Chihaya Furu 16

This one just looks pretty and I'm that fickle.

My first post which will appear "picture heavy" because of the lack of original content in this episode. 16 was a recap of the content so far. Needless to say, this increases my skepticism on the quality of the season's ending. Given where the story is, I do not feel they have the time to spare on a recap episode a mere 15 episodes into the series. I like to think most of us remember the plot and characters so far. If we were 50 episodes deep and there was a recap, I could understand; but here we have only lived a year (vicariously of course) so this waste makes me apprehensive. I don't see Chihaya Furu on the spring list and no hearsay of a second season. This gives me an ominous feeling in the pit of my stomach as I expect a disappointing season end. After all, we covered a year in 12 episodes (The first three were in a previous timeline.) at a good pace. Is it possible to properly conclude the storyline in just nine more? We'll see....

Well, enough emo-ranting and onto the pictures.

Arata: closet perv. Why does it look as though he is being molested for the better by that magazine?

As I mentioned, this was a recap episode. It began with three comical shorts themed around New Years. It  split the episode into three sections and recapped one arc in each. Between sections there would be a comedy short. That's all there was to it. In all honesty, I just skipped through the episode.

Haha - everyone takes digs at him.

/envy

Chihaya Furu 15 - the conclusion of Omi Jingu

Due to my genetic composition and inherent ADD, I can't seem to maintain a schedule. Unfortunately due to high levels of Aaro exposure, I have developed a partial need for consistency. Therein, I feel the need to finish this series, since I do like it a lot and still watch it, just not on a weekly basis.

I will try my best to succumb to brevity.

Look at the geometry!

The reasons I like Chihaya Furu is because it reminds me of other series I enjoyed and still cherish. The two main ones are HikaGo and Nodame. The soundtrack in this episode was really reminiscent of Nodame with upbeat, mischievous tones and well-placed symphonic grandeur. So far the directors and producers have made sensible choices in this production. Although, in some parts of this episode I felt the melodrama was a bit dense. Luckily these moments were concise in their dramatic flair.

This episode could be split into three "arcs" if I may. The first concluded the Shinobu-Chihaya match with Chihaya's crushing defeat. It was nice to see that she has not lost her enthusiasm in the wake of her defeat. It's been a while since I've seen anime churn our a female protagonist that can look happy while crying where my immediate reaction is not scoffing at her foolish naivety. That may also be because the romance in this series is kept subtle and minimal without being completely lost in the backdrop.

I wonder if Naruto paid for that product placement...

The second arc followed Taichi, who has probably undergone the most on screen character development. Since the understanding of Karuta is developed via Chihaya who has a relatively simple, optimistic personality, Taichi fills the necessity for the deep, somewhat dark character thus far. His personality goes through the final stages of a turning point in this episode, which should indicate a more positive Taichi herein. Of course, with the reintroduction of Arata, I surmise the love triangle with fill the drama void of the pessimistic brooding Taichi of yesterepisodes.

The final arc is transitional; it sets the stage for the third (or fourth, depending on how you count them) arc of the series. There is nothing worth summarizing but for reiterating that Arata is back in the game and therefore the series. Considering this is already episode 15, I look forward to seeing how they bring this series to fruition without a rushed ending.


/envy

PoT2 ep 02

I'm fighting the urge to review this episode by screencap. PoT2 crack is already like PoT crack on steroids. So much for character development or any semblance of realism in the gameplay. By my dictionary, PoT2 is not a sports anime; it is fantasy.

Of course, this does not mean it is not entertaining.

I wanted to start the post with a screencap of Fuji to fulfill my role as a squealing fangirl, but this just can not be overlooked. Momoshiro is the first middle schooler up and his opponent is the 5th court's Oni. I would just like to point out that Oni actually has a mouth full of canines. I bet you he special ordered sets of dentures made with only canines and that he eats little misbehaving little children as they sleep. If you think his teeth are eccentric, check out his racquet. This boy (Yes, boy; Despite his demonic man-ish looks, Oni is but a high schooler.) is made of so much arrogance that he is a power player with a two-stringed racquet. His arrogance is probably so viscous and tenacious that it makes up for the massive holes in his poorly stung racquet. Either that, or the two strings are made of some very dull, very tough material to be able to sustain his power playing style but keep from slicing the ball as he power smashes it around powerfully.

