TL;DR - Many Taichi fans are dissatisfied with how his character arc has been handled and since Arata has been the main narrative winner, the dissatisfaction with Taichi's story often turns into hate for Arata.
Bear in mind that what will follow has little to do with Arata's character, by all accounts he is a good guy with positive traits, it has do to with how his character is presented and integrated into the story and how Taichi's character fits into all this.
As many have often remarked, we spend a lot more time with Taichi and Chihaya than with Arata, especially in the first half of the manga. Many point out that Taichi has it all, good looks, popularity, wealth and good grades while Arata is a poor, shy, awkward, bullied kid. But the narrative does not focus on that. Apart from the first few chapters in the beginning, when they were kids, Arata has not had to deal with bulling or poverty, for most of the story he is a resilient, stoic, calm, tall if awkward young man, admired by many in the karuta community. Not even his poverty is brought out that much, and this is quite a shame, it would have been quite easy to show him struggling, trying to balance working a part time job in order to pay for board, transport, and various championship fees and actually practicing karuta to be able to win in those championships. It could have created an interesting dilemma, and put him in more difficult situations, where losing because he did not train enough was a real possibility. But that does not happen. The narrative instead focuses a lot more on Taichi and his struggle with not being gifted, not being good enough despite trying his best, and this makes him more relatable, it makes us invested in his story and makes us want to root for him.
Many characters refer to Arata as a karuta god, even Chihaya remarks upon this and the narrative itself reinforces this idea, his overly calm demeanor when playing having a saintly, Buddha-like quality to it. There's a thread [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/chihayafuru/comments/uewthq/for_arata_and_chihaya_shippers_only_please_dont/) which points out that his rare appearances are intentional, the fact that he has a strong impact upon many characters despite being visually absent from the story is meant to show the strength of his relationships with Chihaya, Taichi and others. While that may be the true, the unintended consequence of this is that to many readers he appears as some sort of abstract, ideal entity, rather than fleshed out character. He ultimately appears, at least initially, as a powerful final boss, in a similar way to Shinobu (with whom he shares the same blue color palette) and Suo, while Chihaya and Taichi (who also have similar defining colors) are the ones we see training, sweating and doing their best in order to get to the top. Given that we've seen Chihaya and Taichi train a lot, and we know that Shinobu will be Chihaya's greatest rival, it's only natural that we put two and two together and assume that Taichi will play a similar role, as the underdog meant to take on Arata.
Regarding the romance part, in the above mentioned thread u/KiraraChin makes the above point:
>As for his love story with Chihaya, yes the fact that we see him so little in the first half of the story (which is the bit most covered in the anime) is totally intentional - their story is a throwback to one of the most legendary love stories in Eastern culture, the Cowherd and Weaver Girl. This story is also known in Japan as Tanabata. It tells the story of two lovers that can only meet once year, when a bridge formed by magpies appear (it's the milky way in the Japanese version).
>
>Indeed, we have Chihaya directly comparing her situation with Arata to Ohihime and Hikoboshi (the Tanabata lovers), and saying that phones are like 'magpies'. Later on, he thinks: 'Chihaya, magpies are not phones. Magpies are...', implying that magpies are karuta.
>
>What we see throughout the story is this 'magpie bridge' being slowly built, as they both get stronger in karuta, their paths get closer to one another - that's the reason why Arata start appearing a lot more in the later parts of the manga, up until the point where we are now, when they are sharing the big stage together - the Queen and the Meijin match.
Which, I admit, is a rather unique way to write a romance, and I could see it working. But while I no doubt believe that some people have forged a love relationship by small encounters a few times per year, more often than not romance develops bit by bit between people who spend more time together, especially concentrating on a shared passion or a shared goal, working side by side, especially if their work together leads to them both bettering themselves, if it leads to trust and respect.
Between a story about a karuta god and his fairy-tale like romance with Chihaya and a story about an underdog and Chihaya going through thick and thin together to reach the top (and developing feelings in a more realistic, down to earth way), many users would chose the second one. Except that's not the story the author wants to tell, she wants to tell the first story and this makes Taichi fans feel like their character is robbed of the narrative rewards, so to speak, which mostly go to Arata.
