RELATIONSHIPS
IN CHIHAYAFURU
one of the higlights of this show, was the refreshing and intricate
construction of interactions between the characters, wherein even the most
minute quirks of each personality are kept in mind while developing the various
pairings, trios, teams, etc, and the kind of communication that would likely
ensue between such characters. The relationships thus built are rich,
realistic, complex, and hugely entertaining to watch.
WAKAMIYA SHINOBU
AND WATAYA ARATA
In our exceedingly humble opinion, and our honest one, this is one of
the most dynamic relationships in Chihayafuru. Though given limited screentime,
the duo of these intrinsically lonesome, young players, that reign over the
karuta world, provides heartfelt, sometimes humorous, and generally adorable
moments to witness in the show. Having reached the top tier of this competitive
world by employing a strategy designed to favour individual success, both Arata
and Shinobu experience a lack of friendship and team experiences with people of
their age group. Even within a community of shared passion, they are mostly
revered, and sometimes feared, but seldom befriended. Thus, they find solace in
each other’s company, and their relationship has an underlying melancholy tinge
to it. Shinobu almost seems to associate competition with friendship, always
searching for somebody with the same tenacity and prowess she has for karuta.
In this, Arata may be her only match. It may not be apparent, but a cause of
their kinship may be the fact that, for both of them, karuta is something that
connects them to their grandparents, giving a sense of familial belonging
rather than peer-based or team sportsmanship. What makes their exchanges
particularly endearing, is their individual eccentricity and slight
awkwardness, which provides a playful and enjoyable edge to the viewing of
their liaison.
CHIHAYA AND TAICHI
We’re introduced to Chihaya and Taichi as long lost childhood friends
just a few minutes into the show’s first episode, but it doesn’t take long for
viewers to take note of the palpable romantic tension that occupies any space
between them. With Taichi’s level
headedness and Chihaya’s careless tendencies, they’re incredibly compatible as
friends and Taichi’s almost maternal role in Chihaya’s life is the most
endearing thing to watch on screen and it’s interesting that the writers have
clearly taken care to make it clear that this is a give and take, Chihaya is
not Taichi’s burden. He understands that majority of her energy is focused on
Karuta and that most other things are peripheral. He not only respects this but
helps her make up for where she falls short. From the first time he sees her
play Karuta in highschool, its clear that Taichi is developing a deep sense of
respect for Chihaya as a player. This, coupled with their strong friendship is
what helps them battle the strain of competition. Despite their technically
being rivals, they help each other improve and wish the best for each other at
every tournament.
They clearly understand eachother very well
and when they work together, they work like clockwork, so in a team tournament,
they play very well together. Each one making up for and taking into account
the other’s weaknesses and discrepancies.
TAICHI AND ARATA
Taichi and Arata have an exceedingly strange and as a result, totally
hilarious dynamic. All things considered they should actually be rivals in
nearly every aspect and they’re continuously thrown together in competitive
settings. Both are extremely possessive of Chihaya and each resents the other
for the interest Chihaya has in them. However, their having been good friends
as children leaves them eternally confused as to whether they should butt heads
or hug. Their delightfully awkward and confused exchanges are just
cringe-worthy enough to be enjoyable.
There’s also an interesting scene in season one at a tournament that
Taichi alone, out of the Mizusawa lineup, attends. There he runs into Arata and
Harada sensei of his own Shiranami society whom he is surprised to see greeting
eagerly, another elderly gentleman who apparently arrived with Arata. Both boys
look on at the exchange with slightly bewildered expressions on their faces.
Arata explains that the elderly gentleman is his sensei and runs the society
that he is registered at in Fukui. Apparently the two were rivals when they
were young. We couldn’t help noticing the parallels between the two sets of
rivals! It was almost like getting a glimpse of Arata and Taichi in thirty or
fourty years!
HARADA SENSEI AND
AYASE CHIHAYA
Harada sensei, to chihaya, is the respectable adult figure in her life,
her mentor, and her teacher- as you would expect a coach to be. However,
somewhere along the line (actually, probably pretty early on) he crosses over
to just being her guide through her life as a karuta player. And since chihaya
treats karuta as the dominant aspect of her existence, he can almost be seen as
her guide through life. In him, she found the support her family failed to
provide her with, initially. Even when witnessing talent like that of Arata,
and skill like that of Taichi, he recognised Chihaya’s ability, and worked
relentlessly over the years to hone it. Her obsession with the game is fully
understood, and even shared, by him. He is one of the few people in her life as
invested in the game as she is.