To be clear, one metric ton is 1000 kg or 2,205 lbs. Not impossible but not all that commonplace either. In addition, Oni is also very fast and agile. He seems to be the ideal athlete - strong, fast, agile. If he had a better manager, he'd probably not be in this U-17 world. One thing that doesn't make sense to me is his title. He is the Gatekeeper of Hell, explained as the person who uses his inhuman power to stop anyone from rising past him. By this definition, hell is implicitly defined as courts 1 - 4. But later, Oni himself tells Momoshiro to know his place and go back to hell. This implies that hell is court 16, or in that neighbourhood. I prefer the first definition, partially because I find it amusing to imagine Oni chewing up these little middle schoolers (and he does literally dwarf them) with his many canines and spitting them back towards the lowbie courts. It's true, I'm a sadist.

Momo struggles and Echizen is surprised. The first hints of bromance/BL/whatever your flavour is. Of course, it's difficult to fight back against a power player that is twice your size and returns your ace move easily with a demonized version of your ace move. Yes, that's right... one of Oni's moves is a Black Jack Knife. The rhymes make me smile. The fact that Oni can make the tennis ball glow a black-red by smashing it with a two-stringed racquet makes me smile more.

Despite injuring his wrists trying to return the Black Jack Knife, Momo perseveres. All of Seigaku, minus Tezuka of course, call for Momo to stop his obstinate foolhardyness. Unfortunately, Momo is a bad boy who does not really listen to his mentors. (I think he should be punished like the bad, bad boy he is.)

In the end, although Momo loses, he impresses Oni by breaking his racquet. I do insist that breaking Oni's racquet is not a magnificent feat since the few strings he has must receive more wear-and-tear than the many strings on normal racquets. But apparently, this is abnormal for Oni. He grumbles some words of macho recognition and encouragement and walks off. The machismo of this series is off the charts.

The latter part of the episode is spent building "suspense" for the double cliffhanger that punctuates it. The middle schoolers are told to pair up for a mental training exercise and Kaidoh asks Tezuka out on a date while Fuji rekindles his flame with Yuuta. Inui draws the short straw that is Mizuki nfu. In the meanwhile Echizen and Kansai Echizen begin a doubles match against a pair of high schoolers in their quest for Tokugawa. We shall soon get a glimpse of the oppressive aura of court 1. But before that, I can't wait to see which way the crack balls bounce in the next episode.

/envy

Chihaya Furu Ep 14

I loved this episode so~! I don't know why but I feel like it's been ages since I've seen Chihaya. This anime is slowly growing into one that I will likely watch over and maybe over again, when I'm restless and in the mood to watch something good and nostalgic.

I was surprised to see them warming up, but it does make sense. The attention to small details is one of the better traits of this series.

In the spirit of my normal reviews, I'm trying to recall how the episode started. I just finished watching it and I'm having a difficult time remembering the beginning because of the build-up towards the end of the episode. The character development and storytelling are definitely the gems of this series and they sometimes need to be fished out from the beautiful animation and eye candy. The subtlety is a nice touch and a refreshing tactic which targets the typical shojo viewership, whose main interest is superficial plot lines and shiny packaging, but also satisfies the viewership that looks for consistency and plausibility in the characters and plots. As I mentioned earlier in the series, what I like about this show is how clean it is. It is free of melodrama and is minimally pretentious. What you take out of the series is what you look for. In my initial perusing, I've found some criticism of whether or not Chihaya Furu falls into the shojo genre, and the lack of realism in the characters or plot. However, I stand to argue that Anime does not always strive to be realistic but it should always strive to be entertaining. Chihaya Furu might not be realistic, but it is believable and therein it is entertaining. Rare are the moments where I question "Do people actually behave like this in such situations?" or "Does stuff like this happen in real life?" and these frustrated questions are typical and frequent is typical shojo. In my opinion, it is refreshing to see an Anime in the shojo genre that does not stick tooth and nail to its formulas.

