Chihayafuru 2 - 21

"But Its Legacy Continues to Spread"

Two weeks later, still intense.

As behind as I am, I suppose a double post is the smartest way to go about catching up, but after watching this episode it was necessary to slow down and really appreciate it. It's not quite as tense an experience as that of the team competition, but it nevertheless succeeded in making me cry and making really feel the emotional pain. More on that in a bit, but first, let's talk about Chihaya. Seeing as the series is named after her, it's not surprising when she gets a little boon in her favor; as cool as it is to watch her master her left hand and win another match, it's really tough to take that victory seriously. Learning to play backward is hardly something you figure out in the span of less than a day in any sport; it would be as silly as if I tried to shoot a left handed bow in a competition when I normally shoot right; it's just not as easy as it would seem.

It is true that she doesn't get it right away; her placement suffers a bit at the start, for one thing, but just switching her cards shouldn't have given her the advantage that it did. Practice is the only thing that could have really gotten her to figure out how to use her left hand, but I digress. A sports anime is a sports anime, and we're hardly going to get entirely realistic results. That being said, what I find most interesting about this episode is actually Nishida. As a side character, he doesn't get much development, and of the Misuzawa kids I think he's the one less placed in the spotlight. Nevertheless, Nishida really hit a chord with me here, one that, in contrast to Chihaya's miracle win, feels very real indeed. We all knew that Arata and Nishida have had a touchy relationship because of their rivalry in elementary school, but the loser, as always, is the one most affected.

As someone who's tasted the nasty defeat of being second best, I can tell you that Nishida's pride is very much justified. Having lost to Arata so many years ago wouldn't have dulled the sting, and it's even more painful when he realizes just how much that defeat affected his present-day style of Karuta. As he asks himself, "when did karuta stop being fun?", he's simultaneously beating himself up for having let that loss destroy his love for the game. All that time he spent bemoaning his own failures was time he wasted, and it's not something he can take back. As a result, his loss to Arata once again is only that much more cruel, and only that much more insulting. However, he may not be the only one up for a crushing loss, as Chihaya is once again pitted against Shinobu-chan. With an injured hand, there's only so much hope that she'll be able to do anything against her.