Description: After her sister ranked well in a beauty pagent, 6th-year grade-schooler Ayase Chihaya dreams of seeing her sister become a top model in Japan. However, while she befriends transfer student Wataya Arata, he admonishes her to seek her own dream. Thus, she takes up karuta, Arata's favorite game, competitively. Together with Arata and Mashima Taichi, Chihaya's childhood friend, they have great fun playing each other, but separate before junior high. 4 years later, Chihaya returns to town. She believes that they will eventually reunite as long as she continues to play karuta and she strives to establish the Zuisawa High-school Karuta Club.

Genres: Josei, Romance?, Children's (Traditional) Card Games

Links: AniDB, ANN, Official Page

HorribleSubs: 720p

Notes: Other subbers provide CR translation critiques and additional karuta rules.


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

So I really liked this first episode. Others have been throwing out that it gives off, "Hanasaku Iroha vibes," which fits. Chihaya is a very non-conventional heroine. She doesn't care how she appears to others, has very strong opinions and lets them be known. While she is pretty, she usually destroys her own air of femininity by doing anything or opening her mouth.

Okay, so she is a typical shoujo/josei anime heroine.

She's very easy to like. She's definitely a tomboy in the past, and it's clear she stayed that way despite her current appearance. During the high school segment, you can see that while she listens to others and authority, she does what she feels is best anyway. During the elementary segment, while she's got a lot of friends and is very proud of her sister, she's quick to defend the teased and avoided transfer student before she even tries to actually befriend him. She exactly the type to get knocked down, but get right back up and keep going. She closely values her friends, but it's clear that she's got a fiercely competitive streak and won't stand for cheap shots, and she won't just go with the flow.

It's a bit too early to get a feel for her childhood friend, and Arata has so far only made an appearance in the elementary school segment, so it's a little early to judge him as well.

The cast is strong, a mix of veterans and those who have only a few major roles. Chihaya's fits her personality perfectly.

Animation is both detailed and fluid, and it is able to convey a decent amount of intensity during the karuta game, without having to go over the top or into the land of unreality.