Chihayafuru 2 Episode 9--What Does It Mean to Love Karuta, Arata?

Muse: I don’t know where to start with this episode. Well, no, that’s not true, I know exactly where to start... Arata! After all those times where he only showed up briefly, usually at the end of an episode--to the point where it was almost a running joke!--he not only got a great chunk of screentime, but was also the main focus of the episode! Arata! I’ve missed you!

So aside from my fangirl heart attack about Arata actually participating in the show instead of sending ripples from offscreen, there were two big parts to his appearance in this episode, one of which takes up the running time; the first is his connection to Shinobu, and the second is the team match he plays in. (Of course, there’s also Chihaya’s supersonic hearing moment, but I’ll leave the fangirling over shipping for a future episode, once they all meet up again.)


In Shinobu’s case only one thing was made clear; Arata is more important to her than she is to him. Apparently they played against each other as kids (presumably before Arata moved to Tokyo and met Chihaya and Taichi), and Arata was the only player Shinobu’s age that could beat her. Taking into account everything we know about her up to this point, this is huge for Shinobu. The majority of karuta players can’t even touch her, making A-rank matches more like her personal practice time. Since Arata beat her in the past and he’s still aiming for Master, it makes sense for her to have high expectations of him. However, while Arata does know who she is, he obviously values their connection far less, immediately commenting on her superhuman ability to lose weight, making her cry. He’s preoccupied with Chihaya and Taichi, since they had much more of an impact on him. I don’t think that this is the last we’ll hear of this though, since the show has been teasing it for quite some time. What effect that will have on the tournament remains to be seen.

Justin: As I mentioned last week, eventually Arata would get his moment to take the spotlight. It took 8 episodes, but he finally made his debut as someone who was the main focus, or at least one of them, and carried the anime through to the end. And instead of stalling or showcasing this moment later, Episode 9 picks up immediately after Episode 8, and after much speculation, it seems to be confirmed that Shinobu and Arata are, after all, rivals when it comes to the game of karuta. Well, at least from Shinobu’s perspective this seems to be the case, as Arata seems to know after taking time off from playing competitively, he would have an uphill battle when it comes to facing Shinobu right now. That and it doesn’t help he didn’t immediately recognize her off the bat. But whatever the case, they seemed to have met back when they were kids, and right about when both were already ahead of their class when it came to playing karuta. Is that all there is to this encounter however? I get the feeling it’ll soon be time for Shinobu to take the spotlight and we’ll get to delve a bit more into her past and her relationship with Shinobu.

However, their encounter turned out to be less of the focus of the episode, as Shinobu’s words provided the entire theme for this episode when it came to taking part in the team tournament:

“That’s for players who don’t love karuta.”

Needless to say, the anime has gone to great lengths to prove this is not the case. We already ended up getting a course of how much fun playing in the team tournament was -- heck, even Arata texted Chihaya if she had fun at the end of the High School Tournament -- so when Shinobu ended up saying that, it made me wonder what got her in that mindset to believe Team matches are for those who don’t love karuta. Then Murao, who Arata happened to run into while avoiding Chihaya and Taichi, says this:

“The Team tourney means more in high school, but the individual tournament is where you can test your skill.”

So with that, I think I can get a sense of why Shinobu has her mindset, but also the biggest difference between team and individual matches. In a team match, you have to do your best not just for yourself, but for your teammates. It’s a one on one battle after the order is set, but your role in a team match can be pretty critical. What if you’re one of the best players on your team yet you lose first (example: Porky losing his match against Hokuo)? What about getting into a situation where you have to know what cards are in play for your whole team (again, the situation at the end of the Hokuo/Mizusawa match)? While ultimately the talent matters in a match, in the end, one team needs three victories to win, and the loser goes home, without having gotten a chance to do anything (see Mizusawa’s first match in Nationals in S1). But in an individual match, the only thing that stands in the way is the one playing against you. That is the only chance to prove just how good you are, and this is probably the mindset that Shinobu can think of when it comes to matches, since she wants to prove herself.

But Muse, do you think team matches are for players who don’t love karuta?


Muse: Definitely not, and I think that the last episode proved that. Did the Chiba team have a lot of skill? Not really; it was way too early for them to be going against trained karuta players. But they made up for that with lots of love for the game itself, to the point that Mizusawa was reminded of how they felt when they first started playing. You could argue that there’s less skill involved and that aspects of it come down to luck (the “luck of the draw” moment that happened a few episodes ago is still crazy), but I don’t think that was exactly what Shinobu was getting at with her statement. I don’t think that she’s had the experiences that the Mizusawa team has had or what Arata got in this episode with team matches. The show has very strongly characterized her as a loner, so it’s not really surprising that she has a disdain for this part of karuta. She considers very few players as her equals, so the idea that she’d play in a team is almost unimaginable, unless she goes through a big character change.

