#Harada sensei

[watayaaratamblr]

what's even there to enjoy in the latest volumes they are all boring and SIMPLY VERY PREDICTABLE we all know that Chihaya & Arata will win so what? such real boring shit lately...

Really? I'd love then to talk to you more I have tons of questions I want to ask, you seem to know:

Will Chihaya and/or Arata send Tachi or SE? This is huge and I wonder if sensei will not draw an interesting inner debate on which to send, it's really not easy and very important!

What are the remaining dead cards? I wonder if another TA card is still unread? so TACHI is a 2 syllables card, will sensei use this? how will Arata defeat Suo's good hearing if it gets read? Suo can hear a sound 0.5 tone before anyone else, Chihaya might take it but what about Arata?

No wait, it's even a bigger problem if it's not 2 syllables card!!

Also why TACHI vs SE despite all the importance placed on SE all this time, how is TACHI qualified to be used in a meaningful comparison with SE? Could it be that TACHI was given to Taichi by both Arata & Chihaya the same way Arata gave CHIHA to Chihaya and Taichi gave WATA-YA to Arata that's why they'll take it both and Taichi will feel some kind of inclusion and be reminded of team Chihayafuru? how emotional would that be!!

You seem to know, you can predict, can you tell me? because It's not good to send a card you want to take in the luck-of-the-draw, you are always to keep it instead because you'll have a bigger chance to get it by defending but Chihaya is an offensive player a real one, to the core too! what will she do? both cards are important and she said that she lets go of what she wants to take the most to go on the offensive and take it, will she do something like that? So it's TACHI in this case right? because Chihaya can also hear it 0.5 tone before Shinobu and Shinobu was always better when it comes to SE, oh wait! but what about Suo still SENDING SE to Arata despite knowing that Arata is cooking something? Some strategy? Wait, Arata! Arata saying the 99th card!! could it be that he predicted all the cards that will be read? I feel amusingly curious i did some math and I could only guess that HOTOTOGISU is one of the dead cards (and I could be totally wrong lol), what does Arata know? also the fate of the luck-of-the-draw is practically in his hands because he has to send the card that won't be read and keep the one that'll be read with him, if he is qualified to become a meijin he should be able to tell this right? like Harada sensei and Suo, Suo can't do anything but receive a card and try to find a way to take the one on Arata's side first.

but wait no, Arata could also use his acceleration? he can accelerate even on his own side but attacking?! how could I forget this possibility? but wait, his injured hand, won't it be in the way?

Everything is predictable you say? then pray tell me, how are we gonna arrive to that result (Chihaya & Arata winning)?

What will Taichi learn during this? Sudo has been drawn as a very loyal friend to Suo and Sudo wants to become a chairman of the all-karuta association and this needs him to become a meijin at least once so how will Suo's involvement with him be drawn from now on and will Taichi be replaced then? or will sensei make Suo maybe tell us something about the TACHI card that Suo might get or attack for? And Chitose? you can predict you say, will Chitose -come back for her pillow- then arrive to Omi Jingu again to see Chihaya accomplish what she stopped worshiping her for? and how will Chihaya start telling us about PASSION and how six years ago, she was rather fully consumed by her sister's success?

I also think that Chihaya & Arata will win, but this is the last thing i'm concerned about, I want to know the process of winning and everyone's role is what i'm reading in every new chapter and I'm surprised with every choice sensei makes be it one of the so many "what ifs" I thought of or a totally different one which she pulled quite a lot throughout the manga.

I don't know about you but I personally enjoy every chapter VERY MUCH!

So sorry anon, I can't tell you what's there to enjoy, YOU SEEM TO ALREADY KNOW.

[hoseokjinz]

๑ yatamomo · manga by harada-sensei

— made (poorly) by me + free to use

[icedmo]

there is nothing i want more than for hirugami sachirou and mashima taichi to have a chat

[beldaroot]

“i want to become someone who doesn’t run away... i do want to be my own person.” - chihayafuru chapter 37 & 108

[rhtmic]

Something interesting that I realized (manga spoilers)

> Taichi's final takes in his 2nd match against Arata were "Chiha" and "Fu"

> its the exact same order of cards we see Chihaya take when she first gets hooked to the game

> the first game where karuta was finally dear to Taichi was his third match against Arata > its a devastating loss of 18 card deficit > (Chihaya's first match against Shinobu: a devastating 20 card deficit)

> The next time we see them:

I really believe sensei had that 18 card gap to deliberately show that Taichi had to "start over" again in his career just like Chihaya did, now with a newfound genuine love for the game and a dream he also forged on his own!

[shameofice]

sako's naruto verse (aka his og verse before he got genshin'd) pointers:

-sako is a member of the hyuuga upper branch family, albeit not the main family like hinata and hanabi. like in all his verses, he's an only child raised by one mother and one father.

-what makes him unusual is that he refuses to use any of the gentle fist techniques, relying on swordsmanship. originally, he was trained in gentle fist, but made one of the lower branch members (and his sort-of servant/friend, okubo) go in his stead. it caused quite a bit of trouble.

-he's a jounin and nineteen-twenty years old at the beginning of og naruto, and twenty-two to twenty-three years old during shippuden.

-he doesn't like being referred to as a member of the hyuuga clan, due to a certain incident that was covered up by the clan so they didn't lose any standing (which applies to all his verses).

-when he was a genin, both of his genin teammates (sabito akimichi and kaori inuzuka) died due to various means. as he was close to them at the time, it was difficult for him to cope with their deaths. his genin sensei (who was like a mother to sako, as his biological mother let his old man be disgusting), miyo harada, died after sako became a chunin due to unknown means.

[kumoriyami-xiuzhen]

2010 Hakuoki SSL Short Story

Sorry this was a tad late, but I wanted to figure out what to call this and if I could get an idea where this story was first published since I remembered that this story was reprinted in one of the Otomate Maniax books... which took me a while to double check since I didn't remember where I had put them.

This story was originally published on one of the Otomate Hakuoki blog websites (link below). Although the original post doesn't have a specific "name" for this story, the reprint refers to this as "薄桜鬼ハロウイン企画" which translates to "Hakuoki Halloween Project."

Also, the tl I saw uses the word 'dim sum' which can translate to "snack", "candy", "dessert" and "pastry" (basically anything sweet)... so I've adjusted the word I used based on what fit the context better.

Anyway, enjoy!

2010 Hakuoki SSL Short Story

Translation by KumoriYami

Today was Halloween. The only girl at Hakuo Gakuen hurried to school with the sweets she made herself.

Yukimura： "I've always been taken care of by everyone, so I wanted to express my gratitude to everyone. But, where is everyone…?"

It appeared that she was completing ignoring the purpose of Halloween and thought of today as a day to "thank everyone" instead of playing tricks on people who didn't give candy.

"Ah———I don't have any more candy to give you!!"

Suddenly, I heard voices coming from by the school gates.

I hastily went over, and saw that Harada-sensei and Nagakura-sensei surrounded by students.

……However, after taking a closer look, the two's circumstances were really different.

Harada： "Hey hey, isn't today's a day for children to ask adults for candy? So you don't need to give me any candy, and should eat it yourself."

Nagakura： "Anyway, why are you all giving Sano candy! This is too unfair!"

The male students all asking Nagakura-sensei for candy, yet Harada-sensei was receiving candy from girls from the neighbouring Shimabara Girls' High School.

