If Arata, Chihaya and Taichi do not get down and have a hot, dirty threesome on the tatami mat at the end of this series, suffice it to say I will not be pleased. It’s too hard to pair them off. I want the three of them to be together forever.
Now that the second season of Chihayafuru has ended, I figure it’s about time to come out of the woodwork and tell everyone my opinion on the shipping. Not that it should really matter since the shipping was never addressed in the second season at all, except in the first and last episodes. And yet despite this, the shipping wars have still been raging as strongly as ever in the forums. I haven’t done much more than skim what people have to say about it, though, because despite my strong emotional investment into the characters, I’m not keen on a particular pair. But shipping is a fun way of engaging with a story and I’m not out to ruin anyone’s entertainment, so let’s indulge in a long, analytic post about the central love triangle in this series.
Here is my definitive statement on the shipping debate: neither boy is better than the other.
I once heard it remarked somewhere that Arata fans dislike Taichi, while Taichi fans like both Arata and Taichi. I don’t know how true this is, but I do like both the main male protagonists – and, honestly speaking, I empathise better with Taichi because I frankly think he’s a bit of an asshole. He pines endlessly over Chihaya, calls Arata his enemy and breaks up with his girlfriend over the phone. He’s a coward, overthinks every detail and beats himself up whenever he is less than 100% perfect. Basically, he’s me, only handsome and talented.
Without Taichi, this series would not be considered a romance show. It would just be a regular sports anime, albeit about an old man’s card game. Taichi is the emotional anchor of the series, and his reactions give insight to the unspoken element of the relationships. This is a roundabout way of saying he angsts a lot. He’s sweet to Chihaya, though, and he constantly looks out for her whilst never declaring his intentions. He is the guy who, despite his desirability to every other female, will never be acknowledged romantically by the one girl he truly loves.
I’d want Taichi to get the girl, because that would give him a break. But note my phrasing: “Get the girl.” That implies that I just want him to win at something. I’m not really taking Chihaya’s own feelings – or their chemistry – into account here. It’s actually rather difficult to imagine a Taichi who isn’t silently pining away over something he’ll never have. I think that this is the sad irony of his character. It is impossible for me to imagine him having a healthy romantic relationship.
Chihaya will never remove Taichi from the Friend Zone as long as she has karuta, anyway. It is all she literally thinks about. Also, this is why the series more strongly suggests an Arata x Chihaya endgame, because Arata is the person who inspired her to go along that path in the first place. Chihaya’s admittance to herself that she loves him at the end of season 2 speaks for itself – although her lines there were actually pretty ambiguous in context. She evidently likes him as much as karuta, though, which should mean A LOT no matter how you look at it.
When it comes to karuta, Arata is like a god. He is consummate, measured, calm and – well – perfect. No wonder Chihaya idolises him and can’t take his eyes off him when he plays. No wonder Taichi compares himself negatively to him. In truth, Arata is actually a shy, dorky guy, but this is what makes him even more endearing. Arata is the ideal, and it fits the idealistic nature of the series to ship him with Chihaya. Thematically, Taichi x Chihaya would not make as much sense.
So my take is that Arata x Chihaya will probably happen in the end, but I like Taichi and I don’t want him to feel left out. I think he will eventually develop to the stage where he can be satisfied with himself as who he is. He’ll get over Chihaya one day. I think that’s for the best.
But, um, didn’t you say you shipped a threesome?
Oh, right, I did, didn’t I?
What strikes me about this trio is their sense of togetherness as youngsters. Because of the time they spent together when they were younger, I think it’s clear that Chihaya loves them both dearly. I think the amount she cares for them is equal, even if the nature of her feelings might be different. (I think she fails to recognise this within herself, though.)
There is just something that feels right about their friendship. As children, they all loved each other, although it took Taichi some time to warm up to Arata. The cracks in their friendship show after years have passed, though. Chihaya is the one who brings them all together. I doubt Taichi and Arata would ever connect with each other if Chihaya were not there in the middle.
