This Josei serie tells the story of a girl named Chihaya Ayase, a beautiful woman who is only beautiful in appearance, as usually spoil things when he speaks or moves. Since childhood, he has had as main dream to see his older sister turned into the most prolific japanese model. However, after tripping over a guy (Wataya), she will begin to enter the competitive world of Karuta, a card game consisting store and grab letters placed in a field, which have poems belonging to the compilation of 100 poems. The game ends capturing Chihaya to the point that it becomes an obsessive player, reaching to change their "dream" when he realized that he must do something for her and not for others, plaining the goal, with the help and support of his own student club, to become the best Karuta player.
In my experience, Josei is one of the most particular anime genres for me. I must admit; but as I said about Shouwa Genroku, the sleeves or dramatic animes have captured me lately. Chihayafuru has an entertaining plot, with the nuances that characterize the genre, but without falling into circumstances what make decay they are proposing. The story achieved through execution, turn something as simple as a traditional japanese card game in a whole immersive experience that, during the first 25 episodes of its first season, will take us without problem by a narrative dynamics of drama, romance, slice of life and aggressive Karuta competition. Even without knowing the rules of the game, the manga makes you stoke your curiosity, and the brutal encounters, full of a excelent dynamism, makes the unforgettable experience that makes you want to go to the next episode eager to see what happens.
In terms of drama, the series presents us early a love triangle between Chihaya, Taichi and Wataya, but develops very slowly, because it is not the focus of the series. This aspect, at least for me, it is welcome, therefore, although the approach between old friends who now confront indirectly by the same girl, is by far interesting, at least from the point of view of the series, something that is truth is that focusing on this issue would eventually be a distractor element rather than argumentally attractive. However, it is no lie that sooner or later, this dilemma will form a substantial part of the plot. The characters are extremely attractive, all have their touch, their spark, their quality that makes them entertaining and endearing. It is easy to empathize with them, because they are focused and developed, each with its own perspective in demonstrating its commitment to the competitive card game.
The soundtrack is not remarkable, but at least the atmosphere meets anime, getting into their history and charismatic characters. if I have to emphasize negatives, now, I might mention that, sometimes, the story becomes somewhat focused on an unnecessary element, which is the desire of perseverance. Something similar happens in series like Bakuman. While the point of the argument is that the protagonist is exceeded every time he lose or something like that, the truth is that the message is not effective when the plot rubs you in the face every five minutes. It is very similar to YU-GI-OH and constant sermon about friendship. At the beginning it is nice if you mean well, but after a while, exhausted by leaps and bounds.
In short, despite the things concerning the sentimentality of personal achievement, Chihayafuru has elements that make it and absorbing, entertaining, and especially enjoyed worth every drop of sweat. Karuta encounters are formidable, charismatic characters, great animation, the history is pleasant, simple and easy to follow; but envelope. You want to see what happens in the next episode without losing a single second, and that, frankly, is the work of a good writer, a good mangaka and a good animation studio. It has their details, yeah, but damn, the virtues are, for far, most remarkable.
