(L+CR) Chihayafuru

[fanty]

Wth with Taichi throwing that desk so high up?! How much physical strength does he have?!!

That aside, it was a good enough episode, the previous one was better.

[Sides]

Hope that the fifth/next member will be another girl ^^
Episode was okay. Basically showed that Taichi has a good memory, and can beat Chihaya under certain circumstances in karuta. As for the new recruit, he does not seem as interesting as Kana, no that is wrong. His introduction wasn't as interesting as Kana's.

[LKK]

Originally Posted by Sides

Hope that the fifth/next member will be another girl ^^

Sorry to say, that's not likely to happen. The OP shows us the 5 club members.

[Byakou]

Lol @ at the new guy being glued to his desk the whole ep. They're overdoing the clichés...

[Anh_Minh]

It was nice to see Taichi win for once. Even if they had to radically alter the rules.

I mean, the guy does try hard. It's annoying to see it mean nothing against Chihaya's innate abilities (hearing and reaction time).

[sikvod00]

Man, those are some pretty crappy classmates...

[Kanon]

Taichi completely stole the spotlight. Poor Tsutomu, he's second place even in his own introductory episode

Now that we got some insights on Taichi's thoughts and feelings and that his passion (or rather, his competitive spirit) has been rekindled, I must confess I'm starting to like him a lot. I hope he'll keep developing in the right direction.

Tsutomu came across as pretty stereotypical and lame. I'm definitely not as impressed as I was by Kana's introduction. Nope, not at all.

[thundrakkon]

Originally Posted by sikvod00

Man, those are some pretty crappy classmates...

I think this is a reflection concerning some of the problems in Japan where students are often bullied. Society often forces individuals to "fit" into their mold, and those who are "different" are ridiculed. I guess in the view of Chihayafuru, Taichi represents the product of society, while the rest of the cast represents those who will not fit in.

Episode 7 was another enjoyable episode. The new member, Tsutomu, did not have the same pizazz as Kanade does. Chihaya seems to have a thing for the socially awkward.


I hope to see more of Arata soon. I miss his charisma, which adds a lot of depth on top of Chihaya's enthusiasm. I wonder how he will return to the series? I feel like the only way is through a tournament at this point, since if he suddenly transfer in, it would be too out of the blue (or cliche, take your pick).


Taichi was very helpful this episode. He almost had a perfectly good episode, until he pulled a fast one on Chihaya. They just can't go an episode without doing something to make you dislike the guy, can they? Even though it was within the rules to do so, Taichi moving the position around the cards in order to further exploit Chihaya's weakness was very "unkind". He already had her beat with his memory, but he wanted to totally wipe her out. He did not need to move the cards in order to win. It is more a reflection of his personality to do whatever it takes to win, so it shows that he has not changed that much since his childhood. Otherwise, the rest of the episode, he was actually good and helped recruit a member for once.


I'm guessing the next episode will focus on the last member that the club will recruit. I hope he will add comedy to mix.

[Kazu-kun]

Originally Posted by thundrakkon

Taichi was very helpful this episode. He almost had a perfectly good episode, until he pulled a fast one on Chihaya. They just can't go an episode without doing something to make you dislike the guy, can they? Even though it was within the rules to do so, Taichi moving the position around the cards in order to further exploit Chihaya's weakness was very "unkind". He already had her beat with his memory, but he wanted to totally wipe her out. He did not need to move the cards in order to win.

I think you misunderstood. I don't think he moved the cards to make it more difficult for Chihaya specifically. As you said, he would have won anyway. He did it to make it harder overall, and specially for himself! In other words, it was a challenge: he was challenging himself to win in the hardest conditions possible.

At any rate, Taichi's greatest inability to win is NOT his lack of talent, but rather his lack of confidence. If he believes he's going to lose, he just gives up and ends up losing. But if he believes there's chance at winning, he takes that chance and tries his best. This episode shows that very clear.

But this episode also marks the beginning of Taichi's character growth, and he'll probably develop till the moment when he can take an impossible challenge (ie: a match against Arata) instead of running away.

[fertygo]

Taichi was very helpful this episode. He almost had a perfectly good episode, until he pulled a fast one on Chihaya. They just can't go an episode without doing something to make you dislike the guy, can they? Even though it was within the rules to do so, Taichi moving the position around the cards in order to further exploit Chihaya's weakness was very "unkind". He already had her beat with his memory, but he wanted to totally wipe her out. He did not need to move the cards in order to win.

SMH...

Its reaching the level of when your granny saying stuff around on this line "look to your BF/GF over there".

You following about how to play the game didn't you? Its like you bitching when you opponent doing castling in chess, how silly is that?

Tsutomu came across as pretty stereotypical and lame. I'm definitely not as impressed as I was by Kana's introduction. Nope, not at all.

