Anime: Chihayafuru

Note: This review covers only the first season of Chihayafuru.

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Review
Chihayafuru is a sports show through and through. It teaches the sport's rules, it encourages people to play it, school clubs are used to impact on a younger audience, and the characters in it all work together as a team of friends in order to grow and show us the mantra of "hard work makes everything possible". By its essence, Chihayafuru would be just another forgettable attempt at the genre. Unlike Baby Steps it does not bother tackling the future of its cast as professional players, unlike Prince of Tennis or Cross Game the sport is kinda of shady and unheard about. So what does it offer to stand on its own? How does it evades the annoying tropes of the genre?

Lead character. The answer lies in there. You see, most sports shows are about a young boy born to play the sport and joining some school club. Chihayafuru is the very same, yet Ayase Chihaya is a girl, and far from a girl in a shounen sports show. She is your average shoujo lead, the clumsy yet energetic girl. This is her tale as she starts playing karuta, a card game inspired by ancient japanese poems, and her struggles to spread the sport at the same time as longing to see her childhood friend and love interest, the ace karuta player, Wataya Arata. Fret not, if not one of the very best sports show, Chihayafuru can be at least one of the most refreshing of them.

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1. Karuta
   Ok. First of all, let's get rid of the game. Most sports show only uses the sport as a mean to its objective: encouraging new players and spreading a message of health, social awareness, and inspiration. The same happens here, but karuta is an insane sport. Absurdly insane. First of all, it requires the players to memorize, in long term, one hundred poems broken into two parts. The first part is recited during the play and the players must react quickly to pick the card with the correspondent second part of it. This means also incredible reflexes and arm coordination. Card placement is also a big issue, requiring short-term memory as well. This is not a game anyone can simply pick up and play, it's extremely regional, based on japanese literature, and requiring skills that can only be honed with years of practice.
   
   It doesn't matter though...
   Karuta can also be boring to play when you picture it in real life. Hearing an almost priest-like chant in complete silence and concentration while memorizing plain written cards is not exactly something you would do to have fun. Regardless of that, however, Chihayafuru makes every match an exciting thing to watch, focusing moments of its narrative to point out skills required by the game. If you are a true sports fan, you can also enjoy Chihayafuru's best asset as well...
   
   It's about the background of the sport
   Yeah. If you enjoy many types of sports instead of simply one or two, it's highly possible you enjoy them because of their background. You don't simply watch tennis because the match is fun, you watch because you know what is at stake. There are records, there is a ranking system at play, there are titles, a tour, a history to the sport that enriches its atmosphere. Chihayafuru biggest strength is exactly that. Instead of simply moving through tournament to tournament as most shounen sports shows, this time karuta is given a enjoyable background that grows along with the episodes. The choice of such unheard and closed-off sport also helps in that regard, as you can almost see the whole world of karuta within one season and understand most of things that are at stake from quite early.
   
   And it's a shoujo
   Ok. It is announced as a josei, but there's hardly a difference between them. However, being made with the female audience in mind gave us Ayase Chihaya as a protagonist, and that's a big deal for this kind of show. Shounen and shoujo leads follow their templates most of the time and can be very similar in many aspects, but there is one where shoujo leads have big leverage: consistency. Whereas shounen leads quickly betray their initial ideas, such as the shy boy instantly being swarmed by friends and girls or the weak willed boy leading a group of friends, shoujo leads rarely get such treatment. They can even get multiple guys loving them, but they were never announced as the social-freak or as lacking resolve. Ayase Chihaya's cheerful behavior from the start is her most important asset and her very initial idea. You see her trying her best and struggling only when it really matters, nothing is simply ass-pulled to bring the plot towards her, and that by itself is an amazing thing to do in a sports show.
   
   But a light shoujo
   Being a shoujo, of course there is romance in the air. Ayase, Wataya, and Taichi form a love triangle explored through the season, a group of childhood friends who found their bond through karuta. Fortunately, this romance is decently held to the support role as the tale of karuta players, tournaments, and school clubs takes the lead. It sometimes get back on the mainstream and it turns out as an important emotional factor for the three heroes, but it is amazing how natural that feels.
   
   And it's beautiful
   Madhouse studio does it again. Most of the excitement from the karuta matches come from its amazing production value. Chihayafuru is colorful, sharp, and boasts an incredible consistent animation quality. Add to that a decent sound direction and a sweet voice-acting and you have one of the best production of its genre for sure.
   

