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shoujomangathoughts · 10 months

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Chihayafuru Thoughts - Chihaya and Taichi (Ch.140-247) Part 2

This is the second part of me covering the Taichi and Chihaya relationship after Taichi’s confession and resignation from the club to the end of the manga, this time focused on events in Taichi’s arc and how it relates to his relationship to Chihaya. Once again, there’s obviously spoilers here since it covers chapters all the way to the end.

After leaving, it really seems as though Taichi plans to quit karuta, or at least take an extended break, until finding out Suou is a teacher at his cram school (there are some really good write-ups about their relationship that I can’t compare to so check them out!). In general though, being with Suou seems to allow Taichi a space to entertain being a different person as he works through some of his feelings. In the culmination of events (a lot of season three of the anime), he seemingly wants to give everything up. When he watched Harada play Suou, he questioned how it’s possible to give everything you have to something without fear of regret. I’ve always seen his interest in Suou stemming from Suou sympathizing with him and also “not liking” karuta. Having so much ability in the game while also being unattached (or so Suou claims at this point) appeals to Taichi when he’s at his lowest point. If he doesn’t love the game or put weight into winning or losing, he has nothing to lose. I actually think it’s interesting to break down Taichi’s character this way; in the Meijin qualifiers he notes that he wants to be a different person, but still himself (aka a different version of himself). After the events of what season 3 covers though, I feel like Taich is burnt out on trying to change and takes a more extreme avenue when he goes under Suou’s wing. That being said, it’s clear that for all the pain he went through, he cherishes the time he spent with the team, even if it hurts him right now.

He has to figure out why he’s playing karuta and acknowledge that he actually does like it, even it frustrates and challenges him over and over. I’ve always liked the panel where he resolves himself to work through his complicated relationship with karuta because he doesn’t want these memories to be tainted. It’s also nice to see him actually enjoy the game (you can tell by his remarks and body language) now that the pressure is off him. He’s essentially playing to lose (and learn) and not worrying about the team, catching up to Chihaya and Arata, helping Chihaya with her dream, winning in tournaments, etc. This is good for him, he’s able to focus on himself for a while and it more or less proves that part of him always enjoyed the game even if he wasn’t able to convince himself of that. I said this in a previous post, that Taichi seems to enjoy karuta, but the reason he plays is never because he does, which is why he so easily admits that he doesn’t like it when Suou calls it out.

Even though he feels guilt over leaving the team abruptly and for admitting that he’s enjoying karuta so much more on his own, it’s obvious Taichi is still attached to them. When they just barely make it to nationals, and he thinks about how he can’t go as he’s no longer a member, his phone blows up. The team members texted him about their victory and it’s clear that part of Taichi still exists within that team, as he does a victory gesture. It’s also really nice that the members still seem to think of him as a member and keep him updated even though he left. When Chihaya texts him, she includes the fact that the final card was ‘Se’, which Taichi notes to be about fate. He wonders if he is also waiting for fate to bring them back together. This signals to me that Taichi is willing to go back to them once he works on himself and the timing is right (unfortunately doesn’t happen in time but he’s acknowledging that he still wants them in his life).

When the flashback of the third year boys at karaoke happens, we get this panel of Taichi expressing what I feel is a very raw emotion. The reason he probably feels like this is that if Chihaya's hurt because of how things went with him, that means she truly understands his feelings in a way that she hadn’t before. In a way, it proves to Taichi that he meant enough to her that she’d be hurt to lose him or break his heart the way she did. Taichi often felt inadequate and unnoticed by Chihaya despite always being at her side, so this emotion doesn’t strike me as surprising, as it feels like a bit of validation, albeit in a pretty sad way (reminds me of a scene with Kagura in Fruits Basket). He also feels guilty for this and considers it one of the reasons he doesn’t “deserve” to go back to the team.

I actually view him going to nationals as a lapse in judgement for Taichi regarding what he’s trying to do. After nationals, we’re presented the fact that Taichi is practicing assimilation with Suou, seemingly to gain perspective but also to allow himself to be someone else. But in the culmination of his mom being there, Arata and Chihaya playing, and the part of him that’s been longing to go back, he ends up there. However, after that he goes home and later runs from Chihaya because he doesn’t want to return to “himself”, which makes me think he really only returned because he was emotionally charged, even if it contradicted what he was trying to do otherwise.

During the emotional reunion (one of my favorite moments in the series), Taichi apologizes specifically to Chihaya and then to the rest of the team. I think his apology encompasses more than just being sorry for not being there, the same way I felt Chihaya’s “thank you” carried more weight. He seems to be apologizing for a lot; not being there, the way they left things off, leaving his responsibilities in the club to her, for any hurt he caused, etc. I also love how the team seem to understand that Taichi wouldn’t have left them like that unless he truly felt he needed to because it shows how much they trust him. The focus on Chihaya at first is really sweet too; they’ve known each other the longest and have the closest bond, started the club together, and she’s been thinking about him a lot while he’s been gone.

During the Meijin and Queen qualifiers, Taichi starts his “villain arc”. He plays in a trickier, more detached way that relies on making opponents commit faults, something learned from playing with Suou. To me this reiterates my earlier point about Taichi trying to be detached for sake of not being disappointed or frustrated if he loses, especially considering that Harada more of less coaxes his actual desire out of him (wanting to be “where Chihaya and Arata are”). He seems to try acting like a different person, using an interesting answer about being a Shiranami member, taunting Sudo and other opponents, avoiding Chihaya and being thrown off when she talks to him. However, seeing Chihaya struggle is one of the things that brings him back to himself, as is seeing that Arata has won in the west and and finally Dr. Harada’s match. During his match with Sudo, he talks about vanishing cards and holding something dear by holding it at a distance. Then, when the ‘Chiha’ card is about to be read, we see his thoughts of “don’t vanish”. To me, this is representative of a lot of what Taichi has been through; despite the pain he would feel at Chihaya’s side and the pain of their separation, even though they don’t spend time together the way they used to, even though he’s been trying to act like someone else, when you break down his true feelings he doesn’t want to lose his connection to her.

