Chihayafuru

[Buffalobiian]

Wow, I would have been sooo mad if Taichi had lost the match because of Chihaya´s idiocy ruining his mental balance. Not that this would have been Taichi´s fault, too, but seriously ... ugh.
Though I´m still pissed that his play style and attitude changed because of that. When he was like "What am I even doing here?", he reminded me of Suo. Would have been nice if Taichi turned into another delinquent Karuta player.

edit: at first, "compare her to Chihaya" seemed to me it'd do more harm than good, given she's his biggest distraction

I would have been super-pissed as well if Taichi lost because Chihaya came into the room, but at the same time I can't blame her because she's not the sole reason - Taichi lost all those other B-tournaments in the past that he snuck off to as well. When he said that he tensed up because he was treating the opponent like Suo, I immediately thought the solution was to treat himself like Suo (along the lines of you hoping he'd be like him too, I think). Thinking back now, that's a pretty absurd thought. Their strengths are completely different.

Arata vs Shinobu.. I'm thinking it'll turn out like the B-tourament. Arata won't be able to beat Shinobu head-on against the one-syllable cards. His "cross" method is obviously legal now, but I wonder what stops people from keeping their hand over the field? Does the reader have to start saying the actual poem before they're allowed to move their hands from the mat? If so, Arata can't match Shinobu on the 1st-syllable cards (just like Taichi), but he'll move as soon as she speaks anyway, so that when the syllables are read his hand's already on the field to take them all (whereas Taichi has to use his memory and positioning instead).

edit: watched that part again. Arata can wipe the floor with her. He actually matches her speed.

How Taichi is supposed to beat Arata when Arata's a monster, I don't know.. but I'm glad they threw in that he's ready to take down talent. It makes me hopeful.

edit2: what finished this episode was that Taichi and Chihaya ended up looking after each other's interests more than their own.

/waves-Taichi/Chihaya-shipping-banner.