SOS Bros React - Chihayafuru Season 1 Episode 5 - The Sight of a Midnight Moon!

[@aliciaz6224]

it's been years since I first watched this series, but if I remember correctly, this is the episode which set me on the path from liking to loving it. The moment where Chihaya grabs Arata off his bike or when he chases her train and she hears his voice were so beautifully dramatic and Romantic, they still make my heart race even now. The line "If there truly is a karuta god, he would look like grandpa" shook me when I first heard it, and I still remember it as one of my favourite lines of the series (of which there are many). I think the Bros have already caught onto a lot about what makes Chihaya such a great protagonist, and how wonderfully subtle the character of Arata can be (can you tell I'm a Chihaya/Arata fan lol). I have much love for Taichi too, but I'll have more to say on him in later episodes. For now, I'm excited for who we got a glimpse of at the end of this episode!

[@cjwheelwright]

my thoughts about chihaya not reaching out to arata through the years are something like this - there's more layers to chihaya then what you'd expect. she has fallen in love with karuta and found that she can be great at something - all because of arata. she feels like she must prove herself in karuta before reaching out to arata, she has put him on a pedestal. the time and distance apart has warped her perception of her friend into this 'karuta god'. once she allowed herself to reach out and heard his voice again, she was struck by all the time that had passed and was reminded that he was a real boy that she missed. then he spoke those sad words and chihaya felt compelled to go to him as soon as possible. she is emotionally immature and selfish, but she is earnest and kind too. i think that if she had someone else to speak to about arata during those years apart that told her to call him, she definitely would have. people think she's an airhead because of her impulsiveness and tunnel vision focus, but she does pay attention to what people tell her and is actually very smart, it's just that very few people speak to her like she is. I'd also add that she's dealt with loneliness and isolation, and when someone feels like that, reaching out to anyone can feel like a herculean task.

[@ludenunes6606]

I loved this show from episode 1, but for me it's after the karuta club enters the scene that Chihayafuru really gets its luster. Things only get better from here!

[@jojoLin-y3p]

Actually i remember chihaya usually wrote letters to Arata. I think it make sense they didn't call each other a lot because they don't have mobile phone until middle school or high school, and Arata gave Chihaya and Taichi his phone number when they meet in future episodes. BTW, i really recommend you guys watch 2-3 episodes together because there are mainly competition plots after episode 10 (if i remember correctly), and it may take 2-3 episodes to finish one karuta tournament. i can't image if you ends up with the middile of the match, it would be so tough to wait for a week for the result hahaha~

[@Kei-im9yh]

Arata's shirt from last episode wasn't a family bussiness shirt, it was their Chihayafuru team shirt that all 3 of them wore in the team tournament. The subs you're using didn't translate what's inscribed on it. Someone should pass this on to them.

[@meriemzi9093]

I just remembered why this is the only show where i genuinely and without joke really wanted all three protagonists to end up together, collectively

[@vinhaar]

yes!!!!

[@doyleeee]

Yoshimasa Hosoya the VA of Arata, I really like his voice. He sounds natural with any character, gentle, bad, or weird.

[@fairmaidenmel]

I especially love when he does regional dialects like in this show or Kids on the Slope, his voice is so lovely.

[@ss2262s]

目の付け所が素晴らしい

[@aliciaz6224]

one of my favourite VAs (my profile picture is an indication of that lol). I just adore his voice and particularly his portrayal of the accent for Arata- it's super charming! Yoshimasa Hosoya does a great job at sounding soft and approachable when his deep voice seems like it would sound overly commanding

[@RatoInsano]

I forgot about Arata's reintroduction. Also we're getting more hints about one of Chihaya's special talents: her hearing.

[@NaxipTV.]

the voice acting for that moment "i'm not a god" is so perfect.

[@nonko83]

"It's one of those anime that doesn't fall short of the original. I hope　hope　hope　 they make a fourth season!"

[@nicolesouza8]

Arata is one of my favorite anime characters EVER. I love the characters in this show and their relationships a lot.

[@aliciaz6224]

I'm always glad to see other big Arata fans! I feel his character can be underappreciated- but it's also understandable when the rest of the cast is so fantastic! Chihaya is my number 1, but Arata is so near to my heart

[@nicolesouza8]

@aliciaz6224 agreed! The characters are wonderfully layered

[@me-nichi9554]

ちはやふる見てんのか、いいのを見るねぇ

[@DWargs]

In my almost eight years of watching these reactions, never have I felt more called out than Caleb's stuff about calling your friends. It's honestly something I had no self-awareness about. I mean, actually zero. I had friends I was extremely close to, or felt like, anyways, but, yeah, I just didn't _think_ to talk to them, and life would go on, and before I knew it, years had gone by. But Caleb is right y'all. You cannot assume people will still feel the same way about you. You can't assume your childhood promises will just stay true forever. You need to reach out to the people you care about. Make time for them. Be their friend _now_.

[@innabutova857]

You can't imagine what your comment, as well as the guys' words, has done to my heart. I realized I've let a really important relationship to basically dissipate into nothing because...well there were multiple reasons but at least I could have kept in contact with that person. But 9 years passed, each of us busy with their life, and now when I tried to reestablish the connection upon realizing how important and unique that bond still is, it turned out the accounts are dead, the phone numbers have changed, and the physical addresses too. Bonds between people never really disappear. But the threads are now going into darkness and there's no way left to send a signal. This is maybe the scariest realization in my life. Be smarter than me, people, don't let some daily life stuff distract you from what truly matters.

[@Waavlu]

So much to go into but yes Chiyaya is selfish but the reason she didn't call was because it was her reward for reaching class A. She held back to selfishly motivate herself. Was it smart, no but narratively it is what someone like that could do and it would make sense. But as mentioned it goes both ways. Arata didn't call or write with Chiyaya. Though Taichi and Arata had some correspondence.

[@Killerqueen2000]

Chihaya as a character definitely gets mixed feelings from me because on one hand her selfishness can be annoying as well as how oblivious she can be but her passion can also be the most endearing thing

[@mono8476]

19:00, 28:30, 30:00, 34:47, 41:30

[@Ennby6]

I feel like the whole long-distance-friends angle is just sort of a strangely common sentiment in Japanese stuff, rather than Chihaya's fault. Arata's in another prefecture, a daytrip away, not *THAT* far, but it's treated like another planet. Look at any Makoto Shinkai movie and it's the same thing, somebody moves to a different town and OH NEVER SHALL WE MEET AGAIN WOE IS ME