Sixth grade was when Ayase Chihaya met Wataya Arata, the transfer student from Fukui. The shy and quiet Arata was hiding a surprising talent - he knew how to play the competitive karuta version of Ogura's Hundred Poets, and Chihaya was immediately drawn into the joys of the game. Now a transfer student herself at a new high school, she's trying to start up a karuta club, but not having much luck - until childhood friend Taichi transfers in to join her... I'm rapidly reaching the conclusion that there's nothing that anime can't make a high-stake, your-life-depends-on-it, competitive sport out of. Chihayafuru features Karuta - aka Hundred Poems, the idea is, when hearing a snippet of one of the stories, to lift the card that's showing the text of the next story. Or something like that. I'm not as yet particularly fired up by the idea, unlike male lead Arata. But it's Chihaya who's really the star of the show - she developed her love of the gem after meeting Arata, and now that he's moved away she's looking for someone else to play with - and not meeting with much luck. That side of things seems to be fairly standard, but I'm still trying to get my head around the karate side. Saki this isn't/ THE GOOD: Looks good, I do like Chihaya as a character (a bit of a weirdo, and I like that in a girl), can't claim they're not trying to do something unusual. THE BAD: It's a bloody strange game to base an anime around (do people really play this competitively?), potential love interest Taisho just gets on my nerves. Another one that the jury's out on, then. Depends on which elements they play up and which ones fall back. We'll see how it goes.
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