Well.. then he might be supposed to leave that kind of impression in first place.

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by thundrakkon

Taichi was very helpful this episode. He almost had a perfectly good episode, until he pulled a fast one on Chihaya. They just can't go an episode without doing something to make you dislike the guy, can they? Even though it was within the rules to do so, Taichi moving the position around the cards in order to further exploit Chihaya's weakness was very "unkind". He already had her beat with his memory, but he wanted to totally wipe her out. He did not need to move the cards in order to win. It is more a reflection of his personality to do whatever it takes to win, so it shows that he has not changed that much since his childhood. Otherwise, the rest of the episode, he was actually good and helped recruit a member for once.

It wasn't anything close to cheating. He always plays tactically. Usually, it's not enough for him to overcome Chihaya's basic spec advantage, but here it was. It's no more "unkind" than Chihaya reacting to his reactions and using her speed to get the card.

[ThereminVox]

Until now, we've mostly just been told that Taichi is the top of his class, a borderline prodigy, but we've never really been shown anything that backs it up. This episode felt like it really showcased why it's an important part of his character, and how it relates to the karuta club. It only makes sense that his ability to focus and memorize would be unmatched. He really seemed to reach another level when he had the revelation that he might actually be able to win.

I was wondering how exactly Kanade was going to fit into the club. She really showed no interest in the competitive side of karuta, but now it all makes sense. She's a perfect judge, as someone who is so well versed in the poems. I suspect that once the club has a full compliment, she'll remain on the sidelines as a helper, and to comment on the game while the other four pair off for competitive games. Maybe she'd even make a good club manager.

Tsutomi is pretty funny, even if I wanted to smack his classmates around. Confirmed life-rival with Taichi? I could live with that. They do have a few things in common, as the last act showed.

[Kirarakim]

As others have thankfully already said what Taichi did was definitely not cheating. So he made the game more difficult for Chihaya (and himself). That's a good thing because making it harder on Chihaya actually helps improve both Taichi and Chihaya in the end.

Anyways 7 episodes in I can definitely say Taichi is my favorite character because he seems the most relatable to me. That being said he is not my favorite by much because this is one series where I adore every character.

I guess Tsutomi's introduction was a little stereotypical but I definitely expect there is more to his character and I am looking forward to seeing how he grows and actually forms real friendships (which I think is bound to happen).

[Kazu-kun]

Originally Posted by ThereminVox

Confirmed life-rival with Taichi?

If it's Karuta, Taichi's B class, and it will take a few years for the new guy to reach that level. On anything else Taichi is basically perfect. That's kinda the point with him: he's the best in a lot of things, yet he choose to do Karuta, where he's way behind the strongest ones.

In any case, Taichi's true rival is himself.

[ThereminVox]

Originally Posted by Kazu-kun

If it's Karuta, Taichi's B class, and it will take a few years for the new guy to reach that level.

I see what you mean, but I'm not really thinking in terms of karuta. I think Tsutomi sees Taichi as a sort of rival outside of the club, and not just in terms of grades. He envies Taichi because of how easily he seems to make friends, and how much those friends respect him. In joining the club, I think he moves beyond simple envy. He wants to be able to compete on Taichi's level, and he can't do that from behind a desk. That's just what I took from viewing Ep. 7

[LKK]

Originally Posted by Kirarakim

As others have thankfully already said what Taichi did was definitely not cheating. So he made the game more difficult for Chihaya (and himself). That's a good thing because making it harder on Chihaya actually helps improve both Taichi and Chihaya in the end.

I bolded those words because I think they're very important. Both Kanade and Taichi have shown Chihaya something about karuta that she didn't understand. Last week, Kanade showed her how to look at the cards as individual pictures. Each card became unique onto itself whereas before they had no meaning to Chihaya. This week, Taichi showed Chihaya to look at the playing field, the "board", as a whole. From now on, I expect Chihaya to pay more attention to the cards' locations and evolve some strategies for when to move cards and to know better how to track the cards longer into the game. I'd say that Chihaya losing to Taichi in this manner will ultimately be a good thing for her future game play. Better she learn this lesson while in practice rather than at a tournament.

[Utsuro no Hako]

Originally Posted by Sides

Hope that the fifth/next member will be another girl ^^
Episode was okay. Basically showed that Taichi has a good memory, and can beat Chihaya under certain circumstances in karuta. As for the new recruit, he does not seem as interesting as Kana, no that is wrong. His introduction wasn't as interesting as Kana's.

Kanade's a hard act to follow, but I like the dynamic they're setting up between Taichi and Tsutomi.

But I wonder if any of Tsutomi's classmates were still around to see him get dragged off by Chihaya and what sort of rumors that's going to create.