The students seeing how pitiful Nagakura-sensei was, were driven away the scene.

Yukimura： Harada-sensei, Nagakura-sensei. Um… I've always been looked after by you two teachers, so today I prepared some pastries…"

Nagakura： "What!? A goddess….. right now before my eyes, there's a goddess…!

Harada： "These are handmade pastries, for you make them especially for us, we can't refuse them."

Nagakura-sense was overjoyed, and to express his gratitude, Harada-sensei gave her a lot of candy.

During the lunch break, she met with Okita and Toudou, who were holding a lot of snacks.

Yukimura： "You two have done well, you have quite a lot of candy…. were those given to you by everyone?"

Okita： "It's because today's a day children ask adults for candy."

Toudou："I got these all from the teachers!"

One by one, the two described the snacks they received.

Toudou： "This is chocolate I got from San-san! He gave us so much."

Okita： "But it's the ten-yen bargain kind."

Toudou： "This red jelly was given Sannan-san! But I have the feeling that this jelly has a strange smell."

Oktita： ""Ah, I don't want this jelly. Heisuke you take it and eat it."

Toudou： "After that, this is the cake that Kondou-san gave us! Kondou-san is really spontaneous!"

Okita： "He said "today is the day to give children candy!" and gave this to ask before we could even ask. Kondou-san always treats me like a child."

Yukimura： "Um... will you be able to eat all that dessert?"

Okita： "There won't be a problem…… So, will you be giving me pastries that you personally made?"

Toudou： "Ah…. Souji, you're so cunning! I also…!

Yukimura： "Hehe, you both have a share, don't worry."

After giving them a homemade pumpkin flavoured cupcake, they smiled happily and once the two parted, she was found by members of the Disciplinary Committee.

Yukimura： "Both of you also received a lot of candy."

Saito： "No, these were not given by other people."

Kaoru： "They were confiscated from students who were making noises and disrupting the school morals because of Halloween."

Hearing those words, Yukimura slump her shoulders in dismay.

Yukimura： "So-Sorry, I——"

Kaoru： ""But, what we confiscated is too much for us to finish ourselves. Sorry, help us deal with some of this candy."

Kaoru and Saito handed over the desserts to a confused Yukimura.

Yukimura： Uh, um... is this okay?"

Saito： "It's fine. Otherwise these sweets will get spoiled… we just cannot waste food for no reason."

Yukimura： "I, I understand."

Kaoru： "…….So is one of those pastries to give to your older brother?"

Yukimura： "It's because today is Halloween. That's why I thought about giving everyone….."

Saito： "It doesn't matter if excellent students participate in these sort of activities."

Yukimura： "Huh? Is that so.....?"

Kaoru： "That's right. My lovely younger sister is special."

Yukimura, who didn't realize that these two people were being partial to her, silently gave the both of them pastries.

As she continued walking, Kazama stood in the middle of the hallway to talk to Yukimura.

Kazama： "My wife, do you know what day it is today?……. If you don't give me a treat, I'll play a trick on you."

Yukimura： "Ah, that's right. Please let everyone in the student council enjoy these."

Kazama： "It's undoubtedly Halloween, so it would be far too boring to let you go like this… These opportunities seldom come by, so I will be playing a trick on you."

Yukimura： "Huh.... HUH!?"

Hijikata： "Kazama…… You're not a kid anymore. Don't do such senseless things."

Hijikata-sensei, who just appeared from behind Kazama, swatted down Kazama's hand as he was about to reach for Yukimura.

Hijikata： "Every guy is is restless because of Halloween…………because Principal Kondou took the lead, even if everyone said "no", that wouldn't work…..."

Yukimura： "Th-Thank you for your hard work. Hijikata-sensei..."

Although Yukimura felt sorry that Hijikata had to participate in Halloween activities himself, she still gave him a pastry.

Yukimura： "This might be a bother to you… to thank you for looking after me, I made some pastries"

Hijikata： "……It's only natural that a teacher looks after students."

Even though he said that, he still held out his hand with a smile to accept Yukimura's pastry——

Hijikata： "......Hey, Kazama. What are you intending by putting your hand out?"

Kazama： "Naturally to have my share. I'm merely receiving this gift."

Hijikata was stunned as he looked as Kazama extended his hand as if nothing had happened. Yukimura smiled as the interaction between the two of them and handed them the pastries at the same time.

Hijikata： "Thank you."

Kazama： "Just look forward to my response."

Hijikata："......Seriously, what 【return gift】 are you talking about."

Yukimura, who had given everyone snacks to everyone, felt quite satisfied. Hakuo Gakuen's Halloween passed by like this.

End

-----------------

This was originally published on October 30, 2010.

original link: http://blog.otomate.jp/staffblog/2010/10/post-499.html

...I suppose this will be an exception to the content I post since I usually don't post content from the Hakuoki blogs onto my tumblr... though because of that, I've made this un-rebloggable.

[dongsofsevotion]

flavors of ginhiji

towards the end of last year, kun tweeted this primer to the different ginhiji variants that appear in fanworks. i thought about how i would like to see something similar in english, remembered i can't draw, shelved the idea, and then time passed and here we are again.

so i've tried my best with some shittily creatively cobbled together official images. anyway, i haven't directly translated that tweet but i owe it a debt of gratitude for informing the shape of this post, and filling in my gaps of knowledge around the origins of some of the merch-based ones.

without further ado, here's a rundown of the various shapes of ginhiji you may encounter in the wild, colored heavily by books i like...

原作・original

everyone's favorite garden variety ginhiji! shipped by fans and anime staff the world over.

W副長 ・double vice-commander

vice-commander x vice-commander. this one born of the shinsengumi crisis arc, though various other if-style stories get told about gintoki getting taken in by the shinsengumi earlier in life and holding the post of vice-commander alongside hijikata.

examples: as one of the eternal enduring settings, most creators have probably written a book or drawn art around w fukuchou. consider sawara's excellent inu series, or the 2018 zweikopfig anthology.

ぱっつち・pattsuchi

ginpachi-sensei x student hijikata, from the 3Z light novel setting.

examples: this one is also widely loved by the community and has been extensively depicted in fanbooks. syaku's stromatolite is my beloved, but there are countless others, many fully available online; try 「かいごろし」 by NUIS or 「夏色ビール」 by inuko.

ぜっさん・zessan

student gintoki x teacher hijikata. so named for being reverse 3Z - that is, Z3.

examples: nanakan's 「おねがい先生!!」, kenken's 「雄穴に挿らずんば卒業を得ず!?」. kannagi is also a major proponent of the zessan agenda, regularly posting zessan art to twt.

同級生／DKS・classmates

settings where ginhiji are both students, usually a high school setting but all other variants occur.

examples: harada's college-setting ochiru is a classic. kun recently put out a web reprint of a DKS book from 2021.

副トシ・fukutoshi

vice-commander sakata x yorozuya toshi-chan. reverse setting with their stations switched, readily inferred from the outfit swaps of the cover art of vol.5, chap.33.

examples: there was a celebration month for fukutoshi in 2022; this hashtag still remains a treasure trove. one of the organizers of that month, mio, did some wonderful fukutoshi books like 「さくらのまにまに」.

夜叉ポニ・yashaponi

shiroyasha x ponikata. an if setting where young gintoki in his shiroyasha era meets young hijikata in his baragaki era.

examples: hidaka's 「在りし日のしるべ」 series, syaku's 「火が飛ぶ」 series.