Throughout this episode, Arata struggles with being in the middle of these two arguments; he doesn’t really care about team matches, but he doesn’t have anything against them either. It’s not until his team is put on the losing side that he understands the way that morale and respect for your opponent play into it. You have to be aware of a lot of changing factors in a team match while still focusing on your own and doing your best, a lesson that Taichi learned in his character episode. In fact, after all the episodes dedicated to team matches so far, I’d say that they’re more difficult than individual matches, since you can’t just rely on your own skill; you have to take your entire team into account. With that in mind, you have to be on good terms with your team. This seems like an obvious statement, but it brings up a question I had throughout this episode...

Why did Arata help out that team? The guy who asked for a favor was the one he’d punched in the face for making a stupid comment about his grandfather back in middle school, and Arata is clearly worried about being caught breaking the rules even before the match begins. It’s not until the end (when he blows his cover) that Arata really seems to grasp the important dynamic of team matches, so that can’t be the reason. So then why?


Justin: Well, it was in middle school...I mean the situations are so drastically different since then. Now instead of them going their separate ways, they end up meeting in Nationals, and for Shoji, it’s the worst possible time: one of Shoji’s members got stuck in traffic due to an accident. He doesn’t have anyone to sub in and be their extra member because they got to Nationals with just three members. Basically, all their issues -- from starting his own karuta club, to making it to Nationals with just three members, and with the other member of the group, Misaki, deciding to get LASIK surgery just to compete in karuta -- they’ve managed to overcome it somehow, but despite working so hard as a team to get to this moment, they might not even play a match in Nationals. But was Arata moved by Shoji and the West Fujioka team’s plight, or was he curious about what Shinobu said about team matches? Whatever the case, only by taking part in the match did he come to an understanding of what team matches can provide -- if a flashback to Chihaya bawling at the end to Arata and Taichi when they were kids didn’t hit Arata, then nothing will! Basically, some people just feel more inspired to play better with a team (hence why you always hear in sports “It’s a team game!”), and most importantly, you can go through all the highs and lows and grow as team. I think also, it just may be fun to play with a team. Even though Fujioka lost the match, once Arata put his glasses back on and he got serious, the team was inspired to keep playing hard until the end, and had a smile on their face when it was all over. It’s hard to say that people who play in team matches don’t love karuta after watching how this episode played out.

Of course, as Muse pointed out though, Arata ended up in a situation where if he got caught, he would get in trouble. And it just so happens he got caught once he decided he had to help Fujioka in some way besides sitting down -- and also not to disrespect his opponent any further. We didn’t quite know what the ramifications were if he decided to take part in the team match -- well, as it turned out, because of his entry, he may have just gotten himself disqualified from the individual tournament. Needless to say, that would be pretty disheartening for Arata: to work hard to get back to form, only to not even be able to prove how much better he’s actually gotten is pretty sad. However, he knew there was a chance this would happen, and really, even besides joining the team, he made a mistake showing up to the team tournament in the first place. He should have just kept his surprise to himself and decided to show up at the individual tournament. In the end, he got caught, and while he’s talented, he should be treated just like any other karuta player who breaks the rules. So I would hazard a guess that he’s gonna have to get over not being able to compete in the individual tournament, but stick around anyways just to put unneeded pressure on everyone else (or mostly Chihaya, Taichi, and Shinobu). Or disappear, once again cutting his screentime to quarters...


Muse: I think that I would’ve been less questioning of Arata’s motives about participating in the match if the outcome wasn’t so frustrating. If we understood his reasoning better, then maybe it would make more sense why he risked getting banned from the tournament... But I guess it doesn’t matter now. The point is, the big cliffhanger of the episode is that Arata broke the rules, and he has to be punished, even if that means getting banned.

Clearly, no one wants this to happen, but as Justin said, they can’t grant exceptions just because he’s talented. That said, I’m hoping that his punishment will be something less strict, since an outright ban doesn’t feel fair in this case. While he was substituting in for a player of a school he didn’t go to, it wasn’t until after it was decided that the team had lost that he started playing for real. Before that point, he wasn’t wearing his glasses, and was essentially throwing the match. He didn’t make his move until after the outcome was decided and his actions wouldn't change it. Let’s say, hypothetically, Arata played at his full strength all along and that motivation also caused both of the real team members to win. In that case, breaking the rules changed the outcome, and a strict punishment would make sense. Here, it was about Arata’s personal sense of pride as well as showing respect to his opponent and his teammates. Hopefully how the circumstances played out will be considered before they throw Arata out entirely. (I don’t want to go back to only end-of-episode scenes!)

Justin: Hmm, well I don’t know Muse...but who knows, I think we might have readers who might have differing opinions on what to do with Arata. So what do you guys think should happen to Arata? What do you think will happen to Arata, knowing this show? Feel free to share in the comments!

Images from Crunchyroll.com. Follow Justin on Organization Anti-Social Geniuses!