Spotlight Anime: Chihayafuru MAL Anime Information Page: Chihayafuru MAL Score – 8.46 (by 10738 users) Ranked - #82 Popularity - #543 For the next week I would like to have a discussion about the anime that focuses on the key elements that we here on MAL use to critically rate an anime: Animation, Sound, Characters, Story, and Enjoyment. I would like everyone to approach this thread as if you were going to write a review and structure your initial post like this: Animation - insert rating Sound - insert rating Characters - insert rating Story - insert rating Enjoyment - insert rating Animation - discuss any pros and cons of the animation styling used in the series, try to include some specifics. Sound - describe any of the things you liked or didn't care for in regards to the music and sound effects used in the series etc... If you are having trouble writing up a review or coming up with specific pros and cons, please don't worry. Just do the best you can with it and if you can only write two or three sentences about any of the 5 elements then that's OK. Not everyone here is currently at a level which will allow them to articulate their thoughts and opinions. After your initial post is made you can feel free to civilly discuss issues of contention. I am sure there will be many opinions expressed here that some of us will disagree upon and criticise and it is for that reason that this entire club exists. So I hope everyone has fun and I am really looking forward to watching this discussion unfold. RESULTS OF THE YOU DECIDE POLL Chihayafuru was NOT inducted into the club Anime list: 11 Yes - 37.9% 18 No - 62.0% 34 Don't know this anime - 50.0% of the total number polled 5 Abstained - 7.3% of the total number polled |
LindleMay 6, 2018 4:49 AM
| You do not beg the sun for mercy. |
| Chihayafuru is a lovely anime that I could recommend to anyone and everyone, regardless of if they happen to like "anime" or not. The reasons for this are many, but they are all rooted in one thing: Chihayafuru's simplistic beauty. Taking away its flavor, the game of karuta, it is just another story about a group of underdogs who find something they enjoy doing despite themselves and work to better themselves in the process, much like most other shows in the sports or games genres. Chihayafuru, however, does not attempt to fool the viewer by covering up its core and convincing said viewer to view it as anything but what I just described. In that sense, it doesn't assume the viewer is uninvolved or not thinking, and as such, it doesn't keep secrets. This is immediately evident as the show begins its journey by laying out the backstory and motivations for each of the original three members of Chihaya's group. I admit, this is where the one glaring flaw in the show shines brightest; that is, Arata's reason for not playing karuta any longer. It is superficial and lazy, but his complete lack of involvement and overall importance to the show as a whole once the flashback arc ends makes this a non-issue. Luckily, because his importance drops off so significantly after these first few episodes, the focus easily slides back to Chihaya and Taichi's journey of discovering the importance of hard work and the feeling one has when it pays off. The characters themselves are, much like the premise of the show, simple and effective. The most important strength the characters in Chihayafuru hold is their resistance of most sports tropes when it comes to skill. Many of the new members of the club have never played karuta before; as it should be, they are not immediately very good at the game, and they do not grow "stronger" at any unrealistic rate. Even the more experienced characters such as Chihaya and Taichi reach high levels of play yet find themselves unable to truly compete with the adults around them who have been playing for much longer than they have, and since the show does not cover a very large amount of time in their karuta lives, they never really do reach the levels of play that those superior to them are at. Once again this is a touch that most sports anime do wrong; one will not see the expected "lose, train, and come back to win the day" event that drives many anime of Chihayafuru's ilk. In fact many of the characters focused on in Chihayafuru do not even have meaningless and vague goals as "to become the best" and such. As a result, the small victories of each character as they grow ever so closer to their respective goals are fun and rewarding to watch. The animation itself is beautiful. The direction taken by the animation is one that takes full advantage of the fact that karuta is a game where not much happens visually. To remedy this, efforts were made to spice up what the viewer sees by stylizing it a bit with images that match the mood and flavor of the anime. Images of foliage fill the screen at certain moments, matched by the content and musical direction in order to create a lovely and joyous atmosphere that is easy to become absorbed in. The soundtrack itself is something of wonder, too. It is reminiscent of a Disney score in its prominence and ability to grow and engage the viewer. Incidentally, it also happens to be quite listenable even outside the context of the show itself. Particularly memorable tracks include Koushoubu, Shiai wa Susunde, Okashina Kankei, and Hangeki Kaishi!. These aspects come together and form an anime that I consider great, something worth watching for just about anyone, and a definite 'yes' for induction. |