魘デコ・endeko

enmi gintoki x dekokata. this one from the BFY movie; "deko" means "forehead", referencing the hairstyle of five years later hijikata, though you may see dekokata used to refer to other settings (especially Z3 hijikata). hello, angst!

examples: syaku's 「誰そ彼」, niratama's lonesome ghost.

寅丑・toraushi

tiger x cow/ox. this one comes from a chinese zodiac merch line. consider yourself warned that works of this variety can get hella sussy hella fast.

examples (non-sussy): kei's baby i love you and sweet life to you. if you want sussy, go looking for inukkoro.

ふぉっくろ・fokkuro

nine-tailed fox gintoki x crow tengu hijikata. this one is also from a merch line where a bunch of characters are dressed as yokai. it persists in its popularity because it's PERFECT.

examples: fem's 「常世現世エンカウンター」 series, banger anthology 「妖奇談」.

パー土・paahiji

paako x hijikata, from gintoki's stints working at the okama bar in canon gintama. this one is pretty open-ended since it's just gintoki crossdressing as paako in any setting really.

examples: kumichi's 「狂おしいほど愛してる」 , or syaku's 「しゃぶしゃぶしません」 for the double crossdressing special (yes it's always syaku - and for good reason).

きんちん・kinchin

kintoki x chinkasu, from the inimitable owee arc.

examples: futa has a kinchin series 7 (!!) books long which started in 2014. 6 is available online. kei has also written a few; 「オンラインのあなた」 is available here.

金土・kinhiji

kintoki (host) x hijikata. this one is also pretty open-ended; generally just refers to any setting with golden-haired host kintoki. note this is a kintama host parody (think shinpachi buttchin), not to be confused with android substitute kintoki.

examples: nomination of gold anthology (here's sawara's piece), abaraya's 「ファジー・ブルーのむこうがわ」 series, hinano's 3P 「どっちもどっち!」 for the kinhiji + pattsuchi double header.

W鬼・double oni

shuten-douji x ibaraki-douji. another from a merch line. everyone's wild for the fishnets.

examples: uchio's 「童子遊戯」, chun's 「茨の道は薔薇の道」.

W教師・double teacher

teacher x teacher, often a continuation of pattsuchi or zessan.

examples: sakurako has written a number of these, like the freshly released 「リンパは指じゃ届かない」. here's an uchio piece from an anthology.

[glatisant-questing]

Shinpachi's Short Story from the Manyo no Shou Limited Edition Booklet

Shinpachi is cute!!! I love the detail about how the other soldiers from the 2nd division would like to help him when they see him doing the cleaning.

As usual, there's no spoiler alert since the story can be read before or after playing the game/the FD and has little to do with the major plot.

This SS was written by 長野 和泉

“Wow, I’m good! I’m good! Thank you for the meal, Chizuru-chan. Today’s breakfast is delicious as always!” 

I said, stretching my limbs and lying down on the floor. The time after eating to one’s heart’s content is truly what they call “a moment of bliss”. 

“Thank you for your kind words, Nagakura-san. I will take care of the dishes, so please have some rest.” Chizuru-chan said. 

“Okay, thanks! It’s my day off today, so maybe I’ll take a nap or something…” 

I said, trying to get up. That’s when it happened. 

“Hey Shinpachi, come here.” 

Suddenly, Sano grabbed me by the collar. 

“What? What do you want? Hey, don’t pull so hard, ouch–” 

I was dragged out of the hall by Sano. When we got to the corridor, Sano pushed me against the wall and said. 

“…You didn’t notice anything, did you?” He asked. 

“Huh? Notice what?|ʘ‿ʘ)╯” I asked.

“It’s Chizuru’s complexion. She looked unwell, didn’t she? How can you ask her to do chores like that?” He said. 

“Now that you mention it, she did seem a bit less energetic than usual…” I said. 

“If you noticed it, then you should have cleaned up the dishes yourself. You have nothing to do today, right? So take over her chores for her. Got it?” 

He said, and then went back to the hall. 

“What do you mean by nothing to do? Sure, I don’t have any errands, but…” I said. I was annoyed because I didn’t notice Chizuru’s situation until Sano pointed it out, but I did feel worried about her too. 

With that in mind, I decided to go back to the hall. 

“Oh, Nagakura-san. Did you finish talking with Harada-san?” Chizuru-chan greeted me as I came back. 

“Hm? Yeah, sort of. Listen, I’ll take care of the dishes, so you can go back to your room and rest.” I said. 

“Eh? But, cleaning up is my job…” She said. 

“It’s fine, it’s fine. Just leave it to me.” I said, and started cleaning up the dishes. But– 

“Oops–!” 

Trying to carry too many dishes at once was a bad idea. I dropped them all on the floor with a loud clash. 

“Are you okay, Nagakura-san?!” She asked. 

“O-oh, yeah, I’m fine…” I said. 

“I knew it, so please let me handle it! Please go back to your room and have some rest.” She said. 

“But…” I felt bad letting her do it after what Sano told me. 

“Alright then, then I’ll wash the dishes! I’ll be done in a flash, so wait for me!” I said, and snatched the dishes from her hands. 

Then I headed to the well. 

“I’m sorry. I wanted to help you out, but instead I made things worse.” 

After that, I tried to wash the dishes, but she took them away from me again, saying “just let me handle this”. 

“Don’t worry about it. I know very well that you intend to help me.” She said, deftly cleaning up the bowls one by one. 

“But are you really okay? Sano told me earlier that you looked pale…” I asked. 

Then she looked away from me shyly. 

“I’m fine. It’s not that I’m sick or anything. It’s just that I didn’t have enough sleep last night.” She said. 

“Not enough sleep?” I asked. 

“Yes. I was reading a book on medicine that I borrowed from Matsumoto-sensei and before I knew it, it was morning.” She said.

“A book on medicine, huh? Chizuru-chan, you’re very studious.” 

I said, impressed by her determination to learn more about medicine, even though she already has a lot of knowledge that has helped many of our comrades. 

At the same time, I felt that I need to do something for her. 

“Alright, I’ve decided! Chizuru-chan, do you have other chores to do later? I’ll do them for you.” I said. 

“Eh, no, that’s–too much!” She said.

 “It’s fine, it’s fine. You can just have a rest. Or you don’t trust me?” I said. 

“That’s not the case, it’s just that I feel bad to let others do what I should do…” She said, looking downcast. 

But I insisted, “Come on, let me handle it for you. You are always taking care of me. It is a big brother’s duty to look after his little sister, right?” I said. 

She hesitated for a while. But then she smiled like a tiny flower in bloom. 

“…Alright. Then I’ll accept your kindness.” She said. 

“Yeah! Today I’ll do all the troublesome chores for you, so just relax.” I said. 

“Okay, I get it.” She said. 

Just hearing her answer lifted all the heaviness from my heart.

 (Chizuru-chan’s an incredible girl. She makes me feel like I want to do anything just to make her smile.) 

(For now, I will go and do the things she usually does…)

 I made sure she went into her room before I started moving. 

“First, I’ll do the cleaning.” I said, beginning to wipe the floor of the hall and the long corridor with a cloth. 

The other off-duty soldiers from the second unit offered to help me when they saw me doing the cleaning, but since I told Chizuru-chan to leave the chores all to me, I couldn’t let them do it.