[Triple_R]

I didn't like Episode 7 quite as much as Episode 6, but it was still a very enjoyable episode overall that was quite consistent with what came before it. Chihayafuru continues to be very tight and solid, and that's rewarding to see this far into it, as anime shows can sometimes sputter a bit after having a strong start by falling into a few weak middle episodes. Chihayafuru, however, is admirably avoiding that so far.

I do think this was a particularly good episode for Taichi. A good character development episode for him, that did a nice job of displaying how he himself is gradually becoming more emotionally invested in Chihaya's karuta club, and is starting to take some personal ownership of it.

Tsutomu is Ok and had a decent-enough introduction, but it was weaker than Kanade's I felt, and that was the main reason I preferred last week's episode a little bit.


I do find it interesting how this anime now has a second protagonist in the "bullied/ostracized kid" category (third if you count Kanade, although that's perhaps too mild to count for bullying). To use this sort of plot device once is no big deal, but to use it twice suggests to me that there's something more at play here than simply trying to give characters distinctive backgrounds.

A couple ideas:

1. The mangaka, Yuki Suetsugu, was herself a victim of bullying, or at least saw a lot of it during her days in school. If so, then this is at least a case of a mangaka following the good old adage of "writing what you know".

2. Suetsugu is trying to convey some sort of practical thematic point by coming back to the "bullied kid" characterization. Thundrakkon put forward some good ideas here, I think.

With this episode, I'm starting to wonder if bullying is more common in Japanese high schools than what I had previously suspected (mainly since I don't recall seeing it as commonly in high school-based anime as I see in high school-based North American tv shows). If anybody is "in the know" here, please feel free to share your knowledge on this topic.


Going back to Taichi for a second, I think his decision to move the card was not mean-spirited, but I do think he was aiming for a dominating victory and was aware that this would help his cause there. I didn't see that as particularly unkind, though. Taichi wants to be the toughest opponent that he can be for Chihaya so that he doesn't feel like he's inferior to Arata as a potential training partner for her (the anime briefly delved into Taichi's understandable insecurities here earlier on in the episode). Plus, the guy is human, and so I can't fault him for desiring the sweet, sweet taste of decisive victory.

Particularly against someone who, frankly, has been pwning his ass pretty badly. I think most hot-blooded males in his shoes would want to not only win, but win huge, against somebody that had been beating him as badly as what Chihaya had been beating Taichi. At a certain level, maybe it's good for Chihaya to be made to feel the way Taichi has been feeling, as she certainly hasn't been taking it easy on him, lol.


Anyway, 8/10 for Episode 7. I'm looking forward to seeing this karuta club finally round out into shape soon.

[Proto]

Hmm... dunno, but Tsutomi and Kana were used as catalysts for Taichi and Chihaya to further develop, so of course their dynamics and character presentations would be different, but Kana did feel like a more complete character. That said, we did get a nice psychological confrontation in exchange for character development, so it's not like we were cheated or anything like that.

[Sol Falling]

I liked this episode. Content was strong. Actually, while Kanade might serve as our (the audience's) key into the traditional merits of Karuta, I would say that Tsutomu in this episode was even more relatable.

We know that Taichi pretty much got dragged into taking Karuta seriously by Chihaya and Arata. But Tsutomu here is a stranger by any angle. Despite being factually wrong when he loudly assumed there were no professionals in Karuta, truthfully the question he asked, "What merit does Karuta have for me?", still stands in general. A person would not really pick up the game just for supposedly "improving" their memory.

The theme of this episode is self-actualization. What draws Tsutomu to the club this time is not the game itself, but the people who will challenge him to strive towards it. The heart which comes to drive both Tsutomu and Taichi, as self-aware "losers", in contrast to Chihaya and Arata, is desire rather than passion. If, through Karuta, Chihaya's story will be to discover herself, then Tsutomu and Taichi's story will be to be reborn in it.

Regarding character backgrounds, although I'd agree with "ostracized", I would not really categorize Tsutomu's circumstances as "bullying". Socially, out of the rest of the cast, the character I would say Tsutomu was most similar to would be, indeed after all, Kanade, as people who lacked modes of self-expression whereby they could be able to communicate their values to others.

Heh. Between each of the "main characters" introduced thus far (though, again, Chihaya/Taichi/Arata's physical beauty reflects their status as the "main" main characters), there are already many points of comparison and contrast.

Anyway, one character aspect I liked which this episode highlighted is that intelligent people often tend to naturally be very self-limiting. Because they are so focused on the world around them, paradoxically they have a strong tendency to fixate on what they can't do rather than what they actually can. Both Tsutomu and Taichi are like this. In fact, the capacity to avoid failure can engender an overpowering fear of ever experiencing it. One of the things I will look forward to in this series is how throwing themselves into the real life realm of triumph and loss will turn them into genuine human beings.