This is why I emphatically do not want Chihaya to choose. In choosing one over the other, the dynamics of the friendship trio would tilt too severely to one end, and I think this precious something they have together would be erased. If she chose one, the other boy, feeling left out, would probably back off from the other two entirely, thinking that’s prudent. Note that this is probably why Arata was so emotionally distant for a good portion of the story after his reintroduction as a teenager – right up until Taichi told him he and Chihaya were not dating. Jealousy might form a part of it, but I think they’re all thinking too much of each other’s feelings and what is “best” for Chihaya.
Arata and Taichi are probably following an unspoken bro code where neither is allowed to make a move on Chihaya until she comes clean by her own volition. They idealise her innocence just as she idealises their old friendship. The truth is that they’ve all changed and they will never see each other the way they used to. Arata and Taichi’s feelings of love for Chihaya prevents them from connecting with each other as they once did, and neither of them want to break it to Chihaya that they possess complicated feelings that she might not even be capable of returning. They’re all complex, so much is unspoken between them, and at the same time, their words and how they relate to each other is still so simple. They’re childhood friends, after all.
This relationship they have between them moves me deeply because I think it touches on something honest and truthful about humans and how we relate to each other. When you’ve known someone as a child and then you move away and grow up, is it really possible to reconnect as you once did? In Chihaya’s bullheaded, earnest mind, she genuinely thinks so. But for everyone else, it’s more complicated than that. The nostalgia can be revisited and we can all relate deeply to our past selves and motivations, but feelings can also change. We can remember who we once were, but we can never be that person ever again.
Perhaps subconsciously, deep down, Chihaya is afraid of admitting to herself that she does love one of the boys romantically because, just like me, she doesn’t want to diminish the value of her friendships. Because that friendship she has is a powerful one indeed – it’s strong enough to last the distance and deep enough to overcome time. It’s just as well that she doesn’t want any of that to change, even if it is an inevitable part of growing up.
Karuta comes first, she says. And perhaps she’s right – poetry is the shining beacon that outlasts everything in the end. Such is the nature of art.
I am like a boatman without a rudder
Drifting from the mouth of the Yura River into the sea.
Where this love will take me, I do not know.
– Sone no Yoshitada
Final Thoughts
Arata x Chihaya x Taichi forever.
I’m completely open to other people’s thoughts and opinions, though. Talking about shipping tastes is fun, after all. Who would you want Chihaya to be with? Arata? Taichi? Shinobu? Kana-chan? (HELL YES to those last two!)
Frog-kun's Blog 
What’s with all this nonsense!
Chihaya is definetly pining for Shinobu’s kokoro
You are absolutely correct.
Supporting TaichixChihaya from the “let the guy catch a break” angle you mention. True that the relationship of the trio is more interesting than any of the two (technically, three) possible couples there.
I rarely say no to yuri so ChihayaxKana would be sweet, and I think ChihayaxShinobu could be done with some work.
That said, my main ship for this show would be KanaxTsutomu. I can easily picture those two in a working long-term relationship.
I would prefer Chihaya x Shinobu over Chihaya x Kana because I prefer my yuri to have a bit of personality clashing over just pleasant niceties. Chihaya and Shinobu are always riveting to watch when they play. Although I admit that I agree with what you say – they would need some work.
Tsutomu x Kana? I have to admit I barely thought of that one, but it definitely works, even on a practical angle. Nice observation there. Guess we were all too preoccupied with Chihaya’s love life to realise what a cute romance is blossoming on the side there!
At first I thought Chihaya x Shinobu wouldn’t really work as well in love as it does in a rivalry + there’s the obvious issue of Chihaya being more interested at the time with Shinobu only occasionally remembering Chihaya’s existence. But I gave the thought some time and came to the conclusion they could work much like one of the classic shoujo pairs: a genki airhead protagonist (Chihaya) and her unmotivated ‘bad boy’ love interest (Shinobu). Shinobu pretends Chihaya is just an annoyance while Chihaya doesn’t notice/mind Shinobu putting on airs and just drags her toward new adventures every day anyway. Certainly a good choice if you derive pleasure from clashing personalities. (I do feel somewhat concerned that if it’s those two we’re talking about, they might abandon the idea of doing romantic stuff and just, you know, play karuta all the time. Though they would probably consider it plenty romantic. Karuta better than sex and all that.)