I turned down their offers and continued with the cleaning. 

Then I heard a familiar voice. 

“Hey Shinpachi-san. Why are you cleaning? Aren’t you off-duty today?” 

At Heisuke’s words, I stopped from my labor.

“Yeah, I’m off-duty. That’s why I wanted to do some cleaning—I mean, I just feel like doing the cleaning today!” I decided not to involve Chizuru-chan since I did not want to disturb her while she was resting, and I chose my words carefully. 

“Oh, really? That’s rare. So…do you know where Chizuru is?” He asked. 

“N-no…why do you ask?” I asked. 

“She said she was going to do the laundry today since the weather is nice. I wonder what I should do…” He said. 

“Well…maybe you can leave the dirty laundry in the courtyard?” I suggested. 

“Oh, right. Then I’ll go get the clothes and stuff!” 

He said so and left. 

As I watched him leaving… 

(What? After cleaning up the floor, I am supposed to sweep the temple grounds…and then do the laundry too? Chizuru-chan, are you doing all of these things everyday…truly amazing…) 

I had no choice but to do the laundry too. I sighed and thought to myself.

That day. Under a sky that was clear and blue. 

When Nagakura started doing the laundry, Chizuru woke up from her nap and helped him. The two of them washed the clothes together happily.

(The end)

[kurayami-no-ko]

Translation of Souji’s short story from the new SSL Switch booklet

Note: Okita Souji’s story is the second story in the booklet. Iba Hachiro is also mentioned in this short story.

Short story

Soji Okita

This story happened after Yukimura Chizuru and Okita Souji expressed mutual love for each other during Valentine and became a couple, something known in the school.

Chizuru was a second year, first semester student… June came.

After school ended, Chizuru finished the work assigned to her in the staff room and then after finishing it, tried to came late to participate in kendo club’s activities. As she hurried towards the kendo dojo called Shieikan, she bumped into Toudou Heisuke and Saitou Hajime who already changed back into their school uniforms and were now heading towards the school gate.

“Guys…..Were the club activities already ended?”

“Ahh, today, for some reason, Souji was in a bad mood so practice ended.”

“Ending is better so today we decided to end club activities. It is fine for Yukimura to leave.”

“…Uhm, is Souji senpai still at the dojo?”

“Ah. Even when you might be worried, during moments like this, I think it is better to just let him be.”

“However, I still feel a little bit worried…I will go and look at him.”

“Hm…If it is you, Souji’s heart might be moved.”

“…What do you mean by that?”

“If that is you, Souji might explain why he gets irritated. I will entrust Souji to you!”

After leaving those two people and coming to Shieikan, from the entrace, when Chizuru quietly peeked inside…opposite to her, from inside of the dojo came out the voice of him.

“…Chizuru-chan, you were quite late.”

“Ah…Yes.”

Chizuru, who got found out, nervously came inside the dojo.

After hearing Toudou and Saitou saying that Souji was in a bad mood, even Chizuru could see his negative aura.

“Uhmm…Souji-senpai, did something happen?”

“…You are not aware.”

After hearing Okita’s reply, Chizuru’s head made a full turn. The reason about his ill humor probably had something to do with her.

However…Chizuru did not understand his thoughts.

“Is it possible…that it has something to do…with me?”

“You truly do not understand?”

As Chizuru, who completely did not understand about the reason, was troubled about what to do…Okita spoke.

“Recently, you always come late to club practice. What do you do after class?”

“Uhmm, I help the teacher with some work that he entrusts to me.”

“From Harada-sensei? Like that everyday?”

“It is not like that, because last week, a teacher trainee came, he entrusts some work for me to help with…”

“Hmm…that disgusting teacher trainee from your class make you help him.”

Souji openly revealed dislike on his face while murmuring that.

“Disgustimg…? Uhm, is that about Iba-sensei?”

“Yes, that is right. It seems like from last week you have been very close.”

“About being very close…When I was a child, Iba-sensei was a patient of father. Even though I did not remember it very well, Iba-sensei asked me to remember about it so I asked father about this past story.”

 Iba Hachiro.

Fourth year student of Tokugawa University. Since this June, he started to become a teacher trainee at this Hakuouki school.

His major was Geography and History. His specialty was the modern history of Japan.

Right now, he was the vice homeroom teacher of Yukimura Chizuru’s class.

“…I don’t like that. About you and Iba-san being connected by fate.”

“More than that…Souji-senpai and Iba-sensei know each other?”

“He is more like a koudai of Kondou-san and Hijikata-san. He also came to this Shieikan… Even though we know each other from the past, his family is rich, he is good at kendo and he is also always reasonably good-humoured.”

“Is, is that so… Ah, that is why one time, he said he wanted to show up at the dojo.”

“It is fine if he does not come. In another words, that don’t bring him here,”

In all the things that he said, it was obvious that Okita disliked Iba.

“However…Because he is a teacher, I think I cannot deny his request.”

“Chizuru-chan wants to become closer to Iba-sensei…Huh. In that case, you can do what you like.”

“Ah! It is not that I want to become closer to him.”

“Is that so…That is so strange, just now I heard it spoken like that. In that case, you don’t have to wait for him, just quickly head back home. Right now, I think he is probably still in the staff room so isn’t it better to come back home with him?”

“…”

“…Chizuru-chan?”

“Who… I want to be with me…is Souji-senpai.”

Words overflowed from Chizuru’s mouth.

“Right now, because I heard that Souji-senpai was strange today, I was worried that something happened…so I came here…”

“…Whichever, I am fine. Moreover, regarding you being worried… how about the reason why you always come to club practice late. Today, I saw you being together with Iba-sensei after class…I think that he is more important than the dojo…than me to you.”

“About that…! That is completely untrue! I just helped Iba-sensei with what he asked me to do.”

After listening what Okita said to this point, Chizuru suddenly realized something.

“Uhm…Is it possible… the reason for Souji-senpai to become irritated… and bad-tempered…”

“…It has nothing to do with you.”

“It has something to do with me! No matter how many times I have to explain, I will do it until the misunderstanding is solved! If you feel so inclined, we can Iba-sensei!”

“Please excuse me from that… I got it. I accept defeat.”

Okita finally smiled towards Chizuru and continued on speaking.

“Iba-san…is truly a good person and is able to do things that I cannot do. He is very strong at kendo and took part regularly in national tournaments, he is also smart, which is obvious from the fact that he is a student of Tokugawa University. He is even closer to Kondou-san and Hijikata-san than me… Because he is able to do things that I cannot do, somehow, I feel frustrated…I think that this time, you might also become like that.”

“That…cannot happen.”

Chizuru gazed straight at Okita’s eyes. Then.

“From tomorrow, I will properly come immediately to club practice. If I get requested to do something and come late, I will make sure to contact you.”

Hearing Chizuru said that, Okita put his hand on top of her hand, smiled and answered.

“Okay, you don’t have to take it that far. However, please keep a small distance away from him. Then, let’s go back.”

“Yes!”

Okita, whose mood had become better without him knowing it, left the dojo along with Chizuru.

[alexiethymia]

ramblings about taichihaya

I’ve finally read the last chapter of the manga, and it was just, it was beautiful.