Now that I have that off my chest, I can move onto the happenings of the episode. I promise not to be long winded. This episode sees the beginning of the individual matches. Chihaya is in A class, while Taichi and Porky are in B class leaving Kaname and Desktomu in D class. We primarily watch Chihaya in her match against Shinobu, the current Queen.

Apparently it is weird that she brings her own tea cup to tournaments...!...?

Shinobu is a very interesting character. She has this saucy attitude which adds an interesting flavour to the show. She has the condescending arrogance that comes with the territory of being a prodigal youth but she also has this pure, competitive love for Karuta which drives her to excel. On top of this is a layer of pretentious politeness, which is characteristic of people who are exposed to a lot of PR. The match between Shinobu and Chihaya is fun to watch and keeps you on the edge of your seat. Shinobu dominates, as she is reputed to, and Chihaya's spirit almost breaks. When I was watching Nodame Cantabile sometime last year, I found it interesting that they explored the importance of luck in shaping a prodigy. This topic is lightly touched in this episode, where Chihaya's game hits a turning point because of some trivial distraction caused by a member of the audience. The match doesn't end before the episode does, so alas we have to wait for next week's episode. 

So. Not. Ready. to take on any prodigies.

I think it would be fitting for Chihaya to lose after a tough game. We have already seen some foreshadowing that sets Shinobu and Chihaya up as rivals that will meet again. I do not think Chihaya has had enough growth to tackle a well-practiced talent like Shinobu yet. I think Arata will be pivotal in training her for that match. While Chihaya could end up challenging Shinobu for the title of Queen in this upcoming finals, I think her game requires a lot more solid development before any such face off is believable. Chihaya has come a long way from Kansas, but she has a long rocky yellow brick road ahead of her before she reaches Oz. I would hate to see them rush this. After all, we just passed the half way point.

/envy

Chihaya Furu Ep 07 - the second king in the castle

This episode opens with a game of Karuta. In a way, I was glad they got the obligatory card flinging out of the way early. This means a majority of the episode to follow will focus on other things. Through Taichi we get some insight on how Karuta strategizing works, and it initially surprised me. I will admit, the first time I learnt about Karuta, I thought the game was too trivial to hold my interest if it got lots of onscreen time. In fact, as the series progresses, I enjoy the tidbits of Karuta gameplay that are revealed not because i feel that I know the game, but because the focus is taken off card flinging and placed more onto character growth. It's a nice tactic the director has employed to make the audience feel more included in the show.

I think he's dead.

Today's victim is a boy nicknamed Desktomu, which is a derogatory portmanteau of his name and the word "desk". The pseudonym comes from the boy's reluctance to leave his desk. Ever. In fact, when Chihaya drags Desktomu over to the Karuta clubroom, he clings to his desk and drag it along with him. He's the exact opposite of Taichi and always ranks second to him in academics, a fairly cliche character in many genres of Anime. Desktomu is envious of Taichi because he is the stellar student and beautiful jock all rolled into one. However, Desktomu is interesting because he challenges Chihaya's recruitment in a unique way - by challenging Chihaya and Taichi to play a game with the cards face down.

I bet he takes that desk home and sometimes even sleeps with it.

Until now, most of the focus has been on Chihaya and her growth, but this episode spends a lot of time developing Taichi. Taichi, who had lost all motivation to win over the years, finally regains his competitive drive. He wins a match against Chihaya for the first time in ages. It's interesting to watch Taichi go after Desktomu in this episode, instead of Chihaya. Taichi's growth solidifies his role as a leader in the club, and it should be interesting to watch how the leadership dynamic between Chihaya and Taichi plays out herein. Desktomu's joining of the club is subtle and missable, which is nice because it is both in line with his character and contrasting to Kaname's requirement.

This is how Desktomu flails. So cute! (The context: Taichi threw his desk to emphasize a point.)

