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EP. REVIEW: Chihayafuru 3


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yuna49



Joined: 27 Aug 2008
Posts: 3804
PostPosted: Sat Nov 16, 2019 10:22 pm Reply with quote
I wish they had showed us the state of the match before the end of the episode. The last time we clearly saw both layouts, Taichi was ahead by two cards. He had seven left; Chihaya had nine. After that we see a lot of "card-slapping," but we aren't treated to another clear view of their positions. My guess is they are very close. I just hope we don't end up with another luck-of-the-draw scenario.
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Panino Manino



Joined: 28 Jan 2018
Posts: 734
PostPosted: Thu Nov 21, 2019 5:13 pm Reply with quote
#7
Before starting this season I went to read the manga.
Seeing these events again knowing what happens next I'm very surprised by the amount of little details that the author planted in these last episodes. There's so much stuff around Taichi that she developed slowly in the next 20 volumes, really amazing.
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j_plex





PostPosted: Thu Nov 21, 2019 5:27 pm Reply with quote
Megiddo wrote:
There are thousands of shoujo/josei manga to consume if you want romance.

I like Chihayafuru exactly because of how very little romance is in it, and in particular, how the female lead has way more stuff on her mind than just getting romantically closer to the cute boys around her.


The problem with that is that - especially during the early episodes of the first season when shows tend to hook viewers - they DID sell the romance (and not just that but love triangle/reverse harem) stuff between the three leads by making a huge point of how everyone finds her physically attractive - her sister is a model - and the rivalry between transfer student (romcom anime trope) Arata and childhood friend (bigger romcom anime trope) Taichi and in particular. Especially the part where Chihaya was jealous when Taichi had a girlfriend ... and Taichi's response was to ditch his girlfriend.

Add to the fact that the manga is serialized in Be (In) Love magazine ... just because Chihaya isn't singing "Some Day My Prince Will Come" and instead is a more modern heroine with her own interests, identity and life/professional goals - although high school teacher seems real anime tropey ... why not doctor or lawyer ... 20% of doctors and 25% of lawyers in Japan are women after all and even Maid Sama (similar transfer student/childhood friend love triangle) had its heroine become a lawyer/politician - doesn't mean that A LOT of people are viewing (and reading) to find out whether she ultimately winds up with Taichi or Arata.
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vonPeterhof



Joined: 10 Nov 2014
Posts: 729
PostPosted: Thu Nov 21, 2019 6:17 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
Maybe it's just me not understanding the cultural significance of your high school class trip...
I'm reminded of that time when a single teacher at a single school losing a single student's passport and thus ruining said student's chances of going on the school trip with everyone was a minor news story. Although I do find it interesting that more than one commenter suggested the possibility of the student having secretly sabotaged himself because he didn't actually want to go..
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Panino Manino



Joined: 28 Jan 2018
Posts: 734
PostPosted: Thu Nov 21, 2019 6:50 pm Reply with quote
j_plex wrote:

The problem with that is that - especially during the early episodes of the first season when shows tend to hook viewers - they DID sell the romance (and not just that but love triangle/reverse harem) stuff between the three leads by making a huge point of how everyone finds her physically attractive - her sister is a model - and the rivalry between transfer student (romcom anime trope) Arata and childhood friend (bigger romcom anime trope) Taichi and in particular. Especially the part where Chihaya was jealous when Taichi had a girlfriend ... and Taichi's response was to ditch his girlfriend.

Add to the fact that the manga is serialized in Be (In) Love magazine ... just because Chihaya isn't singing "Some Day My Prince Will Come" and instead is a more modern heroine with her own interests, identity and life/professional goals - although high school teacher seems real anime tropey ... why not doctor or lawyer ... 20% of doctors and 25% of lawyers in Japan are women after all and even Maid Sama (similar transfer student/childhood friend love triangle) had its heroine become a lawyer/politician - doesn't mean that A LOT of people are viewing (and reading) to find out whether she ultimately winds up with Taichi or Arata.

There IS romance in ALL of Chihayafuru.
It's ALWAYS in the air and in the minds of the majority of the cast.
The thing is, this isn't your average romance where two characters getting together is the end goal and the most important plot.

Not talking just about the main trio here.
And there's other highlights also, the depth in the relationships, be for romance and just friendship, is much more developed than your average manga.
I can't see a reason to complain about this in Chihayafuru.
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Megiddo



Joined: 24 Aug 2005
Posts: 8360
Location: IL
PostPosted: Thu Nov 21, 2019 11:46 pm Reply with quote
j_plex wrote:
Especially the part where Chihaya was jealous when Taichi had a girlfriend ... and Taichi's response was to ditch his girlfriend.

Chihaya expressed 10,000 times more distress when she learned that Taichi had stopped playing karuta than when she learned he had a girlfriend. There was nothing in her reaction that could be remotely considered jealousy.

