Chihayafuru Episode 22 - Episode Review
The battle against a former Queen doesn’t go like anyone figured.
What They Say:
Chihaya’s next opponent is the previous Queen, Yamamoto Yumi. Chihaya recalls the previous Queen being a very tenacious player. While Chihaya is fired up for her match against her opponent, Yumi is clearly not as interested in the match, which only serves to enflame Chihaya.
Chihaya’s next opponent is the previous Queen, Yamamoto Yumi. Chihaya recalls the previous Queen being a very tenacious player. While Chihaya is fired up for her match against her opponent, Yumi is clearly not as interested in the match, which only serves to enflame Chihaya.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With the slow but steady growth that Chihaya has been going through, it’s no surprise that she’s going to face another challenge here that will get inside her head. That’s where she often resides to begin with and a new match against a former Queen, this time a young woman named Yumi, serves to really ramp things up for her. The two are definitely quite different in their approach to play and there’s some internal things going on as well as Yumi says plain out in her head that Chihaya is definitely an attractive person in comparison to her view of herself. It’s not a surprising statement in and of itself as most people feel this way some of the time if not most of the time, but to have it just before a match seems like she’s setting herself up for a failure.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With the slow but steady growth that Chihaya has been going through, it’s no surprise that she’s going to face another challenge here that will get inside her head. That’s where she often resides to begin with and a new match against a former Queen, this time a young woman named Yumi, serves to really ramp things up for her. The two are definitely quite different in their approach to play and there’s some internal things going on as well as Yumi says plain out in her head that Chihaya is definitely an attractive person in comparison to her view of herself. It’s not a surprising statement in and of itself as most people feel this way some of the time if not most of the time, but to have it just before a match seems like she’s setting herself up for a failure.
The match between the two, which dominates the episode, is pretty well done as it’s very much a battle done in a fascinating way when you get down to it. With the two of them barely breathing a word to each other, focusing on the karuta match itself, it has a certain intensity to it that’s hard to really match. The internal dialogue does help to keep the flow of things going, especially in conjunction with the people outside the room watching and really getting into understanding what’s going on. With Chihaya having changed so much over the last few matches and competitions and the thing that Yumi has been through herself, the two of them are definitely well paired at this point, reaching a crossroads of sorts about how to go forward.
This match takes on a bit of a different feeling as well as it goes on as Chihaya starts to falter during it, some of the problem coming from the way the room is just so very hot which is pretty distracting as it gets hard to breathe for some of them. But it’s not just Chihaya who is dealing with this problem, but the way it gets solved for a short period is actually kind of detrimental to Yumi. The dynamic changes a fair bit here and it leads to some surprisingly cute moments and it gets even worse when one of Yumi’s true habits is revealed, one that was problematic for her in being the previous Queen. And it’s pretty disconcerting for Chihaya as well, but it’s the kind of new challenge to take on that’s definitely worth experiencing.
In Summary:
Chihayafuru takes an unusual turn for this particular episode as you figured things would move more in other directions, but forcing a match between Chihaya and the previous Queen is definitely a welcome event. Both have strong skills but approach it from a different direction, and Yumi has her own quirk that makes her a difficult player to go against. While the episode does focus heavily on Chihaya, the rest of the group is there as well and they get to provide some decent commentary for what’s going on and that helps to keep the involved and supportive. While the series may not have some of the intensity it had awhile ago, I’m still enjoying the heck out of it and seeing how it progresses and this episode is no exception.
Chihayafuru takes an unusual turn for this particular episode as you figured things would move more in other directions, but forcing a match between Chihaya and the previous Queen is definitely a welcome event. Both have strong skills but approach it from a different direction, and Yumi has her own quirk that makes her a difficult player to go against. While the episode does focus heavily on Chihaya, the rest of the group is there as well and they get to provide some decent commentary for what’s going on and that helps to keep the involved and supportive. While the series may not have some of the intensity it had awhile ago, I’m still enjoying the heck out of it and seeing how it progresses and this episode is no exception.
Thanks for your visit..!
