(L+CR) Chihayafuru Season 2

[Guardian Enzo]

It seems very likely that Chihaya is out of the individual tournament - that wrist pain probably means ligament strain or worse. It does set up a potentially interesting drama for the individual tournament though. If Taichi were in the Class B final and Arata was playing Shinobu in the Class A final, which match would Chihaya watch?

[thundrakkon]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

If Taichi were in the Class B final and Arata was playing Shinobu in the Class A final, which match would Chihaya watch?

Its likely answer is pretty obvious, but discussing it might create a flame war. Let's leave it at that.

Did Chihaya notice Shinobu? It does not seem like it, but that one scene made it confusing.

Still, Shinobu will be really upset if Chihaya does not play in the individual tournament. She might even hate team play even more because of it.

[Guardian Enzo]

So much for the whole support your teammates idea, huh? I'm not sure it's quite that simple. Of course, if she were in surgery at the time it'd be a moot point.

[Quadratic]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

So much for the whole support your teammates idea, huh? I'm not sure it's quite that simple. Of course, if she were in surgery at the time it'd be a moot point.

An interesting scenario, but the idea of picking sides isn't something this show has been about, eg. Nishida during the Chihaya vs Yummin.
Heck, even Chihaya, in her mind, encourages her opponents to do better.

Disregarding the shipping aspect, I'd say it would be more likely for Chihaya to watch Arata because:
a) she wants to see how she compares against Arata
b) how far Arata has improved/changed since the last time they saw each other.

But this is based on the first thought. If Taichi starts pulling tricks out of his hat that surprises Chihaya, then Chihaya might swap over to watch his match.


Anyway, regarding this episode:
As much as I acknowledge the supernatural aspect of this show, the "did Arata bring Shinobu here?" was a little too cheesy for me to swallow.

Shinobu-chan...We don't belong to teams, so we can only focus on making ourselves stronger.

This is one of the saddest things I've heard from Arata, especially considering the childhood flashback with how he wanted to team with Taichi and Chihaya.

Also, I shake my head at Tsukuba...That guy is all talk. I have a feeling we're not going to see any real improvement on him until season 3.

Long wait is long.

[frodonk]

I'm fine with chihaya not playing in the individual tournament, just as long as they can guarantee a shinobu/arata match.

[Blaat]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

It seems very likely that Chihaya is out of the individual tournament - that wrist pain probably means ligament strain or worse. It does set up a potentially interesting drama for the individual tournament though. If Taichi were in the Class B final and Arata was playing Shinobu in the Class A final, which match would Chihaya watch?

Oh Enzo you asked the wrong question you should have asked "which match would Nishida watch?" Or maybe even "If Desktomu were in Class C final and Arata was playing Shinobu in the Class A final, which match would Taichi watch?" Something tells me that in either cases we would have gotten completely different answers than the ones we're seeing now.

[GoldenLand]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

If Taichi were in the Class B final and Arata was playing Shinobu in the Class A final, which match would Chihaya watch?

All else being equal, I'm pretty sure she'd pick Arata and Shinobu. I doubt there'd be any contest. Chihaya wants to defeat Shinobu someday, and she also rarely gets to see Arata play. I think she'd want to watch the match to learn from it. Whereas I don't think she'd feel that way about one of Taichi's matches, especially since she plays with him all the time. Although you never know, maybe one day Taichi will be stunning.

[hai_san]

I am also in favor of Chihaya seeing Arata play. Why? Because the last time she saw him playing was years ago when they were in elementary school. Can't see why she would choose to watch Taichi, especially if Arata plays the final with Shinobu. But well we dont know perhaps the author will surprise us with others reason, like teammates > friends, or Chihaya can't watch at all if she is in the hospital because of her hands etc.

[Kirarakim]

Will we even be getting to the individual tournament this season? We are not even done the team match yet.

I hope but I am getting a bit nervous.

[Guardian Enzo]

7 eps left, 8 cards left in the team final. I don't see how they can possibly stretch it out for more than two eps, max - that would leave them 5 for the individual final. What else are they going to do with 5 episodes in Omi Jingu? I suppose "Arata, Chihaya and Taichi finally meet" could take 5 eps the way this season has been paced, but it seems like a stretch.

[Kirarakim]

It just seems strange that we will be spending more time on the team matches than the individual matches.

Will the individual matches be that quick? Then again I suppose they can just focus on the B and A-Class finals and that could help limit the time.

That would be a shame if we didn't get to see much of the other players though.

And even though this season has mostly been karuta games, I assume there would be a wrapping up episode at the end (although that could also be done in 1/2 an episode).

[Guardian Enzo]

If there's any time spent on wrap-up I'd expect it to be very brief. It just doesn't seem like the non-Karuta side of the story is a priority this season whatsoever.

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

7 eps left, 8 cards left in the team final. I don't see how they can possibly stretch it out for more than two eps, max

Pretend to be constipated for several episodes and trash talking about how they were only using 10% of their power? Using their last two transformations?

...

Running from one end of the field to the other for three episodes?