| "My tables-meet it is I set it down That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain." |
| Main heroine's type has been done before, the supporting cast suck. We got a girl who has no distinguishing features other than the fact that she likes old poems and clothes, we got a fat cannon fodder, and a nerd who's purpose is a calculator. Beyond average, but entertaining because of Shinobu (she's so cute!) 6/10 from me |
| Might as well post Orion1's comment from before here: Orion1 said: My general opinion on Chihayafuru was initially very positive, but as the series got about half way through, it began to back step and basically stagnated without any real progression, at least at the levels it had in the beginning. I'm actually leaning toward a 'no' vote. I liked the original concept, and the beginning seemed very promising in becoming a very well character developed drama. Unfortunately it meandered around the actual game itself instead of the characters playing it. While the game was interesting as basis, focusing on it made the characters stagnate. Particularly Chihaya's character who initially reminded me very much of Nodame, but ultimately suffered later when the series tainted her savant abilities. I almost wish now that the series was shorter. But of course considering it's failure in ratings and kill time slot, that would have meant the series probably wouldn't have gotten a sequel, which might have been alright if it was going to follow the path it inevitably did. Needless to say, as a big Slice of Life fan, Chihayafuru turned out to disappoint me a bit. Now, one part I would like to comment on is Karuta itself. To me, it seems like Karuta is a terrible spectator sport, in as much as much as if someone just randomly switched onto a live Karuta match and saw one of the players making a world-class play, they probably wouldn't notice how good that play was. Contrast that to sports like tennis and soccer, if someone saw a world-class shot in either of those sports, they would know, even if they had never seen the sport in question before. As such, trying to make the Karuta itself look even remotely interesting for someone who doesn't know anything about Karuta would undoubtedly be extremely challenging. The key to overcoming this challenge is to have a cast of Karuta players who are likeable enough for one to care about the outcomes of the matches and to delve into their mental state thoughout the match to make the matches more interesting than simply watching a commentary on the TV. Which takes us nicely onto the characters themselves. On this part, I agree (gasp!) with Confucius. While I certainly believe Chihaya is likeable enough to make the Karuta interesting, I can’t really see any difference between Chihaya and your average block-headed shounen lead, apart from that one is a pretty girl. Sure, Chihaya doesn’t come close to winning every Class A match she takes part in, but that doesn’t change the fact that her core personality can be described as being a bit of an idiot who works really hard towards her goal and values friendship and teamwork highly, and I’m pretty sure that description could easily be transferred to a lot of shounen leads. This also means I disagree on the point where Orion1 says the series would be better if Chihaya is a true prodigy, as the one and only thing that differentiates her from shounen lead #295 is that she doesn’t win every match easily. In fact, it's when Chihaya is losing badly and the way she reacts to it is when she is at her most interesting. Besides, Chihayafuru already has a Noda-like prodigy. She’s called Shinobu Wakamiya, and while she doesn’t get much screen-time, she fills the role well enough that I would certainly read any gaiden manga of this series that had her as the main character. Chihaya’s childhood friend, Taichi is probably the best character in the series, simply because he is the character who has the most depth to him, but since Chihaya is the primary focus of the show, I will speak more of him if he ever goes up for spotlight. As for the rest, Arata hasn’t really had much meaningful development, and his story is forced melodrama for the most part, and the other three are kind of “there”, quietly playing their roles as a sideshow to Chihaya herself. So what does all of this mean for my vote? Well, if the anime’s goal was to make Karuta look exciting, then I believe it has succeeded. However, I have doubts over whether that alone is enough justification for induction, and I don’t believe that the other aspects of this anime are strong enough to tip the scale to a yes vote. It’s will most likely be a no, unless someone can convince me otherwise. |
Rosa_FOEtidaMay 30, 2012 6:32 AM
Current FAL Ranking + Previous best::  [ |
