Chihayafuru 2 - 13

"In My Dreams, I Creep Closer to You"

It's so nice to be back on familiar territory after this week of premieres. It makes me appreciate just how much I love knowing and being attached to my characters.

There are some days, like today, where I seriously wish I could play Karuta. Passion about sports and hobbies is something I'm pretty familiar with, but there aren't many depictions that can capture that wonderful feeling about doing something you love as well as Chihayafuru does. In fact, I'm realizing now that this is exactly why I couldn't stand Megumu last week; she has no passion. She doesn't particularly care to become Queen, nor does it really seem like she likes Karuta all that much. In comparison to Chihaya, who has worked her entire youth for the dream of attaining the Queen title, she just isn't very easy to sympathize with during a match. Or at least, that was the case until this week.

While Megumu doesn't really seem to care for becoming Queen, she does have a reason to do her best, and that reason is her team. The dream may not be the same, but the fact that she's carrying the weight of their expectations and dedication is both a good and bad thing for her psyche. On the one hand, she's being coerced to do something that she doesn't want due to her natural talent, but on the other, she has enough pride that she doesn't want to let her teammates down regardless. And that pride in herself and in her team is as valuable a weapon as it is a weakness. In short, they believe in her ability, and in order not to let their hard work go to waste towards someone like Chihaya, she's now more passionate about winning than she ever was with the lofty goal of becoming the Queen.

On the Mizusawa side, things seem to be at a stalemate. Both teams are doing their best and it seems most of the matches are close enough that the victor is still up in the air. Kana, Taichi, and Nishima are all trying to win their matches in case Chihaya loses, and Komano has actually managed to find use for Sumire's ridiculous information. Perhaps that's a spark for something between them, but it's at least clear that Sumire is coming to admire Komano in a way that none of the other team members have so far. As to Chihaya, she just continues to prove that she's not the naive freshman she used to be anymore. Her ability to take advice and integrate the lessons she previously tossed aside really do make her different from someone like Megumu or her own younger self, and that just makes me want to see her come out of this victorious all the more.