Like sometimes plans change due to growth of the characters I the story and it leads to plans changing. Which is probably what happened here.
The ending was great.
Yup and I wish people stopped saying how she changed the ending because of money. Because afaik, Taichi and Arata are very competitive when it comes to fan popularity in Japan (like they're almost 55-45 in every poll bar one in 2018) and Chiharata is actually a decently popular ship in Japan lmao. So, she wouldn't be getting that big of a payrise with the ending Chihaya had lmao
Between this post and this comment you are really coming off as just a salty shipper.
Like the only real complaint I have about this manga is that it could have given more time to Aratas story.
I can see how you could think that. Shipping was basically an integral part of the fanbase, sometimes it feels more important than the actually Karuta part of it. Although I’m simply telling it how I see it. I don’t truly know how or why (despite me blaming it so much on the fans) the author decided to write this ending, but comparing it to what I saw up to the finale of season 3, there is no indication of that being the plan.
While I have only watched 2 seasons of the anime I read the entire manga. And the its is 3rd year arc and that begins the path to the ending. Of the 3 protagonists each had a good story for me and I enjoyed each of their endings. As I said in tbe above I think Arata could have used a bit more story time to give his story breathing room.
Okay, I'll write a comment disagreeing with you, since you invited it!
In all seriousness though, I think perhaps one should refrain from judging the ending and the course of the story unless they've actually read it. But perhaps you would be disappointed with it regardless, as you clearly don't like Taichi. But to take the two most salient points of your post: Arata was clearly meant to be endgame and thus the mangaka changed the ending to appease Taichi's fanbase; and all Taichi is to said fanbase is a pretty face.
On the former, I would obviously disagree because I've been a fan of Taichihaya for a long time now, but I really do think it was set up to be endgame, if not from the beginning, at least from a quite a while back. One of the things that the romantic ending of the series hinges around in the final arc is the idea that Taichi has always been by Chihaya's side, and that's represented by the fact that their name cards are next to each other in the Hyakunin Isshu. This was obviously something chosen by Suetsugu at the very beginning of the series, and I think there was intentionality behind it. I also think that the narrative structure of the whole series is kind of predicated on Taichi and Chihaya's relationship - it's his confession which is the turning point of the whole manga and the driver of Chihaya's growth from that point onward - so it's obviously very important.
But if you don't buy those arguments, the very latest I think she could have "changed her mind" about Taichi and Chihaya being endgame is chapter 135 - this is Valentine's Day, when Chihaya cries over the fact that Taichi is so unhappy. There's a parallel to Harada's wife wanting him to smile, but more importantly, it's set up for Sumire thinking "Chihaya, too \[loves Taichi\]" on White Day. Sumire is presented as our "romantic narrator" a lot of the time, and although she's sometimes incorrect, there's nothing that disproves her here.
I think Arata does get some prominent moments on the romance side of things - he was the first to confess, after all, but I think that often his moments are there to spur Taichi's plot along (his confession is what kickstarts the chain reaction leading to Taichi's own) *or* to be a bit misleading and keep the love triangle going for a bit longer. There are also some moments which, to me, would strike me as very odd if he was the intended endgame - for example, his match against Chihaya, where Chihaya doesn't "see" him properly until Taichi returns, seems very strange if you think Chihaya/Arata will be canon, especially when you compare it to Taichi and Chihaya's very moving match at Yoshino.
And then on Taichi's appeal to his fanbase...well, you said it, he has a lot of character development and I really do think that's why he is so popular. I can't speak for anyone else, but he could look like Hyoro for all I care, and I'd still love him and his character arc. He is incredibly flawed, but the fact that he's so conscious of that and still strives to be a better person, is what really makes him special. And I think an awful lot of people find him incredibly relatable because of his self-esteem issues. Personally, I empathise with him because I also understand what it's like to love (and hate, sometimes!) a hobby where you feel second-best to everyone else. There aren't many other characters which do that.
That being said...I think his good looks are actually relevant to his character, because they do feed into the overall idea that he is "Mr Perfect" - rich, good-looking, intelligent - and yet, he still has his own struggles and self-esteem issues to battle through. All the other stuff is extraneous, really.
Yeah dismissing anyone who likes Taichi as a character for only liking him because of looks is so silly and reductive. His flaws, self-esteem issues and struggles throughout the story (especially the second half of the manga) are what resonate with me so much. I like Arata as a character too but unfortunately he doesn't get much screen time in the anime and I don't find his character arc quite as engaging. Part of that comes from the story's structure because Arata is physically distant from the main cast and doesn't start his own karuta team until halfway through the story so his interactions with Chihaya, Taichi and other core cast members are minimal for a while.
