make his moves because he just doesn't have the gut though he has enormous advantage.) No wonder why Arata told him he's still a coward when they came for the visit.

[Guardian Enzo]

Actually, the dialogue strongly implies that Arata doesn't send the text directly to Chihya because if he does that, it gives the signal for Taichi that hunting season is open. Taichi knows Arata is also interested, and it's sort of foul-play to make his move when Arata isn't around to take his shot. But the minute Arata contacts Chihaya directly, all's fair.

[Setsuryuu]

I just think it's important for me too mention; this time Taichi did not end up as a jerk. He showed actual character development, I could sense that he grew as well as that old Karuta teacher of them. It was really nice to see that he recognized quickly how he blew it with that "encouragement" to Chihaya and how little he truly knew her... And now Arata is back (probably next epi right? xD) to the pic.

I heard people saying "Taichi is too ahead, Arata has disavantaged" but considering what I just said to me both are at the same level now (even as most appealing char to the viewer) and the duel will begin for real now! xD

[Master_Yoma]

Chihaya was even more cuter in this episode and Arata job sucks no one comes in besides a cat

[Blaat]

Heh, I find it interesting that both Taichi and Arata fans are saying their character is the underdog but they're using different arguments as to why their character is the underdog.

[Haak]

Originally Posted by Blaat

Heh, I find it interesting that both Taichi and Arata fans are saying their character is the underdog but they're using different arguments as to why their character is the underdog.

I think it's because both Taichi and Arata would consider themselves to be the underdog. I think Taichi definitely considers himself the underdog and that's whats been one of the main drivers of development for Taichi but I can also see how Arata might consider himself the underdog too.

[karice67]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

Actually, the dialogue strongly implies that Arata doesn't send the text directly to Chihya because if he does that, it gives the signal for Taichi that hunting season is open. Taichi knows Arata is also interested, and it's sort of foul-play to make his move when Arata isn't around to take his shot. But the minute Arata contacts Chihaya directly, all's fair.

Hm...but does Arata actually know what kind of relationship Taiichi and Chihaya have now? Unless Chihaya has actually said anything in all the emails she's sent Arata since her birthday, I'd wager he probably thinks they're dating. Or that there's a high possibility that they are.

Which would put a different slant on his reluctance to contact Chihaya directly, considering a certain aspect of Japanese culture (that is to say, the idea that "girls and boys can't really be normal friends, so you shouldn't be too friendly to someone of the opposite sex who already has a partner")...

[hyperborealis]

It was very satisfying to see Mizusawa win. Satisfying, I think, since a lot of the themes from the earlier episodes come together to account for the team's victory. It is almost as if the previous episodes had been establishing a cultural vocabulary about karuta, and now in this episode we see these words come together to produce, in the victory over Hokuo Academy, a complete tanka.

These themes are invoked at the various turning points in the match. The first key inflection point comes early in the game, when Sudo is beating Chihaya badly, and Harada-sensei begins to think that she is losing control of the match. Chihaya attempts to regroup on her own, by telling herself to calm down, and by focusing on the cards, but fails: Sudo takes the next card anyway. At this point who else but Tsutomu intervenes, by taking his first card from his opponent's side and shouting out encouragement to Chihaya. Her other teammates chime in, Chihaya realizes that she is not playing just for herself but for her team. This sense of team solidarity propels her into a furious comeback, so that she is able to even the match.

The scene reads itself as a demonstration of the value of team cooperation. Against the previous episode, where Tsutomu had thought himself superfluous, here he proves that even the least skilled member of the team, a person who loses his own match, can nevertheless be a decisive factor in the success of his team. Chihaya, correspondingly, proves herself not to be an individual ace, but--as a member of the team--someone who plays better due to the encouragement of her teammates, and to her place within the group. The anime is telling us that teamwork, the subordination of the individual within the group, is the prerequisite to victory.

The other key turning point in the match comes at its close, when Chihaya and Sudo are down to their final cards. The other matches have concluded, so now the battle is no longer as a team, but as a one-on-one match between the two teams' aces. At this point, Sudo enters into an interior reflection, where he thinks about how he wants to win and take his teacher and team to the nationals. When Chihaya takes the Chihayafuru card from his own side for the victory, he asks himself why she was able to do so, and then understands: "[It was] when her eyes no longer burned with the desire to win."

