Chihayafuru (II seasons 48 episodes Ongoing) 9.07 out of ten stars (Full Review)
A poetry card game called Karuta played in a competitive manner, with exciting velocity, nuance and transient dynamism, we have Chihayafuru. See this is one of those anime you might just write off because it looks far too bubbly or gooey in terms of idealism and sentimentality. Fret not, this an Ace production from Madhouse, with a high gear sound track and beautiful animation, regarding both art style as well as production style/quality.
This absolutely radiates the childhood innocence of competitive play and it's magnetic allure, and the progressive nature to want to constantly improve and strive to be the best. We see interesting rivalries between a prodigy of an eternal grand master Arata and a dedicated guy with an iron wit Taichi. It also has characters biding their romantic feelings for each other, for those of you interested in a Romance sub plot...
Plot & Narrative Aspects
The drama is so unforced and natural, and dialog is butter, it's something that you accept as inherently natural, and what you'd expect or accept these characters to say, it also shows a constant rhythm throughout the franchise that you just.. This is one of the few anime.. actually no this is one of those rare times in moving picture history that you allows you to believe. The dub, music, and animation is incredibly expressive that I found myself emotionally compromised a handful of times. This fully realized and captured what my childhood meant to me (regardless if thats a highly subjective anecdote ) and the sheer excitement of what it's like to have people you love all around you. You'll will absolutely appreciate the variety of characters and identities available in this anime.
Season one starts off well, a hair slow albeit, though just right, comparatively speaking it does have more cry worthy moments then season two, though season two is more developed production and story wise, just a more matured step forward in continuing this series. Now this isn't the most current of anime, it did start airing in 2011, though then again it's still recent enough for it to be appropriate to compare it to the likes of Toradora, and as well as something that was animated even earlier such as Sora no Woto, which has handily better animation. I believe it's because of Madhouse, while they are indeed consistent, I would never mistake them as an avante garde production team such Kyoto animation or Shaft, or possibly even Ufotable, no there just a very consistent and reliable studio that animates heartful stories with decently great animation, though not amazingly great, at least in that time period, I mean, you can really tell that they only turn up their output quality when on higher budget productions, though as of recently that has changed and their still just as consistent, but the overall quality of their shows has handily gone up. More on that later though and back to the heart of it's narrative. 
Season one, has a very balanced variety and amount of characters, so no, it's not a harem loaded with girly teeny boppers, despite this partially being in a high school setting. Like any other great series, it's strength relies upon a myriad of uniquely different but relatable characters, Chihayafuru doesn't exactly snag a collection of common T.v tropes or cliche's, thought it does breed some familiarity to them. Despite this, this cast of characters are less similar to common t.v personalities but can be attributed more to common personalities we see when growing up in our own schools and environments. It's quite apparent that these characters were depicted from personal experience, obviously drawn from the original creator Yuki Suetsugu's personal life, world and experiences regarding the manga.
Chihayafuru's world revolves around a particular axis which is Chihaya and her friends journey in competitive Karuta, you do indeed have this common waypoint of which our characters are drawn to and congregate, which is Karuta, so in the end it does make sense. Since, to progress as a player in the Karuta world, one needs to compete in competitions, train at dojo's, and go to school clubs, which is where people congregate and new people are met. It's because of this, that Chihayafuru isn't narrowcasted to a particular set of characters. No you have a whole abundant ecosystem of a vast demographic of supporting characters whose are well integrated in into the world of Karuta that they share, with a plethora of situations we get to hear many different inner dialogue's and thoughts from all sorts of characters.
Ah Competition, Competition, Competition... The wonders of competitive sport, that's beautiful, technical, and full of hardship, all of which is Karuta. The plot is rather simple mind you, but of course, it's more so the actual journey getting there that's attractive. The mild grind and progressive struggle. My heart was punching through my skin, Chihayafuru truly does steals one's breath away, there are so many sudden death moments, so much angst and pressure I just love it, as actually replicating that feeling in any creative medium is extremely difficult. To my knowledge, this is what This series excels at the most, couple that with great dialogue, expressive voice acting and a well utilized soundtrack, attractive character models and personalities, creamy nuance and technical mechanics, when I first watched I was completely emotionally compromised and genuinely excited. Excitement in my eyes is the X factor to any true success and it's also very hard to actually replicate & boy does Chihayafuru have a lot of it.