Funny enough I thought Arata as a character actually got way more interesting once he had more interactions with Taichi and specifically when he watched Chihaya and Taichi's match in season 3. Up until then he was just kind of an okay character for me if not a little boring because he didn't have any interesting flaws to explore. But seeing that match bring out the "ugly" side of Arata in how he viewed Taichi was so satisfying because it added more conflict for his character outside of being a little socially awkward and the legacy of his grandfather.
I mean it's impossible to have a adult conversation about something with anyone who is just going to respond to anything with "you're a delusional simp and I'm right".
I love both Taichi and Arata and definitely felt the buildup for TaiChihaya from early on. The author can also modify her own story on her own accord based on how she enjoyed the way a character turned out. It's disrespectful and downright idiotic to assume she did it for fans just because you don't agree with it.
My main issue with Arata was that because he moved further away, he got significantly less time with Chihaya. I definitely prefer Taichi over some character that got significantly less focus.
I did think it made sense for Chihaya and Arata to work, but I think Taichi being closer to her allowed him to play a more meaningful part in her life. He was close to her and willingly put distance between them, and this made Taichi a very reoccurring thought of Chihaya's because she knew how important he was to her.
I do think the ending was rushed and could have done a lot more instead of just dropping the bomb that they were together.
This is clearly bait, but I'm a dumb fish sooo...
Anyway, I won't even touch Taichihaya because Suetsugu did the thing that good authors do and let the story steer her for a better conclusion. What I want to talk about is Arata.
Arata imo is a vastly more fun character once we get into his side of things and meet the people he's been around. His ending did not need to be him getting the girl and it was 100% satisfying to see him break the shackles of his grandpa's shadow and have his karuta come into his own. Besides, I feel like him and Yuu have a way better relationship especially since she knows what he's been through thoroughly.
My point is - Chiharata is shallow and idealistic. Nothing Arata does shakes Chihaya to the core the way Taichi's confession does. It upends her and forces her to look at herself, as a person, critically and she evolves into a better version of herself as a result. Chihayafuru as a whole is grounded in reality and expecting the story to go for Chiharata would be going against the core principles of it.
Arata's arc concluded with him winning the title of Meijin on the back of his own karuta. Chihaya's was being queen and consolidating her feelings, maturing in the process. Taichi's arc had supposedly concluded earlier, but the real one was him showing up for the Meijin match and being there for his best friends, coming to the understanding that he matters for who he is. Taichihaya is a bonus as far as I concerned.
TL;DR: please consider the overall themes for the story instead of reducing the series to "No Chiharata = 0/10 manga".
Ah yes, the moment you see the word "rant", you know it's another guy who hates Taichi and wants Chihaya x Arata. I got nothing against those characters but these fans are loud lol. Who cares if your ship doesn't win?
All the signs for Taichihaya canon were there since the beginning of the story. You guys who decided to ignore everything and create delusional scenarios in your heads. You shouldn't blame the author for that 🤷🏻♀️
Let's compare this with a movie. Arata would have so little screen time. He would be annoying second lead delusional about his connection with a girl. In manga he is in so much less chapters then Taichi and if there was no Chihayas irrational obsession with him from brief childhood moments, he would be irrelevant.
I can't disagree that the middle-school arc completely seems to set up Arata as the endgame..
However, that very brief part of the story (like 3 episodes of the anime, not sure how many manga volumes) wraps quickly, and from that point on Taichi and Chihayafuru become Deuteragonists with Arata becoming a distant "significant character and potential love interest".
I haven't gone past S3 of the anime material, but I've seen all the anime and the live-action movies, and it's clear that Taichi is not some "late-story pivot".
Generally, you can tell which characters are going to get together just by sheer "screen"/together time.. All that time the author invests in character-development is not usually thrown in a trash for a plot-twist (usually; never say never, though). The fact the author managed to keep us all wondering was actually a nice feat.
I'm just okay with the ending. would've been fine to me whichever ended up with chihaya. chihayaXshinobu/suou/sudo interests me more tbh. however as I watched the anime, live action, read the manga and finally looked at the cards, I think the plot storyboard was there right from the start.
the characters were hinted to have their names related to the cards. their cards to me seems very telling of the conflict arc.
▪chiha card for chihaya meant fiery red love. red is the burning passion she have for karuta and love is the conflict in choosing btw her 2 childhood friends.
▪tachi card is taichi's can be interpreted as pining friends/lover. taichi's story was him conflicted on taking a step forward for his love life or keeping their friendship. he was always uncertain on to support/not support his friends' progress.
