Chihayafuru 2 Episode 13: To Win for the Team!

“For you, I would have given up my life”

Impression:
DAMN. THAT. WAS. AN. INTENSEEEEE EPISODE!
Whew, the tension was so thick, you’d need a chainsaw to cut it not a knife! AND GREAT NEWS! THE AUDIENCE HAS FINALLY SHIFTED THEIR ATTENTION TO THIS MATCH!
Just holy smokes, I honestly wasn’t expecting their match to go beyond two episodes. The match has been going on for quite a while now, as you can remember seeing the sunset and now the sky is dark. I absolutely love that they even took that into consideration for display. The match’s momentum is constantly going back and forth, since it all comes down to the entire team successfully snatching their card. If one or more loses a card, it breaks the momentum as well as waters down the imitation level.
It turns out that my gut instincts of Chihaya struggling keep focus was on the mark, only it isn’t so much about the pressure of leading the team to victory. Instead it is simply her losing concentration and not being able to get into a momentum until way later into the game. I hope she continues her newfound momentum through out the next episode otherwise Chihaya is guaranteed to lose. She can’t afford to let the gap between her and Ousaka grow. Also we learned something new today: Chihaya can’t challenge cards even if her life depended on it. She is too soft, and is glued to her fair play moto. When Ousaka had given her the first one without a peep, she freaked out. Then when she had definitely swiped the card, Ousaka this time challenged her and Chihaya ended up giving in. It was actually quite funny since neither of them are used to being vocal about it. Chihaya has also shown that she has become more observant, since she noticed something about Ousaka’s balled up fist (be it being a sign of losing focus or her posture- I honestly don’t know what Chihaya had figured out right then and there).
Ousaka revealed to us that she actually doesn’t care about the Queen title. It was simply something that her friends and others assumed and devoted themselves to karuta to help her get stronger. The only thing that matters to her is playing as a team, which is why she wants to win so badly. It was good to see that at least one of her companions (Yu-chan) even considered that Ousaka isn’t interested in becoming the Queen. At least that shows she puts a bit more thought and consideration towards Ousaka and not just blindly assuming that’s what she wants. However on the more positive note, this allowed the girls to take Karuta more seriously to the point they actually enjoy the game and become quite strong. Speaking of which, Nishida! What hell is with you man! You are scared of her? BECAUSE SHE IS STRONG AS A GUY? Oh cut the crap already and get a hold of yourself. I didn’t think you would lose your cool over a trivial matter like this! Besides you played against strong girls before haven’t you?!
We barely heard anything from Taichi this episode except for the part of being worried about perhaps having said the wrong thing at the wrong time again. I can see him shouldering the blame if they were to lose.
I am glad that Sumire’s notes turn out to be quite helpful (more than one would assume at first look). However it you put the pieces of the puzzle together. Only someone like Tsutomu would be able to figure it out since you’d need to have a lot of knowledge and information about what the item could be related to in the first place. In return, it helped Tsutomu find his momentum and give the team a shout out.
Speaking of our beloved team, we were truly able to see just how much they have all helped and support Chihaya’s dream to become the next Queen. Much like Ousaka’s teammates, they all worked together to help her gradually overcome her weaknesses and become stronger than ever. So when Chihaya picked up “For you, I would have given up my life” card, it held a lot of meaning to her (NOT TO MENTION, SYMBOLIC!/FEELS).
AHHHH IS IT NEXT FRIDAY YET?!
GO MIZUSAWA! TO VICTORY!!!!