I don’t think Chihaya x Kana would be all pleasant niceties. Kanade’s had a lot of good influence on Chihaya throughout the two seasons, and most of it came about as a result of their personalities clashing, mostly on the action vs contemplation front. But obviously while Kanade is often very firm in her beliefs, she is only rarely confrontational. And when she does explode, Chihaya is usually too afraid of her to protest. So if you like sparks flying, Chihaya x Shinobu is the more obvious choice.
Where would you see Sumire in the romantic equations of Chihayafuru :D?
You bring up good points about Kanade and Shinobu… I never thought of it through those angles but when I think about it, you’re right. Karuta is better than sex.
Sumire is kind of the eternal fifth wheel… lol. Despite her having more interest in love than every other character in the series (and then some) I love how she did basically nothing to shake up the relationships and is just there for the occasional odd job. That said, I think she and Tsukuba would make a good a couple for some reason? lolol gotta pair the spares!
I asked precisely because I can’t imagine Tsukuba and Sumire as a couple. At all xD. We’ve had hints of Sumire x Tsutomu and there is the obvious Sumire x Taichi, but Tsutomu is already taken (lol), while turning Sumire x Taichi into a serviceable ship would take many, many manga chapters. Well, who knows what the future will bring.
To be honest, as much as I thought of Chihayafuru 1 as pure excellence, I never thought we’d be getting a second season. Now I’m cautiously optimistic that some day, we’ll get a third one. But even then, I don’t think it would be enough to resolve the love triangles in there :P.
I can definitely see a Chihaya x Taichi conclusion. hear me out. the boys at some point will get aggressive. probably an intense match against two of the promising potential kings fight one on one but it has a hidden meaning for Chihaya’s hand. Arata wins and Taichi goes emo, cause he’s a b*tch and fujoshi loves the feminine handsome dudes. This will push a confrontation btween Arata and Chihaya forcing Taichi to confess and Chihaya to stall but spend nights thinking of Taichi and what he means to her. Then the third season ends. XD
As for Arata. Seriously, I’m pushing for Arata x Shinobu. Two people primed for greatness ever since they were young. Shinobu also feels an attachment with Arata thinking that they both had a harsh childhood. Though Arata moving to Tokyo might make this pairing muddle. There is seriously enough cuteness and hidden sexual tension between them. Plus, Shinobu falling in love is something I would spend money on. :)
This love triangle will eventually end. Though both guys have great potential, my years spending WAY too much time watching Shoujo to get my crush to like me… and successfully kiss her on a moonlight night (not f*cking easy to do btw), the conclusion of this triangle is pretty easy to predict. Unless sum1 impregnates Chihaya which I don’t think the story will go to. :)
What you’re proposing is basically Boys Over Flowers – or should I say Boys Over Karuta?
Dude, totally with you on Arata x Shinobu. They’ve got a lot in common AND they have awesome matches, which everyone knows if you watch sports anime means they would make a great couple.
I know.
If the love triangle ends, that wouldn’t be good for the series… everyone knows they just watch it for the shipping. lol.
>the shipping was never addressed in the second season at all
Might be my memory sucking, but I could swear there were a few more scenes in the middle of characters of Misusawa characters shipping Taichi and Chihaya, subtly or not.
>I once heard it remarked somewhere that Arata fans dislike Taichi, while Taichi fans like both Arata and Taichi
I’ve heard the same, but really they’re both unlikable. What makes them work is that they’re unlikable but dedicated, and Chihaya isn’t really all that likable herself anyway. (I’m talking from a shipping/relationship perspective). But you can understand why Taichi would be a cowardly prick, because the series has made it clear that it’s not just him who’s the source of his unluck. Touma’s got nothing on this guy.
Frankly, I think Arata doesn’t deserve Chihaya, and in turn she doesn’t deserve Taichi. He clearly doesn’t deserve her either, from the perspective of never really making a move, but she’s by far the less deserving party. Arata kind of wins by default, because her love of Karuta confuses her into loving him, but a relationship between them probably wouldn’t last very long or it would be a love of second-fiddles, where both of them love Karuta more than each other (depressing as hell). Taichi might keep things going for a while, but even he would realize that she’s not worth it after a while.