With four members in the club, I can only predict that the next episode will see the official completion of their Karuta club. I like the diversity in characters they've gathered in their club and I'm looking forward to meeting the final member. This episode also had spectacular lighting and animation. While the overall series has the pretty shojo style animation, there were many places in this particular episode where I found myself noticing how beautiful the artwork was.

/envy

Chihaya Furu Ep 06

This episode begins the solid development of the arc introduced at the closing of the previous episode. The last episode made it clear that Arata would be out of the game for a while and with Taichi's promise to help Chihaya start a high school Karuta club, the natural progression would be towards the recruitment of new members.

This is what Kaname thought the Karuta club was.

The first target is a freshman named Oe Kanada. Her parents own a traditional clothing store and she is smitten by Japanese history and classical literature. She wants to join a club that would allow her to wear hakama and kimono. Currently, she is  in the archery club, which I am assuming is the only one that trains in hakama, and she dislikes doing ungraceful tasks like running in such romantic traditional clothing. As she wanders the halls after being reprimanded by the archery club staff, she fatefully comes across the Karuta club recruitment poster with a female cartoon donning an elaborate hakama for a mascot. Her curiosity is piqued.

This is what the Karuta club ended up being.

What she finds scares her. Awe and fright seem to be the typical reaction to Chihaya's passion. Unfortunately for Kaname, Chihaya sees her as she's trying to leave and pursues her. The rest of the episode is spent watching Chihaya trying to convince Kaname to join the Karuta club.

This is how Chihaya feels when she chases Kaname.

What I like about Kaname is that she is not interested in competitive Karuta but is well versed in the poems because of her love for classical literature. A few episodes ago, when were were still immersed in the middle school arc, Chihaya's teacher Harada-sensei had told her to become friends with all the cards the way she was friends with the Chihayafuru card. In essence, Kaname is already very good friends with all the poems. She knows them and understands the meaning  of each. Initially, Kaname puts up a lot of resistance to joining because she likes Karuta recreationally as opposed to competitively. Also, because the Karuta club members do not wear traditional clothing, she has little inclination to join.

This is blatant audience tampering fanservice.

The importance of Kaname to Chihaya's growth becomes evident when she explains an alternate interpretation of the Chihayafuru poem. To Kaname, Chihayafuru is a poem about the deep, secretive love between the poet and his lover. Connecting historic significance to the meaning of the cards shows Chihaya that there are many ways to enjoy Karuta outside of competition, and this furthers her love for competitive Karuta. She has begun to recognize cards by their meaning and this helps her react faster, improving her game.

This is Kaname's first order of business.

I like the imperial respect that Kaname's presence reinstates to the club's practices. Kaname is a quiet, small girl but she is resolute in her principles. I look forward to seeing how she contributes to the series. Having seen more than just the main characters, I like the fact that Chihaya Furu's characters have largely drama free pasts. Aside from the love triangle, the characters are clean albeit slightly stereotypical. I have not lost my hope that this series will not be corroded by the typical shojo drama that has tarnished many good beginnings such as this. 

/envy

Chihaya Furu Ep 05 - the metamorphosis into shojo

The prerequisite for true love!

This episode is beginning of turning Chihaya Furu into a shojo anime. It was well executed, not just for the shojo genre, but in general. While the episode was largely predictable, I still found myself wrapped up in it, rooting for various characters, hoping for certain outcomes… I am not willing to raise my expectations of this series yet. Many a time has shojo burned me by appealing to the squeal-happy fangirls at the cost of realism. One could argue that shojo is a genre that caters to the fantasies of young maidens and is justified in its proliferous happy endings. That may be true; but I don't like so much sugar in my fairytales. (This probably explains my adoration of slice of life.) However, Chihaya Furu is definitely populating the top half of my Autumn anime list.

No, they love each other through their eyes and subtle commentary.

This episode has a few important plot points separated by minor story building. I still find that Chihaya Furu actually wastes very little screen time and most scenes are important in the building of either the characters or the plot. Chihaya and Taichi decide to visit Arata in Fukui. I really, really want to journey on a bullet train someday. The thought of being able to go across the country to visit a long lost friend and return home within the same day seems like a happy convenience. It would take me two days on a train one way to vista Aaro and there is only a fifth of the country separating us. Slow trains and big countries are so inconvenient.

