2013-05-31, 16:26 | Link #1161 |
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Age: 62
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Quickie thoughts: I forgot that Nishida & Arata have a history. Arata's parents were hilarious. I don't blame them though. Did the empress say that Taichi won his first match? I assume that he did given how generally happy she seemed, but I don't remember her mentioning him in her status check. My stream was plagued by connection problems so I'm definitely going to give the episode another try later on.
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2013-05-31, 16:28 | Link #1162 |
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Join Date: Feb 2013
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Much like last episode, there's a lot going on in episode 21. The difference is that there isn't a giant 5 minute recap in the middle to ruin it.
Chihaya adjusts rather quickly to playing left handed and in the span of this episode, barely takes down Man-girl and beat another A-class easily enough. I'd call bullshit on this but I suppose that's the advantage of being a karuta freak. Either way, her effort landed her in a rematch vs. Shinobu. The final scene in the episode was touching, as she at shows that she understands her boundaries and knows when to give up something, namely, the chance to play against Arata at her best. She's probably going to have a lot of difficulty, so it'll be interesting to see if she presses on with her right hand, switch completely into her left hand, or try a weird ambidextrous deal. To keep with the theme of "Will I reach him?" however, I suspect that she'll lose and won't get her chance until her third year. All of Mizusawa non-A class takes a break this week (I don't think Taichi was even mentioned though I'm guessing he won his first round) which gives Porky some more development. He's still the only player who seems to be slowing down but now we realize that in many ways, he's a little bit like Amakusa, but much less laid back. Not wanting to play against strong players sounds really opposite of what I imagined him being before but I'm guessing its because much like Chihaya, he plays to play his heart out and likes winning, nothing more. Arata's pretty much went 11 out of 10 on the "Karuta-God" scale, winning his first match before 25 cards were read, and having enough speed to sweep an entire field in less than a second, much to the dismay of his parents. (No, really, these parents are hilarious. I wouldn't mind giving them half an episode, unlike the camera otaku....) It's sad how Arata (and Man-girl) can set off Chihaya's heart in less than a tenth of an episode yet Taichi's been trying to do the exact same thing for almost 50 episodes and still ends up getting passed. I hate to say it Taichi, but I think you may have lost. Last edited by YourIdeas; 2013-05-31 at 19:17. |
2013-05-31, 18:16 | Link #1168 |
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Join Date: Aug 2007
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Arata's parents are awful
Nishida loves his team *tears up* I don't expect Chihaya to beat Shinobu, so I expect we will be in for an Arata/Shinobu A-Class final. Well that should be fun to watch. I just wonder how long the Shinobu vs Chihaya match will last.
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Last edited by Kirarakim; 2013-05-31 at 18:46. |
2013-05-31, 19:25 | Link #1170 |
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Join Date: May 2004
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I also didn't like Chihaya winning with her left hand. Not much believable. And I also don't like the idea of a Chihaya / Shinobu match with that handicap. I'd prefer a fair match. It would be more intense. Without unnecessary step-up moments. And a clear result.
Anyways I can see Chihaya reaching the new frontier of Karuta, the first both-hands player. Even metaphorically speaking, the right hand to reach Arata and the left hand to wait for be reached by Taichi. Taichi hasn't been mentioned in Empress's list, hasn't he? Probably to leave us with the doubt. Since basically refusing Arata he badmouthed Karuta, so cards could turn against him as punishment. Plus he used all his lucky credits to win the team tournament.
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2013-05-31, 20:13 | Link #1171 |
Ha ha ha ha ha...
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Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Right behind you.
Age: 35
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Well... I have a feeling Chihaya is going to put up a decent challenge, but no way she's going to be able to beat Shinobu with a handicap like a sprained finger. There's just no way.
I definitely am looking forward to the end of the season, though. I'm fully expecting an awesome Shinobu vs. Arata matchup for that last couple of episodes. And I *almost* got sucked into the Chihaya x Arata ship there. Personally, I just like Taichi better as a character because he's surprisingly complex, whereas Arata is pretty much straightforward. Not to say I don't like Arata... he's got a lot of room to grow on me (and as a character). If Taichi just got the courage to tell Chihaya how he feels about her, it would change their dynamic radically. I don't dare make any predictions either way, so I just have to say, "we have to wait and see".