In his first game against Arata, he plays a similarly tricky style as he did in the qualifiers and seems to continue trying to be somewhat detached. He even uses Chihaya as a model (”The answer... lay with Chihaya!) to have an almost childish sort of fun that we’ve never seen him have while playing. After the first game, Chihaya and the other girls let some fresh air and snow into the room, improving the atmosphere, but Taichi thinks about how he doesn’t want to be distracted by her and remember when they played together. However, in the second game, he plays more earnestly (as noted by Yoshioka of the Nagumo society). This is also the game where Taichi and Chihaya have a small moment that seems reminiscent of the days they played on the same team. Seeing how determined she is makes him admit to himself that winning has to mean something, contrary to what he was taking from being with Suou. Suou himself even notes that though some people gain strength from believing that, Taichi is different and that the “real” Taichi isn’t his disciple.

Towards the end of the game, he focuses so intensely on ‘Chiha’ that he physically shakes after a different card is read. And then right before it is read, it glows to him and after taking it, he notes that it was the only card on the field that he could see (”Only that. Only Chiha”). After that, he takes ‘Fu’ incredibly quick and admits that Chihaya’s take of said card (the first card she took like a “real karuta player”) had always inspired him. To me, this is what Sakurazawa meant by saying “there’s a kind of confidence that only Ayase can build for him”. He’s always been inspired by Chihaya; as kids when Arata’s prowess motivated her instead of frightened her, when he watched her win and get to Class A, when she revealed her dream to be queen and when that dream become tangible, etc. and he’s mentioned that her greed has rubbed off on him. Even when he’d been frustrated and dissatisfied, Chihaya’s unadulterated passion for the game has helped him remember why he keeps playing. It’s also interesting to me that the only commentary and reactions we get from Chihaya here are based on Taichi’s takes (in part due to timing I guess but still). In the end, Taichi loses the third game, but by winning the second, he gained something he had verbalized and convinced himself that he would never achieve; beating Arata. Even though he had ambition to go further, I think this is part of why he’s so quickly able to smile and wish for Arata to beat Suou and for Chihaya to become “the strongest in the world”.

Even though he’s apprehensive about watching the matches. It’s clear that Taichi still wants to support Chihaya. He knows how important this day is to her and has watched her struggle and grow to be at the level she’s at. The line about collecting green herbs is about the fact that he’s been supporting her behind the scenes. Having Sumire and the kohais go to the shrine with her, helping Chitose, the kimono, and Dr. Harada get to Omi Jingu, praying for her at the shrine, etc. were all his ways of supporting her. It’s always been kind of sad to me that Taichi can’t seem to think of himself as being one the “herbs”, that even though Chihaya (and Arata for that matter) doesn’t need him there, they still might want him there, but gaining a better self of his self worth is part of his growth and arc. I think this also connects to how he pondered Kana’s question about ‘role’, and how he seems to believe his role may be to simply support others (”Omi Jingu is no longer my destination”, “I just know it’s not me. Chihaya’s ‘core’”), which is why he plans on leaving once he’s done “gathering the herbs”. He’s yet to find the confidence to voice and act on his own desires.

The conversation with Chitose is a good wake up call for Taichi, who has resigned himself to allowing others to accomplish things that he wanted to do. It’s a nice moment where Chitose (and later there’s a line from Tsuboguchi too) puts in perspective that Taichi is his own person with his own desires and there’s nothing wrong with that. Taichi in general struggles with insecurity and self worth, so it’s nice to someone as blunt as Chitose spell it out for him. The most poignant line here to me though is about whether or not feelings are wasted. Though he doesn’t seem to say it, in my opinion it’s here that we see Taichi accepting that even if Chihaya never reciprocates his feelings, he doesn’t have to feel that they were wasted. This is also a nice change in perspective for Taichi who was once worried about putting time into something and fearing regret over doing so. Even if it hurt him at times, it’s clear that he still cherishes the time he’s spent with her and doesn’t want that connection to be cut off. Also interesting that even though he said his feelings may fade, when Chitose asks him, he only says that he was rejected instead of denying his feelings. Taichi saying his feelings may fade may have been fully true, he may have said it knowing that Chihaya could hear and thus trying to make her less on edge, he could have been trying to make it true for himself by saying it out loud but it’s vague enough to interpret. Chitose also mentions a “void” that Chihaya can’t fill, which I’ve always interpreted as Taichi’s lack of self esteem and ability to truly accept himself, something that it’s true Chihaya can’t fix for him.

When Taichi does walk in, it’s in game four. He previously was so happy about Chihaya’s first win that he dropped his phone to the ground in his celebration. Watching her play with all her might against Shinobu brings him to tears. As was apparent from his final game against Arata, he wants to see Chihaya accomplish her dream; the dream that was part of why he agreed to make the club, the dream he saw become something real and watched her claw her way towards for years. After watching both Chihaya and Arata take ‘Chiha’ in the fifth games, he slips out of the room they are watching and Hanano goes out to find him doing practice swings in the hall. This scene reminds me of when Porky loses to Arata and says “this is why I hate strong players, they make me want to try harder” and also shows how different Taichi is now (remember when he wouldn’t practice swings because he was embarrassed?). When Chihaya and Arata win and become Queen and Meijin, we get to see Taichi’s thoughts that he’s always been left behind. However, the quickness in which he declares he’ll be back to defeat Arata next year reminds me of how fast Chihaya challenged Shinobu and how determined Arata challenged Suou. To me, this proves that Taichi has a drive and confidence he didn’t previously have (he previously got upset with himself for not being able to throw down the gauntlet like Arata). It’s proof that he’s not giving up on himself the way his words may lead you to believe (”Omi Jingu is no longer my destination), and now that he’s playing for himself and because he’s acknowledged what karuta is to him, his desire to not be left behind seems healthier and more out of competitive spirit and respect for his friends/rivals rather than a way to ease his insecurity and feelings of inadequacy. When they hug him, he gets his scene of embracing his inner child and accepting himself, which is a journey that has been a defining part of his entire character arc.