The (so, so worried) bishonen

The shojo is rolled out in two parts. Part one happens on the train where Taichi has a conversation with Chihaya about love. Well, he tries… Chihaya is dense and jokes around a lot, whereas Taichi bears his heart to her, albeit she's none the wiser for it. Taichi's outlook on love is justified but so very morbid. If I remember correctly, he defines love as, "Hanging out with this person is no fun, but even though it can be so painful you want nothing more than to be with them." This not only tells us that Taichi has never looked at anyone but Chihaya, but that Chihaya hasn't grown out of her denseness over the years.

The (so, so clueless) bishojo

Part two happens when Chihaya and Taichi are looking for Arata, who isn't at home. They are walking back to the train station to find Arata at his part time job. Chihaya has a battle with herself on whether she actually wants to see an Arata who does not play Karuta, to which Taichi responds that he's okay with returning to Tokyo without seeing Arata. I guess Taichi's underlying fear is that Chihaya subconsciously loves Arata as much as she loves Karuta. To me it appears as though Chihaya likes both boys equally and wants to continue playing because it's what brought the three of them together to begin with. However, from Taichi's perspective I can see how easy it is to mistake Chihaya's admiration for Arata's skill for romantic adoration. There is a really, really cute scene (quite well directed!) where Taichi slowly works up the courage to try and hold Chihaya's hand as they walk down this rural path lined with cherry blossom trees. As, he subtly reaches for her hand, Arata whizzes by on a bicycle, stopping Chihaya in her tracks and interrupting Taichi's smooth moves. It is mildly amusing to watch a ladies man like Taichi struggle with his true love; but despite the sadistic amusement, Taichi's behaviour in this episode made me recognize him for his important role in the series. Chihaya and Arata may be the female and male protagonists, but Taichi is pivotal in propelling the plot. Without him, Chihaya Furu would be a river running so slow that it can be mistaken for still waters.

How does such a tiny person pull someone off a moving bicycle so easily!?

What makes the second scene so shojo is Arata's surprise at being pulled off his bike by a swift Chihaya. The two of them tumble down a small hill and land in a perfect position with Arata poised above Chihaya. Taichi looks like he's boiling over in his corner at the sight. Chihaya completes the scene with happy-sad sobs about how she missed Arata. It's formulaic shojo but still so cute because of how Chihaya is so earnest. 

This was the turning point of the arc.

Ah~ Arata is still the same but grown up. Initially I did not like his big boy personality, but after simmering and procrastinating for three days, I find myself liking him all the more. I shamelessly play favourites, so what? He's the same quiet, blunt introvert who is still not afraid to go toe to toe with Taichi. Also, he's a centimetre taller than Taichi, which sparks another irrelevant subtextual rivalry. Surprisingly, I don't find it all that unrealistic that Arata's and Taichi's competition for Chihaya has not wilted over the past four (? maybe three~) years. It just confirms how withdrawn Arata became after the death of his grandfather. (I called it! I called it! But it still made me sad and angry that Arata would betray Chihaya by betraying Karuta, even though it is the human reaction to his situation.) It seemed even the neighbour, a girl named Yuu, was concerned with his behaviour. Though her time on screen was short, I liked her very much. She was genuine and I was able to relate to her dilemma, wherein she was concerned and wanted to help Arata but did not know how to from an inability to truly understand his tragedy.

These two have great chemistry in this show.

The purpose of this episode was to introduce and largely conquer Chihaya's sadness at the loss of Arata. While she isn't the type of person to give up on Karuta because of this major setback, Taichi helps her a lot by finally agreeing to help her start a Karuta club at their high school. With the same words, he reaffirms his liking for Arata which he spends most of his time suppressing or hiding. Lastly, we catch a glimpse of the first potential member.

