Chihayafuru: Musubi (2018)

I made sure not to include spoilers. I included only the details which were present in the trailer. If you watched Chihayafuru Tsunaga or read the manga or watched the anime, I'm pretty sure you'll have an idea of what I'm talking about.

Additional note: Director Koizumi Nori mentioned that he communicated extensively with Suetsugu when he was writing the script for the third film. While it is not exactly what will come out in the manga, you can trust that the main backbone of this adaptation is faithful to Suetsugu's vision.

I watched this during the Japanese Film Festival in my country last July along with the first two films. Technically, it was an entire day of marathon of the three movies inside the theater. To me, the third film really achieved the perfect balance of entertainment and art that Director Koizumi Nori wanted to achieve. Musubi is not only a film about these kids wanting to play karuta, but it also questions why they even play it. In the 2nd film, the characters--particularly, Chihaya--were faced with their own individual struggle. But in this 3rd installment, there was a collective sense in which all of them are experiencing one problem, yet they had to face it on their own if they want to overcome each hurdle.

The sense of camaraderie among the Mizusawa team is ever-present. Seeing them be filled with passion for the karuta game makes you proud. This time, it's not just about winning a game. Even if that was the goal, these kids play for each other and for the love of the game that definitely bounded them. In his way, Arata was able to get back up and rebuild his connection with karuta. His own team may be far from the quality of Mizusawa, but they are well on their way of becoming a big contender (especially since they're made up of strong players). The Queen is still the Queen. Shinobu remains to be my favorite, mainly because Mayu Matsuoka is just as good. And Chihaya is still Chihaya. Passionate as ever. She will always be a 'karuta baka,' but it was lovely seeing her grow more and be more mature when she is faced with a sudden change in her life.

Now, to me the main highlight of this third installment was Chihaya and Taichi's relationship. In the trailer, it is evident that he left the karuta club and Chihaya was pretty devastated. I won't go into the details of what exactly happened as it will ruin the experience of watching it unfold. But in terms of character growth, it was really Taichi who shined here. He remains to be the flawed character that you cannot help but relate to. He loved karuta because of Chihaya. Now, he's just not quite sure if he should continue going on like this. His growth was poignant, and as always it feels earned.

I'm sure you're curious about the romantic aspect, but of course, I won't spoil that for you. But if you have been closely watching the film, the answer isn't very mysterious after all. Still, on the whole, the ending was satisfying and so was the entirety of this movie. Frankly, this is the best live action adaptation I've seen so far in the little pool of live actions that I've watched.

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An enjoyable ending

The review is based only on the events of the film. I feel the responsibility to point this out because the manga is on going, which means the story might take a turn to any possible direction in the future.

I finally got the chance to watch this film this week, a very nice and neat conclusion to the world of competitive karuta. For those who need a little reminding, the story follows Chihaya and her friends as a team trying to win the national high school competition and, for some of them, even dream of becoming professionals. But the films also tells us about their personal struggles, sometimes on actual lines of dialogue and, other times, through out the poems been read in the karuta competitions.

The film choose to make a time jump between the second film and the third, putting the last installment of the trilogy on Chihaya’s senior year of high school. She’s only have one goal in her life: becoming the Queen of karuta but now teachers and even friends are taking different routes in life, choosing professions and paths in which they won’t be able to talk together as the tight-knit group they become, so she needs to start thinking what else lays beyond karuta.

On this point, I feel the story failed and achieved something at the same time. It was nice to see Chihaya think of things beyond her karuta bubble with the film didn’t developed properly. I like she kept her goal of becoming Queen until the very end, because at her core that’s who she truly is, but at the same time I didn’t get to see her spend enough time thinking of life outside the sport.

Other professional karuta players are shown to have their own personal and professional lives outside the competitions, so I guess I would have like to see Chihaya be a little more motivated or explicit on what other thing she might want to pursue. Whatever it tis, I’m sure it would have been with the same savage passion she has for everything she loves.

Meanwhile, Taichi finally reached a boiling point. I guess it’s fair to say Taichi has been competing his entire life: against Arata but most importantly against his own insecurities. Taichi’s biggest roadblock has always been himself, by putting others before him to a point of whatever he wants becomes irrelevant in his own life. When he first started playing karuta again, in freshman year of high school, he didn’t do it for himself. He did it for Chihaya, and unlike her his development about what he wishes to do in the future beyond the world of competitive karuta was properly developed.

Taichi finally loses to the pressure and feels forced to leave the karuta team. It’s a nice call back as to the same reasons why Arata quitted karuta in the first film. Back then, Arata lost all motivation when his grandfather had died. He was the reason why Arata started and continue to play the game and with him home he needed two films to find a reason to do it for himself.

The same thing can be said about Chihayara. She’s always played for her, a point the film makes perfectly, and because of that she’s able to support her teammates, show respect to her opponents and inspire her juniors.

If you ask me, the third film in this trilogy is Taichi’s film. It’s the conclusion to his journey and the answer his been looking for since day one. The card choice at the end, where he’s putting all his feelings out in the open, is him finally stepping forward and withholding nothing.

As for the love triangle, I would rather concentrate on the personal story of our three main characters. I believe this story is so popular because of the everyday and common struggles the characters go through that resonate with people, and not because of a love triangle.

Chihaya’s answer remained true to herself, as mentioned before, because she’s never really thought of anything beyond the karuta world. Of course, Arata put himself out there, in all the ways possible, because Arata never doubts himself once he has set his eyes on the prize. And, of course Taichi is the last man standing next to Chihaya because that’s also part of who he is.

That said, of course, I have a team I’m rooting for and personally I believe the story told in this film serve for the benefit of one team rather the other. But to get a real and final answer about Chihaya’s feelings, we will have to keep on reading the manga.

Kudos, to the amazing supporting cast who it’s as wonderful as always. Making the smallest moments incredibly funny and heart warming, even sometimes stealing the entire show from the leads. Thank you!

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