PART 1 of 3: Chihayafuru, Verse 1 – A passionate poem of love

NOTE: This is a film discussion, hence there are spoilers. Read at your own risk.

The film opens with Chihaya in the middle of a game, looking intently on a set of cards as she waits for the verse to be read. Any moment now, her hand would have to move faster than her opponent so that she can get to the card first. She narrates,

A thousand years ago, Ariwara no Narihira read a passionate poem of love. But the only thing I can see now are but the characters, chiha.

Chiha are the first characters of the famous poem by Ariwara no Narihira, which was included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu. This is a collection of 100 classical poems from 100 Japanese poets. In Chihayafuru, it is Chihaya’s favorite card, and also pretty much the card where the whole story revolves as it tells one of love and passion: Even the almighty gods of the old never knew such beauty / on the river Tatsuta in autumn sunlight a brocade – reds flowing above blue water below.

At one point in the film, Kana tells Chihaya about the true meaning of this poem. It was about love—a love so passionate that it cannot be contained so much so that it inevitably spills out like the red autumn leaves falling into the Tatsuta river, making it turn red. In this first installment, not only does Chihaya and everyone else learn karuta, they also learned to love it.

I have no background whatsoever coming into Chihayafuru. It was just something that I ended up having an interest in when I heard news about its live action adaptation. A few years ago, I decided to check it out—both the anime and film—but I never managed to finish it. Just recently though, I had the chance to marathon all three films during the Japanese Film Festival in my country. Basically, it was a life-changer because it made me an instant fan of the series.

This discussion though will focus solely on the film. I have only started the anime and the manga, so I can’t really make a comparison. Besides, I don’t want to give it an unfair evaluation wherein all of my opinions would depend on how it compares to its source. I think it is worth noting though that a lot of its fans are saying that this is one of the best live adaptations out there because it manages to stay true to its source material.

That being said, Chihayafuru is a wonderful film. I’d argue that it is one of the best coming-of-age films that I saw in my entire life. It is a film (in fact, all three films) that manages to truly capture youthfulness, growing pains, young love, and everything else that comes with growing up. Not to mention, its led by a talented set of young casts who are able to keep up with the story that Director Nori Koizumi wants to tell.

In fact, I don’t see Chihayafuru as a strictly sports anime. It is a sports anime, but it puts more emphasis on the importance of the poems into the lives of these kids. The story revolves around the poems, and the poems breathes life into the film and into the entire being of these characters. Thus, understanding the film must also depend on one’s appreciation of the poems.

SE O HAYAMI | divided by a boulder / in its headlong flow / though divided / on it rushes / and at last unites again

This poem is attributed to the friendship of Chihaya (Suzu Hirose), Taichi (Shuhei Nomura), and Arata (Mackenyu). Their friendship was essentially built on playing karuta. As kids, they join competitions and enjoy reciting poems as they play in the snow. Eventually, they had to part ways because Arata needed to go back to Fukui so that his family can take care of his grandfather. These kids who have always been together, flowing as one, suddenly had to be separated by a boulder. Years will pass and the question of whether they will meet again remains to be answered.

The boulder does not just represent the divide that is caused by Arata’s circumstances. In a way, it has also become a representation of their differences in skills. Arata and Chihaya are both great in karuta. Since Arata is the grandson of a karuta meijin, he is naturally good—karuta is literally in his blood. Meanwhile, Chihaya’s skills is improved by her passion. She fell in love with the game so much as a kid that her life goal is to be the best in it. This is what separates Taichi from the two: relatively, his skills are mediocre compared to them. In fact, he isn’t even in love with the game. He loves the game because Chihaya loves it. He tries to be the best in it because of his insecurity when it comes to Arata. When it comes to karuta, his world remains very distant from the other two who seems to live in it and can’t live without it.

Nonetheless, their friendship persists. Chihaya, ever clueless, doesn’t realize that the two boys in her life are in love with her. Despite this, those three together are formidable in the game of karuta. Even if they have disagreements and bubbling rivalry, especially between Taichi and Arata, their love for karuta always persists. Perhaps it can be argued that Taichi’s affinity with karuta is no longer because of Chihaya. While he will always seem to be separate from Arata and Chihaya’s karuta world, he is slowly building a world of his own. And that is okay—what matters is they love the game, just in different measures and for different reasons.

“If we have karuta in us, doesn’t that mean that we’ll meet again? As long as you keep playing, we will definitely meet again.”

MOROTOMO NI | on a mountain slope, solitary, unaccompanied / stands a cherry tree / except for you, lonely friend / to others, I am unknown

On the night before the start of the regional competition, the Mizusawa team stays in their practice room late into the evening. Kana-chan stands by the glass wall looking up at the sky. Ever the biggest fan of the 100 classical poems, she laments that she feels quite scared, then remembers about the morotomo ni poem about a lonesome cherry tree in the mountain. This cherry tree tells the listener, “except for you, lonely friend, to others I am unknown.” Chihaya then tells everyone that the poem doesn’t sound sad to her at all. In fact, it seems like the cherry tree is asking that person to be a friend because they are both alone.

The Mizusawa team have come a long way. There are only five of them in the group, and they managed to build something solid over the course of months that they trained together. The fact that they are facing teams from various parts of Tokyo in the following day puts a huge burden on them, but then this is what they have been striving for. Even if it is scary, they have each other. As Chihaya says, “as long as you are all here, I can do my best.” It marks the importance of teamwork and friendship among them.