/envy

PoT2 ep 01- Re-enter the Kingdom of Pot

If you are expecting an objective review, I guess it is only fair to caution you early rather than waste you time. The following words (and screencaps) will probably be the happy marriage of the squealings of a long lost fangirl and the mocking of a weathered cynic. I quite liked the first half of the first season of the Print of Tennis (herein PoT) and then it just exponentially degenerated in quality because most of the important characters were introduced and well developed, and the tennis just became ridiculous. My hope for PoT2 is that they pace the development (if it can be called that) of the characters better so that they're not relying on ridiculous tennis in even more ridiculous matches in a desperation to maintain reader interest. There is such a thing as too much crack and PoT definitely went deep into that territory. Hopefully, PoT2 shall learn moderation.

Obviously, the first and foremost will be Fuji~!

So far, I can't tell how shallow or deep PoT2 will be. (Well, I know from reading a few chapters of the manga many a year ago, but it seems unfair to judge the anime series on the manga's traits.) This episode was basically a recap of the Seigaku characters and the return of Echizen, without whom the series would not be about the Prince of Tennis. The Minions of Tennis doesn't have the same allure to it, now does it?

Of course not. After all, his wif-- uh comrade is challenging him to prove himself. He needs to save face.

I felt slight shock (read: jaw-dropping surprise) when Fuji's first solo screen presence had him with his eyes open. Although there has been enough time since PoT to erode my dull memory, I seem to recall that Fuji opening his eyes insinuated the wrath of God himself plummeting towards his opponent(s) in form of violent lightning. I was slightly annoyed that PoT2 has taken liberties with these character quirks. In fact, it's not just Fuji, most of the Seigaku characters (And had the other characters gotten any screen time, I surmise the same fate would have awaited them.) wildly exaggerate their PoT quirks in PoT2. Echizen is probably the worst offender, followed by Eiji.

Our little Ryoma is all grown-up and manly and biker-like nao~

Take the opening scene for example: Echizen needs to catch a train and he's running late. Instead of running down the stairs, realizing that it is inevitable that he miss this train and then patiently wait for the next one (like a normal human, might I point out), he serves a tennis ball towards the station master (Considering this is set in NYC metro, I'm certain they are past the concept of station masters in this generation.) so that he can't blow the whistle on time. Then he leaps from the stairs and hurls his tennis racket at the closing doors. The racket reaches the doors perfectly in time to hold them open and Echizen performs (And yes, I mean performs.) a running slide to make his way into the compartment, grabbing his racket as he slides by it. It is, by every definition of the word, excess and the New Yorkers on the metro love him and shower him with applause for it. What an snide jab at America for being a country in love with unnecessary excess. I was momentarily amused. Nonetheless, Echizen's suave coolness is much too exaggerated for my liking. I like the child appropriate personality he had in PoT.

He didn't even put his rackets down before climbing that tiny pole!!! o.o;

Likewise, Eiji takes his circus act to the next level by climbing security camera poles and unnecessarily flipping around for needless showmanship. To be an apt half of the Golden Pair, Oishi's is promoted from a worrying, doting mother hen to a slightly more obnoxious and loud helicopter parent. As I've said many times, the character eccentricities from PoT are amplified. I don't know why it annoys me when I half expected it, but I think I've deluded myself into believing that the more I whine the easier it will be to deal with while watching subsequent episodes.

Tokugawa Kanata - He who strikes fear in the heart of Echizens everywhere. Yeah, that's right - fear.

Of importance are three new characters: Oni Jujiro, Irie Kanata and Tokugawa Kazuya. Based on the court system used to rank them, they are listed in reverse order of skill. Irie seems to be the Fuji/Jiroh-like character of this series while Tokugawa seems to fill the purpose of the Tezuka/Yukimura-like character. So far, there has been nothing much to fangirl over, except perhaps the fleeting glimpse you may get of your favorite(s) from PoT. PoT2 is shaping up to be a show of aggravating frustration and OMGWTFBBQ, which you will occasionally find yourself laughing with or more than likely laughing at. T - 6 for ep 2.

Lastly: what could you possibly be doing in a tennis match that you get flung against the court wall?

/envy

Chihaya Furu Ep 04

They're fighting for Arata's attention! ><; When will they fight for Taichi's?