This moment reprises ones from previous episodes, where the desire to win is set against and subordinated to the pure enjoyment of karuta for its own sake. Like Nishida, Sudo has let the "fun" his teacher had originally inspired in him be displaced by the desire to win. But Chihaya wins precisely at the moment where the match for her is not about winning. For Chihaya, then, the game remains about "fun." Thus she remarks to herself earlier in the match that she is having fun, even on a play in which Sudo has just taken a card. Chihaya's naive capacity to enjoy karuta accounts for her victory. In a one-on-one conflict, her inner spirit makes the difference.

The karuta match is a demonstration not simply of physical skills and playing techniques but also of the values the show understands to be intrinsic to karuta. Mizusawa wins since its members most closely embody these values. At its heart, the show is a moral drama. The anime illustrates and applauds a set of cultural values: in this episode, group cooperation and the appreciation of things for their own sake, among others. No doubt other cultural groups share these same values. But since this is a Japanese show, I think we viewers may recognize these values to compose a portrait of Japanese identity.

------------------------------

There's a lot more to say about the episode. If I had time, I'd like to talk about that wonderful moment when Taichi admits to Harada-sensei that he does not understand Chihaya and is consequently ennobled by his humility. Harada's response says everything I think about the show: "This why I can never stop watching [...] You've already become a different person." Harada understands that the real drama lies in the characters and their development, and not merely in who wins the matches, whether for karuta or for the shipping war.

I wonder why Miyauchi-sensei did not attend? Harada takes her place, but it's odd that she's not there.

How closely tied is the name "Chihaya" to the poem of its namesake? Could Chihaya's name indicate a parent's interest in the poetry, or even in the game? Probably the name choice simply suits the narrative, but still...

My main question at this point has to do with Arata. So far, the show feels complete without him. The tournament narrative does not need him, since presumably it's too late for him to participate except as a spectator. More importantly, the show seems to give a complete accounting of the values around karuta without him. What is he going to bring to advance our understanding of karuta? He is one of the three major characters of the show, and I have no idea what his role is going to be. Any ideas?

[GundamZZ]

Originally Posted by hyperborealis

I wonder why Miyauchi-sensei did not attend? Harada takes her place, but it's odd that she's not there.

Don't worry about right now. In anime and manga, rude people are usually the sensitive type.

How closely tied is the name "Chihaya" to the poem of its namesake? Could Chihaya's name indicate a parent's interest in the poetry, or even in the game? Probably the name choice simply suits the narrative, but still...

Depend how you want to define it. It's a homonym. The original hiragana word does not have any meaning. It's been used as "The overwhelming force", since the age of gods". It's the description of a Japanese river. When the hiragana is replaced by kanji, it can also be defined as "powerful" swing(buru). Chihayafuru is derived from Chihayaburu. I think anime used furu because it has clear sound(less confusion).

You can find the similar explanation in this page.
http://fudoan.cdx.jp/english/bugei_e...jo/chihaya.htm

The kanji Chihaya, when used alone, is usually referring to a piece of kimino. It's how Chihaya's name is written.

Spoiler for chihaya:

My main question at this point has to do with Arata. So far, the show feels complete without him. The tournament narrative does not need him, since presumably it's too late for him to participate except as a spectator. More importantly, the show seems to give a complete accounting of the values around karuta without him. What is he going to bring to advance our understanding of karuta? He is one of the three major characters of the show, and I have no idea what his role is going to be. Any ideas?

Do you want to hear fan's opinion or story? Maybe you don't want to know.

[Sol Falling]

Originally Posted by hyperborealis

It was very satisfying to see Mizusawa win. Satisfying, I think, since a lot of the themes from the earlier episodes come together to account for the team's victory. It is almost as if the previous episodes had been establishing a cultural vocabulary about karuta, and now in this episode we see these words come together to produce, in the victory over Hokuo Academy, a complete tanka.

