Chihayafuru 2 - 24 & 25 [End]

"When I Must Hide" and "On Mt. Fuji’s Lofty Peak, by the Drift of Falling Snow"

That was emotionally uncalled for.

Episode 24

I'm constantly on the edge with Chihayafuru this season, and the second to last episode isn't an exception. After the euphoria of Taichi's win last time, it's almost difficult to put that aside for Arata and Shinobu's intense match. It seems almost cruel that right after all that hard work, after finally achieving his long awaited goal, Taichi has to hand over the stage to Arata so soon. Or perhaps I'm thinking of this from Chihaya's perspective; as much as she may be happy to see Taichi advance to her level (and become a true rival in the process), Arata is still the Karuta God to her mind, and thus any feelings she may feel about Taichi's hard-earned win are quickly forgotten. I suppose there's a level of shipping in my conscious feelings about the whole thing, but it's not as if characters like Hanano and Kanade are completely oblivious to such things either, so I don't feel all that guilty about it.

In any case, for the first time in a long time we really get to watch Arata at the center of things. He is as talented as we remember him being (and even more so told), but this is effectively the first time we've really seen him play someone with such fervor since his comeback. This is Arata playing karuta as I've never seen him described before; calm, controlled, but every bit as sadistic as certain other players we've seen. His game against Chihaya when they were young makes all the more sense now; Arata simply has no mercy, nor does he play with the intent of playing with his food as others might. He simply plays to win, and to win in the most brutally upsetting way, complete with utter politeness and charm.

I'm not surprised to see him come on top in this match, though I am quite interested in Shinobu's actions. Never before have we seen the Queen lose to anyone, and watching her lose to Arata is quite a little trip into her less controlled psychology. She's still attached to the cards as if they were sentient beings, and thus it makes sense that she loses her cool as the match progresses and Arata continues to dominate. It's a scary thing, watching the two almost god-like players go at it, and I think it really does a lot to Chihaya's self esteem and determination seeing them at it, though I have a feeling both she and Shinobu are far more personally swayed by Arata's performance than they're ready to admit.

Episode 25

Oh no, they can't do this to me.

I've heard estimates from other bloggers, fans, and manga readers that there are not enough manga chapters to fuel another season of Chihayafuru for a long time to come. There is, however, an OVA coming out later this year that will undoubtedly have some semblance of closure for this arc, and though that's a bit of a relief to hear, I can't help but feel despair at the thought of having to wait so long for more of this wonderful series. Even more painful is the fact that we leave off on such a dramatic cliffhanger in terms of character development, something we've been starved of lately in exchange for the high tension of the karuta matches themselves.

Whatever side of the series you prefer, the fact is that these are some pretty high-stakes revelations for a finale. Not only is Chihaya's injury far worse than first thought (one of those rare conditions no one has ever even heard of, to be exact), but it directly affects her ability to play by putting her through surgery (that is just great Ayase-kaa-san and Nee-san; leave your youngest family member all alone in the hospital before surgery and after) and all the associated complications. What really charges all of this, however, is Chihaya's own assertion that she loves Karuta because she loves (the term was "suki", so it's not necessarily romantic love she's alluding to, though it is a revelation nonetheless for someone as ditzy as she is) Arata, knocking Taichi down another rung despite his already overshadowed accomplishment into A-class.

It's only fitting then that Kana-chan sees what Chihaya and Taichi are unable or unwilling to, and when she stumbles across Chihaya's unusually thoughtful poems, she realizes immediately that it's Arata lingering on Chihaya's mind. That's what makes her scene with Taichi upon leaving the hospital so important; no matter what strides he's made, he's still falling far behind in a race he's only barely a part of at this point. Now that he's made A-class, he no longer has that excuse, and if he keeps placing barriers on himself, he'll likely lose Chihaya forever. Stopping at this point, however, is nerve-wracking; poised to go on a karuta retreat by Fujisaki's invitation, is Taichi going to take advantage of this chance? Or will he continue hesitating until it's too late? I can only hope the OVA has some answers, because otherwise I don't think I can wait so long for another season, if there even is one in the plans.