Chihayafuru

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"kaze wo itami, iwa utsu nami no, onore nomi, kudakete mono wo, omou koro kana" - Loosely translates to "As the wind is strong, waves hit the rocks, yet only I am shattered when I think of you."
Chihayafuru is one of the best thematic and nuanced character works in manga/anime, at least ever since Sangatsu no lion. While Karuta is the central plot device to move the story, the Hyakunin Isshu - the 100 poems are subtly the main drivers of the story. This becomes much more apparent when each of the poems wonderfully encompasses the story of each of the characters and their ... struggles. Minamoto No Shigeyuki's poem above is a wonderful demonstration to juxtapose the development of one of the best-written characters, Mashima Taichi. The similarity to Rei Kiriyama is frighteningly heavy. Both Mashima and Rei hate their respective fields but feel that they have to play on as it is the only thing they do have. Nonetheless the difference here is that while Rei Kiriyama is relatively a genius like Arata in the story, Taichi isn't unless he is. He is not born with the game sense to play the game and just hangs on with his meticulous hard work. He is a jack of all trades but doesn't have something he is really good at. The imposter syndrome is real and very relatable. And so he expresses all his feelings through Karuta, something he doesn't enjoy (or does he). As Chihaya herself realizes, he is like the waves that hit the rocks in vain,



"Tare o ka mo, Shiru hito ni sen, Takasago no, Matsu mo mukashi no, Tomo nara naku ni" - loosely translating to "GONE are my old familiar friends, The men I used to know; Yet still on Takasago beach,The same old pine trees-grow, That I knew long ago."
The story is a development of childhood friends who grew together, grew apart, grew separate, yet were still connected by the thread of Karuta. They get seaparated by distance, separated in Karuta, separated by their love for themselves, separated by their love for Karuta, but as long as they keep playing Karuta, they find their way to each other. The old familiar self they knew are gone, yet the same old pine trees grow that they have known all this time, ever since.



"Tachiwakare inaba, Inaba no yama no mine ni ouru matsu; matsu to shi kikaba ima kaerikon" translating to "We separate if I leave, just like the name of the pine trees that grow on the peak of Mt Inaba, if I hear that you are waiting for me, I will return to you".

Would anyone believe that this poem and the previous one were written in different times by different people? Well the human emotions and depth of conversation with oneself has probably been the same throughout history. You can grow apart from people, by fate or by choice but truthfully if the bond you had with someone was special to you, even if you can't be true to yourself, somewhere deep inside you know that if they call out for you, you will always reach out to them. This beautifully complements both the overall narrative and final act of the story which I would leave the reader to figure out the connection without spoiling. This poem called Tachi, alluding to Mashima Taichi's name cleverly complements the Tare poem above.

However, despite the connection between Tare and Tachi, the true literary complement for Tachi is another unrelated poem from the Hyakanin Isshu.

"Chihayaburu, kami-yo mo kikazu, Tatsuta-gawa, kara-kurenai ni, mizu kukuru to wa" - translating to "Even in the age of almighty gods unheard of, − the waters of Tatsuta are tie-dyed in crimson.". The poem is named Chihayaburu, or alternatively read as "Chihayafuru". Coincidence much?



P.S. The last line of Chihayaburu's original reading is mizu kukuru to wa which refers to a beautiful autumn scenery like the gale in Chihaya. However, Fujiwara No Teika, the original compiler of the Hyakunin Isshu read it as mizu kuguru to wa changing the meaning of the poem ever so slightly
"Even in the age of almighty gods unheard of, − the waters of Tatsuta are flowing under layers of crimson."
making it a well-disguised love poem, referencing undying passionate love, which is always concealed, providing a beautiful thematic background to the story in question.