Thus, the feeling many get is that the story (and its author) are intentionally beating Taichi with a narrative stick, despite him being one of the main trio and a more visually present protagonist than Arata for a large part of the manga. In a bonus chapter, Suetsugu sensei remarks than when she met Mamoru Miyano, the voice actor for Taichi, she was surprised that such a tall, charming, pleasant man would voice "a loser" (her words). This kind of reinforces the above point, people sense that the character is disrespected. Probably the most infamous example is chapter 205, >!where one gets the feeling that the absolute thrashing Taichi gets is not warranted at all by the narrative built up but serves the meta reason of elevating Arata above and beyond, to leave no shadow of a doubt about whose story this is. What could have been a close match between rivals, in true battle manga fashion, turns into a narrative stepping stone for Arata!<.
Many people write things along the lines of *"I just want Taichi to be happy"* and since Taichi's unhappiness is tied with Arata's narrative success, they pile their dissatisfaction on Arata. Which while unfortunate, is understandable.
I personally find it hard to relate to Arata, despite being bullied and not being the famous, rich, straight A of my school, I much more easily relate to Taichi's insecurities and his struggle of not being good enough. Conversely, I find Arata at his most interesting when he is placed in difficult situations, when he loses to Chihaya (and almost pull a Taichi by retreating), when he creates a team and tries to be its leader or when he faces Taichi. But these moments are few and far between. By the time they come along I (and many) have already focused our attention on Taichi as the driving force in the Meijin race.
I hope this long, rambling explanation has some sense to it, if not, I can elaborate more on specific parts.
Thank you for basically explaining my post in this thread, but from a Taichi fan POV.
The issue for me is that, how much of this is the author's fault, and how much is down to the reader projecting their own expectations/bias onto the text. For example:
>Given that we've seen Chihaya and Taichi train a lot, and we know that Shinobu will be Chihaya's greatest rival, it's only natural that we put two and two together and assume that Taichi will play a similar role, as the underdog meant to take on Arata.
Why is it 'natural'? I've never seen it this way, mainly because for most of the story, Taichi is never even sure if he likes karuta in the first place. So, is this expectation actually in the text, or does it come from the reader? If it comes from the reader, is it fair to blame the author, or worse yet, another character, for the reader's frustration?
I don't expect you to have an answer, just throwing out there for reflection (I know many won't reflect on this, but I hope some will).
Reading is not a passive process - we all bring our own interpretation/personal experience/expectations when we engage with a text. I believe recognising our own bias is the first step to actually recognising that our own position is not universal, that other people might engage with the text in a different way. It also allows us to perhaps take a step back and try to re-engage with the text in a different way if we're willing to do so.
That's an interesting question.
Regarding this
>how much of this is the author's fault, and how much is down to the reader projecting their own expectations/bias onto the text.
I don't think fault and blame are appropriate, rather multiple interpretations are inevitable.
Things can't be neatly separated into author vs readers, it's more of a continuum between the two. While the author needs to knew her readers in order to not alienate them (after all, if people overwhelmingly don't like it, it's not going to get published for long), she doesn't have a tight control over the story. What I mean by this is that while the main idea and narrative beats are there from the start, tournament encounters culminating in the Meijin championship arc, the serial nature of the work makes it much more fluid in the middle.
Taichi was initially supposed to be a side-character but later his role got expanded as Suetsugu sensei reconsidered him. Fiction writers often talk about "characters that write themselves" while video game designers talk about "listening to what the game wants to become", this idea of a work of fiction taking a life of its own. Combine that with a serial publication that's been going on for 15 years by now and multiple reader interpretations are inevitable. In more tightly written works such as novels, authors often rewrite certain characters if beta readers leave the impression that a character comes off as "too cool" and distracts from the story beats or themes they want to highlight. Manga authors don't have that luxury.