In many ways, chihaya seems
to mirror harada sensei’s characteristics. Both have a childishly innocent
persona, which is also laced with unyielding determination, strength, and
self-assurance. The enthusiasm and robust warmth with which Harada greeted
Chihaya and her friends when he first met them, is emulated by Chihaya in her
dealings with whomever she finds is interested in karuta. She is as accepting,
open, encouraging, and even pushy as he is. They both try their utmost to
further the world of karuta and those that partake in it. Atleast in this
respect, Chihaya seems to be carrying on his legacy.
AYASE CHIHAYA AND
WATAYA ARATA
What’s sometimes easy to overlook about this friendship, is the fact
that Arata was only part of Chihaya’s life for about a fraction of a year,
sometime in elementary school. Despite that, he has remained an integral part
of it well into her late teens, despite their having next to no contact. The
reason for this is that in those few months that they were together, he
introduced her to something that changed her profoundly, and has continued to
influence nearly all of her actions. This, more than anything, is testimony to
the reach and impact of karuta.
Another implication of this
detail is that it makes us more closely analyse the sentiments Chihaya harbours
toward Arata. They certainly were special friends, and a degree of romantic
tension begins to develop as they get back in touch during their high school
years, but how much of this attachment is the glorification of an idea of what
their friendship could be like? Once
one begins to think about it, the realisation that they don’t really know each
other all that well, is difficult to ignore.
Granted, their brief
contact was one of the most crucial times of their lives, atleast for Chihaya,
but, on her part, there seems to be a sentiment more closely affiliated with
awe, admiration, and wonder. In that sense, the relationships between Arata and
Shinobu, or between Chihaya and Taichi, seem more genuine. Still, their shared
passion has most definitely woven an unbreakable bond between the two, and
perhaps given some time together, they may be able to reconnect and start
getting to know the people they’ve become, rather than keep holding on to a
mildly outdated image, of days gone by.
THE AYASE FAMILY
I feel like this dynamic needed to be brought up because its one of the
most realistic depictions of family I’ve seen in anime. The parents are neither
sickly sweet nor cold and absent. They’re just regular middle class people who
love their children but have jobs to do and a household to support. At first,
it seems almost as though Chihaya’s family cares only for their older daughter
and model, Chitose. We’re then shown an album where Chihaya’s father puts news
clippings and photographs of her and her team victorious. Chihaya confronts her
mother about the families apparent indifference to her incredible success in
the world of Karuta and their seemingly single-minded focus on Chitose. Mrs
Ayase explains that Chitose, was and is much more starved for praise and
support than Chihaya. Chihaya didn’t need to be told she was doing well, she
knew it. She didn’t need anything as long as she had Karuta.
OTHERS WORTH
APPRECIATING
The anime is filled with a number of pairings that one may or may not
see coming, but that give a sense of satisfaction, and provide depth and
insight into all the characters.
Tsutomu and Hanano ( one of
the new members of the mizusawa karuta club, introduced in season 2) have a
correlation in the sense that they contribute a lot to the team other than
participation in matches. They analyse data and size up the opponents. Tsutomu
was the one who saw value in the seemingly trivial observations made by Hanano,
giving her some belief that she may have a place in the world of competitive
karuta.
Chihaya and Kanade,
though widely differing in their adherence to differeny aspects of the game,
share an almost equally intense passion for it. Chihaya not only accepted, but
also attempted to understand Kanade’s unconventional love for karuta, even when
others dismissed it as irrelevant to the competetive aspect of the game.
Chihaya took the time to view the game from Kanade’s perspective, and used that
insight to enrich every team member’s playing style further. The two have
respect and admiration for the other’s approach to the game, and even their
personalities seem to complement each other ( Chihaya’s childish naivety, with
Kanade’s pragmatic maturity and perceptiveness)
The similarrity between
the thought processes of Taichi and Tstutomu is evident when Taichi understood
that Tsutomu initially rejected karuta because it failed to further his
academic interests. Taichi taught Tsutomu what his own experience had taught
him- that karuta opens up a whole new world of adventure and challenge, more
treasured than any success in class.
Even when Yamamoto
Yumin competed with Chihaya, Nishida, a teammate of Chihaya, continued to root
for Yumin because she was part of the same karuta society that Nishida
practised at. They had no other relation, but Nishida continued to support her
over his new teammate because they were bounded by loyalty to their karuta
society. This sense of honorable affiliation and reverence between fellow
players is prevalent through the show, and truly gratifying to witness in these
unforseen instances.
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