Let’s be honest – if you think for even a fraction of an instant that Suetsugu-sensei was going to let Taichi win that match, you probably haven’t been a Chihayafuru fan for long. Whatever her reasons, that’s just not how she rolls where Taichi is concerned. Suetsugu has in fact said in the past that she never expected Taichi to become such a popular and crucial character, and that he was really targeted to be an antagonist. Is it projecting to say that she might just resent the way he’s usurped the headline role in the story and at least subconsciously reflects it in her writing? Sure it is – but it would certainly fit the reality on the ground.
The irony is of course that it’s partly because Suetsugu forever denies Taichi any reward that he’s become Chihayafuru’s most compelling character by a mile. Of course Chihaya can sleep through her semifinal and have a sempai obligingly roll over for her and then defeat an exhausted Taichi in the final – it would be folly to expect anything else. Does it do anything meaningful to progress her development as a character to win the Yoshino tournament? Not that I can see – and that’s part of the problem with this series, honestly. Not much that happens with her does.
In point of fact I wonder sometimes if everything that this series communicates to the audience is intentional on the author’s part, and even if she’s aware of how the characters come off. Does she know that Chihaya’s attitude towards Taichi is condescending and entitled, or are we supposed to sympathize with Chihaya when she complains that he’s acting to advance in Karuta without getting her permission? Chihaya always seems to want Taichi beside her, but not right beside her – a couple steps back, where she can forget he’s there when she doesn’t need him for something. She wants to know he’s there to support her whenever she feels the need for it, and to be taken for granted the rest of the time.
The matter of the class trip does at least allow Chihaya to make a decision for herself that isn’t about karuta – though in point of fact it indirectly is, given the reason she’s chosen the career she has. Frankly I don’t think missing the Queen Qualifier one time is the worst thing in the world for her if she really does want to grow as a person. But for Taichi, the equation is different. He has more to gain by going to the qualifier and less to lose by skipping the trip, and he’s always at his best when Chihaya isn’t around anyway.
As for Arata, he’s seemingly as funkified as Taichi is about what went down in Yoshino. Sure Taichi lost to Chihaya, but Arata never even got the chance to test himself against her. Arata of course doesn’t realize that the thing he constantly mopes about – the distance between himself and Chihaya – is his greatest weapon in the fight. His mystique can remain unchallenged by day to day mundane reality. While Taichi does all the heavy lifting, Arata can be the Prince Charming of Chihaya’s (and Suetsugu’s, I suspect) imagination. His encounter with Yuu is a reminder that there’s a woman in his life who feels about him as he does about Chihaya, but he seems to be as dismissive of Yuu as Chihaya is of Taichi (who at least has karuta going for him).
A one-week respite from competition is about as long as Chihayafuru ever seems to grant after the first season, and next week it’s right back into the fire. Taichi skips out on the trip to fight in the East, and Arata goes into the West decidedly off form. And an old friend makes an appearance, dropping by Shinobu’s place on his usual rounds before the qualifiers begin. Suo-san is quite a square peg as Chihayafuru characters go, and he adds something to the dynamic of this series that I almost always find welcome.
Mi-chan
November 21, 2019 at 12:38 amErghz, Enzo I feel the same way man.. I cried reading your post because my intensity last week has also given me reason to have a fever.
I see both Chihaya and Arata as the bad guys in the series. Sometimes I hope the reason Taichi gets the rough end of the stick because there will be some reward in the end. If the author does hate him, then the kind of ending for Taichi will break me for all those years to come. I relate to Taichi, I didnt get what I had dreamed of near the end even though I worked harder than everyone. “Nobody can go further without some form of reward” was the line that broke me since season one that is ..
I am starting to dislike Chihaya herself. I think Arata is the antagonist, not Taichi.
As always thanks for your passionate review, M.
Guardian Enzo
November 21, 2019 at 7:39 amI see Arata as a victim to an extent – of Suetsugu, just like Taichi. But that’s an important larger point. An author’s own opinion of their characters is a very important part of a story and how it’s perceived, but rarely is it such an immediate and meaningful element as it is with Chihayafuru.
Nadavu
November 21, 2019 at 12:41 amI thought Chihaya’s decision not to skip the class trip was actually a sign of character growth — until she realized Taichi skipped and she went all “He’s trying to usurp the natural order of things!”-ish.