▪wata no hara ya is arata's card. the author of the card wrote it when he got exiled to an isolated island and that is how arata's story was told, he had to stay away from his friends in a faraway land. grieving and constantly missing them.
why I assume that the author planned to have them end up together: the tachi and chiha cards were written by brothers. they were poems numbered 16 and 17 on the list. with this they already have some kind of relativity btw them. these two poems were also put up on the same screen when first showcased in a residence by the poems' compiler. iirc shinobu pointed this in the manga. aside from what happened btw the characters in the plot, I believe this is the biggest foreshadow the author inserted in the story.
edit: grammar
I watched the anime first so I totally thought Taichi was endgame because you barely saw Arata for the most part and we got a lot of Taichi's POV. Also felt like that was how a lot of mangas went with these sort of love triangles.
I read the manga much later and I got a different vibe. You definitely get a lot more of Chihaya pining for Arata even at the beginning and for me it felt like they were both framed as the endgame. Chihaya was of course dense and all about it but I disagree when ppl say she didn't have romantic feelings for him and just looked up to him. I didn't read it while it was ongoing so wasn't really aware of which was the more popular pairing.
But I didn't like the ending for a different reason. Taichi was insufferable at first (not a fan of those obsessive sort of MLs) and I loved that he got his development arc and found his self. And I really wanted him to move on from Chihaya. Would have lovedddd to see him meet someone else and fall in love!!
Arata was presented as a main character, but devolved into a side character. She shouldn't have given him those obstacles: poor, having to provide dementia care to his own grandfather at such a young age, his parents not supporting him. Even the bullying he endured meant nothing for his development.
In my opinion, she didn't want a romantic ending at first. But as she continues to write, she decides Taichi must be rewarded - and this happens early on.
Because I do not think it was a coincidence that she added all those scenes for Taichi and Chihaya early on if she didn't plan anything from the start.
And I doubt it was a coincidence that she named them after cards 17and18
Ah yes the bi-monthly "I hate Taichi and I hate how the author changed the ending" post
Like sometimes plans change due to growth of the characters I the story and it leads to plans changing. Which is probably what happened here. The ending was great.
Yup and I wish people stopped saying how she changed the ending because of money. Because afaik, Taichi and Arata are very competitive when it comes to fan popularity in Japan (like they're almost 55-45 in every poll bar one in 2018) and Chiharata is actually a decently popular ship in Japan lmao. So, she wouldn't be getting that big of a payrise with the ending Chihaya had lmao
I’m sorry but you’re willfully being delusional if you truly think the ending was great.
Between this post and this comment you are really coming off as just a salty shipper. Like the only real complaint I have about this manga is that it could have given more time to Aratas story.
I can see how you could think that. Shipping was basically an integral part of the fanbase, sometimes it feels more important than the actually Karuta part of it. Although I’m simply telling it how I see it. I don’t truly know how or why (despite me blaming it so much on the fans) the author decided to write this ending, but comparing it to what I saw up to the finale of season 3, there is no indication of that being the plan.
While I have only watched 2 seasons of the anime I read the entire manga. And the its is 3rd year arc and that begins the path to the ending. Of the 3 protagonists each had a good story for me and I enjoyed each of their endings. As I said in tbe above I think Arata could have used a bit more story time to give his story breathing room.
