Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
Cynthesia
A fantastic follow up to an already fantastic first season. All in all it manages to accomplish everything a sequel should set out to do. If season 1 was a show about karuta its players, season 2 is a show about the people who play karuta. It’s not to say that season 1 is lacing in significant characterization but they typically ended up being defined by what karuta means to them and how they each grow to love an interact with the game itself. Season 2 uses this pretext as a means to truly expand on the relationships between the characters and allow each, even the least important ones, to truly grow through its runtime.
Chihaya herself actually manages to take a small step back from the limelight and makes room for the supporting cast to work their way in which is highly appreciated. Cha…
Read at the source50Fiftillididee
Isome minor spoilers
n S2 C really hits its stride. They need new club members or they'll have to give up their space. Fortunately, Chihaya is a force for recruitment.
Taochi's mother would prefer him to only focus on school, but he refuses to leave the club. We meet a family member or two of some club members.
A LOL moment in S2 is when they have to face off with a team of foreigners in a competition. They're so taken aback that they can't even function, at first. It's surprising to see foreigners play a traditional Japanese game! They don't have any idea how good this foreign team will be, and they work themselves up and out of sorts. One of the foreigners happens to be a lovely milk chocolate color with the speed and grace to match. When he swipes a card out from under one player’s…
Read at the sourcewhiteflame55
I think this season was honestly a bit of a let down after the first. It's not even so much that much has changed, but that there's a distinct lack of change on an interpersonal level. Personally, I think a lot of them have shown individual and distinct changes. Arata's really come into his own, gaining back all of his confidence and actually facing Chi and co. for the first time. Sumire and Tsukuba have certainly shown some development, though they are also new to this season. Nishida and Kana have had their moments, and Chi herself has developed mainly as a player, though I'd say Taichi and Tsutomu were the most interesting characters this season for their development.
What's remained almost entirely unchanged are the romantic elements, and while this show certainly doesn't have to go…
Read at the sourceevangelionlove
250 WORDS OR LESS REVIEW:
Chihayafuru 2 only covers about half of what season one did. This was the right idea to fix its “sometimes too fast” pacing, but the execution had a lot to be desired. There was too much padding this season; the start to most episodes would be the last minute or two of the previous one. There were also multiple times where a character would reflect on their ENTIRE journey after a victory or defeat, which would take a few minutes to do. The games are drawn out more, which adds to the tension and gives the audience a chance to reflect on the characters during their matches. The national tournament was so exciting and I never wanted the characters to win more. The romance is still not at the forefront yet, but it is bubbling more than in season one. The characters…
Read at the sourcebutobass
I don't really use this word for a series but this is anime is a 'Masterpiece' for me in the Slice of Life genre. The storyline, the way the games are done, the foreshadowing, everything points towards a great vision by the creators.
It starts off slow, by the time the tournaments starts it's picked enough momentum to draw the viewer in. Moreover, the characters are planned so perfectly that you actually see everything from the creators perspective. It's really amazing. It's amazing when you actually connect previous episodes, words phrases said by the characters with the current frame that is screening and then predict what is going to happen.
This doesn't sound very cool for a Slice of Life anime but still it' s always amazing when you are able to really connect with the characters. I…
Read at the sourceanimejapanrules
The second season of Chihayafuru builds squarely on the first, fleshing out characters and their dynamics while retaining the same gooey, feel-good atmosphere of the first season. It continues to work magic in depicting scenes of life outside the matches, and its ability to evoke emotion on a dime still amazes me. It also sticks to its themes well, continuing to explore the idiosyncrasies that live at the intersection of youth, friendship, passion, and competition.
Though still a top-ranker in the sports genre for its style, I found the second season a little less engaging than the first; its novelty wore out a bit for me, and I found the writing in some of the karuta matches repetitive and even random at times. That said, with the increasing character development and higher stakes, the s…
Read at the sourceCat_of_Anodyne
Chihayafuru season 1 and 2 are a rather strange phenomena for me. When I read the show description back in my pubescent days I was disgusted. What a silly sounding show I thought. I'd seen the good reviews and knew people liked it, but it celebrated such a bizarre piece of Japanese culture that I found my British mind struggling to grasp at the idea of a competitive game involving poems being enjoyable. But colour me as pink as Taichi's hair I was an immediate convert! This show is a shoujo claymore, cleaving you with it's girly aesthetic till you are but paste on the ground. It's lavish and gorgeously romantic and the main character is a pretty girl with a rock for a brain. What a mysterious female fantasy... This show definitely wasn't a favourite on first watch - some of the matches can…
Read at the sourceSrMcChicken
This review applies to the entire Chihayafuru series.