These themes are invoked at the various turning points in the match. The first key inflection point comes early in the game, when Sudo is beating Chihaya badly, and Harada-sensei begins to think that she is losing control of the match. Chihaya attempts to regroup on her own, by telling herself to calm down, and by focusing on the cards, but fails: Sudo takes the next card anyway. At this point who else but Tsutomu intervenes, by taking his first card from his opponent's side and shouting out encouragement to Chihaya. Her other teammates chime in, Chihaya realizes that she is not playing just for herself but for her team. This sense of team solidarity propels her into a furious comeback, so that she is able to even the match.

The scene reads itself as a demonstration of the value of team cooperation. Against the previous episode, where Tsutomu had thought himself superfluous, here he proves that even the least skilled member of the team, a person who loses his own match, can nevertheless be a decisive factor in the success of his team. Chihaya, correspondingly, proves herself not to be an individual ace, but--as a member of the team--someone who plays better due to the encouragement of her teammates, and to her place within the group. The anime is telling us that teamwork, the subordination of the individual within the group, is the prerequisite to victory.

The other key turning point in the match comes at its close, when Chihaya and Sudo are down to their final cards. The other matches have concluded, so now the battle is no longer as a team, but as a one-on-one match between the two teams' aces. At this point, Sudo enters into an interior reflection, where he thinks about how he wants to win and take his teacher and team to the nationals. When Chihaya takes the Chihayafuru card from his own side for the victory, he asks himself why she was able to do so, and then understands: "[It was] when her eyes no longer burned with the desire to win."

This moment reprises ones from previous episodes, where the desire to win is set against and subordinated to the pure enjoyment of karuta for its own sake. Like Nishida, Sudo has let the "fun" his teacher had originally inspired in him be displaced by the desire to win. But Chihaya wins precisely at the moment where the match for her is not about winning. For Chihaya, then, the game remains about "fun." Thus she remarks to herself earlier in the match that she is having fun, even on a play in which Sudo has just taken a card. Chihaya's naive capacity to enjoy karuta accounts for her victory. In a one-on-one conflict, her inner spirit makes the difference.

The karuta match is a demonstration not simply of physical skills and playing techniques but also of the values the show understands to be intrinsic to karuta. Mizusawa wins since its members most closely embody these values. At its heart, the show is a moral drama. The anime illustrates and applauds a set of cultural values: in this episode, group cooperation and the appreciation of things for their own sake, among others. No doubt other cultural groups share these same values. But since this is a Japanese show, I think we viewers may recognize these values to compose a portrait of Japanese identity.

Very nice reading of Chihaya's victory in the team final. Indeed, with the establishment of a true "team" framework after the trials of the past several episodes, Mizusawa prevailed where it stumbled before, and against a much tougher enemy.

On Japanese values, and media entertainment as 'moral dramas'. I do think that this can be said of a lot of Japanese media (in manga and anime) in general, and this is a topic great personal interest to me, particularly in light of the fact that a great deal of it is commercially driven. Although this is just a personal story, at one point in my past I was extremely lost with regards to the purpose/goal of my existence and my potential future/career, escaping from my academic responsibilities by indulging deep in the ocean of (freely available) translated Japanese media on the internet. But, as I waded into the volumes of many of the longest running and most successful series, I came to realize that it's really not all escapism. A great deal of the most successful series have, at some foundational level, basic themes or singular values that run common through all the stories, and that they try to impart directly upon the viewer/reader. In particular, several of them are those that you just noted yourself (team harmony--in particular, the sense of wanting to contribute to a greater whole; and the absolutism of enjoying/being passionate about a pursuit/activity for the sake of the pursuit/activity in itself). Others include the value of determination--that, wherever you start out at, if you put your mind to something, one day that effort will definitely amount to something; and a championing of mutual respect, self-actualization, and respect for human will--that what is important, what is "right" is what a person truly wants to do; that an individual should chase after that, and should not look down on others for following those ambitions. In the end, a lot of those values have contributed to who I am today.

It is often wryly noted that "the Japanese can make manga about anything". That is to say: [engaging, entertaining to the point of being commercially viable] manga. I do think that the reason that (the sentiment behind) these words is true has a great deal to do with, as you say, Japanese cultural values.