Also here are the references to the interpretations of the poem in order (coming from the ingrained obligation to cite things as a PhD student).
1. https://onethousandsummers.blogspot.com/2020/03/hyakunin-isshu-poem-48-minamoto-no.html
2.https://100poets.wordpress.com/2011/07/04/getting-older-poem-number-34/ 3.https://onethousandsummers.blogspot.com/2012/07/hyakunin-isshu-poem-16-ariwara-no.html
4.https://onethousandsummers.blogspot.com/2012/07/ogura-hyakunin-isshu-poem-17-ariwara-no.html

“If I can be the best in the world at something, then I think it’s worth a shot.” – Chihaya Ayase

Finding what you love is the most important lesson I've taken away from this series, and the Chihayafuru series has become an important part of my life. Life is full of ups and downs, and I believe that everyone experiences these, but sometimes you just wonder "what am I doing?" or "what is the point of my life?" You don't know what to do, how to feel, or where to lead yourself. We often start to doubt every area of our lives when we're feeling ... lost, which sends us spinning out of control.
And right now, I'm not even sure what I love, but after finishing this series, I feel encouraged, much like when you watch Chihaya working her tail off to pursue her dream—you can't help but feel inspired.


I loved both anime and manga but anime covered about 143 chapters out of 247 chapters and manga is recently ended.
So after finishing all the seasons, I read the manga from the start, and many people out there still doesn’t know about this gem. So I decided to write a review...My main reason was to just write about this...how much I loved this... There might be some minor spoilers in this review.

Chihayafuru contains themes like discovering one’s identity, finding purpose in life, friendship, solitude and achieving dreams.
Right after starting this series, I had a strong emotional connection to the characters right away, and I found the story to be compelling right away.

The reason Chihayafuru work is Yuki Suetsugu's skilled writing because how well she made the storyline that is focused on karuta. But it has been shown in series that karuta is not a very famous sport, she made the plot like this so the readers will dissolve in that sport and it is so good that it’ll make you want to get involved in competitive karuta.

After finishing the series, I became very interested in karuta, and I occasionally watch Queen-Meijin matches on YouTube, as well as high school championships, And to be really honest, I still have trouble putting into words how much I loved this series, how often I cried rivers while watching the anime and while reading the manga too, and how I believe it transformed me. I also struggle to express how much this series matters to me...Like I could brag about it for like forever.

Chihayafuru is technically a sports manga, but unlike other common sports series, The plot centers around the traditional Japanese card game karuta and centres on Chihaya's journey to the top female player in the country, Despite its unique subject, Chihayafuru is a classic sports anime that may not be enjoyed by action lovers. It’s wonderful mixture of shoujo and josei genres.

In Japan, karuta is regarded as a sport, and in Chihayafuru, we go deeply into the domain of karuta competition.
Basically Karuta is a card game It involves memorization of the Hyakunin Isshu, an anthology of one hundred poems. A reader reads out a randomly selected poem, and the player has to find the corresponding lower phrase of said poem., Before this series I’ve never heard of karuta and Hyakunin Isshu poems.

And this wonderful line by kana-chan

“As long as the emotion is there, a short phase can sound like a poem.”
– Oe Kanade


But after this series i was totally into The 100 poets, And my favourite Kana-chan, the cheerful darling of the school karuta club, deserves credit.
My favourite poem:

Flower's colors have faded away

While in idle thought,

my life passes by in vain

as I watch the long rains fall.

- Ono no komachi

So, Chihaya is the main protagonist. Pure, energetic, and ambitious. Watching her work so hard towards her dream will kind of motivate you, and Chihaya is beyond likeable for me.
Chihaya is an airhead. Her love for karuta takes priority over everything else, frequently at the expense of her friendships. She is completely unaware of Taichi's apparent affection for her, and anytime Arata's name is spoken, she transforms into another person, completely consumed by her childhood memories. Taichi looks on wistfully, but he can't even bring himself to despise Arata. Chihaya's dedication inspires me. She is driven by her love of the game and her desire to become Queen.
And I love chihaya, and all the karuta club members.
Arata, The primary trio's reclusive genius is Arata. Being from a low-income household, he meets Chihaya and Taichi for the first time when he enrolls at their grade school.
In the whole series Arata was praised because he was so good at karuta since the age of 4 also as the grandson of eternal Master.

Taichi is a complete opposite character of Arata. He is attractive, well-liked, quite wealthy, and generally brilliant at all he does, and the reason he plays karuta because he wants to stand beside Chihaya and Arata. He begins off in middle school as a horrible little brat before developing into a sensitive young man, who is loved by everyone.
Though he never loved karuta, But watching him losing was frustrating.

