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Chihayafuru
- By Vanshika Sahni
F
ollowing in the tradition of anime based on board and card games like Hikaru no Go,
Chihayafuru is an award-winning manga adapted to anime in Fall 2011. Based on the card game
karuta, the manga and the anime propelled the popularity of this eclectic yet unsung game across
Japan.
Karuta is a competitive card game where the players have to memorize the position of the cards and then find
them when their verses are being read out. Apparently, the author, Suetsugu Yuki, belonged to the karuta club in high
school and this became her inspiration for the creat ion of this manga. Suetsugu was earlier infamous for committing
plagiarism for her manga “Flower of Eden” during the 2000-20004 run. It was pulled from the market and its English release
was cancelled, which put Suetsugu’s career on hold. So, Chihayafuru not only marked her return to the world of manga but
winning the second Manga Taishō award
and the 35th Kodansha Manga Award in the shōjo category brought back the
forlorn glory.
In other card and board
game anime like Hikaru no Go, the protagonist is
propelled into the game
by the appearance of a ghost who projects his
love for the game on the
protagonist. No such machinations are
there in chihayafuru. The
other game anime are like Akagi,
where you’re fascinated and
scared by the protagonist and even
though the game is complicated, you
stay with the character to find out if their
risky moves pay off. But while Hikaru no Go
is a shounen anime and Akagi is a mature
seinen, Chihayafuru is directed towards josei
and shoujo. However, Chihayafuru should not
be underestimated because of this as the target audience
aims to serve both mature viewers as well as younger
viewers. A pretty protagonist who puts guys off due to her obssession with karuta, bishounen male lead who plays it
cool with occassional breakdowns, another megane male lead who has a natural gift for the game and many more. With
such an array of solid characters, Chihayafuru has a lot working in its favour.
Like any other sports anime, Chihayafuru also evokes strong feelings of team work, never-give-up attitude, hard work and
achieving your dreams. A game not dependent on age, gender, size, intelligence and strength, and poems that render images
that send you a 1000 years back is a must-watch for anyone interested in game or sports anime. The game places a lot of
emphasis on speed, reflexes, and memorization. This ‘shoujo’ game anime becomes intense and competitive as it moves
ahead and it is not tough to get carried away with the infectiousness of the protagonists’ enthusiasm. The series also
carries the message of training and hard work like many other shounen animes, apart from giving an insight into Japan’s
poetic traditions as the card game is a compiled anthology of poems by 100 poets.
The anime and the manga have become famous in Japan and have almost revived the game and made
it a popular fanfare.
Page 08
Anime Reign | Issue 2 | 2013