Anyway, my one gripe with regards to this match/episode was the abruptness of Nishida's victory. Last we saw, he had regained himself in a losing battle, being overwhelmed by an opponent who had jumped ahead into A class while he himself had squandered his time lost to defeatism. Throwing his whole physical weight behind capturing a single card, Nishida demonstrated his will to make up for that and win. However, renewed determination does not always equate to actual ability. Nishida's victory was the real upset for me here, what with him overcoming an A-class player despite not being in A-class himself. He even managed to clinch it more completely than Chihaya did, ending the match before (as with the one between the aces) it came down to the last two (or was it three?) cards. For such an extraordinary (one might say unbelievable) turnaround, I thought that aspect of the match could have used more exposition.

There's a lot more to say about the episode. If I had time, I'd like to talk about that wonderful moment when Taichi admits to Harada-sensei that he does not understand Chihaya and is consequently ennobled by his humility. Harada's response says everything I think about the show: "This why I can never stop watching [...] You've already become a different person." Harada understands that the real drama lies in the characters and their development, and not merely in who wins the matches, whether for karuta or for the shipping war.

While admitting that he had been mistaken was good, I actually thought Taichi should have been a bit more frantic about it. If Taichi really does not understand Chihaya, then not just accepting that he doesn't understand her, but coming to understand her is important; for both his love, and his team's karuta.

My main question at this point has to do with Arata. So far, the show feels complete without him. The tournament narrative does not need him, since presumably it's too late for him to participate except as a spectator. More importantly, the show seems to give a complete accounting of the values around karuta without him. What is he going to bring to advance our understanding of karuta? He is one of the three major characters of the show, and I have no idea what his role is going to be. Any ideas?

Karuta is neither a one person, nor one team game--you need opponents, and a goal. I think that Arata works very well as a goal, at least for Chihaya individually, and proper opponents are always very important for a sports anime. While I've appreciated this prefectural qualifier arc for the team building, I actually do think this is something the anime would need to work on for the nationals (compelling opponents). In a more standard sports series, maybe one that would proceed into the next interhigh tournament the next year, Arata would join his own team. Along the same lines, I would myself be curious about the opportunities for competitive individual Karuta at the highschool level. It would seem to me that there is no organizational distinction for highschool; that means, if Chihaya were to try to meet/play against Arata through individual karuta, they would both have to throw themselves into the sea of top level competitors.

[Flower]

Finally watched ep 11 last night ... well done imo.

7.5/10 vote from me.

[hyperborealis]

Originally Posted by GundamZZ

Depend how you want to define it. It's a homonym. The original hiragana word does not have any meaning. It's been used as "The overwhelming force", since the age of gods". It's the description of a Japanese river. When the hiragana is replaced by kanji, it can also be defined as "powerful" swing(buru). Chihayafuru is derived from Chihayaburu. I think anime used furu because it has clear sound(less confusion).

You can find the similar explanation in this page.
http://fudoan.cdx.jp/english/bugei_e...jo/chihaya.htm

The kanji Chihaya, when used alone, is usually referring to a piece of kimino. It's how Chihaya's name is written.

Spoiler for chihaya:

Thank you! This is exactly the sort of thing I love to find out. And the web site you linked to was most excellent.

I still have more questions! Is Chihaya a girl's name--no boy is ever called it? Is it an unusual name? When someone hears the name, what connotation do they think of first? If someone had never heard of the manga or the anime, would such a person who heard the name think of the waka from the hyakunin isshu? would he or she think of karuta?

Originally Posted by GundamZZ

Do you want to hear fan's opinion or story? Maybe you don't want to know.