| Translated from my blog: http://naomeapeteceestudar.blogspot.pt/2012/05/chihayafuru.html Another new and famous anime for me to watch, oh my god I feel so actualized! An anime that, in some way, is different and that pleased me a lot. This is a sports anime. And the sports is karuta. Karuta is a game that does not matter even to baby Jesus and that consists in catching cards that have written the continuation of a poem that is being read. Poem that is in Japanese, which turns the practice of this activity impossible to those who have no idea of what's being said. But karuta is a very little orthodox choice to a sports anime. And with this series we understand that it's a competitive activity and that it's actually kind of funny. Maybe it brought more fans! Besides being a sports anime, Chihayafuru is also a shonjo! Which makes everything double original! Chihaya is presented to karuta by Arata and involves her friend Taichi. Then they separate. Some years later Taichi and Arata rediscover their interest for the game motivated by Chihaya. And then love-triangle-in-which-the-protagonist-doesn't-know-about-anything! But nothing happens, which is always frustrating. We have a set of characters well buildt and conceived, I liked them all. Each character in the main group shows the game in a different way, be it for the tenacity and competitivity or by the imagery transmited by Japanese poetry. Other thing that I liked was the fact that these characters lose constalty. On the contrary of your normal sports anime, the main character does not have a super talent or power that makes them always win. However, or everyone is really stupid or doesn't learn when they have the chance or chooses to ignore the chance. Therefore the growth that could have happened on the character level does not happen, at all, and gives the idea that they paly as well in the end as they did in the beggining. The art is regular and shows the game in an intense and original way using new perspectives. The designs are very feminine and everyone is or really pretty or really funny, but keeping a certain realism. There are not great scenes of animation and there are very still moments (especially of people screaming, why?) Music is nothing special. In fact, is the lack of thereof that adds points to the games, since it reinforces the moment of focus. A satisfatory series, but that does not exceed itself and, therefore, will be soon forgotten. 6/10 And non. |
 Waratte Oemashou Sore ha Chiisana Inori |
ladyxzeus said: Therefore the growth that could have happened on the character level does not happen, at all, and gives the idea that they paly as well in the end as they did in the beggining. This is one of the problems. The characters never really achieved anything in their own real lives. Yes they learned a lot about karuta, so much so that in the second half of the show it really felt like karuta had become the main character. The problem with that is something FOE eluded to earlier, Karuta just isn't that interesting of a game. I don't think the comparison to sports fits, it should be compared to lets say poker. It's a card game. Like Kaiji and the game ro sham bo, the game just isn't interesting enough to dwell on without some sort of well development of the characters. The way they attempted to develop the characters through the game was interesting, but poorly executed. It just felt redundant as FOE helped me out by reposting what I said earlier, the show stagnated. Let me try to explain what I think went wrong. NavyCherub eluded to the issue when he said that the most glaring flaw was Arata's reasoning for quitting Karuta. While I also thought it was nonsensical, even more so I thought the show failed at the moment they took the lead character out of the plot. Unfortunately for this anime it doesn't have the time to come back and reintroduce him as a love interest through competition for Chihaya later like in the manga. This anime fell flat as soon as the love triangle was disbanded. I can understand why the mangaka put this aside for a moment. She wanted to strengthen the intricacies of the game Karuta and explain why it's such an amazing game with roots in old Japanese culture. Suetsugu apparently didn't think she could do this if Arata and Chihaya's relationship was growing at the same time. Why? For me it's because it was more interesting than the game. So she in essence killed him off for a while so she could concentrate on the game. Plus it gave more time to develop the other characters like Taichi, therefore strengthening the tragedy of the triangle situation later for a conclusion. Unfortunately for this anime, the directors choosing to follow the the mangaka's lead turned out to be the wrong decision because there will most likely never be a second season of this show. It bombed apparently. Many blame the time slot it was placed in and that certainly is a possibility. I don't think they needed most of the second half to continually develop Karuta. They needed to get to the point quicker and reintroduce Arata sooner. That failure killed the show for me. Chihaya and Nodame are very similar in their quirky air headed ways and their lead love interests being the strait men. However the Nodame formula works because of her moments of clarity as proof that she was not actually stupid but acting that way. In Chihaya's case she is always the obsessed buffoon, with little actual character traits. Her love for the game is one sided and without Arata her character is incomplete. As for FOE disagreeing with me wanting to see more of the prodigal Chihaya? He's probably right about the troupe being overused, and it was nice to see the main characters lose and learn from it. Unfortunately for this show, without it Chihaya is simply a misguided simpleton wasting her time obsessing over a card game in which she won't even get the man because he got written out of the show half way through the series. Oh and Ladyxzeus this manga is