AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! WHAT AN INCREDIBLE MATCH!!!
I AM SO HAPPY DR. HARADA WON!!!!!!!!! I am so proud of the guy, he was in so much pain, but he persevered! I guess you could say it was a good thing that his knee and Suo snapped him out of that youthful trance. Dr. Harada most likely would have lost had he continued to play Arata’s game. It was great to see him return to his usual craziness! He came back from a deficit and defeated Arata by two cards after he had committed a fault. Dr. Harada may certainly be one of those opponents nobody can stand to go up against, but boy is he fun to watch from the sidelines. You can always count on him to add some flavor to the match!
My favourite part about this arc was learning how Dr. Harada has evolved as a competitive player over the years. He never gave up on the game, and as he aged and it began to affect his results, he came to understand to what he needed to do was find a different weapon. It’s teaching he instills into the members of the Shiranami Society.
Better yet, this makes it so both of our favourite veteran players are going up the current Queen and King. Suo is looking forward to it, especially since he recognizes how strong both of their opponents are going to be. He even warned Shinobu who was surprised to have learned Arata had lost that she needs to be careful. I am excited to see how the matches will play out, and whether or not the Queen and King can protect their crown for another year.
Arata played heck of a match too, but I am glad he lost because it was a good learning experience. He came to understand that he is not his grandfather, and he needs to win as himself. Once he is able to do that, he will be able to break away from his grandfather’s legacy that overshadows his own achievements. I look forward to how he will evolve further in the future!
But the most unexpected and beautiful thing that came out of his loss was coming to terms with his feelings for Chihaya. He was pretty close to figuring it on his own when he reflected on why he was so attached to an“Gust” and “Impassionate” that he couldn’t let go of them. So when he asked Chihaya what she would have done, she told him she would have sent both because they are special. The more she wants the card the faster she lets go, and then go in to take it. That was when everything finally clicked for Arata and he confessed his love to her on the spot, and I screamed. There is just something so sweet about how effortless his confession was to her. His freaking precious smile and his belated blush, I CAN’T! MY HEART!!!!!!! Kanade’s and Sumire’s reaction were hilarious, and it’s no surprise to see Chihaya’s brain enter a state of shock.
…And boy, I am glad Taichi wasn’t there to witness it, because that… well, actually, it wouldn’t have matter whether if he were present, his inevitable reaction would have been the same. We all know he is not going to handle it well especially since he hates it when Arata gets a leg up over him. It is certainly to to make their relationship even more complicated with the love triangle heating up. It certainly doesn’t help that when the confession happened, Taichi returns Suo’s scarf to him and scares him off by declaring he is Chihaya’s boyfriend (which was witnessed by Haruka and his family), which I am going to be real with you, I wasn’t a fan of. Sure, I understand why he did it, but I still don’t think he should have done that. As Arata said before, Chihaya doesn’t belong to either one of them.
Oof, I wonder who is going to break the news of the confession to Taichi first? Will it be Arata himself, Chihaya who is at loss of how to react, or will it be one of the girls? Either way it’s bound to get messy, and I feel for Chihaya who is one way or another, going to find herself in a difficult position.