Ah Competition, Competition, Competition... The wonders of competitive sport, that's beautiful, technical, and full of hardship, all of which is Karuta. The plot is rather simple mind you, but of course, it's more so the actual journey getting there that's attractive. The mild grind and progressive struggle. My heart was punching through my skin, Chihayafuru truly does steals one's breath away, there are so many sudden death moments, so much angst and pressure I just love it, as actually replicating that feeling in any creative medium is extremely difficult. To my knowledge, this is what This series excels at the most, couple that with great dialogue, expressive voice acting and a well utilized soundtrack, attractive character models and personalities, creamy nuance and technical mechanics, when I first watched I was completely emotionally compromised and genuinely excited. Excitement in my eyes is the X factor to any true success and it's also very hard to actually replicate & boy does Chihayafuru have a lot of it.
Chihayafuru is about effectively simple and incredibly attractive themes. Themes such as high level competition, which is where the majority of the combat happens, and where characters personalities get drawn out. It's this progressive sense of development, this transient dynamism when people are pushed beyond their mental threshold. It's the classic struggle between "Mind vs Body" which is something people who are particular inclined in hobbies such as music or sports intimately can touch upon and understand. The struggle of performing on the spot, fighting your bad habits, training your subconscious, perfecting and struggling with faulty muscle memory, it's trying to perform at a high level, but at the same time trying to maintain your composure while mentally and physically exhausted. Themes such as progressing as a team, as comrades, as friends. Teaching one another, struggling together, and the combative relationship that rivalry brings. It's about just sharing your world another person.
Excitement is something I'd say in a heartbeat to describe Chihayafuru. Yes this series does have a slight rosy tint of idealism that's common place in it's narrative and is even present in it's production, though it's incredibly discerning and thoroughly depicts the fleshed out and intricate sport of Karuta. From its characters, to the poetry, and the competition rules. All of which goes through a process of development, again it's this progressive and raw kinetic energy which is the well spring of this anime's ethos. Season one being the debut into competitive Karuta, the beginning, the initial curiosity and excitement in Karuta. We get a nicely solid look on how matches take place, their training and preparations, and the daily progressive grind they go through. The sport is simplified and explained well enough that when the action actually unfolds you can follow along and understand both the profoundness or nuance of the particular scenario or particular series of actions or events.
When Chihaya and others are achieving progress, their world suddenly gets flipped upside down when they witness the true greatness and intimidating presence of the current Queen and Master. This is when characters such as Chihaya become overwhelmed by their sheer skill and menacing presence. It's after this stark revelation, that Wakamiya Shinobu as well as Master Suo is what she'll aim surpass and of course to be able to defeat Wakayamiya - The current Karuta queen become the best in Japan - in other words the world. Along with some of your typical slapstick comedy and cheesy moments, for some comedic relief, a little romance, as well as heated team/individual competition and rivalry, Chihayafuru has an excellent composition of emotional flavours, story progression and emotional dynamics. Another thing of note is that there's thankfully very very little filler, I believe there were only two sides episodes just sort of romping, slightly detracting from the story, though everything quickly got back on track the next episode.
When Chihaya and others are achieving progress, their world suddenly gets flipped upside down when they witness the true greatness and intimidating presence of the current Queen and Master. This is when characters such as Chihaya become overwhelmed by their sheer skill and menacing presence. It's after this stark revelation, that Wakamiya Shinobu as well as Master Suo is what she'll aim surpass and of course to be able to defeat Wakayamiya - The current Karuta queen become the best in Japan - in other words the world. Along with some of your typical slapstick comedy and cheesy moments, for some comedic relief, a little romance, as well as heated team/individual competition and rivalry, Chihayafuru has an excellent composition of emotional flavours, story progression and emotional dynamics. Another thing of note is that there's thankfully very very little filler, I believe there were only two sides episodes just sort of romping, slightly detracting from the story, though everything quickly got back on track the next episode.
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