not a shoujo or shounen therefore is not a shonjo, it's actually published in 'Be Love' a Josei magazine. Although I certainly see your point, no sex, no real relationship action, no real emotional development, just a game. It certainly fails as a Josei story supposedly targeting adult women. The art was very well done in the background department. The animation wasn't amazing particularly with the characters. Someone else already mentioned the character designs themselves as being flawed, and I'll agree with them when considering the supporting cast. The music during the show fulfilled it's purpose, however, the intro and ending songs were something that I watched every episode, something I rarely do. Overall I rated this show a 6/10 because compared to other outstanding slice of life shows Chihayafuru just fell short in the second half of the series and was unable to figure out a way to make the game of Karuta interesting enough to take the place of the original lead character Arata. His departure could have worked if they successfully transfered the lead completely over to chihaya, but her character was too static to carry the show. In Nodame's case, I've argued before that her personality could have easily picked up any strait man to complement her, but of course in reality it would have to be someone as skilled as she and passionate as she for music. This was essential in the pairing and I think it also applies to Chihaya who looked up to Arata but their relationship was never allowed to emotionally evolve into anything more than a friendship of admiration. There were small hints of some romantic development with Taichi, but those feelings were never acted upon or realized. The show suffered for not developing her character enough. Perhaps if a miracle happens, and the dvd/bluray release makes some money in Japan, then a second season will be produced eventually in which perhaps this show will be able to actually develop into a Josei. Right now unfortunately Ladyxzeus was correct in calling it "shonjo". Unfortunately I couldn't see myself recommending this show to anyone who wasn't already a big slice of life fan and a full blown Otaku interested in everything Japanese right down to a card game involving ancient Japanese poetry. Realistically this show is pretty niche even for anime and not easily recommendable to a general audience. Including in Japan apparently, so I'm going to have to vote 'no' on this one and hope that the dvd's sell so that the creators have another chance to execute the character development better. Perhaps as they grow older, a more mature dialog can finally happen in the character interactions. |
Orion1May 31, 2012 3:05 AM
| It's a 'no' from me. Admittedly, I do think Chihayafuru was fairly successful in making the karuta matches interesting to watch, and I did feel pretty invested in the trials and tribulations of the karuta club + Arata. But in the end, I don't think the series was truly exemplary in either of these areas. Though I do find the game interesting, karuta by itself is not compelling enough to carry the show. The main draw for me was the characters and their interactions with each other, but even in this regard, the show falls a little short. Other than Chihaya and Taichi, the rest of the characters don't get enough screen time/development. (And I, too, felt bothered by Arata's reason for quitting karuta and felt that it was not quite compelling enough to be realistic.) The only character I felt truly attached to was Taichi, as even Chihaya felt a little too alien at times what with her single-minded focus on karuta and her tunnel vision whenever Arata was around. In regards to art, animation, and music, again nothing struck me as being particularly bad or particularly good. So even though I do think it was a good series, I can't honestly say it was notably or unusually successful in any aspect. |
bellpickleJun 1, 2012 3:45 PM
    |
| I agree that Chihaya's character started to stagnate in the second half because she didn't get enough character development, and that the show focused a little too much on the game itself. It's also true that the 3 other club members beside Chihaya and Taichi didn't have a lot of depth as characters, but they were relatable and I did enjoy watching their matches. This show has it's problems, but I think it was executed really really well. |
| This was honestly one of my favourite shows during the winter season (aside from Guilty Crown for its comedy value) but I don't exactly feel that it's induction worthy. As a lot of people have pointed out already, Chihayafuru is quite successful in making a relatively obscure card game into something as exciting to watch as any other sports match. The show does a very good job at explaining the rules of the game and focusing on each of the characters as they continue to hone their skills. Add a bit of drama to the mix and you've got something that is not only incredibly entertaining to watch each week, but keeps you on your toes throughout. However, the format of the show, while strong in some respects, does introduce a level of stagnancy in terms of plot progression. Like many other sports or shounen titles, the middle half revolves around the characters trying to "get stronger". Now on the other hand, the beginning of the show was very well structured as it detailed Chihaya trying to bring the sport of karuta to her school. Along