“Eventhough you don’t like it, you still tried your absolute hardest in it. So I thought that, it was really admirable. That’s how much you loved those people”
-From Manga Chapter 141

He is the main pillar of karuta club, Soon, you can't help but understand his intense love for Chihaya, and it becomes clear that he is making an effort to atone for his prior actions by showing consideration and compassion to people around him. I like taichi.
The characters themselves are what actually carry the narrative, and their different paths are so fascinating.

Talk about the main trio, The love triangle's basic idea is rather simple, yet their karuta journeys are so strongly influenced by how their relationships grow.

All the other characters besides those three, like Shinobu, Sou , Sodou, Nikuman kun Xd , Kana-chan , Deskmotou kun lol, Harada sensei , Sakurazawa sensie and all the other students from another school plays important part in the story.
Chihaya meets many people in her journey, and meeting wakamiya shinobu lits up a fire in her heart to defeat wakamia(she is the current queen) and become the queen.
Personally I liked Shinobu and the Mejin Sou.

The art was so so prettyy.

And the matches are super intense, both solo one and the team tournaments also.

And I loved the ending of this series, Probably one of the best ending in my opinion.


I loved everything about this series, And No, it’s not just about the romance.
Chihayafuru is about youth and passion, and easy to get into. The main themes of the story are never lost, and Chihaya doesn't take too long to understand her feelings either.

Its a lovely, peaceful series with lovable characters.

I appreciate you reading my review, And I genuinely hope you would give Chihayafuru a chance. It might change your life, you never know.

There are some things in this world that can give you a purpose and/or save you. We call that "passion". For Chihaya, that passion was karuta. And for me, that passion was Chihayafuru.

It took me a long while to write this review because I felt like I'd never going to be able to put into words how incredible important this manga is for me, and how it changed not only me, but the very competitive karuta scene in Japan and around the world.

Chihayafuru is a story about three childhood friends that end up playing the same thing together: Karuta. It is a real game that's ... been around for almost a thousand years, and was previously played using shells instead of cards. The one played in the manga is called Competitive Karuta, which is a form of karuta that combines agility, memory and poetry. I want to start by saying that it wasn't that much popular before Chihayafuru, and that a manga, THIS manga, was able to make it popular again.

These three childhood friends end up growing up and going different ways, only to find each other again, for different reasons, in high school. Our main character, Chihaya Ayase, who is completely addicted to karuta, really wants to make a club out of it in her new school, but (as you probably felt reading all my previous paragraph) there weren't a lot of people interested in karuta/that really understood it at first glance. In Japan, kids are made to remember all the 100 poems that are needed for playing competitive karuta, so it kind of becomes a traumatic memory for most. Still, Chihaya decides to find people to play with her, and, during that, ends up trying to re-connect with the two people who played with her when she was a teenager. One of the boys, Taichi, hasn't played it since his childhood because of other interests, and her other friend, Arata, the one who showed her what karuta was about, was faced with incredible loss and stopped playing it for good.

Chihaya never stopped, though. With her unwavering love and having find a dream that is finally hers: to become the Queen, the strongest female player of karuta in all of Japan. As she moves foward, her old friends and new friends she make along the way end up getting dazzled by karuta as well, meeting her in her journey as friends, teammates, rivals, senpais and kouhais. This is a story about a young girl figuring out what she wants to be, following her dream, falling in love and meeting incredible people as she plays one of the most delicate and yet intense games ever made (so intense that is considered a sport in Japan, actually). The 100 poems speak to her, and speak to the reader. The author, Suetsugu Yuki, is incredible in every aspect: The metaphors, the art, the story, the way she writes her characters. She is able to show how competitive karuta matches work through the eyes of the players. The romance has its many setbacks, but is one of the most beautiful love stories I've ever seen (Shipping them for literal 8 years and seeing them end up together was one of the best moments of my life). The characters stayed and will stay with me forever as well.

This is an amazing story, an amazing shoujo, an amazing romance. I hope you give it a chance even though my review might've been too emotional and not say much about the actual story. And if you do give it a chance, I hope it makes you want to keep moving on as it did for me.

"Like a boatsman adrift at the mouth of Yura, I do not know where this love will take me." - Sone no Yoshitada (poem 46)