This episode reminded all the reason to dislike Suo and proved why he is unpopular among so many people. He is a pathetic person. His disgusting nature was proved when he said “when I see someone straight as an arrow, I want to bend them”. Nothing good can be expected from a person like him. No wonder, he is so disrespectful towards an opponent like Chihaya.
I feel so sad for Chihaya, what Suo bluntly said to her, was very hurting and she ended up crying while heading home. Those harsh words badly affected her that she can’t eve play well since then. Her emotions can be seen clearly and so she can’t hide it from Dr. Harada, who tried to make her happy when she went to meet him to talk.
I was very disappointed for not getting to see Taichi and Suo playing against each other. We were just given the impression that Suo won and Taichi learned from it. He lost without making any mistakes and that’s what makes me even more curious about the match. He lost by 14 cards but since, no mistakes was committed by his opponent so he had to rely on his own skills rather than on Taichi’s faults.
Taichi is smart enough to convince Suo for the review of the match. He knows how to convince him and he does that by offering him snacks and then confessing the fact that Chihaya is not his girlfriend to be nice in front of him. The most important and major part of their discussion was the results in Karuta. There are four kinds. If you pick cards then you opponents does the same, either you are at fault or your opponent is. There are offensive players (like Chihaya, Arata and Dr. Hirada) who are after the cards and are prone to making mistakes due to aggressiveness. Then there are defensive players like Taichi and Suo.
Taichi is very secretive as of now. From the point he skipped the Eastern and Western Qualifiers class-trip, the love triangle has heated up and there is too much tension among Chihaya, Arata and Taichi. We all know that he is trying his level best to change his relation with Chihaya and wants her to see her differently and understands the feelings that he has for her. But I do not understand why he is keeping his discussion with Suo a secret and not just that but the important revelation regarding their match and review. But he is really honest when it comes to his match against Suo as he admits that he learned so much from it although he lost the match. One realization is how desperate he is to make his opponent commit fault.
It also feels like Tiachi has some clues about Arata’s confession to Chihaya in his absence. Taichi is not a little kid, he has good observation skills and can decipher a change between them. Every time, there is a mention about Arata, Chihaya’s expressions change and she becomes nervous. (that reminds me of the phone call which was very cute). Taichi’s silence is not a good thing and it can be broken anytime. Having said that, it’s good that Arata isn’t come to see the match of Mastar and Queen. If he had made the appearance, things would become a little more complicated.
But I still feel sad for Arata for not being able to see the match in person as he wanted to go there for Dr. Harada. Thankfully, he was able to see the match even though it was nor aired on the television, he could see on his phone as was being live-streamed.
Lastly, we finally saw how Shinobu feels. She couldn’t play well since the time she played against Arata and lost. Karuto is everything for Shinobu nothing would be left if she lost her title. She has no friends and family other than cards and nothing could be sadder than that. It’s sad that she doesn’t consider her mother as her family. Can’t say anything about her grandmother. I like what she did on tatami and offered her to have snacks with her. After all it was her grandmother who let her play Karuta for the first time.
I can’t wait for the match between Master and Queen. I wants to see Suo’s weakness that Chihaya has spotted but as Dr. Hirada mentioned, it can also be the strength. Let’s see how it turns out.