Originally Posted by GoldenLand

All else being equal, I'm pretty sure she'd pick Arata and Shinobu. I doubt there'd be any contest. Chihaya wants to defeat Shinobu someday, and she also rarely gets to see Arata play. I think she'd want to watch the match to learn from it. Whereas I don't think she'd feel that way about one of Taichi's matches, especially since she plays with him all the time. Although you never know, maybe one day Taichi will be stunning.

It wouldn't be about "which match would be most interesting", it would be about "team loyalty vs personal ambition". And, they've said it several times this season, Chihaya's greedy. She wants it all.

[Kazu-kun]

Originally Posted by Blaat

Oh Enzo you asked the wrong question you should have asked.

I wouldn't be so sure he asked the wrong question. There was a time in the past when Chihaya left Taichi alone when he might have needed a friend to go watch Arata play, and eventually she did realize it was the wrong thing to do. I could see the same situation coming back now, to show the audience whether Chihaya has improved as a person as much as she has as a karuta player.

[SeijiSensei]

Shinobu's, and Arata's, social isolation reminds me quite a lot of other game-playing chlldren like Hikaru, Akira, and Shion. They all had to give up normal social lives as children to dedicate themselves to their games because they focused on individual achievement. While Hikaru no Go shows a couple of team tournaments, they are hardly the focus of the show once Hikaru begins to pursue his career in earnest. All of these kids have few if any friends outside their game of choice. What sets Chihayafuru apart from these other shows is its emphasis on collective achievement and team play. While Chihaya has a personal agenda, she also finds playing on a team has its own rewards.

I've wondered about how this conflict ties into Japanese culture more generally. Usually we hear about the collectivist nature of Japanese culture, which seems to fit with the emphasis on team play. Is there another aspect of the culture with which I'm less familiar that rewards individual achievement like becoming Meijin or Queen? I don't see that Shinobu reaps many rewards from her position other than being recognized at karuta matches. Are there financial rewards to her success? Are the current crop of top karuta, Go, or Shougi players, admired by ordinary Japanese or discussed in their media?

[Guardian Enzo]

The biggest difference between Go and Karuta in this context is that Go professionals are in fact Go professionals for a living if they're good enough (Akira's Dad didn't get that fancy house because of his personality), whereas AFAIK there's no official way for Karuta players to make money at it no matter how good they are. In fact, in HnG even Hikaru was shown earning some money at Go once he passed the Pro exam.

[TinyRedLeaf]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

It wouldn't be about "which match would be most interesting", it would be about "team loyalty vs personal ambition". And, they've said it several times this season, Chihaya's greedy. She wants it all.

Indeed.

I'd expect Chihaya would choose to watch Arata and Shinobu play. They're the top two players she desperately wants to emulate, so it's only natural for her to observe them and learn ways to improve her game.

I'd also expect to be very disappointed in her for choosing to do so. Personal ambitions aside, she is the club president. She does have a duty to her teammates and the least she could do is to be there to provide everyone moral support.

That said, it is the individual tournament we're talking about. It's every man and woman for himself and herself. Taichi will just have to soldier on, whether or not he gets any love. The poor guy never catches a break.

[SeijiSensei]

If there is no professional karuta structure, that solves a puzzle in this show that has bothered me from the beginning, namely why are the two top players, Shinobu and Suo, so young? Akira's dad probably became Meijin in his forties or fifties given his age in the story and how long he had been at the top of his game. The top Shougi players in Shion no Ou are adults as well. The Meijin is in his twenties I believe, and Shion's foster father is at least forty and perhaps a decade older.

Yamamoto Yumi ("Yumin"), the Queen before Shinobu, is 24 according to this wiki. We don't learn much about her history except to know that she is not married. In particular nothing is said about whether her position atop the karuta ranks provided her with a source of income that she lost when Shinobu beat her. If she has a job, I don't see any mention of it via a Google search.

Given that Go and Shougi have managed to create professional systems, I can only assume that the lack of one for karuta reflects its (pre-Chihayafuru) obscurity.

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

Personal ambitions aside, she is the club president.

No, she's not. Taichi is. The club advisor specifically excluded Chihaya from consideration as club president back in the first season, and Taichi continues to be referred to as "Prez" in current episodes. Everyone, Chihaya included, is happy with this arrangement. Being President required Taichi to speak at the recruitment event, where he became the target of Sumire.

[Kirarakim]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

In particular nothing is said about whether her position atop the karuta ranks provided her with a source of income that she lost when Shinobu beat her.

It wouldn't provide her with a source of income because Karuta isn't really a career. It's more a hobby.

I am not even sure if you win any money from winning tournaments but someone can correct me on that.

edit: And trying to do a quick google search on this shows me that there is a race horse out there named Karuta Queen.

[SeijiSensei]

Originally Posted by Kirarakim

edit: And trying to do a quick google search on this shows me that there is a race horse out there named Karuta Queen.

There are a lot of "Yumi Yamamotos" as well! LinkedIn alone reports 24 of them. Maybe the former Queen is the one who spends her days as a clerk at the City Hall of Nishio.