with the initial flashback scene which established the three main character's personalities, playstyles and passions very well, Chihayafuru kicked off to a very good start. But after about the halfway point of the show, the show started to lose momentum and fell victim to a lot of the flaws seen in many other shounen sports titles. The characters won some matches, lost some crucial ones and had to continue to improve over and over again. And while there was quite a bit of focus on each of the character's individual strengths and weaknesses, the second half lacked the same "drive" as the first. As for the characters themselves, they were certainly a likeable bunch. The main gripe with just about all of them however were that they only had a single personality trait which was exaggerated to the point that it became the entirety of their character. In a purely comedy-oriented show, this would have been an acceptable path, but with a show like Chihayafuru, where drama and development really drive the show this caused some glaring flaws. To start off, Chihaya herself almost fits perfectly into the mold of the "one-track-mind" shounen protagonist. She absolutely loves karuta and will stop at nothing to achieve her goal. And while plenty of exposition is given to her over the course of the show, she doesn't really develop as a character so much as her skills improve ever so slightly. Taichi, on the other hand, has a bit more character depth as his experience with karuta hasn't completely been fun and games. Unfortunately he isn't always the star of the show and only experiences these small bouts of development when the focus isn't on Chihaya. Then there's Arata, who really just acts as a catalyst for Chihaya's goal and the love triangle between her and Taichi. Arata could have been a fairly interesting character, if he wasn't absent for the entire show or his past wasn't completely milked for drama. And finally, there's the rest of the karuta club members who's personalities revolve mainly around a single trait. Kana is obsessed with poetry, Desktomu is a walking calculator and Porky is the obligatory fat kid with a bit of talent. Though the characters certainly don't have a huge amount of depth, their individual views on karuta coupled with their strategies, make watching the show quite easy. As for the themes of the show, there are a few that are presented but don't ever come to fruition. The theme of the characters wanting to reclaim the golden time from their youth is prevalent throughout the series, but is only ever presented when the show shifts towards its dramatic side. Then there's the theme of two individuals being separated by a physical distance (Chihaya and Arata), which almost makes the show feel like a Makoto Shinkai film. And in a similar vein to Shinkai's films, the relationship chemistry between Chihaya and Arata isn't given enough focus, making it feel rather shallow. But unlike Shinkai's films which tend to be more metaphorical in a sense, there's none of that present in Chihayafuru, making a lot of it's themes feel rather unpolished than just "light enough to touch your heart". The main thing that strikes me odd about Chihayafuru is that it's supposedly a josei show, yet lacks a lot of mature themes found in other titles in the genre. I suppose they were trying to go for the whole "youthful-nostalgia" aspect (as indicated by the title of the show's OP song) but again, doesn't strike me as something that ever came to fruition. If a second season ever got produced, maybe this show would get another chance as it feels largely incomplete. And considering the last few episodes rushed their way through introducing crucial characters such as the karuta master, there are few reasons to induct this show based upon what it's already presented. Chihayafuru is certainly an entertaining sports/drama show that is executed quite well overall. But the lack of depth in the main characters, the stagnant pacing around the second half and the loosely integrated themes make it hard to find reasons to induct it into this club. I'd easily recommend this show to many casual anime fans, but it's a "no" from me here. |
Don_Don_KunJun 2, 2012 9:40 AM
 |
| I see Chihayafuru as something of a Jack of all trades, and master of none. It's a solid drama, to be sure, but it provides nothing we haven't already seen elsewhere. As a sports/game anime, it manages to make Karuta fun to watch, but as many others have said it's not exactly the most riveting game on the planet and there are many other better choices out there. And as a character-driven series, aside from Chihaya it has a merely solid cast going for it. It's an enjoyable show by all means, and it does everything it intends to do well, but nothing exceptionally well (aside from the glorious art). I'll be voting no. |