In my humble opinion, Chihayafuru does a few things very very well. The first thing that comes to mind is pacing. The pacing in this series was not necessarily perfect, but not far from it. Starting from the very first episode, the hook pulled me right into the world of Karuta.
Even while Chihaya's karuta addiction might start tasting metallic due to its constant repetitive nature, the series still remains interesting due to the constant character development. Every episode is developing character(s) and the way it is done almost lets you relate on a personal level. The end of each episode is either a perfectly timed cliffhanger, or a victory which just leaves you feeling immensely satisfied. Think of it as having the excitement of w…
Read at the sourceSesshomaru
ちはやふる 2 is a charming sequel to the popular first season. A truly captivating show and a very successful mix of the sport genre, with exciting competitions and the subtle sophistication of the Shoujo genre through friendship bonds. If you enjoyed the first season, this gentle, yet passionate continuation of sport and drama is sure to appeal to you too.
Story: funny - doing the same thing, but a bit different (9/10)
In the first season, the story is in the foreground and introduces both the characters as well as the traditional Karuta. Now that we know the setting and the characters a little better, story and plot take the opposite path, and that is exceptionally well done, by the way. What I really appreciate about this sequel is that the plot is emphasized but not in the foreground. The…
Read at the sourceDaxtotheMax
Ok I have to admit, the first season of Chihayafuru got me hooked, I knew that season 3 was coming and I wanted to wait until it came out to start season 2. I really like the dub voice actors so I wanted to make sure the dub for S3 was going to be soon but it's not even confirmed at this point, here's to hoping but I am willing to go through and see the sub instead if that's what it takes. I eventually got to the point of having dreams about Chihaya and I ended up just saying "Y'know, I've been really wanting this, enough holding myself back, it's time." And here we are, season 2. How does this season stack up against how highly I held the first season? Let's find out. (btw, this will include spoilers for season 1 because I assume you've watched it if you're on this page, but won't include…
Read at the sourcelv100sneaking
Chihayafuru season 2 is pretty disappointing.
This season is incredibly slow compared to the first season. The main characters were developing well last season but they ground it to a halt in this one. Every match feels exactly the same, just with a different set of faces. The Mizusawa gang seemingly loses all confidence at the start of every match, but by the end of them, win or lose, they've got Superman levels of confidence. EVERY match.
This season has got more inner monologue per 26 minutes than any single human is capable in a day. The directors insist we know what all 100+ characters are thinking at all time, even when they are completely irrelevant to what's going on in the episode, and they insist on making every thought as detailed as a doctorate's thesis. The directors also i…
Read at the sourceAppleseed4k
Cihayafuru, one of the anime that makes me want to keep watching anime. Honestly, it’s even better in my memory than it is while I watching it, so although I’ll stick with my initial impression as an 8, it’s getting closer to a 9 for me right now.
Like many other anime, there is a duality between the premise, karuta, and the relationships between the characters. I will address the former first.
Karuta, although it seems relatively pointless to an American person like me, is portrayed in this anime to be more intense and complex than any other sport. The matches contain some of the most suspenseful moments in anything I watched, with superpowers being replaced by unique skills shown by each of the members in Chihaya’s karuta club. When matches between two skilled players or teams or shown…
Read at the sourcemystic_noir
Karuta? What's that? At first, I thought this was going to be boring, but I was wrong. Although I still don't get Karuta that well. This anime is still amazing. I found myself cheering for the characters, yelling, crying, and laughing with them. Their pain and struggles became mine. I even learned from the teacher who is watching over the karuta club. The characters are amazing as well. A lot of character development. They're very relatable even if you don't play karuta. The only thing is that this season has a lot of minutes going over past episodes even two episodes reflect back to what happened.
Read at the sourceBabyGirl06301
This season was much better, in my opinion. All of my little issues that I pointed out in the last season were pretty much swept away in this season.
