Need this explained

Ramy_Stereo said:
SPOILERS FOR EPISODES 16-19

Fionavar said:


Queen match is best of 3, Meijin match is best of 5.

Kobayasan said:
Queen is a best 2 out of 3 and mejin is best 3 out of 5, but what confuses me is the cliffhanger ending. Is Harada going to beat Suo 3-1? It seems stupid to hype up the luck of the draw if Suo is going to win and it goes on to the final match, they could've just included Suo winning and hype up the last match for the next episode.

Ramy_Stereo said:


Alright then I probably should have thought of that, though I think that's kinda...weird. So even if Suo wins this match he has to win again right?

Fionavar said:


If Suo wins this round then yes it goes into match 5, all according to plan.

Ramy_Stereo said:

I don't know what will happen, but the matches in Chihayafuru have been so consistantly unpredictanle that Suo losing this luck of the draw seems possible. So the cliffhanger makes sense in that it could end the whole match.

Kobayasan said:
The mejin match especially, i changed my opinion on the outcome of the match a few times over the least couple of weeks, my current one is that Harada makes an upset and wins 3-1 and retires while Suo doesn't.

shanimebib said:
For Queen title, it's race to 2, which means whoever wins 2 matches becomes the Queen.

For Meijin Title, it's race to 3, which means whoever wins 3 matches becomes the Meijin.

There can never be a tie in Karuta. Because all the matches have results. In a luck of the draw situation (one card on each side), even if the two players touch the same card that is read simultaneously, the winner is the one who had the card on his side.

Further explanation: Eisei Queen or Eisei Meijin

If a Queen or a Meijin defends their title 4 times in a row, that means wins 5 consecutive titles, they are given the title Eisei which means Eternal. But that is not the only way. If a Queen or a Meijin wins 7 titles (at least) in their whole career, they obtain the Eisei title as well.

I hope this helps.

More information: Karuta is not a sponsored sports like Chess or Go. The tournaments are run by donations obtained from the fans of the sports or local communities. There is no recognized prize money associated with it. So, one cannot earn a living through Karuta like in case of Chess or Go.

Many may not know this, but Suestsugu Yuki-sensei is working with the All Japan Karuta Association to turn Karuta into a professional sports behind the scenes using the popularity of the manga. The first such tournament has already taken place a few months back and it was relatively successful. If you'd like to know more information, look up Chihayafuru Tournament.

If this becomes a thing and bring fruitful results, it will be one of biggest achievements ever by a mangaka to influence the masses. I would say it will be as important as Captain Tsubasa (popularized football as a major sports in Japan) or Koe no Katachi (raised incredible awareness and donations/fundings for hearing and speech impaired people in Japan).

shanimebib said:
Many may not know this, but Suestsugu Yuki-sensei is working with the All Japan Karuta Association to turn Karuta into a professional sports behind the scenes using the popularity of the manga. The first such tournament has already taken place a few months back and it was relatively successful. If you'd like to know more information, look up Chihayafuru Tournament.