| You guys just don't understand karuta! About halfway through the show, it wasn't quite clicking how this game could be so exciting, so I made an American version of the game, invited my friends over, and tried it. Believe me or not, this game is easily just as exciting (if not more!) as other sports, and you find yourself falling into similar mental states as all of the characters in the show. Except, you also realize how good they actually are, and how much their skills improved over the course of the anime. I actually thought the game was riveting to watch before I tried it, but afterwards it was perhaps a bit more exciting. I would suggest that you guys try it too. Some things I liked about this show: 1. No BS powers. Even the ability of Chihaya, which seems absurd, is understandable when you really pay attention to how people talk. In other words, the second syllable often affects how you say the first syllable in a very slight way. 2. Restraint in general. Maybe this show just happened to come along at the right time for me, but it felt like a breath of fresh air after so many series that try to make you cry at every sad scene, laugh at every joke, rage at every villain, that try to fully explain every plot development, or else leave you hanging in order to maximize excitement. In response to Lindle's thoughts: "Jack of all trades, Master of none, Certainly better than a master of one" 3. Beauty in simplicity. This show managed to boil each match down to it's essence, and pair the essence appropriately to the character. I can think of one specific example: the match with Taichi versus Porky.It was such a slap in the face, to have all that meticulous memorization, planning, and other hallmarks of his style amount to nothing and having a match decided by chance. Such frustration drove him to defy common sense and attempt to seize the card held by Porky. The theme of the match was made clear: the futility of struggling against fate. I'm sure we were all like "oh my god, he has to win this, look how he's struggling, defying the very laws of chance!" Then he lost. Which is the restraint that I was talking about in point #2. Now think, doesn't this very match mirror his own life? Common sense says that he will never beat Arata at karuta, and it is obvious that Chihaya is more into Arata than him, but he puts his all into defying that. And so far, he ends up losing anyways. 4. Art and Music. Enough's been said about it, most of us agree that these two aspects were phenomenal. Now, some things I wasn't so keen on: 1. Sometimes this simplicity I praise bites the show in the butt. I'm thinking of how it seems like an episode has a theme, and all the character interactions are poured into that theme. I actually think the show got a bit better about this in the second half, which is where the show picked up for me. Also, it can become shonen-esque easily when it oversimplifies things, like that match where Chihaya was trying to play with more control, and then they told her to speed up through the window. It was just too much like "I'm going to take off these weights from my wrist now". 2. Another victim of simplicity was depth. And depth is vital in a character-driven show. I feel like Chihaya and Taichi were the only ones who really had their characters fleshed out. The show certainly had time to flesh out the other characters more, but it sacrificed it for pace, thematic clarity, and the like. In the end, I gave this show an 8/10. I'm still undecided about whether I'll vote "yes" or "no". |
| “Money can't buy dere” |
Seabury said: You guys just don't understand karuta! Because this show wasn't good enough to make us. Or give any other one of us an actual interest in playing it. |
| the problem with most of you "no" people is that u were watching this show when it came out, and u watched it week to week. as for myself i drooped this show on day one, and i added it to my list of "not watching this shit." Then, right as it was hitting ep 24 or so, i heard some good things about it.. there wasnt much else to follow at that time (winter) so i sat my self down to giv it a 2nd try. i watched maybe 3 per day. i was hooked around ep 7, and i started really liking that i could sit down and watch Chihayafuru. i looked forward to it every day and was sad when it was over. so Chihayafuru gets a Yes from me. |
archindarJun 3, 2012 11:20 PM
archindar said: In my case, you would be wrong. I watched it weekly up until the end of the flashback arc (episode 4 or so), then decided to watch the rest after it finished airing so I could concentrate on watching Penguindrum weekly, as I find that watching lots of airing anime at once disrupts my ability to watch other anime such as the spotlights.the problem with most of you "no" people is that u were watching this show when it came out, and u watched it week to week. as for myself i drooped this show on day one, and i added it to my list of "not watching this shit." Then, right as it was hitting ep 24 or so, i heard some good things about it.. there wasnt much else to follow at that time (winter) so i sat my self down to giv it a 2nd try. i watched maybe 3 per day. i was hooked around ep 7, and i started really liking that i could sit down and watch Chihayafuru. i looked forward to it every day and was sad when it was over. so Chihayafuru gets a Yes from me. Besides, that way of watching probably has the opposite effect on me. Watching all the episodes in a short space of time makes plot-holes (not that Chihayafuru has any problems in this regard) and general shortcomings (such as an anime following a repetitive formula, something Chihayafuru does have a bit of a problem with in the second half of the series) more obvious. Overall, I did enjoy Chihayafuru, I just don't think it's induction-worthy, especially when I have voted no on more worthy series (like Battle Tendency. There, I said it, Lind) |
| Current FAL Ranking + Previous best:: [ |