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2013-05-31, 23:46 | Link #1174 |
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Join Date: Oct 2007
Age: 35
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Very engaging episode. I thought the exploration of adapting to left-handed play and some of the advantages that might offer was incredible. A brilliant way of incorporating another technical aspect of karuta into the story, and done so skillfully/naturally.
Arata's multiple attacking style was also a revelation. If a player is fast enough, it may essentially turn multi-syllable cards into single-syllable cards. However, I am indeed somewhat confused as to the legality of it. From what I understand, touching incorrect cards on the same side as the indicated card is legal, meaning you can attack indiscriminately if you are confident that the card being read is on the targeted side. However, I definitely thought that touching cards on both your own and your opponent's side would be illegal/result in a fault, as Arata is shown doing in the gif on the last page. Is the result allowed to stand because Arata nevertheless manages to touch the correct card in his cases, or is this a mistake on the part of the mangaka or animators? Hopefully someone would be able to clarify the rules a bit here. I didn't nearly get enough of Shinobu during the team final match, so I'm looking forward to her and Chihaya's match together next time. Hopefully it'll last two episodes. I should enjoy it very much. |
2013-05-31, 23:56 | Link #1175 |
残念美人
Join Date: Oct 2004
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Chihaya is falling for that girl with headband. ^_^
Then, Arata walks to Chihaya. The fairy bubble scene also shows up. The individual match is fast forward. The former #2 loses to former #1 again. It is kinda sad. It reminds me Shinobu is not the only who has grudge to Arata. About the referee who scolds Chihaya, he should be there when the smart kids move cards during team match.
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Last edited by GundamZZ; 2013-06-01 at 13:56. |
2013-06-01, 01:40 | Link #1176 |
SIBYL salesman
Join Date: Feb 2011
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If I had to pick a drama between either a love triangle/"NTR"/jealousy or a big misunderstanding, I would pick the latter every single time, and the proof is how much more I enjoyed this episode over last week's.
Kinda funny (and sad) that his parents wishes for Arata to lose. Sad how circumstances keep pushing him towards isolation (financially, loss of grandfather, rejection of friendship). |
2013-06-01, 03:15 | Link #1177 |
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Join Date: Apr 2004
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Pretty much it also relies heavily on the ambiguity of Chihaya's Karuto idol affection for the lack of better term. It's a shame we'll most likely never going to see a Chihaya vs Suou match, it would be fun to see the shippers squirm at the "I'm dreaming of Suou" line.
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2013-06-01, 04:14 | Link #1178 | |||||
さっく♥ゆうきゃん♥ほそやん
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: in the land down under...
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Quote:
Quote:
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Refer back to episode 8 of season one, when Taichi is explaining and demonstrating the rules of karuta. As Sol notes: Quote:
Hence, when two cards that are similar up to a certain point, e.g. chigiriki & chigirio, are on the same player's half of the field (in which case the are usually split one to each side so that players can't easily sweep them both away), then they can both be taken via the cross-hand before the unique syllable is read. And if the chihayafuru card were again on that same half, then all three could be taken upon hearing just "chi". Quote:
@Kanon If you watch again carefully, you'll also note that Arata is being very precise. Most of the time, he only takes that one card from each place. Speed is never enough, as Harada-sensei has taught Chihaya. And from Arata's proficiency at this technique, it would appear that it is one of the techniques he has honed the most.
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Last edited by karice67; 2013-06-01 at 04:26. |
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2013-06-01, 04:23 | Link #1179 | |
I disagree with you all.
Join Date: Dec 2005
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2013-06-01, 04:31 | Link #1180 | |
さっく♥ゆうきゃん♥ほそやん
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: in the land down under...
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Quote:
I would think he'd still be penalised for it, so no idea why he did that. Unless it's the animators that made a mistake... In the manga, that card layout was used for the time when Nishida said: "He went from his own lower right to his upper left.", and he definitely did not take cards from opposing sides there.
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Tags |
cards, josei, karuta, sports |
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