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Comments
Chihayafuru was forgotten in my backlog for years. I mean, look at that, a sports show about an unknown card game? Shoujo romance? No, thank you. Also, Hikaru no Go never got me, so why would I bother with this unheard japanese-only sports too? Well, it was my mistake. A BIG mistake.

Chihayafuru manages to be a sports show that breaks most rules while carefully using them. Its first major point is taking the shoujo style in favor of a shounen one, removing the annoying shounen lead we all hate and picking a genki lovable girl instead. Its second hit comes in picking a unheard sports where the entirety of it can be seen, giving us a better sense of what is at stake even if we are simply watching a highschool tournament between clubs. Finally, it boasts a production quality unlikely to be seen in others of the genre. Those three major points come in tandem with a well-paced shoujo romance and the all-known formula of sports show with exciting matches, dealing with defeat, and prospecting future clashes.

Chihayafuru deserves a chance.

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So you ask “What’s karuta?”

Well, it’s a Japanese card game. And if it weren’t for this extremely well done series, you would never get excited about it. Yet here we are. 52 episodes later and I’m dying for more matches!
One thing that this anime does better than most is making you fall in love with the characters. Before you know it, you care so much about every single one of the main characters. This series does a great job of using flashbacks to teach you about everyone’s back story. But they don’t overdo it like some others do. The flashbacks are well timed and they don’t drag on forever. You even learn just enough about the main characters rivals to get you personally involved with their matches.

There’s almost no wasted episodes. A lot of series that are based on matches or battles or some kind of competition draw everything out. It seems like the writers realized that nobody really wants to watch a long drawn out training arc. In most cases the only reason we do is because we’re already invested in the series. But they don’t take advantage of that. They skip months of unnecessary training and get you right to the meat of the story. In only 52 episodes they cover 2 entire years of progress.
When you start the first episode, you’d never think that you’d have all of your emotions tested. That is definitely the case though. You quickly become emotionally invested in all of the main characters. They time the music perfectly with all the important scenes. And next thing you know, you’re sitting there with tears of joy in your eyes as your favorite character has an incredible breakthrough. You also will find yourself on the edge of your seat stressed out about the outcome of the match you’re watching. And of course the overwhelming frustration when things take a turn and don’t go how you were wishing they would.

They’ve got jokes too. This isn’t a serious series the entire time. The writers have very well placed jokes to break the tension. Sometimes that’s exactly what you need. Otherwise you might go crazy cheering and yelling at the TV for hours like a crazed sports fan.

My only real complaint about this series is that they sometimes draw out an episode with the same flashback clips that you’ve seen a couple times before. It seems like they are just killing a few minutes so they can end on a cliff hanger. This doesn’t happen too often, so it’s not a huge issue. The flashback repeats are mostly when they are approaching an important match with a reoccurring character. You have to keep in mind that they had originally intended you to watch an episode a week, not a handful back to back on consecutive days. So it might not have even been noticeable when it was originally airing During a binge watching marathon you come to be familiar with them.

Overall I would recommend Chihayafuru to everyone. I’ve probably watched it 5 times by now and am still waiting patiently for a third season to start. They leave it on a big time cliff hanger on the last episode of season 2, so there has to be a third in the works somewhere. Or at least that’s what I’ll keep telling myself as I check what series are scheduled to air every TV season.

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This review is the first for me in several years, and I may have some rust on me. But the series was interesting and I found myself thinking I should write a review. The review is based on the Commie 720p fansubs.

1. Art and Animation: The first season has good art and animation, and I am liking Madhouse's style. It uses occasional superdeformed and chibi but otherwise plays it straight. Not much CG 3D animation, it appears it's adapted fairly well from the manga (which is a top seller) and there isn't any need for it. The majority of the art is to illustrate the poetry and the culture of Karuta, which is a competitive card game that forms the backdrop of the story. It is a love polygon, but the love aspects take a decided back seat for both seasons, as the focus is on the play of team and individual karuta. I give this part an 8, I wasnt wowed but I was consistently pleased to watch it.

2. Sound: The op and ed are excellent, and the theme will pop up consistently. BGM is a plus, and used to enhance the emotional movement and character development. Seiyuu are top notch and believable except for the Queen, who sounds quite old for her character; the rest are age-appropriate and have good dynamic range. I give their voice acting an 8, the music a 9, and sounds effects a 7. It is hard to have explosions when your main event is the pounding of a tatami as you take a card.