Incoherent ramblings abound. I felt a bit sad when I read someone post sorry to chihayafuru fans because they were put through an ichiruki situation, because i have always thought there was no such thing as a fated love in Chihayafuru. (Also this is ironic, because while I slightly preferred ichiruki, no way would I say that ichihime was farfetched, in the same way that there is absolutely no way taichihaya was farfetched considering the development, and again ironic because both chihaya and taichi have the sun and moon motif so they actually healed my heartbroken ichiruki heart, but I digress -)

Anyway, I need to process my words. When I say there was no such thing as fated love, I mean that as much as I loved taichihaya, if Chihaya and Arata ended up together, I wouldn’t say that there was no basis. There was such a thing as fated friendship between our trio, but unlike other shoujo manga I’ve read, I wouldn’t consider either Taichi or Arata as Chihaya’s soul mate (I consider the three of them soul mates). Other people have shed insights about how Chihayafuru is a story of transience and youth, and I think the finale maintained that theme until the end (like Arata’s joke for example about wanting to be with Chihaya at 28, as he said the future isn’t set in stone). 

What I loved about the ending is how it was a culmination of everything they were passionate about and fighting against. For Arata and Chihaya who were passionate about Karuta, and for Arata fighting against or for what his Grandfather means in the Karuta he plays now, for Chihaya growing up to be more sensitive to the world outside of Karuta (her wonderful conversation with Retro comes to mind, as well as her gaining a new dream in becoming a teacher). In the same way that this story was all about passion, and for Arata and Chihaya for that passion to be directed towards Karuta, I find that there’s nothing wrong with Taichi’s passion to have been directed at another person - specifically - Chihaya, even as he was fighting against himself.

I loved the finale, because it showed how much the people around Arata and Chihaya, specifically the people who had nothing to do with Karuta, like Arata’s childhood friend and Chihaya’s older sister impacted them and meant so much to them winning. 

As a taichihaya shipper, I really loved the finale because it shows that it’s not just Taichi’s nearness that caused Chihaya to love him back, but at the same time it was him going far away that really puts things into perspective for her. It was just so Chihaya to confess even when she thought that Taichi had already lost his feelings for her. In others words, even if Taichi no longer loved her romantically, his confession impacted her that much that she had to answer it with a poem of her own. 

I love taichihaya not because I was sure it would be canon, but because I just really preferred it, and these are just some of the reasons. 

1. the parallels with harada sensei and his wife, as well as kana-chan and komano

I love parallels, ok? The parallel with harada sensei and his wife actually works two ways, harada sensei paralleling Taichi with the latter also becoming a doctor in the future, and both Chihaya and harada sensei’s wife saying all they wanted was to see their important person smile. It also works the other way around in that both harada sensei’s wife and taichi steadfastly supported their loved one’s drive to become the meijin and queen respectively. 

kana-chan, our beloved taichihaya ship captain. I still remember how she compared chihaya and taichi’s match with her match with komano, and how they were each pair’s best matches precisely because of how well they knew the person they were facing. the irony and not of how it was these two who finally managed to push chihaya and taichi to get together. 

2. the heartaches of love

I love how they each exemplified the highs and lows of love. How Chihaya showed how love could be greedy, in Hanano’s words, and how their experience was reflective of Taichi’s comment about love in the beginning of the series, about how love was painful but you still wanted to be with the other person.

How it showed from the very beginning that even if Chihaya wasn’t fully conscious of it, she had always been jealous of the girls around Taichi, first with his girlfriend, and even in the last chapter when Taichi mentioned Hanano. 

I always mentioned this, even after the angsty confession and break-up (?). Chihaya relies on Taichi like no other. To be honest, they were practically co-dependent. Which is another reason why I loved why everything played out the way it did. Chihaya’s crush on Arata always seemed easy in that it didn’t seem as if she wanted it reciprocated (a happy crush mixed with admiration), meanwhile Taichi needed to confess to have Chihaya reevaluate what he meant to her and how she was supposed to relate to him. 

And yet I’m so happy they made up first, Taichi was finally at peace with himself, and even chose to go somewhere for himself, even if it meant being physically apart from Chihaya.

It shows that Chihaya’s confession was not out of fear that she had to reciprocate to keep Taichi by her side like she wanted because Taichi had reassured her that their friendship along with Arata would remain strong even if she didn’t reciprocate. In other words, their friendship would remain the same, but it was now Chihaya who realized she wanted more.

3. spending your whole youth on it

Taichi’s conversation with Harada-sensei about wasted youth was both about Karuta and Chihaya, and yet despite his fears, he still kept working hard, still kept trying to reach out for the Chiha card. 

The confession and Taichi’s behavior throughout the entire series always screamed to me about how self-sabotaging he really was. He is the one to bring Arata up during his confession. He never acts in a way to get Chihaya to like him because he was already sure that Chihaya loved Arata. 

And despite all that, despite all his fears, in the same way he was sure that he no longer had any luck in the draw, in the same way he was sure that he had no chance with Chihaya, he still loved her anyway, still supported her the best that he could. Wasted effort but one that he no longer considered wasted even if Chihaya never loved him back because he was finally at peace with himself. But of course, he was overjoyed when she said she loved him, because as he said, he would always be helplessly in love with her. 

I’ve always thought that in the same way throughout the story Taichi thought Chihaya didn’t notice him, it was also about Taichi never noticing how much Chihaya noticed him (the towel scene is really symbolic of this). It’s quite ironic how Taichi considers Chihaya dense, when he’s also a bit dense when it comes to Chihaya. 

4. how taichihaya might as well be self-fulfillment for ariwara no narihira and the empress

listen, listen, brilliant people who are more well-versed in poetry have pointed out the parallels between narihira, the empress, the emperor and taichi, chihaya, and arata. It was pretty on the nose with how narihira was even drawn to look a bit like taichi, and now chihaya and arata are the queen and meijin respectively. 

with how shinobu pointed out that the chiha and tachi cards were always paired together, nothing will now stop me from imagining chihaya and taichi as the empress and narihira who were reincarnated and can now be together.

I just really loved them, even way back in the beginning when I was just watching the anime. I was prepared for heartache, but even then, it wouldn’t diminish what they went through, so to have that last chapter is really heartwarming. I’ll probably be rambling more about Chihayafuru once I reread everything. Thank you for these past ten years Sueguetsu-sensei!

[ineffable-opinions]

Why so many shonen-ai live-action?

A lot of Japanese BL live-actions are manga adaptations. However, most of source IP are of a particular kind. Most of them seems to be shonen-ai.

A trend in Japanese live-action adaptations that I have noticed:

Most of them are soft/lite – little to no explicit content (sex, language, violence), never too intense and goes easy on well-established BL manga/novel tropes.

Such a setup has obvious benefits. This is probably meant to make it palatable to a larger audience, censors, etc. It is also for homonationalism soft-power, you see.

To educate and evoke empathy among a heterogenous audience towards the queer characters, it is more apt to make it more palatable, simple and understandable.

Manga and live-action are different mediums – they have different audience demographic, with a lot of overlap. Main target of BL mangas and novels continues to be (腐)fu-people [fandom: fujoshi, fudanshi and fujin irrespective of nationality]. BL live-action have audience outside this niche. This wider audience is not familiar with the quirks of BL. Example: one can watch a dozen BL live-action (that is not self-referential) without ever encountering concepts like seme and uke. This is not for a lack of seme uke dynamic. On the other hand, it is unlikely that one can go about reading BL manga and novels without learning those terms. Moreover, all that will be accepted/appreciated by a large-number of fu-people might not be accepted/appreciated by rest of the audience.