My number one point of annoyance was that the anime wasn't very balanced to me. Last season, it felt like you didn't know whether the main focus was supposed to be on the matches or the characters. This season managed to pull off a nice medium between the two. The matches actually had weight and suspense, and the anime let you focus in on more than just one match per tournament. I'm very pleased the karuta matches were paid the proper attention this season. I actually got to experience the losses and wins with the Mizusawa team.
The characters didn't have such a heavy focus this season since their setup was all finished last season, but th…
Read at the sourceM3Cyberpunk
"Strongly recommended for people who loves Slice of Life,Game based shows...If you want a show which will make you emotional (by showing you happy/Joyous scenes about life mostly,not sad ones) & give you goosebumps in about 80% of the whole show"👌🀄🎲
Honestly,I've never thought I would get so many goosembups,emotional impacts just by watching a indoor game based story...Definitely a Masterpiece.❤️💘
It's not just an anime,It's about life,It's about how dreams moves you forward,how working hard birngs you success,It's about how you learn from your failures while chasing your dreams & becoming a stronger person & so on..😌😍
An amazing storyline that revolves around a indoor games,while It may seem like just a game related show at first...It's actually much more than that...The way this an…
Read at the sourceImRingo
First off if you are at all interested in watching this anime, please do yourself a favor and watch the first season first. This second season picks off directly after the first.
***This is a spoiler free review***
Chihayafuru completely blindsided me when I first watched it last year. No matter how I looked at it, it looked like a Josei anime which is usually a turn off for me. After much consideration though I ended up watching it and I never regretted doing so. Now that the second season has completed, I find myself pretty much with the same feelings; pure awesomeness.
Story: 6.5/10
Let’s get the formalities out of the way; this is a sports anime. If you do not like sports anime then I am 98% sure you will not like this anime at all. Chihayafuru follows the main character Chihaya as…
Read at the sourceFado-chane
Damn, that was damn good. Despite being a show about cards 'n' shit, it's damn intense. There's suspense in just about every match and it's awesome when you're shown all the different angles and factors of karuta, the game in question of this "sports anime".
The characters are awesome. Taichi's my personal favorite. He's a total ass in the first episode and afterwards becomes the sweetest guy in the series. Despite him being good-looking and good at everything, he's a self-proclaimed coward with a crush on the main character, Chihaya. I hear some people give Chihaya shit for being annoying, but she's not. I find her to be the most endearing of the entire cast. She's the one who most strongly pushes forward the theme of growing stronger, which is one of my favorite themes in anime. The pro…
Read at the sourcetheadrin
Wow, just wow - what a series. In this review I'll be covering both season 1 and 2, since I cannot imagine anyone who has finished season 1 would not immediately rush out and watch season 2. Spoiler free review and thoughts to follow.
If you ever wanted a sports anime to actually have some romantic elements in it (although fairly subtle/light) then you cant go past this one. It is a top notch sports style anime in the tradition of Haikyuu, Kuroko no Basuke and Hajime no Ippo, just written from a Josei/female protagonist perspectibve. Such a perfect match, with the tension of the games, mixed in with distinctive likeable and diverse cast and such strong character development.
You can't help but fall in love with each and every character. You will laugh with them, feel their pain and joy…
Read at the sourceKyou_Tadashi
When something becomes more than what others suggest, you know its special and imperative to you. This is what Karuta means to the characters but what is more fascinating about it is not just their different ways and techniques in playing Karuta but their various stories and reasons for playing Karuta. This is the backbone of the show and I think they were successful in channeling the the material to make viewers fall in love to this anime or at least I did.
Story: 9
Initially, I thought that the beautiful faces of Chihaya, Arata and Taichi would require a very good material for romance. It could have been an advantage for the show to invest on intimate relationships but nonetheless, I think the show has already a direction and that is to showcase a different side of an average teenager…
Read at the sourceRhyned
*CONTAIN MINOR SPOILERS*
This is a continue review from Chihayafuru season 1. Well, then the characters goes into second semester and tried to achieve what they lack in the first semester: high school competition, training karuta new members, achieving higher rank per individual, and winning solo championship.
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THE BAD SIDE FROM SEASON 2
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1. The season 1 is good because it covers many strategy you did not know, but in season 2, there is just a little new strategy introduced.
One of the strategy is to hear multiple syllable in instant. For me it is BAD. How come human can achieve multi syllable by single syllable, no one in the real world can even differentiate that. The anime tends to be unrealis…
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