Chihayafuru 3 Episode 23 Discussion

Gab5 said:
Can't blame her for how she feels at all. But she is still incredibly selfish to chase him down the street like that. She just needs to grow up. Most of us have been in both of their positions and the one thing you don't do to someone you reject is make a selfish plea like that.

Zoldyk_Quareeb said:
Although I'm a Chihaya×Arata shipper I thoroughly enjoyed this episode. Btw anyone who's read the manga could you please tell who Chihaya ends up with?

cchigu said:
I don't hate Taichi but I get where you are coming from. I really hate the author for using Taichi to get sympathy points from the audience every time. It becomes so fucking annoying.

Meriu said:
Please end Taichi's suffering... it's unbearable ugh

However this finally might be the end of it.. he needs to get over Chihaya and go for Sumire instead 👌

HikariShoumeiron said:

I don't know what exactly did you want Chihaya to do?... I mean, it's not her fault Taichi is in love with her and I think her reaction was quite standard for a unreciprocated confession. And also it was pretty tamed for a person as awkward as she is in these matters.
About the quitting the club thing I can understand why people is upset with her, but I saw her reaction come more from a "please don't quit something you love because of me" than anything. I could be completely wrong, but that was my interpretation.

MetaKite said:
Thanks. I have since been corrected multiple times and I'm relieved to know he didn't say that out loud to her and he actually didn't kiss her.

I don't know what exactly did you want Chihaya to do?... I mean, it's not her fault Taichi is in love with her and I think her reaction was quite standard for a unreciprocated confession. And also it was pretty tamed for a person as awkward as she is in these matters.
About the quitting the club thing I can understand why people is upset with her, but I saw her reaction come more from a "please don't quit something you love because of me" than anything. I could be completely wrong, but that was my interpretation.

shanimebib said:


You are blaming Chihaya too much for who she has been when she didn't understand why her turning him down would make him come to hate karuta. She didn't realize he was never in love with karuta. His point of adoration was Chihaya and it was something she didn't understand.

It's the same realization of how Arata's "playing karuta together" became "living our lives together" something Kana-chan immediately realized when Arata confessed.

FallinDevast said:
Oops sorry about the spoiler tag, I'm new to this board. My reply to Sweetangie is:

sweetangie said:
This episode is built with all sorts of emotions in one episode alone: both happy and sad.
First off about Arata I’m happy to hear he’s finally can start recruiting his team at last ( having two members is a great start): GO FOR IT ARATA!!!!

I noticed Arata did foresaw what’s in Taichi heart through his karuta that’s been troubling him ( he reflected his inner thought through the game), seeing a virtual of Taichi diving deeper under reaching out the “chiha” card as his main target: seeing reaching out of something that’s out of his reach: Arata was worried about his friend (thought about if the “chiha” was read how he would of reacted it: defend it and let him have it by coming to its flow), I wonder how their match would of turn out: I guess time will tell.
Well, here we have it, Taichi confession already has taken action, I feel sorry for Chihaya for feeling guilty for Taichi’s suffering, knowing that all this time she was the one who made Taichi unhappy the most without her realizing it: it’s never her fault, all she can do is being honest with her feelings, it can’t be helped ( the truth hurts) it hurts me seeing Chihaya sad. When Taichi said he liked her ever since they were kids she thought about Arata’s love confession (she's been looking Arata ever since they were kids):

now she finally understood the meaning behind his words when he said” let’s pay karuta together then”he interpreted as a marriage proposal “let’s live our lives together” so touching:

Right now Taichi’s love confession took a huge tune overall: Taichi felt he need to confess his feeling so he can move on even though he's aware how it's going to turn out by him voicing his mind the part he doesn't like from Chihaya is the part in how she thinks about Arata: she rejected him by her saying "sorry" ( in her lower voice) and then after she felt guilty for hurting him while he leaves the club room: blaming herself that she’s the main reason Taichi decided to resign the club ( that’s why she ran after him and begging him not to leave, he pull her close force a kiss in her upper lip and voiced to her what he was feeling “ did you think I was made in stone” now he saw the cards in pinch-black, not only that all the memories they build together have turned into a painful memory for him; transmitted his pain to her, now Chihaya thinks everything that happened was all her fault: poor Chihaya she doesn’t deserve this, what a painful way of ending the episode. What a cliffhanger episode before the last episode, SERIOUSLY WE REALLY NEED A FOURTH SEASON AFTER THIS AND PRONTO!!!!

@FallinDevast about ch 173 of the manga make sure you add the spoiler tag since ch 173 doesn't take place of this episode: what really happened is
* Minna stay safe from the coronavirus that been spreading in worldwide, we can overcome this, STAY STRONG!!!*

shanimebib said:
And if anyone thinks Taichi actually kissed Chihaya, you better think otherwise if your are a Taichi shipper. Force kissers are doomed to never get the girl in these kind of stories. Emphasize on the words NEVER and THESE KIND OF.

alibel19 said:
No worries. I guess he actually kissed her, but not for long and it’s just on the corner of Chihaya’s lips (he held himself back), in the manga the kiss was much clearer. (I felt weird describing this, but in case you want to know) :D

H-X-H said:

No, she isn’t. lol in the live action movies she friend zoned everyone !! like what the hell is wrong with this girl !!

alibel19 said:


No worries. I guess he actually kissed her, but not for long and it’s just on the corner of Chihaya’s lips (he held himself back), in the manga the kiss was much clearer. (I felt weird describing this, but in case you want to know) :D

FallinDevast said:
I'm new to this series and have read past this point on the manga, here are my thoughts on the romance aspect regarding each main protagonist:

Chihaya - the way she regards Arata is similar to a fangirl towards her unreachable idol or that of a worshipper adoring a god of karuta. Since she is immature in the field of romance, we cannot truly ascertain that her feelings for Arata is true love or simply just a crush. In chapter 173 of the manga:

Arata - his feelings for Chihaya is much defined than the latter but his resolve is much weaker than Taichi, since it appears alright for him even if the two are an official couple hence he does not show any jealousy. Moreover, his love for Chihaya is that of her idealized persona since he is not fully aware of her faults and eccentricities.