When Taichi and Chihaya talk on their graduation day (before she confesses), its visibly clear to me that Taichi has fully come around on the sentiment from his conversation with Chitose. He seems much happier (here and in the scene with Hanano and Tsukuba) and more comfortable around Chihaya again, which to me signifies that he’s fully accepted that Chihaya may never love him back, and yet his feelings for her are still entirely valid. That translates into him using the line about karuta always being a way to connect them; even if their relationship is different than it once was, even if there’s some distance between them because of his feelings for her and neither wanting to pressure each other (he has yet to know her feelings), he can still be connected to her in some way. The bond that they’ve had for so long doesn’t have to evaporate. It seems undeniable that he’s in a better place. And then when Chihaya does confess, he obviously can’t help but feel happy (so much so that he’s brought to tears) because at the end of the day, he does love her, and those were words he longed to hear for so long even if he’s accepted he may never hear them.

// Sidenote // I’ve seen it mentioned that Taichi still loving her and being the one to have his feelings reciprocated takes away from his character growth, but I don’t agree. I think the fact that he’s able to accept his feelings even if they won’t necessarily go anywhere and not get so depressed about is proof he’s gained self esteem. He seems more content with himself and is making decisions for himself based on his own desires. He’s filling the “void” that Chitose alluded to. The only reason I can think of people wanting some of his growth to be shown through him moving on is that they wanted him out of the love triangle, but that’s just my opinion.

Anyway, thanks for reading another long one! Taichi is my favorite character and the one I find to be the most layered in this series, so it’s a bit hard to organize all my thoughts. I tried my best to stay on topic of his arc and Chihaya’s relation to it.

#chihayafuru #mashima taichi #ayase chihaya #taichi x chihaya #manga

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embossross · 4 months

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2023 in anime

i give ratings out of 10 stars based on a rubric that considers the following:

2 points / ambition of what the anime is trying to achieve 3 points / effectiveness of the anime in achieving its aims 4 points / my personal, subjective enjoyment 1 point / pacing +1/-1 miscellaneous

so with that said… ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (2 anime)

revolutionary girl utena – heavy breathing panting crying what a fucking roller coaster nanami the child you are anty the child you were utena the child you choose to be – just one of the true masterpieces of all anime. took a few episodes to realize that this show understood tone and comedy perfectly and wasn’t just a wonky children’s show and by golly! the nanami in season 3 gutted me unlike anything else

attack on titan: final season (for real this time) – decent conclusion to maybe my favorite anime of all time

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (10 anime)

school rumble – so goddamn funny and i cared about every goddamn character. it’s witchcraft!

trigun – good ole saturday morning cartoons

golden kamuy s3 – how does it keep getting better???!?!

fruits basket – i was a certified hater after s1, but slowly but surely i gave into the melodrama. akito and shigure were EVERYTHING

nana – the most disappointing ending of all time! for one of the greatest anime of all time. manga pls save me!!!

rascal does not dream of bunny girl senpai – i’m embarrassed. i cried.

princess tutu – expressionistic, dedicated to storytelling, tremendously kind-hearted. you have to let it move you

blue lock – i’m officially a sports anime girlie

cyberpunk: edgerunners – this was just so slick!

chainsaw man – nothing needs to be said here

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (8 anime)

yamada-kun to lv999 no koi wo suru – adult romance that hasn’t been stripped of all conflict and maintains momentum nearly to the end

oshi no ko – my expectations were non-existent after ep 1 but then it crept up on me. i can’t even fully put my finger on what works so well? but it does! it knows when to take itself seriously and when to be nonsense.

demon slayer s3 – best season of demon slayer to date, i actually cared

durarara!!x2 shou – this is a confession. my inner edgy teen loves durarara. i appreciate huge casts of characters acting in opposition in atmospheric tokyo.

gintama – i finally finished gintama one of my favorites of all time. the end pulls all the threads together but it does so at the expense of the laughs so loses some points

chihayafuru – amazing background anime. just consistently fun and engaging.

perfect blue – i feel stupid and uncultured to not give this a 10

vinland saga – askeladd is so hot wow

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (7 anime)

buddy daddies – funny and sincere in degrees but a truly annoying little girl character

serial experiments lain – god you’ve gotta appreciate the wild swings creatives were taking in the 90s

durarara!!x2 ten

great teacher onizuka – ugh he’s a creep but also heh he’s funny

trigun stampede – they yassified them!

mob psycho 100 s3 - meandered a bit but the characters are forever favorites

to your eternity – the first 3 arcs are extraordinary. march is one of the great child characters of all time. the end drags.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (8 anime)

zom 100 – crazy good first episode that earns its premise and then a slow descent into mediocrity; cool colors though!

terror in resonance – utterly forgettable

dororo – way too long with way too many hit or miss episode arcs

bungou stray dogs s4 – the cracks are showing but the rampo backstory is dope

lycoris recoil – those cute girls shoulda been lesbians

classroom of the elite – is it edgy? yes. are the quotes frustratingly misused? oh yes. is it fun? ugh yeah actually

romantic killer – pretty cute and the edge of danger at the end really sells it

free – solid watch but it left my brain like sand in a sieve

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4 anime)

wolf’s rain – what passes as deep when children are your primary audience

hell’s paradise – boring and i liked the manga so.

durarara!!x2 ketsu – the conclusion falls short

land of the lustrous – bold but was too slow for me

⭐⭐⭐⭐ (3 anime)

tomo-chan is a girl! – sometimes funny but the conceit does not justify 13 episodes and it loses steam fast

mushishi – some of the vignettes were beautiful but felt repetitive

bleach: thousand-year blood war – sleek, hype, plagued by all the old bleach problems

no game no life season 1 - confused that this was such a phenomenon when it came out. it’s fine i guess.

