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Went in to watch a chill casual slice of life romance and didn't expect to get hit with a deeper more intricate version of kimi no nawa (I guess Kimi no Nawa came after this show so this is the OG). And the quotes of this show are freaking amazing.

"The more fun I have, the more it'll hurt when we part ways. I know that all too well." For some reason this dialogue is so reminiscent of the pain speech from Naruto. When you care about someone a lot, you assume that you and they will have that bond forever, hence you don't ... even recognize that possibility only to be filled with regrets later. This show totally flips that narrative since both our protagonists know that they would be separated. However, they recognize that just because the memories of what they had together will disappear doesn't imply that those moments were for naught. I think that is very true of real world too. Often at time we get separated from people we thought would always be in our life and sometimes we lose memories of them as time passes by. This doesn't imply that they weren't as massive parts of our life as they were. They helped shape who you were and are as a person. "Even though everything is going to disappear, it isn't supposed to be meaningless. It's exactly because you know you're going to part ways, that now and only now is your only chance." This is true for our leads as well in the sense that they disappear from each other's memories (temporarily albeit) but it was only thanks to each other that they were able to become the person they aspired to be through relief. "Maybe worrying about the future partings so much that you miss out on happiness in the present is a waste." perfectly sums up this emotion. This anime hence is a posterboy for YOLO philosophy (the carpe diem sign on the blackboard at graduation was subtle but I see you I see you).

I will end my review with this beauty of a quote that hit me on a fundamentally deep level because I am at that weird phase in my life. "But there's something a little sad about them [fireworks], too. They're so flashy, pretty and exciting, but as they fade, you feel sort of lonely."

"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

Good old Inuyasha with badass female leads passing Bechdel test with flying colors. The holy trinity is badass. I didn't agree with the extremely low reviews of season 1 but I did see the show not living upto its full possible potential. Well season 2 flips that dynamics and delivers on all loose threads left hanging in the first act. Characters are more dynamic, lore fully explored, climaxes delivered and story is coherent. In the essence this passed the Inuyasha vibe check while being a coherent interesting story by itself. I think this is a reasonably well done show and should be seen as itself ... and not compared to Inuyasha even though it is set up in the same world. On that note this show is great and I loved it.

This is my first time writing a review on MAL over 250 anime and this is exactly how Sakamachi no Apollon made me feel. The story is dramatic and fabulous, the music is great and the character work splendid, but more than that, Sakamichi no Appolon is exactly what its english name suggests, it is a story of kids on a slope. The story takes you on a joyride with the dynamics of multiple relationships between multiple people, not just a two people-focussed love story, something that is very realistic to what real life is like. I initially believed that the story was going to ... be a musical but music and jazz are only two small facets of the story which help drive the plot (just like sangatsu no lion isnt a shogi anime but shogi is the driving point).