Ah, they stopped my heart with the first minute of this episode. I was torn between whether they were staying in the middle school timeline because they were going to follow Chihaya's initial growth step by step or because Arata had decided to stay by securing some kind of enslaved residence at the home of a distant uncle. The former option would have made me sad, probably, unless some very interesting characters were introduced at the Karuta school. The latter would have made me so excited because of my shameless love for these kids.

The time traveller's aide

Fortunately (or unfortunately so) a Sakura petal carries us into the now. This episode has two focuses: one develops the heroine and the other sets the stage for the first major arc of the story. The writers took the relationship between Chihaya and Taichi and made it less emo than the very first episode did and I appreciated this direction. From what I understand, this episode continues exactly where the first episode cuts to the middle school timeline. Chihaya and Taich are riding the train to meet Taichi's girlfriend. (Why is Chihaya going along? I think this is unnecessary and weird. But then, Chihaya's character is strange enough that such actions do not contradict her personality just to stir the drama pot.) The girlfriend calls Taichi "Ta-kun" which gets Chihaya very excited and she wants to share this news with someone, specifically, Arata. It seems neither Chihaya nor Taichi has kept in touch with Arata. I wonder why? Chihaya at the very least seems like the types to make random calls and chat on and on for hours while Arata listened patiently. It is not difficult to believe that Taichi and Arata never kept in touch.

And I'm flirty. Look at the sparkles! Clearly there is a lesson for all girls to be learnt here.

Obviously, seeing Chihaya with Taichi makes his girlfriend jealous. I think, this was the only reason to send Chihaya all the way to the random train station that Taichi was going to. She adamantly insists that if she gets into the A Class of the Karuta school, that Taichi should help her form a Karuta club at their high school. Of course, Taichi refuses with equal vigour and then puts on a toque and sneaks into the Karuta club to watch her play.

The next line it "I bet they're still not as bushy as your eyebrows!" XD Sensei, da~isuki.

The sensei is as eccentric as ever. I really wish I had a teacher like him growing up. I think I can equate him to my current workplace mentor. He spews a lot of balderdash, but he is a good, sound teacher with a lot of wisdom to share and support to offer. Through his narration of Chihaya's gameplay and personality, we learn that she hasn't matured much in the year's she's spent under his care. Chihaya has grown leaps and bounds as a Karuta player but has not taken too many steps forward in terms of personal growth. I have a feeling so far she's been unknowingly riding on the coattails of her talent; but from now we should see her personal growth make her a better Karuta player.

The animation was all over the place in this episode, but scenes like this were still pretty.

The one thing this episode solidifies is Chihaya's need to move on from that moment in her past in which she's frozen. She still lives believing that Arata, Taichi and she are bound by Karuta and she needs to break free from this naive thinking to truly harness her capability in this game. After the tournament, which Chihaya wins, if not dominates, she calls Arata to fill him in on the news. It's difficult to tell how long it's been since the last time they spoke, but Arata is quiet and hunched over. I predicted correctly.

Called it. Well, part one. We'll eventually find out why.

Chihaya tells him everything she wants to tell him: She's in A Class, Taichi is in her high school, Taichi's girlfriend calls him Ta-kun, oh by the way how strong are you Arata? Chihaya is so cute and excited, and this enhances Arata's frigidity when he tells her he's out of the game. To turn the knife in your back, they flash all the cutest imagery of Arata from the previous episodes. Chihaya is shocked, truly, truly shocked. And then she realizes how her life has been frozen in time for so long.

Losing three kg by playing non-active sports seems to be the theme of the Autumn line-up. I swear Phi Brain Ep 02 has a similar screen shot.

I wonder where Chihaya will spring to from here. 

Phi Brain Ep 04 - The warm and fuzzy puzzle

Ah~ I think this was probably my favourite episode so far. I guess that's not saying much of a series only four episodes deep, but I enjoyed myself thoroughly. The reasons are plenty!

Child!Rook is so cute.