⭐⭐⭐ (5 anime)

kamisama kiss – trite imo

given – god save us from anime about perfect people being perfect with each other – but this time set to music!

tokyo revengers s2 – 🤷

natsume’s book of friends – i don’t need vibes this cozy

sasaki to miyano – and i really don’t need vibes this cozy

⭐⭐ (0 anime)

⭐ (0 anime)

& then ongoing shows that i’m not going to rank until i finish them (but actually all are pretty good so far) – skip to loafer, heavenly delusion, spy x family s2, apothecary diaries, jujutsu kaisen s2, frieren: beyond journey’s end, vinland saga s2

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frostfires-blog · 1 year

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╔⏤⏤╝❀╚⏤⏤╗ Anime Hanakotoba Posts Directory

»•» 🌸 ««@frostfires-blog »» 🌸 «•«

1.0 Gintama OP15 2.1 Fruits Basket ED4 P1 2.2 Fruits Basket ED4 P2 3.0 Boku no Hero Academia ED10 4.0 Chihayafuru ED3 5.1 Shiguang Dailiren/Link Click Official Art 5.2 Shiguang Dailiren/Link Click Official Art - Lu Guang Omake 5.3 Shiguang Dailiren/Link Click Season 2 Key Visual 6.0 Shingeki no Kyojin/Attack on Titan ED7 7.1 Bleach P1: OP16 & ED31 ~ Ichigo Kurosaki 7.2 Bleach P2: ED31 7.3 Bleach P3: OP16 & ED31 ~ Gotei 13 8.1 Tiān Guān Cì Fú/Heaven Official's Blessing P1 8.2 Tiān Guān Cì Fú/Heaven Official's Blessing P2 9.0 Jujutsu Kaisen 10.0 Shingeki no Kyojin/Attack on Titan Final ED - Itterasshai 11.0 TBC...

P.S: If you liked any of these posts and there's a particular anime scene, anime opening or anime ending—with some flower symbolism in it—that you want me to do post on, send me an ask and I'll gladly do it if I've seen the show...

╚⏤⏤╗❀╔⏤⏤╝

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jewishsuperfam · 2 months

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spent way too much money on the sentai filmworks sale but i managed to nab the complete bluray collections for revstar, princess tutu, and marimite, along with all the individual seasons of oregairu, seasons 1+2 of chihayafuru, and a couple of other assorted individual seasons + movies

#now let's all pray that no one in my building steals my package

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ryukocha · 7 months

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Tagged by @cerealandchoccymilk (thank you so much! His post here)

Get to know a mutual better!!

LAST SONG: rats in my walls by ratbag.

FAVORITE COLOR: dark red or dark green, depending on my mood...

CURRENTLY WATCHING: The Bear season 2 (god. damn. this show.), What We Do in the Shadows (TV), Chihayafuru 2.

LAST MOVIE: Prometheus (2012), which I saw the one time in theaters and had been begging my partner to watch it with me for months now. He was skeptical because I made him watch all four Alien movies, and the last two were traumatic. We decided to watch the extended fan edit of Prometheus, which was pretty amusing/disorienting due to the constantly changing aspect ratio.

CURRENTLY READING: The Panda's Thumb (collection of biology essays) by Stephen Jay Gould, Vermis by Plastiboo (going through it slowly to really take in the art).

SWEET/SAVORY/SPICY: savory. Or a combination of these. I get sick of sweet things pretty easily, unfortunately :(

LAST THING GOOGLED: "priest stole" (← lol guess why)

CURRENT OBSESSION: Trigun... specifically, the manga. It completely changed my brain chemistry. Secondarily, I'm also hooked on Chainsaw Man.

CURRENTLY WORKING ON: more Trigun fanart >:3c and a zine that I want to try to get riso-printed

tags: @bluenastarshine @calentvre @kotturstjarna @liceparade @microdosing-melatonin @parvusmundus @tchintchun and anyone who wants to do it! Just say I tagged you

#tag game #personal #ryukocha.txt

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threecheersforinking · 2 years

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My favorite anime from each year, 2010-2020

Hello! I love making these favorite anime lists so I wanted to try something different. I’m open to doing other years (possibly 2000-2010) but I felt like 2010-2020 would be the decade I’m most likely to have seen the most stuff lol. Also I did cheat a little by picking the second season of some shows (rather than when they first aired) but who cares this is my game and I make the rules. Anyway here we go!

2010: Maid Sama

2011: Madoka Magica

2012: Hyouka

2013: Chihayafuru 2

2014: Your Lie in April

2015: Haikyuu Season 2

2016: Mob Psycho 100

2017: March Comes in like a Lion Season 2

2018: Violet Evergarden

2019: Vinland Saga

2020: Love is War Season 2

As usual, I’ve linked my recommendation/review posts if you haven’t seen any of these yet. Thanks for reading!

-threecheersforinking

#anime #anime blog #2000s anime #love is war #vinland saga #violet evergarden #march comes in like a lion #mob psycho 100 #haikyuu!!#your lie in april #chihayafuru #hyouka #madoka magica #Maid Sama #anime recs #comedy anime #romance anime

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natsumi-no-hotaru · 2 years

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Chihayafuru #52: Here comes the Yoshino Tournament

AKA. Kanatomu is back and absolutely here to stay.

[Previously: There’s a kind of confidence only Ayase-san can give him.]

Gosh, picking this up after a hiatus of 1.5 years is not gonna be easy, lol. Can’t believe that this partial post on Chihayafuru season 3 episode 2 has sit in my drafts for that long. I would like to blame Netflix for getting me hooked on The End of the F*cking World and Haikyuu, but to be fair, it was Genshin Impact. Okay, fine, it’s me. But I dare you to be unaffected upon the sight of and acquaintance with the one true Queen (of GI, obviously not karuta), I dare you.

... Jokes and finger-pointing aside, I am truly glad to return to rambling about this wonderous world, despite feeling lost and out of tune like Taichi making his way back to karuta in the beginning of season 1. I must admit that I have forgotten quite a bit of what happened in the past seasons - the matches, the characters’ struggles and dynamics. Before sitting down to finish this post, I have re-read my Chihayafuru collections in the hope of filling up the gaps in my recollection but the fact remains that I am truly worried about my ability to do the rest of Season 3 (which is a lot left ahahaha) and the entire Chihayafuru story justice. It is such an intricately and tightly written work thus far, with so much depth and all the details that all tie together.

Nonetheless, seeing Taichi and hearing Miyano Mamoru have never failed to inspire me to do my best at any given moment. So this is for you, Masuge-kun, and me, for us idiots who ran away and could not help coming back to home.

*deep breath* Now that I got that out of my chest, let us go back to episode 52 because Kanatomu is a thing already. I’m just literally waiting for either of them taking the next step of confession because really, it’s just a matter of time that Kanatomu is canon. So excited for them to be actively turning toward each other and walking the same path hand in hand!!

Before snow falls on Yoshino Village

So many heartstrings were tugged on hearing that sweet bumbling hesitancy in his voice.

