Impression:
*GROSS SOBBING*
THIS EPISODE!!!!
I CAN’T, SOMEONE HOLD ME, I AM DROWNING IN A SEA OF FEELS AND EMOTIONS I CANNOT RIGHT NOW. OH MY HEART, EVERYTHING IS BEAUTIFUL AND NOTHING HURTS!!!!!!!!!
I just… I can’t, this episode, how to I explain it? I am SO PROUD of Chihaya, seriously- the reason why she has made it past the two rounds with her left hand is because she actually figured out early within her first game against Yuube that she must switch her card positioning that is usually when she is using her right-hand and mirror it onto the left so that she can naturally do what she always would do on her right. Of course the only downside is her speed and strength with her left-hand because up to this point, she has never used it. However with that said, Arata made a very interesting point that I actually never realized until now which is that Chihaya had actually claimed her first card against him with her left hand!
Initially Chihaya was planning to save her Right-Hand for her match against Arata, but now going into round three, she has been paired up against Shinobu who she deems a match worthy to use her right-hand for, as well as a better chance at victory. With her injured hand, the odds are definitely against Chihaya for winning against the Queen, but regardless of that I think we will definitely see a vast improvement and a far more epic match between them than their first one. I imagine Shinobu will be impressed by Chihaya’s devotion to playing with an injured hand, or it can be entirely the opposite thinking it’s sheer stupidity. There’s also a chance and likely the case that she may feel disappointed that Chihaya will undoubtly be burdened by the injury.
One of the things that I am most excited about their match is that Chihaya has grown so much, and she is that type of player that learns and picks off strategies from her opponents modifying it into her own. Unlike her first match against the Queen, she now has a whole bunch of cards up her sleeves, and better yet- as Shinobu is left-handed, thanks to her injury, she finally for the first time got to see what it was like to play left-handed as well as gain a new perspective. However in order to beat the Queen who will undoubtly be playing at a whole new fired up level after being motivated by the girls competing in the Teams Tournament, in addition to all of her wits and new tactics and strategies, she must top the Queen’s unshakable spiritual bonds with the cards.
I found it absolutely hilarious that Arata’s parents at first glance may appear to be desperately praying for their child’s victory, when it is in fact the complete opposite since they do not want Arata to go to Tokyo for University due to the high costs. So they ended up cheering for Nishida, who in the end lost against Arata.
Nishida had it rough during his match against Arata (who has been playing like a boss) since the last time he had played against him, he had lost his passion for Karuta and had partially given up. The one thing that he blames himself for the most is that he doesn’t play as hard as anyone else on their team. It’s sad because Nishida is trying so hard right now to find that fire and passion again, but it’s not something that has been popping up immediately like it would for the others. However it is gradually blooming as while Nishida hates going against strong opponents, it’s thanks to that defeat which fuels his desire to become stronger in order to finally defeat them.
Finally last but not least, goodness gracious my shipper fangirl just SQUEALED like crazy when Arata praised Chihaya for her victory using her left-hand. /FEELS
AHHHHHHHH I CANNOT WAIT! THIS IS GOING TO BE AN INCREDIBLE MATCH TO WATCH!!!!!
AND IF CHIHAYA LOSE, I EXPECT US TO SEE SHINOBU VS ARATA LATER!!!!!!!!!!!! THAT IS MATCH I REALLY, REALLY WANT TO SEE TOO!!!! OH GOD BUT IF HE LOSES AGAINST THE QUEEN THEN THAT MEANS HE WOULDN’T BE ABLE TO GO TO TOKYO- FAAAACKKK I AM CONFLICTED!!!!!!!! WELL REGARDLESS OF THE RESULTS THEY ARE BOUND TO GO UP AGAINST EACH OTHER, LETS JUST HOPE THAT HE WINS THOUGH. ARATA NEEDS TO COME BACK TO TOKYO!!!!
On and of course lets all take a moment appreciate Yuube’s awesomeness for having no problem with Chihaya switching her cards completely? RESPECT. I doubt many other opponents would have reacted as nobly as Yuube had.
I don’t think that Chihaya will do better against Shinobu this time. By the end of the match against Rion, she was basically willing herself to continue, barely holding on. IMO, it’s likely that Chihaya will be too bothered by the pain to put up a decent fight, and she may fare worse than she did the first time. Chihaya came back from a 10-card deficit to beat Yuube, and she beat her second-round opponent, so there was really no reason to go back to playing with her right hand after considering the sort of condition it is in. If the reader were Yamamato, it’d perhaps make sense for Chihaya to do so since she’d be able to use fantastic game sense, but the scenario presented by the show screams of a horrible judgement call.
BEST EPISODE OF SEASON TWO TO DATE, AW GAWD!!!! SO MANY EMOTIONS!! THE LAUGHTER! THE TEARS!! THE FEEEEEELLLLLSSSSSSSS!!!!!
And yet I still wasn’t moved by Nishida’s mentioning of Tsukuba’s bitching =/ I’m guessing he’ll have more awesome moments in season 3, WHICH MUST COME INTO EXISTENCE because the manga storyline is just getting started!! Everything else- and I mean EVERYTHING ELSE in this episode made me tear up in one way or another. I especially loved Arata’s earnest praise of Chihaya ^///^ and then the moment when he swiftly took the ‘Misty bridge’ card from Nishida, I was flashbacking to the finale of last season when Chihaya called him and talked about that XD aaaah so wonderful~