#tsuboguchi hiroshi

[seirity]

Chihaya 3 episode 23 reactions and thoughts on Taichihaya: Part 1 - How it came to be

I just watched this episode and I’m currently spazzing out at how well Madhouse executed this episode with only a few minor complaints.

WARNING: There will be spoilers ahead, so please do not read any further if you have not watched this episode or read the manga up to this point.

First off, IT HAPPENED!! Taichi has finally confessed to Chihaya!! While there were some scenes in the confession where the animation was spotty at best, the vast majority of it was superb. I especially liked the moment where it finally hits Chihaya that Taichi really likes her and that is the reason why he always goes off and does his own thing alone, without her.

To be honest, I really like the anime’s pacing and how they chose to animate things. I really feel like they flushed things out properly, which helped the audience gain a better understanding of what actually happened. You can tell a lot of thought was put into where and for how long certain scenes would play out, resulting in certain events having more of an impact on the audience. I will say that I did love how by having a slower pace, we were able to see all the amazing animation effects that sensei intended to include in the manga, but was unable to do due to the fact there are certain things that can only be done using animation.

But before I go into any more details about the confession, let’s back up and take a look at what lead up to this momentous occasion.

In the anime, there is such a beautiful, clear progression in the plot that leads up to Taichi’s confession. First, there is a very clear focus on how Chihaya reacts to Taichi doing things in secret without telling her anything (i.e. Prince Takamatsu Memorial Cup). Chihaya is visibly distraught over the fact that Taichi is staying behind after the Meijin/Queen matches to play in the Prince Takamatsu Memorial Cup, but it’s Kana-chan who forces her to think about why Taichi didn’t tell her what he was planning on doing and why he does that. If Kana-chan didn’t force her to do this, Chihaya most likely would just lamented about the fact that Taichi is one step ahead of her. Chihaya actually tries to understand why Taichi did what he did and to determine his reasons behind his actions up until her first match at the New Year’s Karuta Tournament in Tokyo.

This is a huge step for Chihaya in her character development, especially since the only thing Chihaya cares about is karuta. She doesn’t think about anything else besides karuta and Sudo-san even makes a comment about this at the end of the New Year’s Karuta Tournament’s finals where he tells her:

“I’ve thought about this before, but it seems like your mind is completely empty even though you’re taking everything in that’s happening around you. How the hell do you do it? I guess sounds are easier to hear when your mind is completely empty.” (disclaimer: this is my own personal translation of what he said since I feel like the translation in the episode didn’t really do the scene justice or convey what actually happened)

For me, this is significant because it proves that Chihaya is slowly on the path to realizing Taichi is an important person in her life.

In the following episode after the New Year’s Karuta Tournament and the Prince Takamatsu Memorial Cup, Taichi is at the forefront of Chihaya’s thoughts. She notices that he is simply going through the motions of playing karuta and his heart isn’t really in it and wants to ask him so many different questions: “Why did he enter the Prince Takamatsu Memorial Cup alone? How did his match go against Arata?” But she realizes she can’t ask him any of these things anymore, even though he’s so close to her.

Even when the girls are making chocolates for the boys, Chihaya suddenly bursts into tears after they talk about how even Taichi would barf if he was given fermented squid on Valentines Day, despite how nice he is.

In the end, it comes back to Chihaya wondering why Taichi always has to go off and do things on his own even though it’s more fun doing things with everyone else. The only difference here is that she wants him to smile. This is a big deal for Chihaya and another instance in which she has such a huge character development. Up to the this point, Chihaya has always been selfish and karuta is the only thing on her mind. The fact that she is completely distraught over how depressed Taichi is and how much he seems to be suffering alone proves that she’s finally thinking of someone else for once. She’s thinking of someone else’s feelings. The girl that only thinks about karuta is earnestly and wholeheartedly thinking about someone else and their happiness for a change. This isn’t the butterflies she gets when she remembers Arata’s confession or her desire to understand how Arata is able to play the way he is. She wants Taichi to smile. She wants Taichi to be happy and to not struggle so much and not suffer. THIS IS HUGE FOR CHIHAYA. Unfortunately, the girls’ Valentines plans are completely ruined by Chihaya’s father and Chihaya never gets to see Taichi smile on Valentines Day. However, this failure sets the stage for my next point.

After failing to get Taichi to smile on Valentines Day, Chihaya’s desire to make Taichi happy only grows and she becomes even more determined to make it happen no matter what. She ends up organizing a karuta tournament for Taichi on the day of his birthday. As she is organizing the tournament, she also asks Tsuboguchi-san to talk to Taichi about his match with Arata. This is also really significant because Chihaya is trying to help Taichi, even if she won’t know the details herself. Personally, I think she asks Tsuboguchi-san to talk to Taichi since she thinks it’ll help Taichi to talk to another guy about it. If all she wanted to do was ask Taichi about Arata, I think she would have done it herself. By not asking Taichi herself about his match with Arata and instead asking someone else to talk to him, Chihaya has demonstrated that what she truly wants is for Taichi to be happy again and to smile.

Tsuboguchi-san’s comment in the last part of this scene just drives this point home, since 馬鹿だな in this context has the connotation that someone is being dense or an idiot. It’s clear to Tsuboguchi-san that Chihaya asked him to do this because she cares about Taichi and not because she wants to know more about Arata.

Sumire’s reaction to Taichi telling her he’s going to confess to Chihaya is another instance where Chihaya’s determination to make him happy is apparent. Sumire wanted to be pretty, because she liked Taichi, but she was wrong.

Sumire: ‘I wanted to be pretty. I wanted to be pretty, but I was wrong. Liking someone isn’t about making yourself pretty. Liking someone is insatiable, tenacious, and....’ (disclaimer: I think insatiable is a much better translation of 強欲 here because while you are being greedy in sense that you want more, this is more the fact that you want more because you are insatiable.) Chihaya: ‘I want to make Taichi happy!‘

Just the timing in which Chihaya says that she wants to make Taichi happy is impeccable. Liking someone is essentially insatiable, tenacious, and wanting to make them happy. That’s why Sumire was wrong.

Lastly, just the fact that Chihaya organized an ENTIRE karuta tournament to celebrate Taichi’s birthday speaks for itself how much she cares about him and wants him to be happy. She invited and was in contact with everyone using a flip phone. That is extremely difficult and tedious since it takes so long to type everything out. This is already an unpleasant task in English, but in Japanese it’s just downright god awful.

So after all of these events, it’s quite clear to the audience that Chihaya cares deeply for Taichi and likes him to some degree, even if she herself is not aware of her own feelings.

On to part two: the confession!

#chihayafuru #ayase chihaya #mashima taichi #hanano sumire #tsuboguchi hiroshi #taichihaya #chihaya x taichi #taichi x chihaya