Oh my~ talk about everyone having a flurry of emotions this week! Chihaya is still in dumbstruck-mode, or maybe you could say she’s in that enlightment phase of being confessed to. We had Kanade and Sumire conflicted over whether or not to tell Taichi what has transpired, and while we are still on the subject of love and confessions, we have Komano trying to muster up the courage and find the right timing to confess his feelings to Kanade! (KYAAAAA!!! GO KOMANO! WE’RE ROOTING FOR YOU!), while Nishida and what-his-name have their own unrelated plights. As for Taichi, he has his own concerns, but is otherwise pretty chill about everything with the exception of noticing something is amiss with Chihaya.
And honestly god, I am glad Taichi hasn’t heard about Arata’s confession yet, but it doesn’t mean he hasn’t noticed something amiss. Rather Chihaya is super obvious about something distracting her. While she has brought up the topic of Arata sharing that he will be moving back to Tokyo for University, and Taichi definitely has suspicions there is something else causing her to act out of the sorts. This is also why I am glad that Sumire persuaded Kanade not to get involved. Of course she is saying this mostly for selfish reasons (but it was also great to see her be worried about his heart broken), but she is absolutely right. It’s not their business to meddle with their affairs. I understand that Kanade wants to support Taichi (especially since if we’re going to pick a captain for the ship, it would definitely be her), and is rooting for his his love to be requited, but at the end of the day, this is something both Chihaya and Taichi have to face on their own.
Speaking of Chihaya, goodness! She is still in the realm replaying the confession over and over and over again. She really has stepped into a wondrous new chapter to her life, and it’s one that is shining, sparkling. Of course the hilarious about about this is that Chihaya has blended Arata’s confession with her hungry desire to play a match like the one at the challenge play-offs. Poor Kana, just when she thought Chihaya was having a breakthrough in the love department and was ready to support her, this happens!
But Chihaya’s new chapter of her life isn’t just about love, she has now reached the point where she needs to make hard decisions. Earlier this season, we see her being torn over choices she has to make, and how her greed contributes to her stubborn refusal to let them go. So when Suo so bluntly tells her: “You can’t.” Take that as a reality-check if you will, she can’t have it all. It is virtually impossible. Whether she likes it or not (and it’s going to come sooner than later), the time will come where sacrifices will have to be made. This applies both her dreams to become Queen, a teacher, and now potentially her friendship between Arata and Taichi. And if I may be so frank, I think Suo’s comment comes at a great time because it is going to force Chihaya to have do some deep reflection on what she needs to focus on from here on out.
It was quite neat to see a different side of Suo, as well as his practice routine. Apparently he only practices for about two months each year, and spends the rest of his time he drops in to help out his club-mates (usually feeding them) who are on good terms with him. It also appears a source of his motivation is being broadcasted live nationwide, which is why when he heard NHK wouldn’t be covering the competition this year, he was bummed out about it until the word got to him that NicoNico will be streaming it instead.
It was also quite facinating to see how differently people perceives him outside of the Karuta Society’s circle. I found it quite facinating how he isn’t the lone wolf some of us have may have initially thought of him to be. However when it comes to the game, like Shinobu, nobody really wants to play against him because he’s too good, and it doesn’t help that his play-style is also extremely frustrating (and just plain nasty). This why among the members of the club, Sudo and Koshikawa are the only two Class A members (of the few they had begin with) who are willing to challenge him over and over again regardless of their losses. So Chihaya and Taichi serve as a good chance of pace in regards to practice partners.
Chihaya learned the hard way and too late into the match how Suo has a way of taking control of the game and luring his opponents into a trap of committing a series of faults. When that happens, he doesn’t need to take 25 Cards, he just needs to stick to his own game plan. That being said, I am quite excited to see how Taichi will fare against him with his new play-style! This should be fun! And best of all, I am really happy to see Taichi inspired and motivated to think positively and make the most of this experience.
And bearing that in that in mind, it is important to note none of this would have happened had it not been for Chihaya’s crazy antics of mimicking Suo and having the guts to ask him to play a match with her. Both she and Taichi of them will be able learn a lot from this experience, and best of all all, they will be able to share it with Dr. Harada to help him prepare for the grand Queen and Master match.
Next week it looks like we might be getting a recap episode followed by a new one right after, so next week’s entry will probably going to be listed as a double-post.
