Well, those were three opening episodes that were as good as I could have hoped for. At first I thought that this show would take a bit of a gear back in order to slowly show Chihaya growing into Karuta. And instead it wrapped up the childhood arc, ending with the three main characters all going separate ways for a while. Again a lot of stuff happened here. It’s a great idea to take the first three episodes to develop the cast when they were kids. With this, the only show this season that has a chance to beat this series’ first three episodes is Un-Go if it plays its cards right.
Why I like this show more than the others: it’s got both the best characters, and the most energy in its direction of the season. This show is both really well acted, but it also manages to really put a force into each of its scenes that makes every minute interesting to watch. Compared to the series that carefully build up their stories (for example Hunter X Hunter, Fate Zero, Persona), it’s much more engaging, and compared to the series that try to deliver immediately (Mirai Nikki, Ben-To) it’s the best at setting up a great base for the rest of its series, both in terms of characters and atmosphere. Again with the sole possible exception of Un-Go, and again that series is going to have to put in real effort to actually be able to beat this thing.
With this, the creators also gave a great depiction of the tired trope of childhood friends. This usually sucks because it’s often just slapped on. You want two characters to have a special bond? Wham! Childhood friends! This show turns the tables around by first of all creating the young versions of the characters, and have them grow from there on. Their younger versions feel like they’re a part of them, rather than just some plot devices. This episode was also full of the tiny details like Arata’s movement while he was sick, or how much emotion the animators managed to bring in just about every shot.
Rating: ** (Excellent)]]>
Chihayafuru – 03
Yeah, I loved this episode, and the series is turning into one of my largest favorites in the season. But I think it’s a little too early to attach so much hype to Un-Go. I mean why this series is great, allow the other close contenders to reach their first 3 episodes.
But that is that. What I’m extremely interested about is how this show will develop in it’s 25 episode frame. For this concept, that seems kinda long. I don’t know. I mean it could develop relationships and everything but how would it develop her Karuta playing ability? I’m kinda thinking the only way the show will succeed will be on superior character development but at the same time, it feels like it can only do that using Karuta as a side-aspect, because developing the game play itself like sports anime or other similar kinds seems like it would be considerably harder in this situation.
Oh whoops, I just noticed the second part of that comment has already been discussed.
your screenshots make me realize A LOT of things happened in this episode!!
I’m glad they decided to blitz through the childhood backstory. Not because I think there wasn’t enough there to keep it engaging, but because it really shows that the director has a clear vision of what they are trying to cover.
“a great depiction of the tired trope of childhood friends” That is a really good point. It is typical to have a “childhood friend” in just about every anime, but it rarely means anything. Here the childhood friendships were shown to include triumphs and tragedies. They can look back as friends, but incidents where they fought (sometimes unfairly) are an important part of the bond.
Great show — easily my fave of the new season.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE this episode.
The team match was so much fun, and reminded me of Hikaru no Go so much. I also loved how Arata turned devilish and ended up competing with Chihaya even though they were on the same team.
I was grinning and laughing through the great times, they had, and then when the ending came and they had to part ways.. I didn’t cry.. but I really felt for them when they had to part ways.
I can’t wait for next week to come around again so I can see the next episode.
I am now also curious about Un-go since psgel is rating it so highly.
Possibly better than this Chihayafuru? Must check it out
Just have to say that I love love LOVE this series so much already~! I like all three of the protagonists, even if Taichi might anger me sometimes. But, his bully tendencies are explained, which I find refreshing. It would also have been a whole different story if they focused more on the bullying and less on the building of a sense of teamwork and the karuta.
I’ve personally read all that is scanlated of the manga so far, which isn’t much, and I’ll be really excited when the anime goes beyond that.
I too get the Hikaru no Go vibe from this, but with the difference that this is jousei, not shounen. I tend to appreciate jousei stories more than shounen, so I have high hopes for this. (That said, I absolutely LOVE Hikaru no Go, it’s just… I have difficulties watching it yet, without getting emotional because of Kawakami Tomoko-san’s passing.)
I don’t think Un-Go has any chance of beating this series. The first episode of that was not compelling at all & pretty boring in my opinion.
But these first 3 episodes were incredible. I just hope now that we are back to the present the rest of the episodes will be just as strong.
I watched Un-go
It was okay, but didn’t get me excited. The setting seems interesting, but the characters didn’t capture my heart. Nor did the story.
@gottis I didn’t know about the seiyu passing away, that is so sad to hear ;_;
“With this, the only show this season that has a chance to beat this series’ first three episodes is Un-Go if it plays its cards right.”
Pun intended Psgels? 😀
I loved this episode!! And I love the main characters, they feel so real 🙂