3. Story: Chihaya Ayase is a second daughter and her elder sister is a model. She becomes interested and then captivated by competitive karuta, a card game based on Japanese poetry. Introduced to the aggressive style of the game by a quiet and thoughtful elementary school classmate named Arata Wataya, the two share card games with Taichi Mashima, Chihaya's smart and athletic childhood friend, until they have to part ways during their middle school years due to several circumstances. As their high school life begins, they meet once again. This series is about the formation of a high school team karuta and their competition at the High School National Championships.
The story is heavy on tactics and strategy, different styles of play, and opponents who appear only in the competition and about which we have littlebackstory. But the humor is everywhere, as well as the drama of the games, so it moves fast. This is one of the strong points, but you have to be patient with the technical aspects of the game as explained. If you finish the series you will have had a beginners introduction to competitive Karuta. I would give the story a solid 8, lacking only in a true ending (as it's continued in season 2).

4. Character and Value: The main characters are in a triangle, except Chihaya is apparently oblivious to romance. Nobody else in the club is fooled, so you keep wanting her to have a mature relationship with the main male, or at least make a decision. But you will be frustrated at the slow development. The rest of the club do not seem to have romance on their hearts (at least in this season) and most of the character development is over the ways they handle their future goals and plans. I liked the characters, side characters, and even the rivals; the characters are believable and have enough development for a satisfying series.
I would wager you will be collecting this series because it is occasionally moving, unique as a sports series, and has lots of Japanese culture and information on an esoteric card game. If you are not collecting it you will not because the card game is either boring or mystifying. The value to me is a 7, the characters a 7, losing ground on lack of character development for many of the side characters and giving us a completely clueless heroine.

Summary: A very good series, and followed by season two. Pace is slow, but the story is worth a watch. Overall, an 7.75.

Chihayafuru is an anime about a card game, where the card game is not important. Confused?
Ok, let me explain. Chihayafuru is, like so many others like Hikaru no Go and YuGiOh, a game promoting anime that tries to motivate the viewers into learning of that said game and eventually picking it up as a steady hobby. The problem is that I doubt many will be inspired by it, and it’s not the show’s fault for that. The way it presents Karuta (the name of the game) is fine, but the game mechanics are plain… bad. Well, bad in the sense that it requires from you to have amazing mnemonic capabilities, light-speed reflexes, and complete focus on the tiniest sound around you. And as cool as that sounds at first (like you are a ninja or something) I ensure you it is not a game most people would pick. I mean, seriously, you listen to this poem and you pick up the card corresponding to it as fast as possible. There is no interaction amongst players, no visual card flavour, not much variety in the things you can do, and all the time you just stare at a bunch of cards filled with kanji on them. Anyone who has played Magic the Gathering, Poker, Race for the Galaxy, or in general card games with player interaction, multiple rules, and myriads of variables will definitely find this the dullest game imaginable.

Studio Madhouse has made far better overalls in other shows but even here, it is still decent. The production values are ok without being amazing (what’s with those red lips all girls have?) but the soundtrack is quite underwhelming. The director is Asaka Morio, someone experienced in this sort of stories and has produced many goodies in his career (Card Captor Sakura, Chobits, Gunslinger Girl, Nana). This may not be something most will remember in the next years but it is not bad either. There are as some messy scenes though where something happens too fast to feel natural (like, when Mashima stole Mataya’s glasses and a second later was walking twenty meters away) or the rules feeling rather off (like when Ayase knocked out of the way a dozen different cards at once and yet it counted as a valid point). Though these are not big enough to ruin most of the enjoyment a casual viewer can drop out of the series and remains a fine light watch all the way.

As much as I dislike the game, I must admit that its simplistic rules and complete dedication are exactly what makes it fair and balanced. Meaning, there is very little luck going around and there is definitely no “heart of the cards” saving you at the last moment with a card you just picked up. It is almost pure strategy and mnemonic ability, how you will manage to place the cards in a way you can remember them without even looking at them, figuring out the poem in a few syllables, and zapping the corresponding card in a fraction of a second before the opponent. Doubt and wrong assumptions are what get you to lose the game. It is all understood and the series makes sure to constantly show you how competitive and rewarding it feels when you do all that right, as means to motivate you (sometimes in a comical or overdone way). It is a weird situation where the procedure of the gameplay is more interesting than the ACTUAL game.

I must make this clear by mentioning that Chihayafuru is unique as a motivational anime because unlike all others of its kind, it is NOT aimed at shounen demographics but at josei ones. That’s right; it is primarily for late teen girls. So that means the protagonist is not a boy but a girl. And since this is Josei, there is romance and light situations and fluff all over the place, to the point the game is overshadowed by them. It has a feeling far closer to a teen romance than that of a fighting championship.