There’s so much about the opening scene of this episode to love, from Arata’s cute blushy face, the return of his less-seen shy self, to his gentle and whole-hearted conviction in the need to keep the karuta world growing via school teams, which are often regarded by traditionalists as lesser players. It’s truly heartening to see friends cheering on our resident soft-speaking, socially distant boy and him declaring his intention to enter the next national team tournament.

“Our world of karuta can only grow because of team players who keep the game alive, right?”

It was not until this scene that I truly felt the karuta world’s transformative power on Arata and how much he has opened up since his reunion with Chi-chan and Taichi, and his return to karuta. Had it not been for such experience, Arata might have been much more like Shi-chan, closed off and passionate all on her own. While Arata’s plan to form a school team for the national tournament quickly came to a bust, there’s no denying that Arata’s world has vastly opened up, the moment he wished to spread the word of karuta.

Our fun and peaceful school life rounds continued with Chi-chan and the hardship of figuring out a future path. A certain obstacle will soon be placed in her path but before that, here comes training time.

You’re not the only one lol. The only move Taichi made was to declare war on Chi-chan... so we’ll have to wait and see.

Reality, as it looks, is pretty disheartening, huh?

Taichi’s progress was all noted by Chi-chan, especially how much further his strength in memorization had taken him in the game, making him a very formidable opponent in the later half.

Boy is aiming much higher now, heh? Well, one thing is certain - he definitely had Chi-chan’s attention now. A poor shipper can only hope that he would build something substantial out of it, while Arata is not yet back in the picture permanently.

Perhaps not so surprisingly, Taichi is not the only whose spirits ran high. #everyone_wants_taichi

It’s absolutely hilarious to see these 3 fighting over who got to play Taichi and even better to see the ever gentile and soft-spoken Tsutomu-kun literally snap after an ill-advised argument from Nishida lmao.

Achievement unlocked: one snapped Tsutomu.

There’s a real sense of momentum in Tsutomu’s progress and it would certainly do him good to keep riding on that wind. As Kana-chan so shrewdly observed, going undefeated for an entire day can truly change a person’s mindset.

And Tsutomu is not the only one energized by the team and individual victories of the club. The competitive bug has taken hold of another, one who has found a guiding goal for herself and started to walk firmly towards it.

If Tsutomu’s spirited outburst was already quite unexpected for someone of a quiet disposition, Sumire certainly took the prize in being the greatest surprise of them all. She was asked by Taichi to take a turn playing against Chi-chan, who have started to get comfortable playing with her left hand. Sumire was meant to be an “easy” opponent so that Chi-chan could slowly reacquaint herself with using her right hand. While her level may have not seen a big leap but the same could not be said for her determination and resolve to do exactly what Taichi is trying to do - getting on the radar of her love interest.

That look in her eyes certainly said all. No longer directionless, she now takes tenacious steps with her eyes dead-set on the goal. Her no-nonsense attitude, previously dormant, has taken hold and redefined her character in such a way that completely captivated everyone’s attention.

“I’ll win more in the next tournament. I’m not gonna be class D forever.”

Sumire’s desire to catch Taichi’s eyes being a powerful motivator for her karuta is just in her character. What really strikes me is how enduring such motivation has turned out to be. Seeing this once-flippant and thoughtless girl putting her mind to some real serious pursuit and self-development is truly gratifying.

It feels a little strange to go back to school with these guys after a whole season of mostly tournament matches in Omi Jingu. Suddenly, school trips are a thing, even Chi-chan is hyped over it. These reminders of them having some sort of life outside of karuta will need some getting used to, lol. Unfortunately, seems like school and karuta will come head to head at some point.

Apparently, school trip is not something Chi-chan can easily skip for karuta. Even her literature teacher, after reading her love poems to karuta, took upon himself to forewarn the Empress, aka. the karuta club adviser, on how Chi-chan is a flight risk. Downtrodden by thoughts of not getting to go to the Qualifiers, Chi-chan was shaken out of her funk by Kana-chan, who has always sought to instill feminine grace in our heroine.

I do like the idea of performing small acts of good behavior to accumulate good luck. It is similar to building good karma through acts of kindness and charity, and is a very Kana-thing to believe in.

Then came this somewhat bewildering insert of a Japanese lit. period, which touched upon the age-old debate of creator vs. critic and the role of literature teachers as those who pass on “the words of the many who came before”. Like I do appreciate the insights but I’m not sure of their relevance to the story, now or later. But it did make Chi-chan’s face light up so is this some sort of placeholder for some discussion of future career pathway? *shrug* still weird.

There is finally some good news for Chi-chan: her finger has recovered well after the surgery and her right hand is back! And the Yoshino tournament is literally around the corner, so let’s go!

Team or individual...?

The arrival and clashes of karuta societies made the Yoshino tournament livelier and stand out from previously seen tournaments, where either the schools or the individuals took the center stage. Chi-chan and company were here to play for themselves and to also represent the philosophy of their respective societies.

Here comes the Nagumo society, from Fukui.

And their arch-rival.

I miss Harada-sensei!!!!

Love how the members are so gentile, except for the coach...

There are also some peeps whose schools are akin to karuta societies, me thinks.

Yay, Rion made it to class A too. That should put her in matches against Chi-chan and Taichi at some point!

Lest I forget amidst all the excitement, but this is Taichi’s first-ever tournament as a class-A player!!!

Harada-sensei welcoming Taichi to class A and being a proud papa is all the fluff I need.

Fired up by his own agenda for the Shiranami karuta society as he was, Harada-sensei never forgot to cheer on his Eyelashes-kun, the prodigal child that returned home to karuta.

Meanwhile, Chi-chan had a sweet moment or two with Arata, and then promptly got herself caught up in shenanigans, again.

blushie from Arata. Now that I think about it, when was the last time that Taichi was this blushy around Chi-chan... Though to be fair, he was too busy keeping up with her antics and too jaded by her less-than-feminine comportment to have time for blushies...

She looked so cute here, reminding me of younger Chi-chan - so pleased by praise from Arata.

But above all, they are here for the karuta.

Certainly not before meeting Arata again, right?

And here came Sudo-san, whose “s” stands for shenanigan, sadist and stalker.

