Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in… I was pretty defeated after the last chapter of Chihayafuru, which was really the first time I felt so acutely that the series was stagnating and that we were really being strung along as an audience.  It’s not […] Read more

In which Suetsugu Yuki displays an unprecedented level of sadism. In my last Chihayafuru post I alluded to the 2009 British Open as a model for what was playing out.  For those of you not sports fans, that was the event in which Tom Watson was one hole – one […] Read more

Tom Watson.  Turnberry.  2009. There was quite a bit of lingering doubt in my mind going into this chapter about how I’d feel when the moment of truth came – such is the brilliance of Suetsugu-sensei’s humanization of Suou-meijin.  But when those final cards were being read, despite all that […] Read more

You gotta love sports! In the midst of the most sports-heavy schedule in recent anime history (certainly at the top of the quality spectrum at least) Chihayafuru weighs in with what I’d call a “straight sports” chapter, a reminder that it can tackle this material with the best of them […] Read more

This series has certainly taken a surprising and intriguing turn. Without a doubt, one of the most appealing aspects of Chihayafuru is that it can entertain, enlighten and emotionally engage in so many ways.  One might say that is both a great strength and a great weakness, and further that […] Read more

In the immortal words of Azuma Yuhei, this is getting complicated. Life with Chihayafuru was certainly easier when Suou was someone we knew little about and were given no real reason to like, and we could unabashedly root for Harada-sensei with a clean conscience.  But as any fan of Hunter […] Read more

Let the games begin. It’s a double release of Chihayafuru this week – in translated form anyway.  And the form the story itself takes should be very familiar to viewers of the anime’s second season, because these chapters take place almost entirely in tournament mode.  As always with the Queen/Meijin […] Read more

What a long, strange trip it’s been. Sometimes in our anime lives, we have our own fated meetings, just like the characters do – meetings that are destined to change our lives together.  This was the first paragraph I wrote about the Chihayafuru anime, back in 2011: It’s always a […] Read more