>I emphatically do not want Chihaya to choose
She really can’t. If she does, their friendship will crumble. They’re not romantic interests, per se, they’re life-long buddies. Breaking that up for a fling is wrong, and it’s clear that Arata and the Queen have more passion together (though Arata seems borderline asexual), while Taichi really doesn’t have any reason to rush into a relationship as long as he doesn’t wager his entire life on mastering Karuta just to please Chihaya. Chihaya.. well, she’s kind of screwed until she either has to quit Karuta or finds someone who can break her obsession. Arata can’t do that, Taichi can’t do that.
Of course, that doesn’t mean a threesome wouldn’t go a long way to relieving their tension. I don’t think anyone would mind that, really.
There probably were, come to think of it. Second season still felt pretty straightforward in the relationship department regardless.
An interesting way of looking at things! I think they’re all too immature about love to really make any romantic relationship between any two of them work, but as fans we just love to read into their interactions and speculate about what could be in the future. But who knows what could happen? I actually think the best outcome is for Chihaya to end up with neither, even though the series is gunning for Arata x Chihaya, which is an unhealthily idealistic relationship at best.
What you speculated reminds me vaguely of a situation portrayed in William Thackeray’s Vanity Fair. Amelia (Chihaya) marries George (Arata), who is childhood friends with Dobbin (Taichi). Amelia and George have a sweet relationship, but it wasn’t long enough for the inevitable disillusionment to settle in, which was strongly implied would happen. George dies tragically, and Amelia spends years mourning over him. She puts him on a pedestal even though he had huge faults that she closes her eyes to. Dobbin takes care of her, both out of loyalty to his friend and because he himself loves Amelia. She was too good for George and Dobbin is too good for her. When eventually, after many many years, Amelia finally says yes to Dobbin, he makes her comfortable and happy, but he realises wearily that it was never worth it for himself.
It’s depressing to think that the Chihayafuru characters are heading that way, so I hope for no resolution at all. Long may the shipping wars continue, heh.
Gotta love a show that make not just Karuta compelling, but also the shipping. It’s been a while since such an eminently-shippable cast rolled around, in fact.
But I think they know that everyone wants to enjoy a good shipping match (right down to having their own cast ship themselves just for fun and profit), so it seems unlikely that they’ll screw it all up.
The most amusing thought in my head is that they’ll treat Chihaya like a harem male lead (they basically do already), and simply won’t have her choose anyone because that’s how harem anime roll.
Actually I don’t really agree with the first paragraph up there (real shoujo heart never really into threesome realtionship, say), yet I can’t bring my self to refuse the idea. Sometimes I think if Chihaya doesn’t end up with anyone in the end of the anime, the better. First, because I agree with your opinion that it’ll be wrong if Chihaya is going out with one of them. Second, the fangirls will absolutely have their way in shipping, either ChihayaxArata, or ChihayaXMashima..in the fanfiction. I’m not really sure about the second though, it just plain wrong if those three don’t end up together. So yeah, threesome or not at all.
I have to admit it’s just as unpalatable for me to think of a polygamous relationship. I think of it as like a “spiritual” or a “platonic” threesome, so there’s really nothing sexual or romantic about it. Well, there IS, but that kind of stuff can be ignored, right, RIGHT?
Jokes, everyone loves Chihayafuru because of shipping.
Glad you could see some part of my post to relate to though lol.
I would love a totally irrelevant ending. I watch the series for the karuta battles and the wonderful female characters, not the romance and just another triangle… and a canon OT3 might have been awesome but with their personalities and the fluffy romance flying around I doubt such a mature form of love would be possible. Why can’t Chihaya not fall for anyone? And the guys can always fall for someone else.
I pretty much felt the same way while watching Rinne no Lagrange and declared Madoka, Lan and Muginami to be anime’s first ever yuri bigamy.
While you bring good arguments as to why this trio should also end up in a bigamy…or just a menage a trois, I still strongly believe that Taichi’s the better man of the two and he should win this epic love triangle. Man, how long has it been since I was legitimately invested in a hetero love triangle? It’s been a long time. Then again, that is the power of the work of art that is Chihayafuru.
I honestly think Arata is the better choice. The fact is that they both have this connection and they need each ther. Now taichi needs her too, but i feel that Chihaya will always see him as the big brother. Arata on the other hand has always had that awkward dorky personality, which works in his advantage since chihaya didn’t build a brotherly relationship as strong as the one she has for taichi. However i feel with so little time spent on Arata, and yet causing such a big impact (basically war against a character who is seen in every episode) shows the big part he is going to fill once he moves to tokyo.