... Oh come on, he provides commentary for all of Chi-chan’s matches, whenever he’s not playing himself. If that is not stalker-ish behavior, then it’s secret admirer, mwhahaha.

Taichi = Chi-chan’s tamer.

The stakes just keep getting higher, huh? DON’T TAKE IT, TAICHI!!!

Though I must say I do look forward to a rematch between Sudo-san and Chi-chan, if the mangaka karuta god wills it so. Actually, Sudo-san has yet to play against Taichi thus far, right...?

*fingers cross* my memory please come backkkk

Lmao, bit early for this pairing to be exciting, considering the last round of team tournament at Omi Jingu. But I would like to see this senpai again, for sure. His puppy love for Rion is so hopeless lol.

It sure is the thread of fate lol. Awww, I do like this President Cheers/Yoroshiku.

Poor Nishidaaaa, gambatte ne.

With Chi-chan and Taichi growing by leaps and bounds and having exciting reunions with friends and rivals, it can be easy to forget about the lower-level players like Tsutomu-kun. To think that it only took him about a year (or less?) to reach class B. That, in itself, is quite the feat and his progress deserves all the recognition and spotlight from before and here onwards. While class B proved to be more challenging than he expected, and Tsutomu-kun has a long way to go before becoming a strong player, I do hope that he will have more chances to show his resolve and be more than a supporting character.

“I should have known a class B match wouldn’t be like class C.”

Unfortunately, this is as far as he got in this tournament. I find it such a shame that we won’t get to see more of Tsutomu-kun the karuta player for now, but I understand that the narrative is building up something spectacular for the trio in Yoshino so Tsutomu-kun’s early elimination would help with the story’s focus, which has been a little all over the place in this episode.

Before moving on, some appreciation from the girl who has been walking the same path with him since the beginning.

Kanatomu has always been my comfort ship, especially whenever Taichihaya feels like the most hopeless thing ever. Kana-chan’s openly-expressed affection and care for Tsutomu-kun is truly balm for the soul.

“You said were going to win so I wanted to be there to see it.”

Both Kana-chan and Tsutomu-kun are the quiet strength that supports and holds the team together. They make for an adorable couple-to-be, with all the chemistry that any pairing could ever hope to have.

Back to the class A matches, it is with another untimely elimination that this episode ends on.

Nishida’s tenacity was amazing as always, but I wished that we could have seen more of his match against Sudo-san. At least his Nikuman roll.

Overall, this episode is a bit of a mixed bag. I do get pumped for the upcoming matches of Chi-chan and Taichi, as well as reunion match(es) with Arata but I am not so sure about two eliminations in one go. I don’t enjoy seeing support characters being used so blatantly as plot devices, especially when they barely have any screentime. Nonetheless, this speaks to Chihayafuru’s strength in character writing, in how the series really gets viewers invested in all characters, regardless of how brief their appearance or their importance to the main storyline.

Wow, I am here, at the end of my post on the 2nd episode. I still can’t believe that it took me so long to finish it. All the excuses I could have said I did, so allow me to leave you with these parting words.

Even while in the thick of GI, Chihayafuru still colored my world. There are many reasons as to why one would choose to pull for Kazuha, but for me, it was how he embodies classical Japanese poetry and aesthetics, and manifests it in every aspect of his character design and lore. I literally decided to pull for him because of his maple-themed kimono (which feels so quintessentially Japanese to me) and the name of his Elemental skill - “Chihayaburu”. It doesn’t hurt that his kit (skills) is awesome and totally kicks ass, but truly, I was sold at the moment I saw the leak with his Elemental skill’s name.

And while his “Chihayaburu” does not come from Chihaya’s favorite poem #17, it is still a reference to classical Japanese poetry - the Man’yoshu, or “Ten thousand leaves” collection. And the more you dig into Kazuha’s character, there are more references, like in the voice-overs for his Burst animation (a splendid affair of maple leaves caught in whirlwind) and his musing on maple leaves (in which he recited Ogura Hyakunin Isshu’s poem #5). In a character demo video, Kazuha is also shown to be composing a haiku, while wandering the world.

There is so so much about Kazuha that appeals to me, and it would take much longer than 2 paragraphs to say it all, but all in all, it is the Japanese poetry so richly imbued in his design and character that speaks to me. And I would not have any appreciation of that, had I not been exposed to it in Chihayafuru.

Thanks for reading thus far, lovelies! I’ll be dashing off to watch the 3rd episode now! See you, for sure.

#Chihayafuru #chihayafuru season 3 #chihayafuru anime #chihayafuru marathon #chihayafuru s3 #natsumi talks #natsumi watches #Chihaya Ayase #ayase chihaya #Taichi Mashima #Mashima Taichi #Wataya Arata #Arata Wataya #Kanade Oe #komano tsutomu #sumire hanano #Yusei Nishida #kaedehara kazuha

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squirrelstothenuts · 11 months

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#chihayafuru #chihayafuru season 2 #my gifs

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nikkirecs · 1 year

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i’m so sorry roy

this is gonna be a monster because i love educating baby weebs

psych

Zankyou no Terror - saw you paused it but it gets so wild in the latter half and i just love it so much

MONSTER - possibly one of the greatest psych anime of all time

86: Eighty Six - if you like code geass you’ll probably like this

BANANA FISH - it’s tragic. it’s gay. i’m sad.

