Anime Review: Chihayafuru 2: Gust of Wind(2.17)

                                        Chihayafuru 2: Gust of Wind(2.17)Review

In this episode the karuta team starts the final match against Fujisaki and they're all off to a bad start with them all observing how different and good their opponents are. Chihaya while playing against Rion notices that Rion has ridiculously good game sense in that she's able to go for nearly every card even the  two-syllable ones right away. Chihaya tries to figure out how this could be and she looks over to Kana and remembers her telling her about the certified reader who is the one reading for this match and how every card has it's own color. Chihaya clears her mind and starts remembering the cards as colors and is able take cards from Rion who is quite surprised by Chihaya's speed and while Chihaya thinks she can't relay on this for long since she doesn't have many cards she sees in color she can use it build momentum.

There is more information about how Fujisaki is a karuta power house school and how their coach makes sure that everyone develops good stamina with how they are put through hours of physical activity in order to build it. It's also noted that Rion is very good at karuta because of her hearing but she has never won any tournaments because she only likes to play with certified readers such as her grandmother who is the reader for this match and when she dislikes the reader she tends to stop trying during the match.

Chihaya is injured by Rion when she blocks a card during the match but Chihaya plays it off like it's nothing but soon realizes that it's much worse than she originally thought it was but decides that it's best that she should do her best and continue to play. Rion ends up noticing that she injured Chihaya and is unable to focus and Chihaya is able to take four cards in a row from her. Towards the end the rest the karuta team notices that Chihaya is injured but still determined to win her match which causes the rest of them to become more determined to win their matches as well.

Shinobu also goes to watch the match and really was quite bored by the matches until she recognized Chihaya and remember how she had taken cards from her last year then she paid more attention to the match. I overall loved this match and how it showed the determination to win even when the odds are stacked against you. Please tell me your thoughts on this episode.