I feel like him moving to Tokyo is the key. I’m just as curious as anyone about how Chihaya and Arata would interact on a day-to-day basis since he’s so idealised by everyone else. If we get to see more of that awkward dorky personality of his, that would be awesome.
Arata and Chihaya would play Karuta all day, every day if they were both in Tokyo I think…
Chihaya would have a rivalry going with him and be desperate to beat him so would constantly be asking for rematches.
Arata will probably indulge Chihaya a lot of the the time because he doesn’t seem to be the type to say no to her…
Their romance would take second place to their Karuta rivalry…
Kinda cute I think :)
lol I agree that Arata is the better choice. I completely agree, also, with the fact that Chihaya and Taichi’s relationship is more of a brother/sister bond, as far as Chihaya is concerned, while Chihaya and Arata have that deeper connection. I also agree that Arata’s awkward and dork personality does work in his advantage, because remember, Chihaya is known as “beauty in vain” at her school. Throughout the manga and the anime everyone comments that she looks so lovely and graceful when she’s sitting quietly, but the moment she moves or opens her mouth, tranquil feminine image ruined and guys tend to find her odd and change their minds rather quickly without giving her a chance. Arata is different. Some could argue that Taichi is also different, but again, Taichi seems to be in that brotherly/friend role and I can’t really see it going much past that. Don’t get me wrong… I was excited to see Taichi finally get Class A, and I’ve been cheering for him in his growth as Kurata player and as a person. But I can’t seem to picture him in any other role than supporting cast/stand-in until the real deal can finally find a permanent solution to a temporary problem.
I think Arata’s moving to Tokyo is going to be a major telling point. As froggykun said: “I feel like him moving to Tokyo is the key.” ^.^ It’s fun to speculate, and you can wish for your favorite coupling pair to work out, but… I think this series will have an ending that no one saw coming.
It could very well end with Chihaya x Taichi.
It might be that Chihaya realises the feelings for Arata are all based on an idealistic version of him that isn’t real.
She might discover she can’t function without Taichi at her side.
There are some Chihaya x Taichi developments in the manga currently – Chihaya bawls her eyes out at the prospect of being separated from Taichi. It could be that they are separated and during that time she realises she loves him…
However I’d prefer that not to happen tbh – I still want the 3some :P
Reblogged this on theworldthatihavecreated and commented:
It is really hard to choose between Arata and Taichi because they are both great guys and are right for Chihaya… So not to create any problems, it is better for her to start her Harem… hehehe…
YES.
Reverse Harem FTW.
Taichi!!! why can’t she love Taichi???!!! why doesn’t he grab her and tell her “I love you and you love me, you just don’t know it yet”. I am so upset X-(
Aren’t we all? :'(
I think chihaya will choose taichi in the end of the story
I agree with you. At first I thought it would be Chiyaha x Arata, but it feels too weird for me. I’ve read somewhere that Arata had already confessed to Chiyaha and told her that he would be moving to Tokyo. I think it’s too early… I don’t know. I feel something might still happen. They will be in their third year soon, so I just feel Taichi is still on the race.
And I have this intuition that Tachi has already invested enough time and feelings towards Chiyaha by being there for her and supporting her. They have already spent a lot of time together and experienced harships together. When Chiyaha was having problems with karuta, Taichi was the one there for her. For Chihaya, Arata is like the god of karuta and she still have mixed feelings toward him. It is still not clear-cut love. Chihaya’s feelings is kinda murky because Arata is shining for her. She can’t see Taichi right now, but feelings aren’t totally invisible. She knows the person who accompanied her all this time. She knows the person who ecourages and supports him. It was Taichi. The thing she has about Arata is like a confirmation of encouragement and of a distant friend whom you want to be with you. I just think that she still has not found out how important Taichi is because he is always there and Arata is not. That is a big difference. I just feel that in the end Chihaya will realize these things and choose taichi. I have actually watched an anime wherein the herione choses the supporter over her long time crush. But anyway, it still depends on the writer. This is just my opinion filled with a lot of imagination. ^^
If Chihaya chooses Arata in the end, then that’s fine. There’s nothing I can do about that. But I just feel it would be better if she chooses Taichi. They have a connection which is more realistic that her surreal connection with Arata… Let’s see what happens.