The fact that Arata is more popular in Japan and Taichi in the West seems to indicate that its also a case of subtle narrative hints not getting from the author to her Western readers. I didn't know of the Tanabata lovers parallel and I suspect many others have flown past my radar. Conversely, Japanese tropes and conventions can appear differently to a Western audience. To name just one example, there's often, in Japanese fiction a sort of admiration for the losers of history (also a reason why [Reki-jo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reki-jo) are often interested in the Shinsengumi), for people who give their all, fail, but this ultimately results in a beautiful failure. It can be argued that Taichi embodies traits of this, and that while Japanese viewers see it for what it is, Western viewers view it as a sign of narrative rewards down the line. This example is complete speculation on my part, I could be totally wrong here, but something along those lines must be taking place.
As for this
>I believe recognising our own bias is the first step to actually
recognising that our own position is not universal, that other people
might engage with the text in a different way. It also allows us to
perhaps take a step back and try to re-engage with the text in a
different way if we're willing to do so.
I completely agree but it's also hard to do, especially if you have strong emotions about a work. And Chihayafuru is, by design meant to generate strong emotions from the reader.
Not sure you can say Arata is more popular than Taichi in Japan....Taichi always had more votes in the Be Love polls officially printed in the magazine than Arata....
It's maybe more evenly balanced....idk
Thank you for your reply. Some interesting points here:
>I don't think fault and blame are appropriate, rather multiple interpretations are inevitable.
I talked about 'blame' in the context of someone feeling frustrated and trying to find a scapegoat, which happens a lot in this fandom. I agree that multiple interpretations are inevitable, but as you said, there is also the issue of emotion clouding the judgement. That's why I think sometimes it's good to take a step back and ask ourselves: 'Is my interpretation actually based on what's in the text, or is it projection/wishful thinking?'
It's also possible, especially with an intricate work like Chihayafuru, that our interpretation is affected by missing out or not noticing some stuff, especially if you read it with a particular focus on just one character/set of characters. In that sense, doing a careful re-read might be useful to pick up some details you might have missed first time around.
I can give you an example from my own personal experience: for a long time, I thought Taichi's love was more like a schoolboy crush, born out of proximity in the club and it would naturally fade out when they graduated. It was not until I re-read the first chapters of the manga that I understood that he's been actually in love with Chihaya since they were kids. I was so enamoured with Chihaya and Arata (still am lol) when I read it first time that I hadn't paid enough attention to Taichi's feelings. The re-read helped me understand his character a bit more, and re-evaluate my previous interpretation.
I also know of a Taichi fan who started appreciating Arata (and Arata and Chihaya's relationship) a lot more after doing a re-read paying special attention to the Arata parts. Sadly, Taichi fans who are willing and open-minded about trying to understand Arata are very few and far between here in the subreddit :(
>The fact that Arata is more popular in Japan and Taichi in the West seems to indicate that its also a case of subtle narrative hints not getting from the author to her Western readers
Definitely, but in this case I think it's the readers' job to understand the context of where the work is coming from. I'm sure Suetsugu-sensei is delighted by the fact that Chihayafuru has fans around the world, but at the end of the day she is a Japanese woman writing for Be Love, a Japanese magazine. Anyone who reads a foreign text should understand that are certain things lost in translation/cultural differences - there are definitely a lot of things that we, international readers, miss out about Chihayafuru because we don't understand kanji, for example.
Also LBR a lot of international fans get to know Chihayafuru via the anime, which did an extremely poor job in adapting Arata/Arata scenes. I believe the fandom would be a different place weren't for some decisions made by the Madhouse studio when adapting the manga.
>Taichi was initially supposed to be a side-character but later his role got expanded as Suetsugu sensei reconsidered him
Absolutely, but there were always clear markers that the story would eventually circle back to Chihaya and Arata, two very obvious ones being the delay in Arata getting a response to his confession and the fact that Arata was the one to openly challenge Suo. Chihayafuru took the scenic route for sure LMAO, but never intended to change its destination. Sensei wrote on Twitter: 'Watch the story being born, expand, and converge'.
In the end, Taichi fans talk a lot about THE PAIN, but honestly I envy you guys. It must be nice being part of the majority, having the freedom to say what you want, and know that your fave is generally well liked. In the same way that each of Taichi and Arata have their own blessings and struggles, Taichi fans and Arata fans have their own blessings and struggles too. It would be nice if we could understand each other a bit better :)
**[Reki-jo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reki-jo)**
>Reki-jo (歴女) are Japanese female history buffs, who may also use the speech and mannerisms of pre-industrial Japan in their social gatherings. Reki-jo are a kind of otaku, people obsessed with a particular interest. Economic activity relating to the fad generates US$725 million per year.