Whatever you think! but just no spoilers from the manga! ^.^

Originally Posted by Sol Falling

On Japanese values, and media entertainment as 'moral dramas'. I do think that this can be said of a lot of Japanese media (in manga and anime) in general, and this is a topic great personal interest to me, particularly in light of the fact that a great deal of it is commercially driven. Although this is just a personal story, at one point in my past I was extremely lost with regards to the purpose/goal of my existence and my potential future/career, escaping from my academic responsibilities by indulging deep in the ocean of (freely available) translated Japanese media on the internet. But, as I waded into the volumes of many of the longest running and most successful series, I came to realize that it's really not all escapism. A great deal of the most successful series have, at some foundational level, basic themes or singular values that run common through all the stories, and that they try to impart directly upon the viewer/reader. In particular, several of them are those that you just noted yourself (team harmony--in particular, the sense of wanting to contribute to a greater whole; and the absolutism of enjoying/being passionate about a pursuit/activity for the sake of the pursuit/activity in itself). Others include the value of determination--that, wherever you start out at, if you put your mind to something, one day that effort will definitely amount to something; and a championing of mutual respect, self-actualization, and respect for human will--that what is important, what is "right" is what a person truly wants to do; that an individual should chase after that, and should not look down on others for following those ambitions. In the end, a lot of those values have contributed to who I am today.

Many thanks for this discussion, and especially the personal element. Like you, I suspect, I enjoy entertainment, but at a certain point I begin to prefer dramas which have something to say, which express the writers' convictions and commitments.

Originally Posted by Sol Falling

Anyway, my one gripe with regards to this match/episode was the abruptness of Nishida's victory. Last we saw, he had regained himself in a losing battle, being overwhelmed by an opponent who had jumped ahead into A class while he himself had squandered his time lost to defeatism. Throwing his whole physical weight behind capturing a single card, Nishida demonstrated his will to make up for that and win. However, renewed determination does not always equate to actual ability. Nishida's victory was the real upset for me here, what with him overcoming an A-class player despite not being in A-class himself. He even managed to clinch it more completely than Chihaya did, ending the match before (as with the one between the aces) it came down to the last two (or was it three?) cards. For such an extraordinary (one might say unbelievable) turnaround, I thought that aspect of the match could have used more exposition.

This is really very interesting, and made me think over the episode. Nishida's victory is abrupt--he suddenly interjects his shout of triumph, so it does come by surprise. But there is lead-up to this victory, in the earlier conversation he has with Nayuta and the subsequent reflection about his early life as a karuta player. The animation takes a fair amount of time working out this sequence: it even includes Kana's aggressive fault and Tsutomu's argument with his opponent as a way of illustrating by antithesis how young Nishida had given up.

So what's going on? I think you are absolutely right that determination is not enough. But what is enough, or what the anime is showing us, is this curious moment of self-reflection and self-recognition. Once Nishida sees himself as he truly has been, then and only then is he able to summon the overwhelming determination that expresses itself in the famous barrel-roll.

If you look at the episode from this perspective, then suddenly you see these moments all over the place. Taichi's confession of his failure to understand Chihaya is one. So is Harada's explanation to himself of why he can't stop watching Team Chihaya. But the most unexpected one is Sudo's at the conclusion of the match. Yes, he loses. But he also, once the match is lost, achieves the same understanding Nishida had in that earlier episode where Chihaya had beaten him: that he had made the mistake of making karuta about winning, that he had lost Chihaya's ability to love the game for its sake. Sudo may have lost the match, but he also gained a critical self-understanding that I expect will lead him to a much higher level of play in the future.

So, thank you for your criticism of the show! It really helped me recognize this pattern of introspection that I had not really appreciated previously.

I probably should have used a different word than "moral" in talking about "moral dramas." That's not really right. The distinctions between playing as an individual and playing as a member of a team, between wanting to win and enjoying karuta for its own sake--these are not moral differences. If anything, the show is talking about mistakes, or misplacement of emphasis. Even with Sudo's obnoxious gamesmanship, the anime does not suggest that it is wrong or bad. The anime does not depict him as a wicked person--so the "sadist" translation I think incorrectly attaches a moral onus upon him. Instead, his way of playing simply limits himself, so that he and his team become the foil that proves Mizusawa's better approach to playing karuta. Karuta is open to Sudo, and he is clearly open to it in turn: he is able to see his mistakes, and to learn from them. Moral distinctions speak to absolute social divisions; I wonder if instead Japanese society eschews them, in order to keep open the possibility of change and future social harmony.

