The karuta hour has come again! We return to Chihayafuru at the climax of an incredibly intense battle, as Arata and Harada grapple for the right to challenge Master Suo. Though I expected this match [...]
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It’s time for some more Chihayafuru! And holy crap, look at that, we’re already into the second half of the second season. Normally, this would be the point where I start lamenting the approach of [...]
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Let’s get back to Chihayafuru! Last episode saw the team competing in the team portion of the national tournament, where a sudden fever by Chihaya was contrasted against Arata’s journey to the [...]
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  All hail the Queen I missed following this! *huggles Chihaya* And what an episode to be back because we finally face the Queen and it’s not an old lady but a young girl just like Chihaya. We got some serious competition as she looks like an anti-Arata. Let’s see what she did by joining [...]
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So it appears that ANN was actually wrong; it looks like we're going to be getting about 22 episode of Chihaya! That's actually somewhat exciting since we're still at Omi Jingu and there's still a few things to sort out regarding this whole Chihaya/Taichi/Arata love triangle. Either way, let's find out what happens! The episode starts off with everyone preparing for the individual tournaments. Nishima and Komano are thanking their lucky stars that Kanade said they don't have to wear hakama for the individual tournament since it's even hotter than it was the day before. Chihaya is busy stretching and mentally preparing herself for the tournament when Taichi asks her if she's feeling better and if she's up to the tournament. Chihaya reassures him that she's fine, but before Taichi can say anything else their teacher shows up. She gives them the run-down of the tournament; everyone is separated by class and everyone is to be considered their rivals. Kanade and Komano are in the same class and both are determined to win, but it also seems more or less like a friendly rivalry between them. Taichi and Nishida are both in Class B, so they'll eventually be facing each other though Taichi seems a bit disappointed that he won't be able to face Arata in a match since he's Class A. Chihaya seems determined to win the tournament and the group sets off for the temple.
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So yeah…remember that girl from the shrine last week? Turns out she’s the Queen, and the youngest one ever at that. Chihaya wants to win quickly and watch the Queen, but the Queen finishes too quickly for that. In the … Continue reading →
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I was already looking forward to this episode because there has been some interesting build up. Chihaya has wanted to be the Queen, the strongest female Karuta player, since she was in grade school. As exciting as some of the team mechanics were, episode 14 of Chihayafuru finally returns us to one-on-one matches, and the [...]
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Episode 14 - Wow, this was probably the most intense episode of Chihayafuru so far. “Thrilling” would probably be the perfect word to describe the atmosphere for the entire episode. I mean, I knew that we would eventually see a face-off with Chihaya against the rival that was hinted at in the previous episodes, but [...]
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Okay, I was stupid to think that this show would slowly introduce the main villain. I seriously thought that it would take until near the end of the series for her to really show up, like most villains do. How wrong this turned out to be: this episode was entirely about her, and she immediately [...]
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