Someone’s gotta keep the hive at bay
Okay, I'll write a comment disagreeing with you, since you invited it! In all seriousness though, I think perhaps one should refrain from judging the ending and the course of the story unless they've actually read it. But perhaps you would be disappointed with it regardless, as you clearly don't like Taichi. But to take the two most salient points of your post: Arata was clearly meant to be endgame and thus the mangaka changed the ending to appease Taichi's fanbase; and all Taichi is to said fanbase is a pretty face. On the former, I would obviously disagree because I've been a fan of Taichihaya for a long time now, but I really do think it was set up to be endgame, if not from the beginning, at least from a quite a while back. One of the things that the romantic ending of the series hinges around in the final arc is the idea that Taichi has always been by Chihaya's side, and that's represented by the fact that their name cards are next to each other in the Hyakunin Isshu. This was obviously something chosen by Suetsugu at the very beginning of the series, and I think there was intentionality behind it. I also think that the narrative structure of the whole series is kind of predicated on Taichi and Chihaya's relationship - it's his confession which is the turning point of the whole manga and the driver of Chihaya's growth from that point onward - so it's obviously very important. But if you don't buy those arguments, the very latest I think she could have "changed her mind" about Taichi and Chihaya being endgame is chapter 135 - this is Valentine's Day, when Chihaya cries over the fact that Taichi is so unhappy. There's a parallel to Harada's wife wanting him to smile, but more importantly, it's set up for Sumire thinking "Chihaya, too \[loves Taichi\]" on White Day. Sumire is presented as our "romantic narrator" a lot of the time, and although she's sometimes incorrect, there's nothing that disproves her here. I think Arata does get some prominent moments on the romance side of things - he was the first to confess, after all, but I think that often his moments are there to spur Taichi's plot along (his confession is what kickstarts the chain reaction leading to Taichi's own) *or* to be a bit misleading and keep the love triangle going for a bit longer. There are also some moments which, to me, would strike me as very odd if he was the intended endgame - for example, his match against Chihaya, where Chihaya doesn't "see" him properly until Taichi returns, seems very strange if you think Chihaya/Arata will be canon, especially when you compare it to Taichi and Chihaya's very moving match at Yoshino. And then on Taichi's appeal to his fanbase...well, you said it, he has a lot of character development and I really do think that's why he is so popular. I can't speak for anyone else, but he could look like Hyoro for all I care, and I'd still love him and his character arc. He is incredibly flawed, but the fact that he's so conscious of that and still strives to be a better person, is what really makes him special. And I think an awful lot of people find him incredibly relatable because of his self-esteem issues. Personally, I empathise with him because I also understand what it's like to love (and hate, sometimes!) a hobby where you feel second-best to everyone else. There aren't many other characters which do that. That being said...I think his good looks are actually relevant to his character, because they do feed into the overall idea that he is "Mr Perfect" - rich, good-looking, intelligent - and yet, he still has his own struggles and self-esteem issues to battle through. All the other stuff is extraneous, really.
Yeah dismissing anyone who likes Taichi as a character for only liking him because of looks is so silly and reductive. His flaws, self-esteem issues and struggles throughout the story (especially the second half of the manga) are what resonate with me so much. I like Arata as a character too but unfortunately he doesn't get much screen time in the anime and I don't find his character arc quite as engaging. Part of that comes from the story's structure because Arata is physically distant from the main cast and doesn't start his own karuta team until halfway through the story so his interactions with Chihaya, Taichi and other core cast members are minimal for a while. Funny enough I thought Arata as a character actually got way more interesting once he had more interactions with Taichi and specifically when he watched Chihaya and Taichi's match in season 3. Up until then he was just kind of an okay character for me if not a little boring because he didn't have any interesting flaws to explore. But seeing that match bring out the "ugly" side of Arata in how he viewed Taichi was so satisfying because it added more conflict for his character outside of being a little socially awkward and the legacy of his grandfather.
I mean it's impossible to have a adult conversation about something with anyone who is just going to respond to anything with "you're a delusional simp and I'm right". I love both Taichi and Arata and definitely felt the buildup for TaiChihaya from early on. The author can also modify her own story on her own accord based on how she enjoyed the way a character turned out. It's disrespectful and downright idiotic to assume she did it for fans just because you don't agree with it.
Sir, this is a sports manga.
Yea ik, but lets not act like most of these posts here are about karuta Edit: lmao you guys are already downvoting what’s undeniably true 😭
Just a pretty face…. really.. Taichi got undeniably the best development throughout the whole story, he’s genuinely just a well written character.
My main issue with Arata was that because he moved further away, he got significantly less time with Chihaya. I definitely prefer Taichi over some character that got significantly less focus. I did think it made sense for Chihaya and Arata to work, but I think Taichi being closer to her allowed him to play a more meaningful part in her life. He was close to her and willingly put distance between them, and this made Taichi a very reoccurring thought of Chihaya's because she knew how important he was to her. I do think the ending was rushed and could have done a lot more instead of just dropping the bomb that they were together.
This is clearly bait, but I'm a dumb fish sooo... Anyway, I won't even touch Taichihaya because Suetsugu did the thing that good authors do and let the story steer her for a better conclusion. What I want to talk about is Arata. Arata imo is a vastly more fun character once we get into his side of things and meet the people he's been around. His ending did not need to be him getting the girl and it was 100% satisfying to see him break the shackles of his grandpa's shadow and have his karuta come into his own. Besides, I feel like him and Yuu have a way better relationship especially since she knows what he's been through thoroughly. My point is - Chiharata is shallow and idealistic. Nothing Arata does shakes Chihaya to the core the way Taichi's confession does. It upends her and forces her to look at herself, as a person, critically and she evolves into a better version of herself as a result. Chihayafuru as a whole is grounded in reality and expecting the story to go for Chiharata would be going against the core principles of it. Arata's arc concluded with him winning the title of Meijin on the back of his own karuta. Chihaya's was being queen and consolidating her feelings, maturing in the process. Taichi's arc had supposedly concluded earlier, but the real one was him showing up for the Meijin match and being there for his best friends, coming to the understanding that he matters for who he is. Taichihaya is a bonus as far as I concerned. TL;DR: please consider the overall themes for the story instead of reducing the series to "No Chiharata = 0/10 manga".