Transnational audience continue to be dominated by audience from the Global North owing to their greater purchasing power which also manifests in their ability to affect what BL is made. Western tastes dictating queerness in BL is no surprise part through censorship and part through ideas of right kind of queerness. Purchasing power has to be pandered to in the neo-liberal world. പിന്നെ അല്ല!

BL live-action is not always seen as the end product. The value of the IP only grows with it.

BL continues to be a niche area and there is only so much money going into BL production. Wider audience is probably a safer bet – lower risk and better returns.   

In the end we get live-actions of BL manga and novels that are not necessarily the most popular, critically acclaimed or both.

There are probably a bunch of copyright/publisher related restrictions on adaptations with IP changing hands and publishers going out of business. Most live-actions are sourced from contemporary works.

Take for example Harada sensei’s works. So many of her works are intense and explicit. Out of all her works – popular and critically acclaimed – the one that was chosen for live-action adaptation was One Room Angel. It probably benefitted from canonical romantic ambiguity between the main characters.

Yoneda Kou got a live-action adaptation for her work in 2014. Since then, nothing.

Many BL (yaoi) manga artists such as Hinohara Meguru, Chise Ogawa, Ayano Yamane, Ike Reibun, Zariya Ranmaru and Rihito Takarai who are famous internationally are yet to get any live-action adaptation. I don’t think this trend will change anytime soon.

I mean, look at BLs that got live-action adaptations and Chil Chil BL award winners. Look at how manga popularity is playing out with live-actions.

Compare this with the short-lived 耽改 (dangai) phenomenon. Between early Chinese BL live actions and ban on live-action BL including censored adaptations (dangai) following the success of Word of Honor, a lot of very famous writers such as Priest, Chai Ji Dan, Shui Quan Cheng and Lan Lin, among others, got live-action adaptations, some censored and others not.

Right before dangai ban, a lot more contemporary and time-honored works attracted interest and investments for live-action adaptation. A bunch of them even landed in development hell.

It is also interesting to note what are stripped off from the source materials when adapted onto screen.

I probably got a bunch of things wrong since this analysis is not based on data. Instead, I’m relying on my fickle memory to guide me. I should probably do a proper analysis someday.

I am craving for more variety in BL live-action adaptations. I want more yaoi adaptations after this year’s deluge of live-action shonen-ai. I want a pinku eiga based on BL manga. I want another Sei no Gekiyaku (2020) level ero-manga adaptation. I want some gei-comi (bara) adaptation. Someone, please make the live-action adaptations of Gengoroh Tagame’s Fisherman’s Lodge and Ichikawa Kazuhide’s Fire Code. Some fire and ice, please.

[huapaiqingyuan]

there seems to be this perception floating around-- now that the manga has ended for a good while now--that chihaya was in love with both boys, just at different times. arata, in the early parts of the manga and taichi as the story develops. i used to think so, but upon re-read i now firmly put myself in the camp that chihaya’s feelings towards arata were never exactly platonic but they were also not romantic in nature either. 

i’m not going delve into why people think chihaya liked arata, chihaya thoughts were predominantly occupied by arata and in other stories about romance, we would believe that these were signs of (developing) romantic feelings. but perhaps i can present to you this angle: chihaya was under the impression that she was in love with arata, but she isn’t. not really.

an ongoing in chihayafuru is that chihaya herself admits that she doesn’t quite understand her feelings, especially in the first half of the story. fans like to bring up this panel in chapter 92 as an indication of her romantic feelings. 

i would like to point out that the word choice here was actually intentional left vague and that these feelings were romantic. the page prior to this has her literally say she does not understand her feelings.

we were never meant to take this line as gospel.

that being said however, i do think it is very important that this another incident where she conflates karuta and romance. 

1) it is played off as a gag to the audience, and disbelievingly by the other characters but chihaya has only asserted that she has a crush on harada sensei........ because of his strength in karuta. it seems then, almost in her mind, she naturally must have a crush on whoever is the strongest and at this point the meijin is a position she hasn’t met suo yet  if we think strength in karuta is a prerequisite to being a potential partner in chihaya’s mind, then arata naturally becomes a candidate as not only the person to introduce her to karuta, he is a prodigy, someone she has never beat (at this point) but most importantly. he is a peer and why we took this more seriously than her proclamations of love towards her married mentor

2) when discussing love with all the other students at the fujisaki training camp in chapter 93

like she puts being strong in karuta as a prerequisite for her partner, she puts the same expectations for herself. strength in karuta and romance is intertwined, one and the same in her head. and this is reinforced throughout the early parts of the manga.

and perhaps, it’s because this line makes it seems like she requires to achieve a certain standard before pursuing romance, that we think her monologue in chapter 173 is an extension of this. but this discusses right, 173 discusses wants. and chihaya wanted a lot of things but not a relationship with him. 

so what happens when she does sit across arata (and taichi) in a professional match? charles has already discussed it at length here and i think it does great in pointing out the deliberate parallels sensei used.  

but what really cemented this theory that chihaya never actually liked arata romantically, and it was just fanaticism-- at least personally-- is that besides parallels drawn between taichi and arata, there were also more obvious parallels drawn between arata and shinobu: chihaya conflates the two in her head.

i’m talking about these overlapping images, of how a mention of one, follows a thought of the other. this happens for the first time in chapter 26 btw and is pretty consistent up till the end.

chihaya sees shinobu, and she thinks of arata. this is also the case vice versa. as soon after her match with shinobu, she sees arata again in chapter 37. 

shinobu, like arata, is strong in karuta and chihaya’s peer. the key difference being that karuta is ultimately a game segregated by sex with queen and meijin titles. shinobu is an adversary that chihaya has to beat, in ways arata isn’t. 

shinobu is the goal chihaya works towards.

when we look at how sensei writes how chihaya perceives shinobu, it is a reflection of how chihaya sees arata, without all the shipping lenses because this is a heterosexual manga and i don’t trust sensei to write anything vaguely queer the greatest case for chiharata was always that chihaya thinks about arata a lot, or that she makes such a huge effort for such a connection. yet ultimately, does she not do this for shinobu as well? are chihaya’s thoughts and actions driven by romantic feelings or perhaps, it is out of her desire to reach the top, to reach the strong players as hiro noted to chihaya?

(there’s this moment in the anime, during the scene where chihaya says she doesn’t have the right to sit across someone she loves: one of the questions that was brought up to get the ball going was along the lines of someone that you like is a person that you want to call when you feel lonely, and her immediate thought is shinobu. she ends up calling arata, but he is her second choice and only a choice that she made because in her mind, arata and shinobu are intertwined.

this scene doesn’t exist in the manga, and it’s the studio’s discretion to create an even more obvious parallel between shinobu and arata. but it is also a hint to say “hey, maybe all the ~romance-coded~ scenes between the two isn’t exactly romantic in nature!” previously, i pointed out how the anime differs slightly in chihayafuru’s introduction, and i think it’s interesting to see these subtle differences and its effects on the romance portion of the narrative. i think it’s especially prudent to note that this extra scene  these little alterations do not fundamentally change the story and play off what already exists in the manga, yet it makes it all that much clearer that taichihaya was meant to be endgame.)

i misremembered. this scene actually exists in the manga and in chapter 63! 

so this isn’t madhouse playing around, but actually a point of direct comparison sensei made. despite the context being about romance, neither arata nor taichi was necessarily her first thought. shinobu was. but this was quickly dismissed as her going off track, and not romance-coded.

she calls arata, but that’s because in her mind, one naturally leads to another; shinobu and arata are intertwined. also funnily enough. shinobu does come up as a subject in their conversation. 