Chihaya wants to be a teacher because that will allow her to be a karuta club supervisor which is her true aim. That you can't figure out why she wants to be a karuta club supervisor baffles me to no end. She wants to do what makes her happy and try and bring joy to others as she has done by bringing Taichi, Porky, Kana, and Desktomu together into the world of competitive karuta.

Also, I gotta mention how much it disturbed me to hear Arata say that he thought Chihaya belonged to Taichi, as if she were some sort of possession. That whole conversation was just... oof. I get that he thinks because he left the two to return to Fukui as a kid that he feels like he sorta eliminated himself from Chihaya's social circle and thus ruined a possibile courtship, but man that dude worded that soooooo poorly.
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Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 11306
PostPosted: Fri Nov 22, 2019 5:43 am Reply with quote
Megiddo wrote:
Also, I gotta mention how much it disturbed me to hear Arata say that he thought Chihaya belonged to Taichi, as if she were some sort of possession.

I think he worded it exactly as he meant it. He did think of her as a possession when he was a kid, or perhaps more as a precious object to be held in someone's care. But he's since grown up and understands she's her own person and not a trophy to be won.
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Panino Manino



Joined: 28 Jan 2018
Posts: 734
PostPosted: Fri Nov 22, 2019 7:28 am Reply with quote
Megiddo wrote:

Also, I gotta mention how much it disturbed me to hear Arata say that he thought Chihaya belonged to Taichi, as if she were some sort of possession. That whole conversation was just... oof. I get that he thinks because he left the two to return to Fukui as a kid that he feels like he sorta eliminated himself from Chihaya's social circle and thus ruined a possibile courtship, but man that dude worded that soooooo poorly.

You're exaggerating a bit, Taichi thought the same and there's nothing really "disturbing" with the thought.
It's just two boys who likes the same girl and each one believes that the girl likes the other more.

There's more to it but other important thing in this is they are "maturing" with the realization that... Chihaya doesn't care so much about romance, not yet, that there's other most important things in her life. Isn't funny @j_plex ?

However, there's a man whom Chihaya cares very much right?
And she was always opens about him, Harada.
Chihaya is still in that point where she sees both Taichi and Arata as just "these boys that are my friends", thee aren't even in the game yet in her mind. That's why she always thinks of Harada when she is asked about "a male partner".
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Neko-sensei



Joined: 19 Jan 2007
Posts: 283
PostPosted: Fri Nov 22, 2019 7:32 am Reply with quote
Quote:
Maybe it's just me not understanding the cultural significance of your high school class trip...


Yes, it's truly, truly a Big Deal here—you compared it to prom, but it's more important than prom is in the US because the whole point is that everyone goes together on the class trip and makes memories. It's also a big coming-of-age thing, with many confessions and adventures taking place. "Where did you go on your class trip?" is a common icebreaker question in Japanese business, and I don't know anyone who doesn't consider it one of their major life memories, even if it was disappointing and sucky. I do know a few (OK, three) people who missed their class trip for some reason or another, and for those people, not being on the trip is the defining moment of their high school careers. The fact that American schools don't have all-inclusive class trips strikes most insular Japanese folks as pure madness.

Do not underestimate the trip!
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yuna49



Joined: 27 Aug 2008
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PostPosted: Fri Nov 22, 2019 8:39 am Reply with quote
j_plex wrote:
although high school teacher seems real anime tropey ... why not doctor or lawyer

I don't find it "tropey" at all. Karuta is not a game like Go or Shouji where people can become professional players and make a living at the game. So what kind of profession might Chihaya pursue where she can continue her love of karuta? As a high-school teacher, Chihaya could coach a karuta team. Chihaya admires Sakuragawa-sensei and might see her as a role model.
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Megiddo



Joined: 24 Aug 2005
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PostPosted: Fri Nov 22, 2019 9:25 am Reply with quote
Gina Szanboti wrote:
Megiddo wrote:
Also, I gotta mention how much it disturbed me to hear Arata say that he thought Chihaya belonged to Taichi, as if she were some sort of possession.

I think he worded it exactly as he meant it. He did think of her as a possession when he was a kid, or perhaps more as a precious object to be held in someone's care. But he's since grown up and understands she's her own person and not a trophy to be won.

And it's revolting to me that he even thought that when he was a kid. Given that she was the one to try and reach out to him when everyone else in the class ostracized him. There was no reason for him to ever think of her as possession or precious object or what not. I'm glad he doesn't any more, but that's not character development or anything, that's simply a change from an insane irrational mindset to one based in logic. It's like he figured out that 2 + 2 doesn't equal 5 but rather 4. Sure, it's great he reached the right conclusion, but why the hell did he think any differently of such an obvious fact? Is there something wrong in his head where he couldn't process that absolutely most basic understanding of who people are?
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Panino Manino



Joined: 28 Jan 2018
Posts: 734
PostPosted: Fri Nov 22, 2019 10:28 am Reply with quote
Megiddo wrote:
Gina Szanboti wrote:
Megiddo wrote:
Also, I gotta mention how much it disturbed me to hear Arata say that he thought Chihaya belonged to Taichi, as if she were some sort of possession.