Final thoughts: Although the plot is telling me it would be Chiyaha x Arata, it just feels too weird for me. I don’t know. My instinct is telling me it would be Chiyaha x Taichi in the end. Hehehehe. Anyway, I almost forgot about this messy love triangle until I’ve read the confession thing. So I just need to forget about this again (hopefully) until the ending comes out. ^^ This anime/manga is giving me headaches.
Dont want to spoil anything but…
Read the manga…
>.> In the matter of either of the boys deserving Chihaya, and vice versa….. None of the guys deserve Chihaya. They’re both cowards, in the end. Taichi has had a LONG standing crush on Chihaya, which is why it took him so long to accept Arata when they were children. Taichi never liked how Chihaya looked at Arata and treated him differently, thus half the reason he stole Arata’s glasses before their Karuta match. Taichi doesn’t understand Chihaya. And as for Arata…. There’s something MORE between Chihaya and himself, BUT because of how he treated her in season 1 when she and Taichi went to visit him, that was rude and cowardly.
Personally, I’m an Arata and Chihaya shipper. They both have a deep love and understanding of Karuta that binds them. Also, they balance each other. Arata needs Chihaya’s enthusisasim and passion to keep HIM inspired, and Chihaya needs that one person who understands her love for Kurata and can ground her, by being the reality check and that stronger opponent that in the end helps make her stronger as well.
I can’t really see anything happening between Shinobu and Arata, nor would I want to. Shinobu is like a husk of a human being. Yes, sure, her and Arata have had “rough childhoods”, BUT the key difference is Arata was able to maintain his humanity because of the friendships made with Taichi and Chihaya, while it will take a Christmas Miricale to melt Shinobu’s Ice Queen like heart. Do not forget that Arata’s grandfather might have been an Eternal Master that was caring and loved Arata very much and vice versa. Arata and Shinobu may be strong competitors, but they are VASTLY different and in the end, I believe that Shinobu would end up hurting Arata, whether intentionally or unintentional, either way it would not last, nor would it be very healthy.
Just my two cents….. *hangs head* I’ve yet to read the manga, but… I’m starting that tomorrow. Just finished the anime series today, or at least what they have thus far. I would also like to apologize for any and all grammar and spelling errors, but I’m a bit too lazy at present to go over and fix them.
I’m in agreement on the hot dirty threesome, yes please!
It’s hard to pick a pair… Personally I just love Arata because I have a soft spot for cute, dorky guys with accents… Actually I have several soft spots for… *cough* uhm, anyway, Arata would be MY choice :P
But I also love Taichi because he’s so angsty and emotional he’s almost a shoujo heroine xD
Taichi also has the most emotional development of the 3, and he feels like a more realistic character because of it. He’s also the underdog (who I normally root for) in Karuta and in Chihaya’s heart – even though in the rest of the (manga) world he seems to have it all (intelligent, rich, talented, athletic, handsome).
I feel like Arata x Chihaya is fated to be and that these two are soulmates but I will feel bad for Taichi if Chihaya ends up with Arata.
Similarly I’ll feel bad for Arata if he doesn’t end up with Chihaya because it will leave him with only Karuta.
I lean towards Arata in terms of shipping but I don’t dislike Taichi as a character (actually I really like Taichi – maybe more than Arata?).
The threesome is really the best option :P
I want their ending to be just like one of the manhwas I have read – the girl gets both of the guys because they really understand that the girl can’t decide. To make themselves happy equally, without anyone getting more damage/hurt, they compromised.
Threesome!!
That picture looks like chihaya x arata x taichi tbh like look at the hands’ and mouth’s position to the crotch
Maybe its because i’m more of a taichi x chihaya, that my opinions would look biased, so don’t take my opinions that seriously
or maybe that i read it (the manga, character’s actions) wrong, in which case really dont take me seriously again
this is an opinion anyway…..
