Chihayafuru 2 Episode 17: Gust of Wind

Kana

Last week was a total tease. At the cusp of the finals, we were fed a recap episode instead. The interrupted timing subdued the excitement of the match for this week but it ended in spectacular fashion as usual.

This week definitely revolved around Chihaya but I keep thinking of Kana-chan. The seemingly effortless yet heartfelt manner in which she paints a landscape for each card is inspiring. For her teammate it’s a catalyst to take cards. For me, it’s an attempt to make art.

Very often art is simply the act of recognizing something as such. In other words, it’s seeing something that’s not apparently… apparent. Good writing, writing that shapes into art, literature is rarely apparent. Writers are very egotistical in a sense. They think they have something worth saying when it’s usually just some trite thought thrown into a blender and repackaged like a shiny new toothpaste box.

Sour grapes is literary art. I remember reading the fable when I was five and questioning my mother. Even after her explanation I still failed to comprehend the fox. The eureka moment didn’t come until years later and it hit me like a brick. It’s genius really. Thousands of years, billions of books, infinite human emotions and experiences later, every possible word has likely been written. In fact, there is nothing original in the preceding sentence or this entire piece. (I can’t find the source to attribute it to though.)

Yet art will endure. Kana-chan or someone will develop a feeling or thought and conjure it into something greater. Something that others can relate to and draw inspiration from.

Chihayafuru is art. Before the first season (or the manga really), could anyone even fathom a story built on karuta? So I sit here at my keyboard and strive to achieve what the anime of the year accomplished.

Chihaya

Author: The Paper

The Paper <3s music.

1 thought on “Chihayafuru 2 Episode 17: Gust of Wind

  1. Yes, the card reader was a real person, and it was authentic, and from that reading, they can feel the karuta as art, not merely sports. I think any Japanese traditional sports, like Karate, Judo, Kendo, Kyudo, Iaido, Aikido, Yabusame, there is aesthetic to it. And karuta is one of them. And I think that’s what draws foreigners to Japanese martial arts. Pursuit of beauty through strength, a theme of the Mishima literature. And I think Chihaya’s beauty comes from that.

    But ah, why always the girls that get hurt?

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