You are here alone again
In your sweet insanity
All too calm, you hide yourself from reality
Do you call it solitude? Do you call it liberty?
When all the world turns away to leave you lonely
This show certainly knows how to surprise me. When Chihaya was starting to have problems, I thought not fricking again. But then it went all the way till losing consciousness and it was clear it wasn't a repeat of the previous matches at all. Though I suppose removing Chihaya from these highlight matches is dramatically somewhat similar to removing Arata from the circles for so long. Perhaps it was said earlier just for how long Arata hadn't been playing, but I only caught that detail in this episode: It's merely a year. That's good. With his background and natural talent, he should be able to catch up very soon without looking unrealistic.
I'm happy this show is 25 eps and not the all too usual single season of these days.
I was definitely disappointed that they went all the way to making her collapse. Such a terrible cliché in these kinds of series. At least it was only temporary...and not like she caught the infamous Japanese Fever!
The scene at the temple definitely reminded me of the end of Bamboo Blade (a series with a similar feel). The girl is undoubtedly a rival for Chihaya.
But the real meat of the episode was Arata's flashback. We were led to believe it was simply the stroke that did his grandfather in, but it was much, much, much worse than that. It was dementia. If you've ever known someone who had it...you would not wish that experience on your worst enemy, especially for someone as close to that relative as Arata was to his grandfather. That's why it hit Arata so hard. His grandfather appeared to resurface,urgedadmonished him into going to the tournament, and when he came back, he had "abandoned" his grandfather over getting a mere rank. I can only imagine how devastating that must have been to Arata.
But there were certainly bright spots of humor to this episode. The Empress remarking that Chihaya is the image of beauty only because she is quiet and still, and Kana's mother (amusingly played by Hisakawa Aya)...hunting for young men. "Check, Check!"
This show is absolutely awesome. As long as Chihaya ends up with Arata, I can rate this as a masterpiece.
Peace.
I lolled when Arata lost his way with a map. wtf happened to his newspaper-boy memory/direction?
I was very emotionally detached this episode, though it may have been from my irl physical comfort issues..
If it's not Isuzu-chan Mii~
Episode 14 - HS
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I was thinking, while watching Chihaya's match against the Queen, that robotics in Japan really are advanced for them to build such a karuta android. Stealing the card from below Chihaya's hand was definitely too much. Sure, they needed to create a really tough opponent who might not even be giving her best at this point, but this is pushing it. I suppose it was more dramatic this way, even if more unrealistic as well.
Well, it was an interesting episode nonetheless.
Indeed. They were starting to lose me when, despite Chihaya having faster reflexes, the Queen was repeatedly able to slap them out from under her. I could accept if she was unbeatable because she had the combination of a good layout, quick hearing, fast reflexes, and good speed, but the fact that her edge is super-human speed and accuracy that lets her strike a corner of a card with enough force to expel it was a bit much. If they wanted to make her that fast, they should have given her better physical reaction speed than Chihaya's aural/cognitive reaction speed. Just make the difference between them Offensive and Defensive karuta.
But they won me back when the Queen and Chihaya got distracted admiring each other's childish t-shirts. From there on, it was a lot better. We got to see a few quirks in the Queen, Chihaya mocking the sadist guy right in front of him, and Chihaya's insane focus and realization that she had been in this situation before made up for the unbelievable feats of the first half.
Now the Queen is all fired up for once, and finally spotted her rival. Karuta must be no fun when a player of her level feels like she's always playing by herself. Arata found a lot more joy in life once he found people to play with outside a tournament. The Queen is likely the same. I wonder if she'll start stalking Chihaya so she has someone to play against.
The Queen is fast. Her hand is like lightning, enough to blur slow motion. Chihaya has better hearing, but her hand speed is behind the Queen. That was all there is to that match.
Peace.