-“Taichi doesnt understand chihaya” even if you dont read the manga, that is really not true, he probably understands her best tbh imo
-The whole series is like preparing itself for arata x chihaya, from her dream, to karuta god to the chihaya card, but it feels just so weird and off, chihaya x arata feels weird and off, unless we get to see something else when he gets to tokyo, anyway regarding about this arata x chihaya connection people keep talking about, what EXACTLY is their connection besides karuta, do they know anything about each other, hell what connection does chihaya even have karuta aside
Basically everything is pointless because we base everything on that karuta addict chihaya, unless we get something from her that is unrelated to karuta (which seems impossible anyway)
-SPOILERS AS OF AUGUST 2015 STOP READING
-SPOILERS AS OF AUGUST 2015 STOP READING
-SPOILERS AS OF AUGUST 2015 STOP READING
Both boys have confessed (separately) they both said “Chihaya I’m in love with you”
–you were warned thrice–
Arata- the reaction chihaya showed is nothing different than what she normally gives about karuta, she was blushing, thinking about it from time to time, which is be honest how she usually is when something amazing happened at some karuta match or something, (or maybe she blushes because it’s karuta that it remind her of Arata idk) also idk how “real” it is so to speak
Taichi- chihaya’s reaction was ‘sorry’, yep, chihaya was thinking about the 3 of them playing together, she was worried it might not ever happen or be fulfilled “what about our dream” etc, which confused me a lot because what do you mean by that chihaya, to me she showed something different this is the first time we see her totally dark and depressed, this wasn’t really addressed yet as to why she reacted like that, like really not addressed, she quit the club temporarily to cool off, then back again to competing thinking “taichi will come back and i will be here” which is a let down, i thought chihaya will actually progress as person
Let me put good things about arata so i dont come off as extremely annoying, the reason why i have these opinions is most likely because arata is not shown at all if it isnt something about karuta, like he has the least development or screen time (unless you count chihaya’s mental image of him) even the meijin and queen got their development, maybe his will come soon??? I will change my mind if something new about him comes up. I forgot to add the good things, he is less of a coward than taichi, if he didnt confess taichi probably wouldnt even think about it, and he surprisingly very aggressive despite being the supposedly dorky character
the mangaka seems REALLY ARATA BIASED tbh, so you Arata x Chihaya stans out there chill and dont fight the Taichi x Chihaya too intensely the whole series is practically catering to you, it really looks like its going to be Wataya Arata after all
So yeah taichi route seems more logical to me in a way or like it seems more natural, arata route feels weird, probably because it seems so forced, like the manga dictates it so much, chihaya not picking anyone is the BEST option and not the threesome one because she is just ALL ABOUT KARUTA, i just cannot imagine her at all picking the other or two
This show baits us so much about so many things but it’s just basically karuta, the whole show is Chihaya herself, ………. i mean we can’t tell what is anything without karuta
i couldnt wait for nxtchapter! i love the trio.i shipped more for chihaya❤️arata. maybe that’s all about acceptance,friendship,determination and love. i like Taichi too and the fact that he loves chihaya so much overpowered their friendship.but i hope he can face and accept whatever chihaya’s response.i cried coz you cannot buy that special connection Friendship of those 3 since they were young.i think all they need to do is to accep everything and for those 2 ideal man jsut be sport whoever chihaya will choose.lookinh forward for more updates in the manga.
Hm? I’ve caught up to the manga and I’ll say this: Taichi x Chihaya is by far have the most focus and development in the manga compared to her relationship with Arata. The author also recently stated on her twitter that the manga is going to end.
On unrelated note, Taichi (11307 votes) also beat Arata (5639 votes) in the latest official popularity poll.
Also, I disagree with your statement “Taichi doesn’t understand Chihaya”. He’s seen all side of her including her flaws and love her anyway.
If there’s anyone who don’t understand Chihaya, it would be Arata. Even during his confession, he still see the younger Chihaya in her rather than the current her. He stuck in his idea of her in the past. Chihaya also associates her feelings for Arata to karuta too much. One thing you need to realize is the fact that karuta is NOT everything.
Arata doesn’t know Chihaya outside of karuta, so how can you say he understand her? Did he know what Chihaya want to be as a profession? Her quirks? Her favorite food? And more importantly, her flaws?
Taichi is the one who’s always by her side, watching over her. His confession also focus more on her as a person. You can see how his confession affect her for the second half of the series.
I don’t mind cutting out Chihaya completely from the ship if you get what I mean. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)