Chihayafuru: An Offspring of Shoujo, Poetry, and Athletics

Tags

Arata, Architecture, athletics, card game, Chihaya Ayase, Chihayafuru, Karuta, sports, Taichi

It was an absolute delight to once again see the entire crew of Chihayafuru. Each time I watch this anime I get chills, inspiration, and exhilaration all at the same time—a nice set of feelings, I would say—as if I’m trapped in this subtle yet impassionate spell of Karuta.

Let’s Face It. Expressions and Emotions in Chihayafuru

Tags

Arata, Arata Wataya, Chihaya, Chihaya Ayase, Chihayafuru, Emotion Theory, Expression, Kana, Kanade Ōe, Karuta, Shinobu, Shinobu Wakamiya, Taichi, Taichi Mashima, Tsutomu Komano, Yusei Nishida

There had been lots of theories about facial expressions. Two of the most common ones are: first, it’s a universal language that’s already in us which reflects our inner feelings. And second, it’s a cultural notion that we acquired through influence.

So it was said that the facial expression is the immediate reflection of a person’s emotions. Say for instance, if we see somebody smiling, we can tell that it represents joy and a scowl represents anger. Likewise when watching anime, we end up smiling whenever we witness happy moments and we feel anxious when our favourite characters are in jeopardy.

Such convincing atmosphere and emotions combined with intensified tones make the viewing experience so emerging, and this is one of the many reasons why I enjoy watching Chihayafuru. The beautiful aesthetics and faces of the characters craft it’s so easy to have fun and engage with the characters and plot.

Craft of Balancing Time, An Aniblogger Testament

Tags

Anime Time Management, Ano Natsu de Matteru, Arata, Black Gold Saw, Black Rock Shooter, Chihaya, Chihayafuru, Dead Master, Hibiki, Kanade, Kanna, Karen, Mato, Nisemonogatari, Symphogear, Taichi, time, Tsubasa, Tsukihi, Yomi, Yuu

I mentioned on my past posts that time is the variable that I fancy the most. In fact when I was in university, it came to the point that I got so obsessed with it that I wanted everything to be in-sync and happen exactly like I perceived. I was being raised by a single parent. Unlike some lucky kids, I have to support my schooling by my own.

So while I was enjoying the success of handling both school and work, it somewhat hurt my personal relationships. I started to notice that I could no longer relate with my friends’ inside jokes and I always dozed off easily whenever I go on dates and events. But overtime, I managed to fix it not only by finding the schedule which suited me best, but also because my shift became more flexible as I gained seniority at my workplace.

Authenticity of Chihaya’s Dream

Tags

Arata, Authenticity, Chihaya, Chihayafuru, Dream, Karuta, Taichi

Chihayafuru is one my most anticipated anime of this season. Though its first episode fell short to fully “wow” me, I’d say that this is the most enjoying Fall series that I’m following right now. Initially, I found Chihaya’s dream of becoming a Karuta master petty and inauthentic. However, as I re-watched the series to gather some potential blogging material, I realized that how Chihaya recognized her dream is no way different on how I identified mine.

Dreaming usually refers to the visionary formation of the imagination. Oftentimes, it starts from nothing then as we gather our desires we start to create something. And usually, all we need is a stroke of inspiration to realize what we aspired and to put purpose on our lives, as we know “the unexamined life is not worth living.” However, this Socratic statement made me think, if we are just getting inspirations from other people, then what is the true essence of having a dream? Does it preserve or corrupt the “real” us? And, where exactly dreams come from?