Holy crap. The way this episode begun. I had no clue that the creators would even put so much meaning into the reading. To the point where Chihaya is able to take control of the reader and how this plays off to the actual readers (so that’s why they used that guy for that! He already was an established character so this makes more impact! How is this show able to do so many things at the same time!?).
Heck, yet again this show manages to put so much meaning into just about every scene of its. Every character here has a moment. How the heck has it been doing this for so many episodes already? I sound like a broken record saying this.
And here this episode suddenly comes with the most impossible set-up of a luck of the draw match that is entirely against their favor due to Chihaya’s stupidity, leading to everyone suddenly needing to go after cards that are nearly impossible to get. And holy crap, the end results shocked me. I knew that the end result would not matter because the two teams would pass anyway. But the creators kept it exciting, first by having Retro screw up, and then having Chihaya actually lose again, despite all that build-up. There was so much emotion and build-up put into that match, that in the end result didn’t really matter.
Rating: 6/8 (Awesome)
I wouldn’t go so far as saying it didn’t matter. The national tournament likely has seeding so finishing first gets you better matchups.
No, you don’t sound like a broken record — this show is really good at what it is good at and consistently for 30 episodes.
@Nic: great point, but by that, perhaps we will see some exciting Karuta action with Team Mizusawa.
I, too, have been impressed by the incredible consistency this show has delivered. Heck, I was impressed by it’s consistency back during the first season. I have never seen another show that has delivered episode after episode. Even great shows have better and worse episodes, but Chihayafuru manages to impress me week after week.