Chihayafuru 2 Episode 15: No Matter Where I Stand

Kana

At roughly $30 billion a year, revenues of the pantsu industry surpasses the market capitalization of Time Warner, Sears and Dell. Sometimes I wonder how the prevalence of pantsu affects youth in the same way watching Gundam might but that’s beyond the scope of this discourse.

Not it’s not. There’s always time and space for pantsu. But first Kana-chan.

I am in love. She is incredibly mature for a high school student. And I am not talking about her humps Monsieur LaMoe. Her motives for lying beguile her age. The rationalization behind deceit fascinates me immensely. I actually make a hobby out of it. It amuses me when one argues that deceit does not constitute lying. While technically true, the distinction is facetious. However, lies are not all made equally.

The worst lies are the instances where we lie to ourselves. It could be cognitive dissonance or pretending to be someone else to impress a potential lover or a lifelong pursuit of a false passion. Lying is cowardice.

Lying is also courage. I previously mentioned my favorite scene from Moulin Rouge. The capacity to deliver that lie and betray every iota of truth for love is definitely something I can’t trust myself to accomplish.

A tweet lingers in my mind and heart as I struggle to write this.

https://twitter.com/2DTea/status/325507353690636291

I had wanted to respond to 2DT regarding packing fake abs to swim at Fanime. Now it’s evolved into an entire post. While flat abs certainly holds sex appeal, I long for a wider acceptance of beauty. It’s not a stretch to suggest that context influences perceptions of beauty not unlike lying. Just like lying isn’t inherently right or wrong, a certain physical characteristic should not be considered beautiful or otherwise by default.

In this episode, we literally saw Shinobu in her underwear. The show somehow insists in making her… weird and their choice in doing so via pantsu begs a question. Why is her pantsu weird?  Lingerie primary serves the male gaze and the status quo reinforces a narrow ideal in pantsu styles. I am hoping her underwear sparks a catalyst for more refreshing approaches.

Kana

Author: The Paper

The Paper <3s music.

6 thoughts on “Chihayafuru 2 Episode 15: No Matter Where I Stand

  1. If I had to hazard a guess, I’d assume that Shinobu’s just a child at heart and that’s why they’re making her do all those dumb things that make her seem more like Chihaya (the pantsu, the ice cream, the general aloofness). She acts mature, but is obviously not. Kana surely has her beat. It’s nice to see a girl who’s into fashion and has big breasts being given such an endearing character.

  2. “And I am not talking about her humps Monsieur LaMoe”, I laughed really hard at this XDD, and bzw I love how there a Chihayafuru related article every week, as it is my favorite show right now 😀

  3. Yup, Kana-chan’s mental power is as huge as her things-in-themselves. I didn’t know she injured her finger. Man, she’s such a touch girl. And she won with that finger too. Shinobu’s underwear was just horrible. That’s like early Showa.

    I was surprised that there is an otaku in the opponent team who dates a 2D girl, just like us!

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