I don’t know about the rest of the world, but for me, cheering for Taichi doesn’t mean hating on Arata. When those two interact, Taichi seems to relapse into his old brutish elementary-school self. Chihaya aside, I think Arata actually thinks of Taichi as his friend, whereas Taichi considers him only as a rival, and closer to the “enemy” sense of “teki”.
By the way, I find it adorable that when Arata says Taichi’s name, it sounds like Tai Chi.
I feel like the old-girl-friend-honeymoon is over, and we’re about to be reminded why we split in the first place.
Guardian Enzo
November 21, 2019 at 7:44 amWell, that’s the Fukui accent. Very distinctive, and why Hosoya was cast in the first place. And for the record now that I have Robb’s comment in my head, I definitely hear changes in his and Seto Asami’s performances here. Whereas Mamoru Miyano is pretty much right in the same zone.
Honestly, I don’t think either Taichi or Arata think of each other as a friend, no matter what Arata says. It’s just that Taichi is more overtly aware of Arata as a rival both on and off the mat, and Arata sort of looks through Taichi just like Chihaya does. One is obsessive, the other is dismissive.
I won’t get into specifics but it isn’t quite so linear as your last paragraph suggests, at least for me…
Romy
November 22, 2019 at 9:28 pmThis! So true. Arata is just lying to himself that he considers Taichi as his friend. He looks down on him and really their relationship doesn’t feel like friends at all. Arata walking in on Taichi, saying “what’s wrong” and after making his point about Chihaya…. well that all felt pretty defying, right after his so called friend lost. He saw how much Taichi was affected when he passed by him with a cold glance on the tatami….Arata knows himself that he’s feeling mean things.
Jonthan Tappan
November 21, 2019 at 3:13 amIt seems a reliable pattern that female mangaka tend to depict the female character they most identify with in a pretty negative way. (See also the character of Hitoha in the recent Araburu Kisetsu no Otome-domo yo.)
The heroine may be attractive and popular, but also insensitive and thoughtless–big negatives in Japanese culture. Or she may be nice, but unattractive and incompetent. At worst, as in WataMote, she may clueless, insensitive, unattractive and dishonest, with no redeeming features other than a capacity to suffer for her sins.
If the heroine seems perfect, it’s likely that the author doesn’t really identify with her.
Guardian Enzo
November 21, 2019 at 7:47 amI’m not sure it’s really different with male authors, is it? As I’ve said many times, if Chihaya were the male protagonist of a sports shounen (that this series is so akin to in many ways), she’d take nonstop abuse from the fans about being a “clueless male lead”. It’s only her cute girl armor that keeps that from being more widespread than it is, IMO.
Ko
November 21, 2019 at 1:02 pmI had a big “yikes” moment this episode with Taichi and Arata’s conversation about who Chihaya belonged to and seeing Taichi’s mentality when it comes to her just makes it hard for me to feel bad for him. She’s oblivious, but he’s not really doing anything to help himself here when he knows how she is. I like all three of the main triangle quite a bit, and I don’t really see any of them being worse than the others. For a while reading these reviews I was worried it was going to get dramatically worse or something based on how ominous Enzo’s tone has been, but I’m starting to be a bit more hopeful in it just being a difference in opinions.
I also love seeing how much the empress cares about supporting her students, with her previously talking to the other coach and now trying to help Chihaya out having been some of my favorite moments. I’m really hoping that they don’t have all the focus coming up be on the tournament so we can get some class trip character moments for the other club members.
slazer
November 22, 2019 at 4:06 pmThis is right on the money – I’m so tired of seeing Taichi get steamrolled by someone who could seemingly care less about him not just romantically, but even as a friend. Chihaya is so entirely obsessed with karuta that nothing else gets through.
Kim
November 23, 2019 at 6:33 amI honestly don’t believe the manga-ka dislikes Taichi. You said you read an interview where she said she didn’t know how much Taichi would take over. That was in her own writing NOT because of popularity. It was something she hadn’t planned at first but it happened naturally. So I don’t see what there is to resent. Did her editor ask her to add more Taichi? Who knows but nothing she ever said she was forced to add more Taichi or that she isn’t a fan of the character.
Also in another early interview she even said that Arata and Chihaya would largely stay the same Bakas for Karuta but Taichi would be the character that would get the most growth. I believe this was an interview after the first or so volumes. This shows she always planned for Taichi to get a lot of character development which is part of the reason he is such a popular character.
Don’t get me wrong Taichi is my favorite character too. And it’s frustrating when things don’t go his way. I even may not like how things end for Taichi. But I honestly don’t think the manga-ka dislikes or resents the character.