Originally Posted by Sol Falling

While admitting that he had been mistaken was good, I actually thought Taichi should have been a bit more frantic about it. If Taichi really does not understand Chihaya, then not just accepting that he doesn't understand her, but coming to understand her is important; for both his love, and his team's karuta.

I was also thinking about this paragraph when I wrote what I have above. What counts is the capacity of self-reflection, to know oneself. Taichi has that, and that is why he is serene and not frantic. If he can do that, then the way is clear for him eventually to understand Chihaya. Or even to understand that he may want something else. His future is open. I don't think there is any prior necessity that Chihaya end up with anyone.

Originally Posted by Sol Falling

Karuta is neither a one person, nor one team game--you need opponents, and a goal. I think that Arata works very well as a goal, at least for Chihaya individually, and proper opponents are always very important for a sports anime. While I've appreciated this prefectural qualifier arc for the team building, I actually do think this is something the anime would need to work on for the nationals (compelling opponents). In a more standard sports series, maybe one that would proceed into the next interhigh tournament the next year, Arata would join his own team. Along the same lines, I would myself be curious about the opportunities for competitive individual Karuta at the highschool level. It would seem to me that there is no organizational distinction for highschool; that means, if Chihaya were to try to meet/play against Arata through individual karuta, they would both have to throw themselves into the sea of top level competitors.

Arata is a goal for Chihaya, but he can't only be that--a goal is always in the distance, but the anime is instead intent on bringing him back into her life, close to her.

I wonder if we are going to get compelling opponents, at least in the sense of contrasts with Mizusawa. Hokuo Academy has covered that territory fairly well. More interesting would be an opponent who also embodied the finest qualities of karuta: someone for Mizusawa to lose to, and to aspire toward.

Perhaps Arata will be that opponent? I expect the current Queen may instead fill that role. My guess would be that Arata is more likely to become Chihaya's mentor. And not just in playing karuta--I am thinking rather of something more philosophical. He may be able to help her reach the mystical aspects of karuta that have been hinted at in the previous episodes. Perhaps he will become Chihaya's kami for karuta after all...

[Dawnstorm]

Originally Posted by hyperborealis

But the most unexpected one is Sudo's at the conclusion of the match....

...Instead, his way of playing simply limits himself, so that he and his team become the foil that proves Mizusawa's better approach to playing karuta.

This here is a good opportunity for me to talk about the role of karuta in the show. The trigger is this:

I wasn't really surprised at Sudo's inside; and I don't really think Mizusawa's approach to karuta is "better". And that's mostly because I feel that Hokuo and Mizusawa are both being portrayed as a slap-dash collection of excentric individuals (with Hokuo emphasising the excentricity to make Mizusawa seem more normal). Mizusawa's first no-name opponents had a very different approach - a clear collectivist front, complete with their "shouting strategy". Neither Hokuo nor Mizusawa do anything like that. They both bank on the power of indivuals working together. The main difference I see is team experience.

And because they had that experience Hokuo underestimated Mizusawa. They tried to psych them out, ended up teaching them instead, and ended up upset themselves. (I had to chuckle at Sudo's "Is she falling in love with me?" Chihaya lives in her own little world; psychs out opponents without even trying.) Nishida's barral role, Taichi's gaining confidence from memory... that's all psych-out tactics backfiring. In a way, this means if you've got a reason for doing what you're doing, everything is a learning experience. Winning is a side-effect; clinging to success is a distraction.

It's here where I think that genre conventions undermine the show's excellent characterisation. It would be interesting to see them deal with more serious problems: what if Tsutomu had left? What if they had lost that final game? Just two examples that would have - IMO - made for much more interesting characterisation opportunities. And since not every karuta player has karuta as his/her priority, and since losing turnaments is a standard experience for karuta players (only one team can win after all), this wouldn't have undermined the goal of exploring karuta, and it would have made an excellent backdrop for exploring character at the cross-roads between a passion and life's requirements.

But genre conventions mandate a success story. It also mandates that the show's theme - karuta - is absolute. There are people who disrispect karuta (such as whispering students); there are people who would abuse it as a mere stage for success (such as Taichi's mom). Thus the players themselves can't doubt karuta. (Well, Arata is allowed to doubt karuta. That's okay, because we know it won't last.) Karuta is God. In that way, Chihayafuru is pretty conventional.

