#but i feel like if you compare chihayafuru to other series you're sort of dooming yourself from the get go

[formashimataichi]

"His story has just begun".

I think this is the problem of the way you're thinking about it. Because yes, objectively speaking he's a very fortunate person. He's portrayed as smart, wealthy and handsome. And his achievment in Karuta can be considered impressive for how long he practiced in comparison to others.

But the manga isn't about being smart in school or good looking or rich. Those things while make a person fortunate are completely irrelevant to the crux of the story and the struggle of the character. So they do not really matter.

Same goes for him being impressive. Sure he won games and reached some places, but in the matches that really matter, especially against Chihaya and Arata, he lost. And it's not a loss that sets up a comeback like it is for Chihaya and Arata. He just loses and that's it.

You can say well he can always grow. Yeah that's true but how does it matter? You say "his story has just begun" but the manga is ending. What you imagine happens to the character outside the manga doesn't matter, nor would it matter if the author tells you that this and that happens. It really doesn't matter at all. What matters is the journey that you go through with the characters and the challange that you see them go through and experience with them.

I'm not saying that this or that is bad or unfair, I'm just saying that your way of thinking about it prevents you from understanding why those people are frustrated and unsatisfied.

How does what happens outside of or beyond the manga not matter, though? Yes, the manga ends, but the character’s lives themselves don’t. That’s the point of so many stories, that the end isn’t actually the end, and is simply the route to another beginning. There’s even an entire monologue about it at the end of Chapter 165. And I completely understand why people are frustrated and satisfied, it’s absolutely a hard pill to swallow when Taichi has suffered a lot to get to where he is, but as I’ve said many times before, I feel like very few people want to acknowledge the fact that these characters are teenagers? Part of the genius of Chihayafuru as a story is that it centers on a sport played by people of all ages, so it demands you to look ever forward. Life doesn’t just stop for these people in high school. A huge part of the narrative is centered on the characters needing to decide what they want to do with their lives as they move from childhood into adulthood, so what happens beyond the end of the manga absolutely does matter with regards to the central plot, because in general it’s a story about growing up and finding yourself and maturing. You don’t have to necessarily see where they end up as adults to understand the value in them looking forward and upward in terms of their own fate. 

As for the idea of “he just loses and that’s it,” would you say the same for Arata when he inevitably loses to Suou, or for Shinobu when she inevitably loses to Chihaya? Their theoretically “doomed” fates are even closer to the end of the manga than Taichi’s allegedly was, so per your premise that gives even less room for them to grow from what will be a very significant loss and blow to their psyches. But it’s still very likely going to happen, and it’s going to subsequently open Arata up to the realization that he needs help and that he needs to truly let go of his grandfather before he can ever expect himself to move forward, and open Shinobu up to the realization that she can’t survive if all she does is continue to push people who could care about her away. Taichi’s circumstances are obviously different, but it’s a similar set-up. He has to think about what karuta means to him at this point and whether he wants to define himself by that loss or continue to keep striving because his love for the game is now a genuine thing. He has to decide what the support and love of the people around him means to him and means for his own passion in terms of sport, life, academia, etc. The transition into adulthood is a very daunting experience, often because we have no idea what lies beyond that precipice once we have crossed it. The decisions we make by way of that transition are very much a gamble. But obviously. . . it’s a line that we have to cross at some point or other, and that requires anticipation and preparation. I don’t think any of the characters’ stories are rendered meaningless because we’re not necessarily going to be privy to what happens to them after they cross that line; it’s important enough that they’re thinking about what crossing the line means to them and how they want to strive and survive in the world once they’re beyond it. 

#chihayafuru #*meta #like. i think people are too focused on the idea of a loss being terminal. if that makes sense #when realistically (and esp for someone these characters' age) it really isn't #and like i do get that it's hard not to have expectations esp when comparing to other sports manga #where underdogs do often win out in the end in their own way #but i feel like if you compare chihayafuru to other series you're sort of dooming yourself from the get go #bc it really does take a very different approach #one that's not necessarily all beautiful or all ugly but that's just. real #like yeah the manga is ending but esp as a series so intent on looking forward #idk how people would get the notion that what happens after is unimportant #what happens after is absolutely important. it's why so much time is put into preparing these characters for adulthood #also at least to me part of the series' realism also stems from the idea that you don't always win in high school #so many sports manga show the characters winning big by the end of high school and yeah that's great #absolutely nothing wrong with it. but is it realistic 100% of the time? not really #and ig we can agree to disagree here #but i think there's worth in a story that says sometimes you lose when you're young but it's okay #bc you can keep playing and you can win even when you're older #like maybe to some people that seems like a bleak sentiment and dooming yourself to playing with no guarantee #but again. all of the adult characters are clearly still playing for a reason and it's not just the idea of winning #it's bc they genuinely love the sport #also i realize i was sort of redundant with the closing points i made in both paragraphs of this post so sorry for that gjkfdjhlgdf #ig it's just an important point for me to hammer in lol