Chihayafuru – 09 Review

Episode 09 – But I Cannot Hide

Taichi… (T^T)

The club is finally official with their 5 members, and now it is time for everyone to train in order to prepare themselves for the upcoming tournaments.

Review

Did anyone else jump to the conclusion that the message that Taichi had received wasn’t going to be about Arata wishing Chihaya “Happy Birthday” but of him coming back to Tokyo instead?

Although I love the focus on the Karuta Club, I think that it is about time that Arata returned back onto our screens. Despite me wishing that Chihaya and Arata will never meet, we all know that that is not going to be the case. =P

The episode definitely takes on a more emotional approach this week with the Chihaya coming to realise some of her character faults and the rest of the team proving their determination for Karuta and their appreciation for Chihaya. There were definitely plenty of sweet and touching moments but it was the end of the episode that made me want to weep for Taichi.

It seems like Chihaya is true to her character and is dense about everything and her life revolves around Karuta and possibly Arata.

The Likes

What I had loved about the episode was the pacing and the small special moments between Taichi and Chihaya. Despite the speed of which the training had passed by, the show had maintained the speed of the progress of the character development and the episode had ended up becoming more about the relationship between Taichi and Chihaya as oppose to Karuta. The show had naturally covered it’s usual themes with minor comedy and a new introduction of a selected aspect of Karuta – the placement of the cards.

I had loved how Taichi had reprimanded Chihaya thus making Chihaya’s character more solemn and less obsessive. It is really nice to see the way the characters mature through the process of the show and hopefully by the end of it all, we would be left with a bunch of mature young adults that have conquered (or were at least close to conquering) the Karuta world. =)

The way the romance factor had creep into the episode was also nicely done. It had started off with subtle hints through having the characters (Chi and Tai) interact more than usual, and it had then progressed to a few “special” and private moments between the two – with Taichi stopping Chihaya from entering his room and the shared past between the two characters. By the end of the episode, Chihaya was fully blushing and Taichi’s whole world had collapse with the reintroduction of Arata. Poor Taichi can’t seem to catch a break.
(I am just going to assume that Taichi had broken up with his girlfriend since we have not heard about her in the recent episodes and Taichi has Chihaya back in his life. =P)

The Questionable

There were a few questionable moments in the episode for me:

• Don’t people have to submit a proper form when applying a club? Lol, I don’t think doodles on a paper is considered an official document. =P
• “Yay!” for Chihaya’s superhearing when Taichi’s mother (Mrs Pressure) had returned home. Lol. Oh the small quirks of this series…
• Sometimes it worries me how simple Chihaya comes across as being. It did seem that when she was busy obsessing over her treatment of the club members, she had totally forgotten about it being her birthday.
• What is Chihayafuru without it’s dramatic moments? How amply timed was the wind that blew over the river as Taichi had read the message in shock? It was as if to signify the shock/ominous mood of the message? Oh wait, it was. XD (And here I thought Taichi had developed new superpowers of his own. =P) This show simply can’t resist these small extra “dramatic” scenes, but I guess that is what makes the show fun.
• What was with Chihaya’s mouth hanging open for an extended period of time when she had read Arata’s message? Close your mouth my friend, flies are going to settle in them. =P
• Why did Arata message Taichi and not Chihaya directly?

I really find it interesting that through simply covering the eyes of a character, it can change the personality of the character and atmosphere of the scene.

Overall

I am glad that Taichi’s character wasn’t destroyed by having his jealousy kick in. I wouldn’t have liked to see him hide the message from Chihaya simply so that he could get the upper-hand in this romantic triangle. The episode had maintained a nice balance between sentimentality and Karuta playing and it is nice to see a more contemplative side of Chihaya. Hopefully it wouldn’t be too long a wait before we get to see Arata appear on screen to stir up the romance (or lack thereof) between Chihaya and Taichi.

Episode Rating: 8/10

-ra

Gonna have to rush off, so the Question of the Week is a simple one that the show had asked:

Lol, I know it is a stupid question but I couldn’t help but laugh at it when I had seen it.

My answer… The president trumps the captain unless they have decided to play Karuta on-board a ship. =D
(Sorry for my lame answer =P)