Death Parade - an anime about death

Made in Abyss - it fucks up my head so much, also could probs go ounder the shounen section

PSYCHO-PASS - defs makes you think about society

Yuukoku no Moriarty - the manga’s better but still fun

shounen (by that i mean action/adventure bc there’s defs non-shounen here)

HIGH CARD - it’s not finished but has those bsd vibes

World Trigger - i actually read not watched and tay says s1 isn’t great but 2&3 are and i love the manga

Hagane no Renkinjutsushi: FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST - one of the greatest anime of all time, it’s amazing and has some psych elements too

HUNTER×HUNTER (2011) - long and so worth it, again one of the greatest anime of all time

Kekkai Sensen - very fun urban fantasy with a+ characters

Soul Eater - my favorite anime of all time, the manga is better but it’s still amazing, some fanservice

Akatsuki no Yona - heavy on the romance and idk how you feel about it but it’s so good, an adventure

Arslan Senki (TV) - by the creator of fma, a fun story of a prince reclaiming his throne

Baccano! - fun mafia ensemble that has spn elements

BLEACH - one of the greatest shounen of all time with a shitty ending. really just stop when it feels like it should end (i can’t say when without spoiling it)

BURN THE WITCH - by the creator of bleach, it’s fun but you need to read the prequel first

Dr. STONE - it’s fun and sciency

Enen no Shouboutai - by the creator of soul eater, it’s a fun anime about firefighters who use fire powers, some fanservice

Kyoukai no Kanata - another urban fantasy with kyoani art so it’s beautiful

Luo Xiaohei Zhan Ji (Movie) - it’s a really cute urban fantasy

Magi: The labyrinth of magic - a fun shounen about dungeons

Mob Psycho 100 - about a boy who’s too powerful and an adult who is irresponsible in most ways but is very responsible with how he treats children

Promare - it’s just fun

Shingeki no Kyojin - it feels weird to rec this bc the series goes downhill tbh but the early seasons are a+ shounen with a lot of psych elements later on

Ansatsu Kyoushitsu - listen you’ve seen nothing it’s making it hard to find creative ways to hype things up

Ao no Exorcist - full disclosure the first season has an anime original ending which isn’t great but s2 gets it back on track

Durarara!! - so fun and defs something for someone who likes bsd

K - heavy fanservice warning but bsd vibes are great

Kemono Jihen - honestly i forget about this so much but it was fun and p basic shounen

Modao Zushi - it’s just v good

THE GOD OF HIGH SCHOOL - it’s fun, it’s funny, it’s got great animation

Vanitas no Carte - the manga’s better but i still like this lots

VINLAND SAGA - could also be psych probably but it’s v good

EDENS ZERO - by the creator of fairy tail so fanservice warning

GANGSTA. - the quality is not great but it’s fun. i really need to read the manga

Kami no Tou: Tower of God - it’s fun. i’m excited for s2

ORIENT - honestly kinda meh but i’m fond of it

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann - it wild

One Punch Man - op protags are fun

Owari no Seraph - i love fighting vampires

spoani bc it’s good for everyone

Blue Lock - you mentioned that you read it so you should watch it too

Aoashi - a+ soccer anime

Cross Game - technically this is sports but really it’s a drama about grief and how we handle it and move on

Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru - god what a good spoani

SK∞ - it fun

Ballroom e Youkoso - dancing spoani

Chihayafuru - v romance heavy but still v good

Diamond no Ace - baseball boys

Ookiku Furikabutte - more baseball boys

Yuuri!!! on ICE - figure skating is fun

Kuroko no Basket - basketball boys

Yowamushi Pedal - biking boys

misc

GREAT PRETENDER - it’s so fun and all about heists which is one of my favorite things i just coudln’t find where it would fit

Godzilla: Singular Point - tbh i just like science and giant monsters

#roy

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conflagrate · 5 years

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Autumn 2019 Anime Season

An interrupted season, mostly thanks to a month-long battle with a virus that gave me conjunctivitis :< Ended up dropping more shows than I would’ve liked…sorry Vinland Saga, Joshikosei no Mudazukai, Fire Force, Cop Craft, Machikado Mazoku, 7SEEDS….

First up Summer Review!

Seasonal Ranking

1. Given (8.27) 2. Furuba (8.25) 3. Kanata no Astra (8.17) 4. El-Melloi (8.08) 5. Kimetsu no Yaiba (8.00) 6. Dumbbell Nankilo Moteru (7.92) 7. Daiya no Ace Act II (7.69) 8. Araoto (7.58)

Decent season!

Total shows completed: 14 To finish: 1 (Carole & Tuesday) Ongoing: 2

Categories of completed shows:

Must watch: 8/9 Likely: ¾ Always be a maybe: 4/12 Not even listed: 1 (Pirikarako-chan)

And next season (or this, it’s October already,…..)

Must watch FGO Babylonia, Fairy Gone S2, Tokunana, KonoOto S2, Chihayafuru S3, Babylon, Hoshiai no Sora, Kabukicho Sherlock, Shokugeki no Soma S4, Bananya S2, XL Joshi [11]

Likely Mugen no Junin, pet, Honzuki no Gekokujo, Hokago Saikoro Club, Beastars, No Guns Life, Shin Chuka Ichiban! [7]

3-episode taste test Azur Lane, Kandagawa Jet Girls, Ahiru no Sora, Hataage! Kemonomichi, Oresuki, Actors, Africa Salaryman, Rifle is Beautiful, Tenka Hyakken [9]

Uh not really but let’s just give it one…. Kaiju Step Wandabada, Null Peta, ChoYoYu, Chubyo Gekihatsu Boy, Iruma-kun, Val x Love, Stand My Heroes, Assassin’s Pride, Urashimasakatasen, Taeko no Nichijo [10]

Genre/sequel hell Gundam Build Divers Re:RISE, Psycho-Pass S3, blah blah TUEEE, Radiant S2, Granblue S2, Zoids Wild S2, Bokuben S2, PSO2 Episode Oracle, Noukin, Z/X, Nanatsu no Taizai S3, BokuAca S4, SAO Alicization S2, Hi Score Girl S2, AniTsuke S3

Ongoing Daiya no Ace Act II. Ensemble Stars (I would’ve dumped this earlier if I knew it was 2 cour ;___; )

Expected Load: ~21 shows (OHNOOOOOOOOO)

#misc

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hak · 4 months

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🫲 come with me on my anime dvd journey 🫱

dvd only edition atm since I don’t own a blu ray reader LAWLLL. I try my best not to buy anything over an egregious amount. I don’t think I’ve spent more than $23ish dollars on a whole collection of anything yet and cheapest full sets have been maybe $10-14. I’m a completionist at heart so I’d rather get a whole season of something within a set rather than multiple parts in dvds (and those are harder to even find and gather…) Largely have been relying on eBay & mercari.

grails I will probably never get unless I become a millionaire

Astro Boy (1980) (lost to the world…. or a million dollars)

Naoki Urasawa’s Monster (million dollars…)

Kimi ni Todoke (I need to pass a labyrinth maze and answer riddles from chimeras in order to own a full season1&2 set wtf!!!)