I think he worded it exactly as he meant it. He did think of her as a possession when he was a kid, or perhaps more as a precious object to be held in someone's care. But he's since grown up and understands she's her own person and not a trophy to be won.

And it's revolting to me that he even thought that when he was a kid. Given that she was the one to try and reach out to him when everyone else in the class ostracized him. There was no reason for him to ever think of her as possession or precious object or what not. I'm glad he doesn't any more, but that's not character development or anything, that's simply a change from an insane irrational mindset to one based in logic. It's like he figured out that 2 + 2 doesn't equal 5 but rather 4. Sure, it's great he reached the right conclusion, but why the hell did he think any differently of such an obvious fact? Is there something wrong in his head where he couldn't process that absolutely most basic understanding of who people are?

I don't see what's so wrong about this, for me makes sense (narratively).
How it's "revolting" that he thought about her that way "as a kid"? Isn't because he was a kid that he thought that way?
Chihaya was a life changing and defining thing in his life, "belong" is just a way to word this feeling (when he plays don't he always remembers that day in his room? it's that memory, Chihaya playing with him, that allows him to play his best Karuta). And also, this whole drama is still developing. Taichi is a part of this entangled relationship. Taichi and Arata aren't bonded just trough Chihaya alone. Now that they talked about this the two will start thinking more about what bonds each other personally.

yuna49 wrote:
j_plex wrote:
although high school teacher seems real anime tropey ... why not doctor or lawyer

I don't find it "tropey" at all. Karuta is not a game like Go or Shouji where people can become professional players and make a living at the game. So what kind of profession might Chihaya pursue where she can continue her love of karuta? As a high-school teacher, Chihaya could coach a karuta team. Chihaya admires Sakuragawa-sensei and might see her as a role model.

Chihaya admires both Miyauchi and Sakurazawa, she wants to be like the two.
And she also loves Karuta enough to want to continue playing as an adult.
And because Karuta is not a professional sport, you don't make money with Karuta, the only way is to get a job that lets you play Karuta during work time, and teaching is this job, either inside or outside a school.

And talking about Karuta as a professional sport and making money out of it, to my surprise this issue is addressed soon.
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Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 11306
PostPosted: Fri Nov 22, 2019 8:25 pm Reply with quote
Megiddo wrote:
And it's revolting to me that he even thought that when he was a kid.

You make it sound like he grew up in an ideal world where sexism didn't exist and his view was some perverse deviation from the cultural norm. There are a lot of people who still see women that way, and worldwide they're probably not in the minority. I'm proud of him for growing out of it and opening his eyes to the reality of who she is.
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Covnam



Joined: 31 May 2005
Posts: 3627
PostPosted: Wed Dec 04, 2019 7:12 pm Reply with quote
Yeah, you'd think if any character would go for the tournament it'd be Chihaya. The whole teacher declaration right before the trip just seems to be like an excuse to find a reason to keep her on the trip. I also think wanting to be a teacher just so you can form a club seems a bit hollow. I get that clubs are important in Japan, but that's still not the primary function of a teacher there.
I suppose it could be a good spark for an interest in a teaching career, but if she's only passionate about the club I'd be worried about her future as an educator.

Quote:
Coach Midori making a comeback and squaring off against her longtime rival.


Unless I'm miss-reading it I think the image from the scene (Yumi looking dismayed) threw you off. Midori lost to Yumi and won't be facing Haruka.
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Panino Manino



Joined: 28 Jan 2018
Posts: 734
PostPosted: Wed Dec 04, 2019 9:55 pm Reply with quote
#9

Don't know if I said this here, but every character is this whole story is great. Every single one, but Harada stands out among them because his role was "Master" for the two of the main trio.
If you think about you can easily see how much of their game was influenced by him, he really shaped those kids. But the good part is that he can separate what yo teach and what to advice. Hadara sometimes sit with them to say, "I know that I taught you this, but this isn't doing good for you, you need to let it go", because they both benefit and suffer from his guidance. And in Chihaya's case, she loves him so much because he is beyond a teacher for her, he is like a father. Really beautiful relationship.

And for the people how complained about Taichi appearing too strong, here again you can see "signs" of his true play style and form. You don't even need to read the manga to see, they're become obvious now.

This author did such an unbelievable job writing this story, the more obvious and standard parts also, like the witch cards to read and send at any moment. They add so much to the drama... makes you feel that painful doki doki.

Chihaya... at least she is consistent in how much she neglects those around her.

And can't wait to see Shinobu's development unfold, it was really surprising.
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