(i still stand by my statement that madhouse does make subtle changes to amplify what already exists in the manga. they don’t fundamentally change parts of the story the way certain animes with fillers do, so perhaps it’d be a nice project to match chapters to episodes and take note of their differences.)

the final nail in the coffin, in my personal opinion, is how chihaya describes arata as a god. 

during the climax of the class A finals between shinobu and arata. i think it’s especially crucial to see how watching arata affects chihaya: initially, it was absolutely suffocating and chihaya feels like she’s underwater (chapter 90)

yet by the start of chapter 91, the background changes from that to those more typical of shoujo manga: the patented glitter and sparkles, almost filter-esque.

this abrupt change came about with the admission of her linking to arata to karuta godhood. in the anime, it’s even more blatant, as the colours for the background literally go from a dreary blue to very bright yellow. it is almost in your face that romance, idolisation and fanaticism is obfuscated and overlapping. it was here where i began questioning: does chihaya actually like arata? or is this just a form of fangirlism. and once you come to view it as the latter, everything really clicks into place.

[nikkotinamide]

Master List of BL Manga/Manhwa Read

All on this list made an impression - art style or storytelling or themes. I've definitely read more than this...

Japanese

Suzumaru Minta

Golden Sparkle

Kanshakudama no Love Song

Jyanome

Tasogare Outfocus

Yoiyoi Monologue

Zanzou slow motion

Sakura Rico

Thoroughbred wa Nabikanai

Thoroughbred wa Yuruganai

Niyama

Boku no Omawari-san

Goriyou wa Keikakuteki ni

Gohoubi wa Shitsuke no Ato

Yukue Moegi

Naked Sword and the Tree Peony of Black

Shinobeba Koi

Josee

Boku wa Shitteiru

Hayane Dento

See You Later, Mermaid

Born to Love you

Enzou

Mother's Spirit

Matsumoto Ayaka

Mitsuya Sensei no Keikakuteki na Edzuke

Tsuba Daeki

Hanagara Tsumi

Hasumi Hana

Remnant JUJIN Omegaverse

Usui Iroha

Oreshika Shiranai Karada 

Boku Wa Kimi Dake No Mono

Shikke

Pink Heart Jam

Harekawa Shinta

Senpai, Danjite Koidewa!

Syaku

Kujira no Oshitate-san

Marukido Maki

The End of the World, With You

Serizawa Tomo

Snow Fairy

Hayakawa Nojiko

Yozora no Sumikko de

Itsuki Makoto

Muri Marriage

Nanatsuno Wataru

Hatsukoi Encounter

Taka

Shitsuren Junky

Tokokura Miya

Life Senjou no Bokura

Akabeko

Shounen no Kyoukai

Harada

Color Recipe

Korean

Juns

Dark Heaven 😭

Boreum

Mom, I'm Gay

Ker

Sign

Park Ji Yeon

Wolf in the House

Momentum 🥲

Dorook

Keeper of the Pearl 😢

Bbong

Never Understand

Son Gae Pi & Charlie Charcot

Hell & High Water

Jaxx & Jang Mokdan

Walk on Water

Chilyong

Like a Tidal Wave

Solanine & Maki

Prince Bari

Milla & Yalgae

Oh! My Assistant

Fairytale

Inner Beauty

Chinese

Old Xian

19 Days

DJun

Here U Are

Lin Lang

Hyacinth

Choda

10 Years Where I Loved You the Most (adapted from 最爱你的那十年)

[yugiohz]

THEY DE-DILFIFIED HARADA SENSEI

[natsumi-no-hotaru]

Chihayafuru 54: Who is there left now that can claim to know me well?

AKA. In which the former Queen reminded all of what she’s capable of.

[Previously: Arata gave Taichi advice on memorization mid-match and Taichi’s adorably awed face]

I really should have been more careful about what I wished for. 

Bad bad Sudo-san, so misogynistic. Can’t wait to see Chi-chan handing you yo ass. Or Taichi, I’m not picky.

Yeah... next up against Sudo-san is Taichi. 

I get it though, it really can’t go any other way. Fellow Shiranami members aside, anyone would also be a tough match-up. Haruka is a former Queen, Murao-kun had way too much experience under his belt and had been playing against Arata-kun for ages, and well, Arata is Arata. Would be fun to see Arata vs Taichi in an official match but that is probably too soon for now - like an premature final of sorts.

“Can I make through a match with Sudo-san?”

Taichi’s anxiety and wariness make for a sharp contrast with Chi-chan’s lack of awareness of her opponent and buoyancy in getting to play more karuta.

Once again, Nishida tried to be the voice of reason and a stand-in coach for Chi-chan but it kinda backfired? lol

Chi-chan’s reaction to Nishida’s revelation and words of counsel truly showed how much she had grown. Gone were the days when her game play would be affected by her opponents’ track record, like with Yumin and Megumi Ohsaka. What matters to her now is to play her karuta and enjoy karuta to the fullest.

Meanwhile, the question on the tip of everyone’s tongue was how strong the former Queen is, and another for those in the know is whether she had returned to her former glory. The anticipation was almost palpable, as even the head of Suihoku Society exclaimed that no one wished to have Haruka as their opponent in a conversation with Yumin. And Nishida is not given to exaggeration, so someone who could surpass Shi-chan in terms of game sense is truly worth watching out for.

The individual-turned-team tournament

I absolutely love how exuberant Harada-sensei was - and why wouldn’t he be proud of all his treasured proteges making into the quarter-final stage? 

Like a general rousing the troops before a major battle, Harada-sensei sought to inspire fellow young Shiranami members with his infectious confidence and unshakeable self-assurance. 

All in a such a loud and assertive tone too, lmao. 

Would have made for a good intimidation tactic, had it not been for these battle-hardened veterans and their formidable charges.

Meanwhile, Chi-chan was on cloud nine. 

Before the match began, the audience was far more interested in Haruka than Chi-chan, for obvious reasons. Our dear protagonist was viewed as no more than a capable player who could help them assess Haruka’s performance. 

Chi-chan of course had no idea of such expectations and she went into the game with no more than the usual desire to play her karuta. 

Much as Taichi would like to take heart in Chi-chan’s presence right by his side and the team spirit of Harada-sensei, he was also keenly aware of his own battle and the need to not let Sudo-san’s taunting get to him.

The qualities of a sound

Without further ado, the reader recited the Naniwa Bay verse and the quarter-finals kicked off. All eyes (well, nearly all) were on the highly-anticipated match between Chi-chan and Haruka, and it was certainly the wise thing to do, though not quite for the reason the spectators had in mind.  

No-one could have thought that Chi-chan would take the first card right off the bat, with such decisiveness and surety in her movement. 

Rising to the challenge, she made use of her newly-gained grasp of low and high pitch from Yama-chan to seize the momentum. 

“Maybe what we’ll be seeing today isn’t Inokuma Haruka’s comeback, but a new generation’s takeover!”