Other tentative wishlist, no real urgency here tho

Pluto (2023) I don’t think that’s out as a set anywhere yet but I’m there when it is

Run with the wind (too pricey, trying to find secondhand but also it’s only blu ray 😨)

Hyouka…. I think it’s findable but also blu ray only. hence out of my preferred price point lol

Yona……… let’s not talk abt tht rn

Soul eater (also findable but haven’t found a price I like)

Vinland saga ? (I’ve never watched or read it before so it’s a risk for me to want to buy it. I think the novelty of putting it beside yona would be cute lmao)

Team no official English translation distributed in North America / region 1 😔😔😔 so I also prob won’t get it

Sket Dance (every day I mourn)

Dorohedoro (eBay listings are selling all region subtitled versions but also blu ray only I actually have to go buy a blu ray player rn this is sick)

Secured full set grails 🏆 🌟

Kare Kano ($12 ON MERCARI WTF! bundled with the vampire hunter d movie just bc lmfao)

Chihayafuru s1&2 (hunting for s3 at reasonable price but might just be impossible rn…)

Not grails or anything but first time watches I’m excited about that I own now

Ok not a first time watch I just didn’t have a section for it but I got all of og fruits baskets lol

DN Angel

Lovely Complex

Princess Jellyfish

X/1999

Anything else I’m not too interested in atm. And I’m sort of at the limit of my budget KDWKKD I also have some movies I sort of bought on a whim that I’m happy with. I just don’t want to overbuy and regret anything. Just gonna keep it small for now and probably give away anything that doesn’t spark joy after a while lol

My dream is for friends to come over and I can show off my array of tasteful yet diverse selection of anime I own and we can watch together whatever they choose 🤓👉👈

#the hunt may be just as fun for me too tbh #I want a Pokémon movie too but it specifically has to be the deoxys one #dvds

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rei-caldombra · 4 months

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2023 Anime Year Review!

Happy New Year! I'm gonna start by doing my best to list all the anime I watched this year. I felt like putting them in alphabetical order, so I did.

The anime I watched in 2023 are: Attack on Titan Final Season, Buddy Daddies, Crash Course in Naughtness, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Swordsmith Village Arc, Don't Toy with Me Miss Nagatoro 2nd Attack, Dr. Stone: New World, Frieren Beyond Journey’s End, Helck, Hell's Paradise, Jigokuraku, Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2, Mashle: Magic and Muscles, My New Boss Is Goofy, My Hero Academy, Ranking of Kings: The Treasure Chest of Courage, Reborn as a Vending Machine I Now Wander the Dungeon, Spy x Family Season 2, Tomo-chan Is a Girl!, Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead.

For manga I have been keeping up with Bocchi the Rock, Bocchi the Rock Hiroi’s story, Call of the Night, Chainsaw Man, Demon Girl Next Door, Don’t Mess With Me Nagatoro, Mieruko-san, and Shimeji Simulation.

Now I'll be giving some thoughts on the year as a whole and mentioning specific ones in categories. There will be no spoilers.

It definitely looks like a lot, but I know I have watched more in the past. It's tougher finding as much time for anime now, but I desire to give more new shows a shot in 2024 like I usually would. There are a lot of sequels that I watched this year! The new shows were pretty good, with most of them fitting into the realm of being pretty good but not extraordinary. While the continuations on the other end had a lot more extremes, with most of the mainstream shows fitting into the realm of having moments I really liked in between stuff that was lukewarm or frustrating.

My single favorite is Dr. Stone: New World. Dr Stone continues to be very consistent and have a bit of everything, providing good visuals, fun characters, and interesting applications of science. This season really stepped it up when it came to the story. The climax of this season is the best I've seen this year. It really keeps up the intensity and leaves you guessing what happens next. It got me very excited for what’s next. It’s great on all fronts.

Most underrated I would give to Reborn as a Vending Machine. I think it's very solid and on the better end of isekai shows. It’s truly a unique premise and worth checking out if you like fantasy and slice of life shows.

Biggest surprise hit I would go with Mashle. I had not heard of it before this and went into it just thinking it was going to make fun of Harry Potter over and feel like a rehash of One Punch. I figured I’d enjoy a few episodes then drop it when the schtick got old. But it's genuinely funny outside of its magic parody, and does do some genuinely cool magic stuff at the same time. I liked it a lot more than I expected to.

Biggest disappointment I will give to both Demon Slayer Swordsmith Village Arc and Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2, specifically the Shibuya Incident Arc (yes they are the same season but they are fundamentally separated in the story and in release). Reason being that their issues are very similar. They both have some really cool moments that are surrounded by boring and frustrating shonen action style tropes. Such as dragging fights out dialogue and flashbacks, emotion baiting, and convenient power ups that don’t feel satisfying or earned. Both of the primary villains in these arcs are not very interesting to me. Neither of these shows are terrible, as they still had the core aspects that made me like them initially. But for me they have many disappointing and frustrating aspects.

What new shows I’m looking forward to in 2024 as of now: Mashle season 2, Dungeon Meshi, Konosuba season 3, My Hero Academia Season 7, Yuru Camp season 3, Sound! Euphonium 3, Solo Leveling, and the new Spice and Wolf. I do want to watch some anime in 2024 that have been on my list, which are the following: Baki, Honey and Clover, and Chihayafuru at least. Baki I know is super fun and super up my alley. Honey and Clover is by the same author as March Comes in Like a Lion (one of my favorite anime), which is enough for me to watch. Chihayafuru comes highly recommended, and from what I know I am confident I will enjoy it. I've wanted to watch these for a while but with following the seasonals it's hard to get to them.

One anime I’m still holding out hope for is Dorohedoro season 2. I do still think we will eventually get it, but I really hope it's soon. An announcement in 2024 would be SHOCKINGly lovely. Another announcement I'd love would be an anime adaptation of Shimeji Simulation. The manga just recently ended and is very good (a post on that is coming soon).

I really enjoyed this year of anime and manga! I hope you did as well and are looking forward to next year as much as me! I'd also like to mention that I started blogging about anime this year and have really enjoyed doing it! I plan to continue to please stick around! Thank you for reading!

#2023 #anime #anime and manga #review #new year

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