And because of those conventions it's possible to say that whatever the main team does is the best approach to karuta. But I can't follow the show down that road, because I get lost in shallow inspirational talk about how to love karuta. (Well, Karuta has an advatage here; it's more interesting to me than, say, baseball or collecting pocket monsters.)

What's interesting to me is not so much a "proper" attitude to karuta, but how the characters change by playing karuta. (Sensei's words hit the spot with me, there.) The show supported that beutifully in the early episodes; I'm not as involved now as was in the beginning, but "life" may yet make a comeback. It makes sense to spend plenty of time with karuta, in a karuta show after all.

@Arata: I'll wait and see. His main point right now is "group transgression" - he's not part of the club, and yet he's a main character. The most conventional way to resolve that would be "opponent". I can see "mentor", too, but he's not the teacher type, really, so that would be a little one-sided ("unwitting mentor"? "reluctant mentor"?). He did make the connection in the end of the visit episode (ep5?).

[Hooves]

When Porky realized why he was doing so bad in the game. I was expecting him to take a card, but the barrel roll completely caught me by surprise

Then we have Taichi's excellent brain-power at work... He was just reading those cards so fast that it makes me feel slow in comparison...

[Blaat]

Originally Posted by Dawnstorm

But genre conventions mandate a success story.

Not quite, usually the national high school tournament (such as Koushien) is reached in the third, final, year of high school. So it seems to me that 'genre conventions' got overruled by something more important: the plot which demands that Chihaya and Arata must meet.

[Dawnstorm]

Originally Posted by Blaat

Not quite, usually the national high school tournament (such as Koushien) is reached in the third, final, year of high school. So it seems to me that 'genre conventions' got overruled by something more important: the plot which demands that Chihaya and Arata must meet.

That's certainly true. May I add a speculation: "the plot that demands that Chihaya and Arata must meet while the club still exists". (Otherwise they could just meet after year three...)

[hyperborealis]

@Dawnstorm

I take your point about the inevitable success story. Watching our heroes win can be repetitive, and cloying.

This might still be the case even if the show were to incorporate more conflicts between "a passion and life's requirements." Say Chihaya had lost, and then had to come to terms with the failure of her dream, we could still have gotten an anime entitled, "Gambate, Chihaya!" where we watch her overcome her descent into alcoholism to open her noodle shop or some such happy ending. I mention this to point out that realism is just as liable as romance to the determinations of convention. And also to point out that finally the conventions observed are not literary but social. Values are culture, and you simply can't escape them.

Do I detect in your words an intimation that Chihayafuru's conventionality amounts to escapism? Is the show escapist? It is an interesting question.

You could argue that it is. Take some of the real-life elements in the show: Arata's poverty, the kids' shunning of Arata, Chihaya's family's neglect of her in favor of her sister, Taichi's mother's pressuring of her son. You can understand karuta and its little social world as an escape from all these things.

But I suppose a more correct response would be to say that karuta is a displacement of real life. It contains all the aggression and competition of the real world, but mediated and thereby moderated within the rules and conventions of karuta itself. You can think of karuta as a toy world, with a greatly reduced number of real-world variables, that is a simpler version of life and yet still retains some of life's problematic elements. Just the fact that karuta allows for clear winners and losers is an immense simplification of life, that is at once true to life and escapist at the same moment.

Yet karuta is a social activity, and as such is fully a part of life, and neither an escape nor even a displacement. As the show has illustrated, becoming good at karuta demands effort and self-transformation, social awareness, and the realization of the same values that are demanded in the world at large. Thus the growth Harada perceives in Taichi's character is not limited to karuta but represents a higher capacity for living in the real world. So I think the show is committed to the very realism that you prefer, Dawnstorm.

As for me, I find compelling the inexplicable elements of the show: Chihaya's genius for karuta, Taichi's loneliness, Hana's tears when Tsutomu congratulates her on her first win. The characters cease to be characters, and become individuals I hardly understand, whom I can't anticipate. Just who is Arata? I have no idea...