Unlike Chi-chan, the former Queen was certainly more conscious of the crowd’s dimming interest in her and rising expectations for Chi-chan’s ascendance. But far from letting it affect her play, she seemed only more determined to assert her presence and reclaim her rightful place. 

Because that future, until which,

you say, you will “never forget”

is hard to rely on, 

oh, if only today could be 

the last day of my life!

In true Chihayafuru style, no poem is coincidental. The poet’s fear of being forgotten by her love resonated deeply with Haruka’s desire to not be dismissed and replaced by a new star, and the second verse’s desperate prayer echoed her perseverance to not give up on karuta after her pregnancy. As Coach Sakurazawa said, she could not be here had she not such enduring passion to come back to the game. 

“It is hard to discern the pitch for the “The” cards, yet she could hear it?”

As befitting of a 4-time Queen, Haruka immediately picked up on what Chi-chan was trying to do and moved it up several notches. 

Haruka’s genius-like hearing was shown to be honed by her experience of many many matches and readers. Pitch is not the only quality of a sound that she could discern, for a sound has many colors. 

“High and low, strong and weak, feminine and masculine, soft and sharp...

Whether the reader is from the east or the west...”

The match heated up as Haruka finished her warm-up and got her hearing back to her usual competitive *read: insane* level. But that is not the only “trick” she has up her sleeve. 

Unlike most players, she does not move her cards to fill the gaps left behind by those that were read. The positioning of her cards does not change for the entirety of the match. I am still not sure as to what she would substantially gain from this unique play style, besides it being a lesser burden on memorization. Nonetheless, regardless of the rationale behind her strategy, Haruka was certainly living up to her reputation and more, convinced that she had yet to reach the peak of her abilities.

The Shiranami Offensive

Things were not looking exactly favorable for the other Shiranami members.  Their attacks were pushed back while their opponents were all taking the lead. Harada-sensei had the biggest card difference of 10, and Hiroshi was not faring much better against Arata and his insane acceleration speed. But the matches were far from a done deal, as the 4 Shiranami members had yet to give up on turning the tide of battle. 

“I still don’t know much about the finer points of karuta but...”

And though all eyes were on Chi-chan’s match and Haruka, one can always rest assured that there would always be a certain avid fan following Taichi’s progress at every step of the way. 

The game was doubtlessly arduous but if there’s anything, Taichi is no stranger to the sort of mind tricks employed by Sudo-san to confound and rattle his opponents. Even when he lost a card to Taichi, albeit by a hair, he still managed to put a demoralizing take on what happened by claiming that Taichi could not see exactly how things went down. 

Since this tactic did not work so well, Sudo-san lived up to his name by taking digs at Taichi’s lack of love life.

oops.

Taichi did not take it well. Nonetheless, true to Sumire’s assessment, he quickly recovered from the psychological attack and gathered himself together. The little voice of belittlement was conspicuously absent and he still retained enough composure to be aware of Sudo-san’s increasing fatigue (thanks to Nishida’s valiant effort to sap at his stamina!) and not be taken in by his aggressive act. 

Taichi’s balanced perspective of his opponent’s strength and weakness in this match helped him clear his head and be free from the usual self-doubt.

And a calm and collected Taichi is one hell of a player. 

It was time for him to display what he had learnt from recent tournaments and the Fujisaki camp, including an upgrade to his movement speed and the tactic to cover multi-syllable cards with few unique syllables, taken straight from Emuro-senpai’s book.  

Sudo-san, he’s not the same Taichi that you met at Omi Jingu anymore. 

While Taichi was pushing himself, Chi-chan exploring the depth of sound, and Hiroshi holding on against Arata, Harada-sensei seized the spotlight with a loud and clear rally call, delivered in his usual style of intimidation. 

“GOT THERE IN TIME!”

He shouted “Got there in time!” after executing a swift and powerful turnabout that allowed him to grab his card after making a move at his opponent’s.

While it’s true that Harada-sensei’s game etiquette was questionable in that instant, I absolutely love that he was still so energetic, at his age and after several games in a row, not to mention during such a tough game.

Harada-sensei’s triumphant shout was a spontaneous move but it was just in time to lift the morale of his “troops”, a call to stay true to the Shiranami method.

First to respond was Chi-chan, who pulled off yet another unexpected feat against the former Queen. 

Sliding a finger into the gap under Haruka’s hand, she managed to take a multi-syllable card that seemingly was already in Haruka’s grasp. But that’s not the only outrageous thing that she aimed for. 

“She’s sending ‘Chihayaburu’ to Inokuma’s side, despite her tight defense? Even if this is offensive style karuta, just how offensive can the Shiranami Society be?”

I absolutely love Suihoku coach’s aggressive commentary that is a constant dig against Shiranami Society. Nonetheless, while it is true that Chi-chan made a rather risky gamble in giving her best card to such a formidable opponent, it was not an act made in the heat of the moment.

Pushing herself to the limits has always been Chi-chan’s creed in karuta. If she’s gonna “be greedy” and aim for the best, then she will need to face opponents head on and make use of all learning opportunities for self-improvement. That translates to not playing safe against a former Queen and sticking to her chosen style of card taking, no matter how unique the placement. 

Even Haruka could feel the mounting pressure exerted by Chi-chan...

The moment of truth!

Both of them were so fast (all I could catch of the animation is their blurred hands)! But unlike the stalemate 2 cards before “Chihayafuru”, there was no doubt as to who reached the card first.

She did it!! The flames behind her are incredibly apt in representing her passion, all the more so given that she got the one card that Sakurazawa-sensei had never been able to take from Haruka, back in her competitive days.

The other battles were far from decided as Hiroshi, Harada-sensei and Taichi did their best to wrestle control of the match from their opponents in their own ways. Hiroshi held on by the virtue of taking cards carefully and relearning the basics while coaching his merry band of karuta club kids. It’s sweet that the kids came to cheer for him and got a shout-out too (in Hiroshi’s mind LOL, not out loud a la Harada-sensei).

Against Sudo-san’s cutthroat karuta, Taichi’s relaxation technique worked wonders in ensuring a clear focus on the cards themselves, prevent him from second-guessing himself and worrying about what his opponent might be up to. 

Among the four match-ups, it is likely that Taichi and Sudo-san are the pairing with the greatest knowledge and understanding of each other’s strength, mentally and physically. This makes for really interesting dynamics, as if they mirror each other. They were both acutely aware of the other’s growing fatigue, particularly after their fumble over a dead card. They ended up being fired up over the same thing - Retro’s victory in his class B final, as their game neared its closing. It would be interesting to see more interactions between these two after the match because difference in play style aside, they are more alike than expected. 

LOL, Harada-sensei looked so fierce here. He’s certainly not one to give up early or easily. 

I truly appreciate the show’s dedication to realism when it comes to portraying the trials of child-raising faced by Haruka and her husband. It’s not easy to keep an eye on a toddler and a baby at the same time, and I’m really curious as to how Haruka would handle her child’s presence in the thick of action. Would she be distracted or remain calm and cool?

This episode wound down with shots of players making tenacious grabs for cards at the last stage of the game. It made for a very intense cliffhanger but as Chi-chan said, this four-on-four team match has been so much fun! All in all, that’s the kind of energy that only true lovers of karuta could manifest, and I can’t wait to see the outcomes of this team match!  

Thanks for reading and see you next episode!