Other than the growth that we see in Taichi and Chihaya, I appreciate that the film manages to ensure that side characters like Mr. Desk / Komano, Meat Bun / Nishida, and Kana all have their moments. They are not just screen fillers because they are treated like actual people who matters to the story. I have seen some adaptations that just can’t manage to give importance to side characters’ stories and puts more emphasis on the leads. It’s understandable for some of course, but if a film like Chihayafuru can manage to balance the stories among the characters, maybe the others can too. Perhaps, it takes a good writer and director to do that.

This team has great friendship and chemistry, but for a game like competitive karuta, that camaraderie is bound to be challenged. After all, in a team of five, it only takes three wins for the team to advance to the next rounds to face a new opponent. At the end of the day, it still seems like an individualistic game. This is what happened with Komano. Part of the reason why he decided to stay in the team despite his initial misgivings, is because he felt that he had an important role to play—that he is not just a filler.

Komano’s outburst was a beautiful thing. In fact, it is a wake-up call to every member of the team to make sure that all members are given the chance to contribute to the game. An individual member is strengthened by the thought that the other members are there for him/her no matter what. Komano does not intend to be the ace of the team. Sure, it would be good if he can win at least one game, but he wants to be able to feel that he fought until the end with his teammates supporting him and having his back to matter what. It is through this that we can say that karuta has truly and finally made its way to his heart. Suddenly, it is not just something that he needs to accomplish, but rather a game that he wants to enjoy with the people who have become his family.

It was also the same with Nishida and Kana. In the beginning, Nishida wanted to be part of a ‘cool’ team like tennis, but he just can’t seem to let go of karuta. He becomes incredibly competitive as he plays that he doesn’t notice how Komano and Kana must be feeling when they are used as ‘pawns’ for the game. Kana, on the other hand, learned to love competitive karuta and accept the modification of the poems. She learns that these poems can be understood in whatever form they may be communicated. Even in a game like karuta, the essence of the 100 poems remains. Both of them had different views of karuta, yet they completely fell for it after witnessing its power to bring people together. Truly, the friendship that it brings lets people form strong bonds that can last a lifetime.

KONO TABI WA | at the present time / since I could bring no offering / see Mount Tamuke! / here are brocades of red leaves / as a tribute to the gods

During a conversation with Harada-sensei in front of a temple, Taichi confesses a sin he committed when they were younger. Before his match-up with Arata, he stole his glasses and kept it so that he will have a hard time throughout the game. This did not face Arata, though, because he still won that game and showed everyone just how purely talented he is when it comes to karuta. Looking back, Taichi thinks that this is the reason why he’s been so unlucky. No matter what he does, he can’t advance into a higher karuta level. Because of this scene, it seems that he can’t even make chiha turn his way.

Ah, Harada-sensei gets it. He’s not talking about karuta. He was talking about a person, about Chihaya. Taichi has always associated karuta with Chihaya. Karuta is Chihaya, Chihaya is karuta. It cannot be anything else. No matter how much he repents for that one (immature) mistake, he still finds himself unworthy of Chihaya’s attention. He simply cannot compare to Arata. For Chihaya, Arata is karuta, karuta is Arata. Where does he fit? How does he become a karuta for her?

For this, Harada-sensei’s answer was only fitting. The kono tabi wa verse speaks so much about how no matter what you have, even if you have nothing, still what matters is you are there. Maybe all that you can offer is your love or your presence, but it is better so much better than not being there. This is what Taichi cannot see in the earlier parts of this story. It it is not so much about being the best, but showing how much you care about something or about that person, no matter the outcome. Harada-sensei’s advice,

“[In the poem] since he wasn’t able to prepare the offering, autumn leaves were given as tribute. It’s a poem where the judgment is left to the gods’ decision. Eyelashes, go and take a risk. If you know it won’t come to you, you should come and get it.”

CHIHAYA: “To become the best in the world was something I haven’t thought about. Somehow, my heart thumped so hard. Like it was being squeezed. It was the first time that I felt like that.”

Chihaya is passion personified. She has a one-track goal to be the best in karuta. It is so powerful and she has such great conviction that believing otherwise would be a hopeless feat. You just know that she will reach that desire that she has. One thing that I really love and appreciate about her is how much she truly glues everyone together. Whenever someone from the team would lose hope, she is the one who patches things up and makes sure that one gets left behind. Even in her friendship with Taichi and Arata, she was the one who still keeps the three of them together.

This is very interesting to think about: she is central to the trio’s sticking together, but she is also the potential cause of their fallout. At this point of the film though, I cannot for sure say how he truly feels for either Taichi and Arata. She has always longed for Arata, not exactly because of romantic feelings, but a feeling of nostalgia. They were always going to grow up together and play karuta as a team. I think that’s what she misses and long for. As for her affection towards Taichi, she never had the chance to really pause and think about it. Maybe because the opportunity never presented itself, and Taichi never really told her how he feels. So, the line that crosses over to friendzone is still very far.

So, if there is really one thing that I want to see is how Chihaya will eventually deal with these feelings. As much as we perhaps want her to just continue loving karuta, she won’t grow up. Eventually, she needs to confront this floating emotions around her. She has to make a choice.

It is no secret that since Day 1, I am on the Team Taichi camp. I guess I am just for a romantic possibility that is built on years of trying to suppress what you truly feel, all the while not realizing that the more you stop it, the more it becomes stronger. With Taichi and Chihaya, it really boils down to development and history, and of being within each other’s proximity. This thing between them is not based on ideals of what love is. It’s just about a kid falling in love with someone he’s known his entire life, and hoping that one day, she would turn and look at him differently.

Towards the end of Part 1, I cannot help but notice a parallel. Taichi won his part of the game, and as Chihaya moves closer and closer to hug him, he says something every familiar,

A thousand years ago, Ariwara no Narihira read a passionate poem of love. But, the only thing i can see now are but the characters, chiha.