I think Chihaya has better hearing for some cards, but not all. From the first 2 or 3 cards of the match you could see the Queen moving and hitting the cards before Chihaya could even move. Chihaya's hearing is better only at some of the cards.
edit: I guess one could argue that this is a sign of "better" hearing, if you say that only the very best can hear the G- cards faster while the other cards are capped at "very good" hearing levels.
Horrible-Subs had a boo-boo at 8mins: "Can't see her move" vs "Can't hear her move"
If it's not Isuzu-chan Mii~
Chihaya is a slow starter, as mentioned in the show itself. Her true ability only shows up later in the game, like any shounen heroineOriginally Posted by Buffalobiian
Peace.
Forgot to mention, was I the only one who imagined them swapping shirts after the match? xD
If it's not Isuzu-chan Mii~
No. I am hoping they do so as well.
Episode 15 - HS
- - - - - - - -
Very strong going, as always. Nobody's surprised Chihaya lost the fight, but Taichi losing was more significant in some ways. He's always burdened by the fact the only way through to Chihaya seems to be karuta, yet he's behind her and also behind the legend of Arata (since nobody knows his current state). He's facing double the pressure in his own progress, not only fighting for a regular standing in the game like everybody else but also against that legend to gain recognition from Chihaya - or so he thinks.
Damn, I want to see Arata playing again. So much hangs on how they pull that off. This story is good enough that I won't be expecting it to be ruined if Arata doesn't immediately kick ass, but it will make me very sad indeed if Chihaya beats him immediately. That could realistically happen, but it feels like something would be lost in the bigger story. No idea what even Chihaya herself would think about it. I don't think she would be altogether satisfied, unless she first saw Arata beat lots of other tough people, at the very least. But who knows. Somehow they need to mix this Queen in as well.
I did enjoy that even though the sadist took more cards than Chihaya did, no one upset the Queen nearly as much. She was cool and collected against the sadist, back to making pleasant yet snide remarks. I'm not sure exactly what it is that made her so upset then. Was it that she had "broken" Chihaya before Chihaya turned herself around and took and card and immediately converted the next? I would almost think that, but Shinobu was disappointed when she thought she had broken Chihaya's will. Perhaps she wasn't threatened by the sadist because there isn't any way he can take her title.
Her getting embarrassed about Chihaya recognizing the snowman was odd...perhaps she's fallen in love?
Concerning Taichi, it is interesting that he realized that his brain isn't falling behind, but his physical abilities aren't up to par. Chihaya did track through middle school for training her karuta skills, endurance and reflexes. Taichi did soccer if I recall correctly, so he shouldn't be that far behind her. The overwhelming stream of knowledge that spews out of Taichi's head disturbs me a little. I could barely follow it. His intellectual karuta really is something else. I wonder how his thought process compares to Arata's or the Queen's.
Chihaya is a girl. It makes sense that Shinobu has a much greater sense of rivalry towards Chihaya than her male opponents.
Peace.
Besides the title/rivalry issue, I see it that the Queen felt pressure from Chihaya. She's composed against Sado because even though he's good enough (or lucky enough perhaps to the queen) to take some cards from her, he's not in her league. Chihaya is unstable as hell, but her peak/potential is enough to shock even the Queen.
It's the difference between taking losses in a battle and actually having your ass kicked for 60 seconds.
If it's not Isuzu-chan Mii~
Chitose-furu.
[HorribleSubs] Chihayafuru - 16 (720p)
----------------
While this was a recap episode, it was one of the better recap episodes I've seen in a while. Around the reused footage, this episode was interspersed with jokes and the kind of 4-komas you see in the back of manga volumes to fill in the extra pages.
Just skim the episode, and don't forget to catch the stuff after the ED as well. It was rather entertaining despite being a recap.
Last edited by Ryllharu; Tue, 01-24-2012 at 07:44 PM.
Chihaya's taller than Kana. No way she wears small while Kana wears large, boobs or no boobs.
If it's not Isuzu-chan Mii~
It had some good bits, but otherwise it was a confusing episode with all the recap scenes mixed together with the new ones.
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