| I also did not watch it weekly (I never do that). I enjoyed it very much, but that's not enough. |
Waratte Oemashou Sore ha Chiisana Inori |
archindar said: the problem with most of you "no" people is that u were watching this show when it came out, and u watched it week to week. It really should not make a difference. |
| "My tables-meet it is I set it down That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain." |
FOEbulous-max said: archindar said: In my case, you would be wrong. I watched it weekly up until the end of the flashback arc (episode 4 or so), then decided to watch the rest after it finished airing so I could concentrate on watching Penguindrum weekly, as I find that watching lots of airing anime at once disrupts my ability to watch other anime such as the spotlights.the problem with most of you "no" people is that u were watching this show when it came out, and u watched it week to week. as for myself i drooped this show on day one, and i added it to my list of "not watching this shit." Then, right as it was hitting ep 24 or so, i heard some good things about it.. there wasnt much else to follow at that time (winter) so i sat my self down to giv it a 2nd try. i watched maybe 3 per day. i was hooked around ep 7, and i started really liking that i could sit down and watch Chihayafuru. i looked forward to it every day and was sad when it was over. so Chihayafuru gets a Yes from me. Besides, that way of watching probably has the opposite effect on me. Watching all the episodes in a short space of time makes plot-holes (not that Chihayafuru has any problems in this regard) and general shortcomings (such as an anime following a repetitive formula, something Chihayafuru does have a bit of a problem with in the second half of the series) more obvious. This. Exactly this. Also, archindar, you were quick to say that we watched it the wrong way, but you didn't actually argue ANY of the points anyone made in here. |
| Oh, look. Chihayafuru IS getting a second season after all! I wonder how this will affect the outcome of the vote? For me, I think I will still vote no, and if the second season offers significantly improved character development, I will vote yes on that instead. |
| Current FAL Ranking + Previous best:: [ |
FOEbulous-max said: Oh, look. Chihayafuru IS getting a second season after all! I wonder how this will affect the outcome of the vote? For me, I think I will still vote no, and if the second season offers significantly improved character development, I will vote yes on that instead. Well I'll be damned, I knew there was a reason for that anticlimatic ending! I never thought this would happen after hearing that the first season "bombed" in its timeslot. At the present moment though, I'd still vote "no" since the series still feels too incomplete. |
Don_Don_KunJun 8, 2012 5:44 AM
|
Lindle said: Seabury said: You guys just don't understand karuta! Because this show wasn't good enough to make us. Or give any other one of us an actual interest in playing it. Of course. But I still recommend you try it. In the show's defense, the goal wasn't to explain why Karuta is a good game. Recall that many (most?) of the target audience actually have played it as kids, and it wouldn't seem as foreign to them as it does to those of us who are non-Japanese. So, the fact that you can't relate to the game shouldn't really be seen as a fault of the anime itself. Instead, it's more a consequence of our perspective. |
| “Money can't buy dere” |
| It's great to hear that Chihayfuru is getting a second season. I'd love to hear more. Perhaps the ratings were not as bad as it was originally thought. It appears that the Bluray/DVD sales were strong enough to warrant a second season???Weird because it's not even on the top selling list through the third of June. Hmmm, who cares I'm happy to hear that it's getting a second season. I think it has a very good chance at fixing some of the problems I had with this first season. @Seabury: I'd still recommend the show to certain others too, but as you have just made a good case for, people who are not from Japan and have absolutely no experience or nostalgia for Kurata won't be able to relate. Even so, it's not the game I had a problem with, it was the character development and Arata's departure. I saw the necessity in developing the game play, but the way the characters progressed in the second half became boring to watch. Each new episode set up a climax, only to be anti-climactic the next episode. This became formulaic and hurt the season as a whole. I've already said that I really enjoyed the first half of the season but the second half was where it seemed to loose the rhythm it had previously established. Petty or not that's my opinion. |
More topics from this board
Sticky: » The End of Critics and ConnoisseursHiroM_ - Dec 31, 2022 |
31 |
by danz
»»
Nov 10, 2023 1:08 AM |
|
» Challenge You Decide: Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion (Anime) (1/1)HiroM_ - Dec 3, 2022 |
44 |
by 25saix
»»
Dec 30, 2022 3:10 PM |
|
» You Decide: Golden Kamuy 2nd Season (Anime) (12/4)HiroM_ - Dec 2, 2022 |
42 |
by 25saix
»»
Dec 30, 2022 3:10 PM |
|
» Resurrected You Decide: Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica (Anime) (12/4)HiroM_ - Dec 2, 2022 |
47 |
by 25saix
»»
Dec 30, 2022 3:09 PM |
|
» Blue N Rescue Mission: Eikoku Koi Monogatari Emma (Anime) (12/4)HiroM_ - Dec 3, 2022 |
24 |
by Dramaddict
»»
Dec 28, 2022 6:02 PM |