This show just keeps getting better and better. At the rate that we're going, I'll probably explode from suspense at the final tournament. But before we get into the stuff about the finals showdown, I have to get something else out of the way... ARATA'S BACK! YAY! ...Okay, well, not back in the sense that he finally went to visit Chihaya and Tachi, but we finally get to see him in something that isn't a flashback. And I have to admit that it was pretty amusing to see the much-hyped "God of Karuta" just acting like a normal teenager with a part-time job... and who needs to check his mail more often. He had a legitimate excuse for that, but I doubt that he'll go that long without checking it again, considering that he was glued to that computer until he found out that Chihaya won. The head tilt to look at the picture was too adorable, as well as his earlier reaction when he found out that Chihaya had been spamming his inbox. Don't be a stranger, Arata! You've run out of excuses, so you'd better be at that tournament. Getting back to the finals match, that was the nail-biter that I'd been waiting for since the match back in episode two. Two to two, all tied up, Chihaya's favorite card is closer than to her opponent than it was to her, it all looked hopeless, and yet...! Even her opponent mentions that Chihaya had a look in her eye that already believed that she had lost, but SHE WINS ANYWAY, which was epic. I think that if it had been any other card than her name card, then she would've definitely lost. I don't know how she did it, but it was great. The other characters had their share of epic moments as well: Tachi put Retro-kun in his place, Nishida pulled off a mid-air barrel roll, and, closing off the events from last episode, Tsutomu took his first card! I can't say it enough, this anime does an excellent job of capturing the viewer through its great characters. And I doubt that this is the last that we'll see of this new group too, especially Sudo, since he seems like a good rival for Chihaya. I'm even more excited about seeing the national tournament now, but I'm getting a feeling that the group might end up hitting a wall pretty soon and end up facing an opponent that they just can't beat yet. I'm pretty sure that I'm getting this vibe from the shonen stuff that the series is borrowing, and this is usually the part where the way-too-strong opponent shows up. As much as I don't want to see the group lose, the show wouldn't be as interesting if they accomplished their goal all too soon. However, the writing has been above and beyond expectations so far, so I doubt that there's anything to worry about. In the meantime, the wait for next week's episode will be a little bit easier for me because YAY ARATA! Additional Screenshots                                                           Images from Crunchyroll.com.
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