Chihayafuru, Vol. 1 by Yuki SuetsuguMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
[I originally wrote this part of the review in July before the last chapter had been published]
Since the announcement that this manga was coming to an end this August, I felt it was time for me to read it and watch the anime adaptation. Now I am not big into sports anime/manga and while I'd heard of this title for years, I had no interest in ever reading it...until 2020. In one day, the author of this manga gave me all the reason to want to read and watch this that I needed. I am going to review the first three volumes of this manga, watch the anime and read remaining volumes of this series, but I want to use the beginning of this review to talk about something else: my appreciation of the author as a black anime/manga fan.
In the aftermath of killing of George Floyd with myriad of people speaking out, I came across someone who I had never heard of make the case for black folks despite it not having no benefit to her. That person was Yuki Suetsugu, the author of this long-running manga about a traditional Japanese card game dominated by women. On June 4, 2020, Suetsugu sent out a series of tweets speaking out against racism and for Black Lives Matter and as I read these tweets it made me think about things. In my time growing-up in, growing apart from, and coming back into anime (and later stating to read manga). It is not surprising that people of African descent & dark-skinned people in-general are not the most well received in the media formats. That has a lot to do of course with how black folks are viewed in Asia generally compared to whites and it is reciprocated throughout the media in the continent which includes Japan. Japanese creators-now-have been a lot better about this than when I was young, but it still has far to go. The mecha genre and Shinichirō Watanabe are the outliers on this as non-stereotypical black representation has always been normal with that genre since Mobile Suit Gundam and that creator's anime Cowboy Bebop. Outside of those were example it is more usual to know manga and anime creators' racist views and neo-Nazi leanings. The long-held controversy over the fascist views of the creator of Attack on Titan is the most well-known example from recent times but given how Japan's failure to deal with its fascist, imperialist past is no different than the USA's, it is not surprising. What IS surprising is seeing an anime/manga creator who does not make mecha or is big into African-American culture (as far as we know about Suetsugu) actually speak out against anti-black racism. It is a small gesture, but one that I appreciate given how rare such a gesture from anyone in that industry is (and hey, you get to have my money).
[This portion of the review was written after the series had ended]
I suppose now I should actually talk about this first volume of the manga. The story is based around a girl living in Tokyo names Chihaya Ayase who is trying to find a purpose for herself and be out of the shadow of her older sister, an up-and-coming Japanese supermodel. When a boy from rural Japan named Arata transfers to her school she learns that despite his appearances he is very skilled in and participates in competitive Karuta: a traditional Japanese card game. They clash with, and then become friends with another boy named Taichi who is also a competitive Karuta player, and they join together to form Team Chihayafuru. They come together at a community center that teaches Karuta and they start practicing and decide to enter a Karuta competition.
This is not the first Josei manga I have read, but it may be the best-looking one easily. The is a very solid coming-of-age story and it was a good read. The idea of a traditional Japanese card game that uses poetry is quite different than even what most Japanese think about. Under this review I will post some videos of competitive Karuta and how it is played. All-in-all, I'll probably mostly be following this series thought it's anime adaptation, but I still have some manga volumes that I will read and review first.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMh-V... Okay, so the guy is a bit extra in the beginning of the video and he has an accent, but he does a good job explaining exactly how to play the game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7X0JG... This is an English-subtitled commentary of a standard competitive Karuta match. IT gives you as broad an overview as you could hope for by actual people who have been top-ranked in the official tournaments held in Japan.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_30EF... This is a full competition Karuta match, in Japanese.
View all my reviews