Anyways, the context of the series is very simple yet plays out in a captivating way. Or at worst case scenario, it does for the first half of the show. It is very subjective to tell for how long it can remain interesting, since in all honesty the story is typical, the pacing is slow, and the games are made to look way more exciting that what they actually are. If you are into romances, you will definitely like it but it will otherwise feel like nothing more than just another simple tale of awkward people who don’t just tell what they feel and end the whole mess in ten seconds. After the core mechanics have been established and the characters are in need of development, you get some very interesting first dozen episodes. Afterwards, the plot offers very little in terms of development and you can skip another dozen without missing much before the show ends openly. And by openly I mean NOTHING is resolved, both in the romantic part or the game part.

So no, you are not going to watch this for the story or the game but for the character bonding. It is all about the characters LEARNING of the game and interacting with each other (thus accomplishing things the game aspect would normally be doing in similar shows). We have the geeky boy prodigy, grandson of a super powerful Karuta champion, picking up his grandfather’s footsteps. We have the tomboy girl who is in love with geeky boy and plans to be good in the game just to win his attention (far fetched but it works). We have the second boy rival-gone-ally, who is in the team after realizing bullying them to stop is not going to achieve anything and steadily falls in love with her. And we have all sorts of situations where Ayase (the girl) is slowly realizing the means to be a good player and how fun it is when you manage to do all of it right and get a card faster than anyone else.

In theory it all works fine. It constantly delves into their romantic and angst-filled lives, so it is captivating despite the plot being basic and the pacing slow. I am not so sure about all those secondary characters though; many feel underwhelming and sometimes eat up more time than they deserve. This always was about just the main trio; everybody else is an unneeded extra. The characters are otherwise likable without being anything uncommon (couldn’t be more stereotypical), and the game they are in is interesting to study (but not stare or play).

So in all, Karuta is there as motivation for friendship and romance and not as the meaning of life, as in the case of so many other card game anime. At the same time it flavours the otherwise simple lives of the three main characters, as without it, it just looks as yet another dorama most people would get bored of fast. Of course it may end up being boring anyways once you realize there is nothing resolved in the end but it sure feels more colourful than the “one of the same” dull premise of such shows.

… And seriously, watch it for the characters and not for the game.

The title "Chihayafuru (Chihayaburu)" is the opening word of card #17's verse, where the the word means "to act intensely fast", or "Sick Swift Swagger (SSS, really)". The first half of the verse means:
> Even the swift gods have never witnessed such a wondrous sight.

Genius of a choice for character and title name, I would say. I'm certainly expecting to see the wondrous story this amazing anime is building up for.

========== Competitive Karuta Rules ==========

(Summarized Japanese Wiki translation ftw~! I watched a very boring video of competitive karuta to double check, and it is accurate. Fortunately, it looks a lot more interesting in anime.)

- Ooishi Tengudou's Hyakunin-Isshu karuta cards are used in the competition.
- Each player holds 25 places cards each in their own "territory", in a tatami area under 87cm in width. A total of 50 random cards out of 100 are used in each game.
- Players are given 15 minutes to memorize the location of cards.
- After the memorization time, both players vow before beginning the competition. A game of karuta begins and ends with a vow in accordance to Path of Karuta's Honorable Gamesmanship. You will be forced to eat the entire karuta card deck if you break this rule.
- The game begins with a verse from The Song of Naniwa Harbor (the one CR messed up). Followed by a randomly selected verse from the Hyakunin-Isshu karuta's 100 songs.
- Each verse is broken down into "first half" and "second half". The "first half" is sang, while the "second half" is written on karuta cards.
- If a player gets (touches first) the matching card in his own territory, that card is removed from the board.
- If a player gets t he matching card in enemy territory, that card is removed, and s/he can pass one card of choice from their own territory to the enemy territory.
- 1) Contact on a card while a verse not present on the board is read (the unused 50 cards). 2) Touching a card in the enemy territory while a card in your own territory is read. 3) Vice versa of 2). Those three plays are called "fouls", and a card of opponent's choice will be placed into your own territory.
- Players are allowed to change the order of their cards so long as the opponent is notified. Switching too many cards are considered to be bad manner. (This is probably so that players don't have to remember the order when multiple cards are slapped. Players are allowed to touch multiple cards without penalty as long as the first contact is with the correct card.)
- Repeat verses until either territory gets rid of all cards. That player is the winner.

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