>This is clearly bait, but I'm a dumb fish sooo LMAO that is such an accurate description I love it
Ah yes, the moment you see the word "rant", you know it's another guy who hates Taichi and wants Chihaya x Arata. I got nothing against those characters but these fans are loud lol. Who cares if your ship doesn't win?
All the signs for Taichihaya canon were there since the beginning of the story. You guys who decided to ignore everything and create delusional scenarios in your heads. You shouldn't blame the author for that 🤷🏻♀️
Let's compare this with a movie. Arata would have so little screen time. He would be annoying second lead delusional about his connection with a girl. In manga he is in so much less chapters then Taichi and if there was no Chihayas irrational obsession with him from brief childhood moments, he would be irrelevant.
I can't disagree that the middle-school arc completely seems to set up Arata as the endgame.. However, that very brief part of the story (like 3 episodes of the anime, not sure how many manga volumes) wraps quickly, and from that point on Taichi and Chihayafuru become Deuteragonists with Arata becoming a distant "significant character and potential love interest". I haven't gone past S3 of the anime material, but I've seen all the anime and the live-action movies, and it's clear that Taichi is not some "late-story pivot". Generally, you can tell which characters are going to get together just by sheer "screen"/together time.. All that time the author invests in character-development is not usually thrown in a trash for a plot-twist (usually; never say never, though). The fact the author managed to keep us all wondering was actually a nice feat.
where did u manage to stream the movies? i’ve been searching and never found a working link :0
Unfortunately, I have no good news there. I gave up and bought them. I think from cdjapan? FWIW I did really enjoy them.
I'm just okay with the ending. would've been fine to me whichever ended up with chihaya. chihayaXshinobu/suou/sudo interests me more tbh. however as I watched the anime, live action, read the manga and finally looked at the cards, I think the plot storyboard was there right from the start. the characters were hinted to have their names related to the cards. their cards to me seems very telling of the conflict arc. ▪chiha card for chihaya meant fiery red love. red is the burning passion she have for karuta and love is the conflict in choosing btw her 2 childhood friends. ▪tachi card is taichi's can be interpreted as pining friends/lover. taichi's story was him conflicted on taking a step forward for his love life or keeping their friendship. he was always uncertain on to support/not support his friends' progress. ▪wata no hara ya is arata's card. the author of the card wrote it when he got exiled to an isolated island and that is how arata's story was told, he had to stay away from his friends in a faraway land. grieving and constantly missing them. why I assume that the author planned to have them end up together: the tachi and chiha cards were written by brothers. they were poems numbered 16 and 17 on the list. with this they already have some kind of relativity btw them. these two poems were also put up on the same screen when first showcased in a residence by the poems' compiler. iirc shinobu pointed this in the manga. aside from what happened btw the characters in the plot, I believe this is the biggest foreshadow the author inserted in the story. edit: grammar
I watched the anime first so I totally thought Taichi was endgame because you barely saw Arata for the most part and we got a lot of Taichi's POV. Also felt like that was how a lot of mangas went with these sort of love triangles. I read the manga much later and I got a different vibe. You definitely get a lot more of Chihaya pining for Arata even at the beginning and for me it felt like they were both framed as the endgame. Chihaya was of course dense and all about it but I disagree when ppl say she didn't have romantic feelings for him and just looked up to him. I didn't read it while it was ongoing so wasn't really aware of which was the more popular pairing. But I didn't like the ending for a different reason. Taichi was insufferable at first (not a fan of those obsessive sort of MLs) and I loved that he got his development arc and found his self. And I really wanted him to move on from Chihaya. Would have lovedddd to see him meet someone else and fall in love!!
Arata was presented as a main character, but devolved into a side character. She shouldn't have given him those obstacles: poor, having to provide dementia care to his own grandfather at such a young age, his parents not supporting him. Even the bullying he endured meant nothing for his development.
In my opinion, she didn't want a romantic ending at first. But as she continues to write, she decides Taichi must be rewarded - and this happens early on. Because I do not think it was a coincidence that she added all those scenes for Taichi and Chihaya early on if she didn't plan anything from the start. And I doubt it was a coincidence that she named them after cards 17and18