Taichi - among the three, Taichi's feelings for Chihaya is definitely the strongest and dare I say is true, pure love. He's been with her the longest, alongside her ups and downs and he accepts every facet of her being including her bad traits. His love is unwavering despite Chihaya's obliviousness and inclination towards Arata.

If there would be an end-pairing, I'd like to see Chihaya end up with Taichi and I'll sum it up with one sentence: Chihaya wants Arata, but she needs Taichi.

mafd12 said:
After spoiling myself about what would happen in this episode, in episode 21 forum I compared it to Vinland Saga's End of the Prologue, but now it gives me some airs to Attack on Titan's Midnight Sun; I mean, the forum has become a battlefield: some haiting Taichi, some haiting Chihaya, some defending one side, some both sides, some neither of them, etcetera.
Nevertheless, I still don't know what to expect.
xD



The difference between the want to and the need to, sometimes overlooked but trememendously important.
I kinda feel the same, and although I've got some spoilers over there and over here, I don't feel sure enough to affirm that, what we've seen through this 3 seasons may be enough to deduce it, but I still feel it depends too much in what we're left to see yet, how each one of them reacts to this and what paper will take from here on. Maybe you can say it with more confidence as you mentioned you've passed this part in the manga, but for an anime only like me, at this point I can't take it for granted.
Anyway, really good comment.

Kipo0007 said:

Man this season was so amazing and now just hitting in the feels.
I literally hope we get a announcement of season 4 by the end of last episode. The story is gonna get so much better and interesting from now on. New beginnings, characters and development for the trio. Need to move on from this dark phase.

Speaking of which stay safe and healthy. :)

Gab5 said:


Agreed Sumire is a better girl anyway and more thoughtful person.

Problem with karuta is that it will keep him around those 2. A long time out is needed I think.

shanimebib said:



Yeah. I think Taichi is better of with Hanano-chan. She is extremely lovable and have had an amazing growth and it continues later on. Don't think her pushing Taichi to confess to Chihaya was the end of her role. She has much more amazing roles to play up front so there is that.

Gab5 said:


That may well have been her intention but it is still a dumbass, incredibly dense, selfish and childish response to something when she could only say 'I'm sorry' to him back. Even at that age, people have the sense to let the other person go and deal with it themselves. Another girl in that group likes Taichi, she could have easily taken that opportunity to chase him down the road (obviously not much dramatic impact in that) but if anyone was going to follow Taichi, it shouldn't have been Chihaya and she should have realised that.

MetaKite said:
Perfectly said! It was a selfish move on Chihaya's part plain and simple. Although, Taichi should have turned in his resignation at least the day before.

4kicks said:
Quite the stark difference between both the main dude's confessions; impassionate longing vs a flat out rejection.

Arata was right, Taichi is a coward both back then when he stole his glasses, and now when he stole a cheap and hollow kiss.

Gab5 said:


He didn't steal a kiss. He backed off. And that confession isn't something that a coward does. And if their feelings are that hollow, why is she chasing him up the road? She may prefer the other guy but there's nothing hollow about their feelings or their relationship. She still loves Taichi, just not in the way he hoped.

shanimebib said:

Taichi was about to destroy Chihaya's Karuta, much like Suou-meijin did but in even a greater level, but Arata intervenes and recreates it for her. If I recall the moment Arata takes the group picture before sending it to both Chihaya AND Taichi (emphasize on AND) was exactly the moment the car was passing "Mount Fuji" and we know how "Mount Fuji" always connects the story of Chihayafuru.

taupecity said:
Arata is picking up the torch for both his friends, it's a team Chihayafuru moment. At the beginning Taichi helps Chihaya draw Arata back to karuta. Now Arata is trying to draw them both back. Mount Fuji is a symbol of reaching for the highest peak, being the best you can be.

chiaoroscuro said:


This.

Also - I've come around to thinking that even if he did kiss her, it would have been OK. Why? Because she (some might say, thoughtlessly) offered up his kiss as the tournament prize.

The two of them tied for first in the tournament. If the prize had been awarded, they would have kissed anyway.

Taken together, it's a really clever way of defending his otherwise-selfish act, and paying off that element of the first half of the episode.

(Sorry if someone else said this already and I missed it)

straggy said:
It's amazing how every scene starring Taichi manages to make me hate him more. How does anyone stand this annoying lump? I'm glad he's out of the club - hopefully he's out of the show full stop.

animeguy17 said:
So Taichi gets rejected and leaves the club? Wow, he's more pathetic than i thought (and I've LITERALLY hated him since episode 1). This guy rejects Sumire, but she powers through it, even though she knows she has no chance, and still is able to smile through it all and work hard. Presumably, this guy rejects the dozen or so girls all over him all the time (man...I really hate everything about this guy)...and yet, he has a complete meltdown when Chihaya doesn't return his feelings. He didn't even have the balls to tell her he was quitting; why should they have all had to find out like that?!

You know you're a slimy piece of shi** when you have to catch a girl off guard (knowing she doesn't have romantic feelings for you) and kiss her. She was distraught that he was quitting and he takes advantage of her!
Then he tries to make her feel guilty for everything. So because she won't say "I love you, too" and run into his arms, he can't play Karuta anymore? Gimme a break...