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| Overall | Art | Animation | Character Design | Music | Series Story | Episode Story | Reviewer | |
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| Rent | 9 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 7 |
 Ggultra2764
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[series:2488#1552] |
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Chihiyafuru is a josei comedy-drama series focused around a high school girl named Chihiya and her interest in the Japanese card game of karuta as she assembles her own school club devoted to the game and competes in a number of competitions with them. Much like Hikaru no Go did for the Chinese game of Go, Chihiyafuru boosted the popularity of competitive karuta games immensely when the anime aired back in 2011. The series takes its time to explore how Chihiya became acquainted with the game of karuta as the first few episodes of the series are devoted to how she befriended Arata and took interest in the game. Several more episodes in the series are used to introduce additional members to Chihiya's newly formed school karuta club, each of whom either being experienced or newcomers to the game. The series shows the gradual developments of the karuta club through their competitions as they learn to improve their skill in the game and get introduced to a number of other karuta players who also get their fleshing out. A plus that I would give Chihiyafuru over Hikaru no Go is that the game of karuta is more accessible for viewers than Go as the game is more focused around memorization and reactions compared to Go's focus being on strategy and tactics, thus making it an easier game for newcomers to adapt to. I do have a number of issues with this series. Chihiyafuru has a tendency to milk melodrama at a number of points in its run during tense moments in the competitions that Chihiya and her club go through. While such exaggerated emotions may seem appropriate during losses and setbacks experienced by the characters, it does get overblown when milked during the middle of a game and less tense points of the title's story. Also, my thoughts of Chihiya as the title's lead character are rather underwhelming. While her strong devotion to karuta is an admirable trait, her single-mindedness towards the game borders on obnoxious and there wasn't much else that stuck out for me with her character. Her character didn't seem to grow or develop at all throughout the course of Chihiyafuru as she is still the same energetic and naive tomboy that viewers are introduced to at the start of the series. Compared to the titular male lead of Hikaru no Go whose character gradually matured and his skills in his game of interest improved, I have to question why I should care for Chihiya as a lead character in this series as I cared more for her teammates in the karuta club than I did for her. While not prominently focused on, there were a few points in the series where I found myself questioning the parenting of some of the families for major characters in the series, most notable instance being the neglect Chihiya received from her family as they are more fixated on her older sister's modeling career. In addition, the series ends just as Chihiya's second year in high school starts up and the series continues onward into its second season the following year. Overall, I would say my thoughts on Chihiyafuru as a whole are mixed and its praise by many seems mostly exaggerated. While it is nice to have another series like Hikaru no Go that delves into another game unique to Eastern cultures and having some solid side characters, the show's dabbling into melodrama and its rather shallow lead character were major bumps in my enjoyment of the series. I'm not sure if I would even want to dabble into the show's second season. Last updated Saturday, November 22 2014. Created Tuesday, December 06 2011. | ||||||||
| Unevaluated |
 Stretch
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[series:2488#628] | ||||||
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(One episode watched): What, exactly, is 'Karuta'? Why is it so important? Episode one takes its time answering these questions, and until it does I could only scratch my head and wonder why this Chihaya girl considers it so precious. She talks about it all the time (instead of developing much of a personality), but why should I care? Eventually it is revealed that Karuta seems to be a game for memorizing famous poems, which doesn't seem particularly interesting to me. At the end, you might say that the game of Karuta has as much of a personality as any of the three main characters. Chihaya's personality seems to consist of her habit of blurting out the first thought that crosses her mind without thinking twice. Aruta's personality consists of his wish to become the world's best Karuta player. And I can't even say what Taichi's personality consists of, except maybe being kind of a dick back in elementary school. In other words, this show seems pretty boring. The jokes weren't all that funny, and I can't feel all that touched by characters with shallow personalities. The reviewers at ANN felt that Chihayafuru had a good chance of shaping up, but as for me, experience shows that any anime that leaves me with such a dull impression right from the start can generally be written off without much fear of making a major mistake. Maybe I will watch one more episode just to be sure. I wish I had something better for my 800th Mikomi review. Last updated Saturday, October 08 2011. Created Saturday, October 08 2011. | ||||||||
Other Sites
| Name | URL |
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| Official Japanese Series Web Site | http://www.ntv.co.jp/chihayafuru/ |