One: We discover the childhood friend's name! His name is Rook. I felt the sort of satisfaction from learning this name as I would have has we ever found out what L's name was from Death Note. The back story between Rook and Kaito was further developed in the opening scene. It is solidified that they were both young puzzle solvers, which indirectly solidifies the fact that the older figure from his recollections is a puzzle teacher of sorts, not some random baby sitter. Now that I know a bit more about Rook, I wonder what happened to the teacher.

How do you react to this? Obviously, the person is crazy.

Two: The character introduced in this episode is love. L-O-V-E. How can you not love somebody with the name Ana Gram. Haha - it was clever enough that I didn't get too upset with the stupidity of the puzzle from this week. Ana is an aloof and strange character, who is an animal whisperer of sorts. The introductory scene shows Ana chatting with birds and when they visit the house with the puzzle, a group of cats flock towards and climb all over Ana.

How polite he is. See, not everyone tries to blow up the city!

Three: The POG Giver was not a cheater. He's a butler to a rich household belonging to the widow of a famous painter. I wonder why Japanese shows tend to name their butlers Sebastian. I have a feeling that as soon as a man enters the butler business, the name change is a part of his indoctrination into the trade. He's the most polite POG member we've met yet. It was a welcome change after the previous two turned out to be psychotic cheaters.

My BL sensors went off. Ha-ha.

The story unfolds at a slower pace than normal, which is what may have contributed to the slow, simple puzzle. The beginning has Jikugawa telling Kaito to block off his Saturday for puzzle solving. Kaito refuses on the principle that he's not a pawn to the organization. We learn exactly how susceptible Kaito is to being told that a puzzle is too difficult for him to solve. I wonder if he'll ever realize that his ego makes him gullible. Jikugawa tells him where to find his designated partner for this puzzle.

That's right love. They are your friends~

The partner is code-named Da Vinci. Ana, like Cubic, is not interested in puzzles but has vast knowledge and interest in art. I can see why this is handy because the puzzle is at the house of a deceased painter. The widow of the painter has commissioned their school to solve this puzzle and Kaito and Ana are assigned to this task by the headmaster. The POG Giver is the (head) butler of this household.

...Why are you inhaling the gas deliberately Ana?

The puzzle is innovative but lacklustre in delivery. A room filled with framed paintings is the puzzle. The solution is a code number. The catch is a thick concrete wall cordoning them off until they solve the puzzle. The time limit is enforced by the denser-than-air gas that is going to eventually fill the room and suffocate them. Kaito stops the release of Orpheus during this trial. He notices that the frames of the paintings have a different pattern on each side of the painting. The four patterns are repeated on every frame in a different orientation. Kaito and Ana remove all the paintings from the walls, leaving only three which can not be removed without force. They then begin to arrange the paintings around these three by matching the adjacent sides of the frames. Once all the paintings are rearranged, Ana starts naming the painters in order. Kaito soon realizes the code is based on the first initial of the painters name. They try to punch in the code (MDCLV) only to realize that there are no letters on the input keypad. The use of roman numerals was obvious to me but it took Kaito a long time to come to that conclusion. They even flash the clock which shows time in roman numerals to provide that hint to the viewer. I do wish that Kaito's pace kept up with mine, but it wasn't a major deal breaker in this episode.

That's a lot of paintings of a woman for a landscape artist!

The treasure was a room filled with paintings of the widow from various years in her life. I thought that was a very cute treasure to punctuate a very cute episode. While Kaito was solving the puzzle with Ana, a jealous and apprehensive Nonoha grabbed Gammon, who now has a crush on Nonoha - probably because she's a girl, to go find Kaito and Ana. After all, Ana is prettier and more stylish than she is. I would be worried too, if I were in Nonoha's shoes, because Ana seems very perspective. She's the only one who's picked up on Kaito's underlying bitterness towards puzzle-solving.

Does that mean you'll break Rook when he's no longer mysterious?! T^T

All in all, this was a slow but progressive episode. As usual, the closing scene features Rook. He wonders if it's time for him to meet Kaito. I look forward to that first meeting. Also, I look forward to determining whether this part of the opening video is just a cool looking insert or some kind of foreshadowing...

/Envy