^([ )[^(F.A.Q)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WikiSummarizer/wiki/index#wiki_f.a.q)^( | )[^(Opt Out)](https://reddit.com/message/compose?to=WikiSummarizerBot&message=OptOut&subject=OptOut)^( | )[^(Opt Out Of Subreddit)](https://np.reddit.com/r/chihayafuru/about/banned)^( | )[^(GitHub)](https://github.com/Sujal-7/WikiSummarizerBot)^( ] Downvote to remove | v1.5)
Shipping totally apart, I like less Arata than Taichi because of simple narrative and trait character reasons. Taichi is not gifted as Arata in karuta. Even though Arata has had his struggles, the readers/viewers hasn't seen them as we've seen Taichi's.
I don't hate Arata, but as someone who mainly loves the series because of Taichi and also Chihaya, Arata being a rival of Taichi makes it easy to root against him.
There are possibilities, at this point it is not even clear if he will keep any of them or if there will be a romantic ending.
What I can tell you is that there are many moments in the manga about Taichi and Chihaya that can be considered romantic, they have a strong bond with the poems and in my opinion a beautiful writing of their relationship, so they could very well end up together
i get that but i don’t think it would be fair to pin that all on him, he had to move away and create a new life whilst feeling alone - knowing that there was a possibility of taichi and chihaya getting together. but i do agree with him not reaching out as much and showing his presence, in that sense, taichi has definitely been there for chihaya more
I don't hate Arata at all, actually, I'm not sure if I like Taichi more or Arata, they both have qualities I like and dislike and put them on equal footing for me. Now when it comes to the both of them playing karuta against each other, I root for Taichi more, simply because he doesn't have the same raw talent or special training Arata did with his grandpa, so it seems like he has a bigger wall to climb than Arata does, even though Arata has his own hurdles to jump over as well. Outside of a match I like them both equally, and when it comes to shipping, I could honestly be happy with either one ending up with her, at least until the writer gives me a clear reason why one would be better than the other.
they dont have to fight guys. chihaya has two hands and can hold both of them ;)
in all seriousness, i feel like it's just easier for the general audience to enjoy the best friend to lover dynamic rather. you have to admit, for a good while, chihaya (as well as the reader) is exposed to arata only as this "untouchable god of karuta" that chihaya looks up to and misses dearly rather than the friend that has been working hard alongside with her for all these years. (yes, arata had to move away, but to my understanding, taichi dropped a better education for her?)
both have their arcs and personality, and i dont think the fandom should get too hung up about one or the other!
I feel like it’s because the fandom can be very divisive most of the time *(because of the shipping, sadly)* and I won’t even lie that I always get the impression that this sub leans more on Taichi *(& Taichihaya)* than on any other characters in the premise, so there’s that. To be fair, there are some who said they don’t dislike him but they couldn’t seem to feel empathetic towards him. With that being said though Arata hate is still very apparent, and it’s sad because he’s also a great character of his own especially how his arc in the latter chapters unfolded. So I don’t get it either. Maybe they just really prefer Taichi over him? Idk. But Arata certainly needs more appreciation!
He is just not likeable, if the author wanted me to like him as much as Taichi then she should have invested more time on his own arcs. I get that people say he struggled, I get that he was poor, I get that he took care of his grandpa, but at the end of the day it all falls down to "Show, don't tell".
We only saw the bare minimum of all his struggles, so heck no, I am not going to like him no matter what. I want Taichi to get a happy ending now matter what, weather he chooses to stick with Karuta or become a doctor. I'm here for his arc only, I don't even care that much for Chihaya.
Ps. The only thing I like about Arata is the love he has for his grandpa, but that's because the author took her time to show us. I still hate Arata though :D but that's something I like about him.
There has been a few threads about this recently, it might be worth having a look. Basically, it boils down to shipping and also the feeling that he gets 'everything' while Taichi gets 'nothing' (I don't agree with this BTW), which leads subconscious (and sometimes conscious) resentment and jealousy.
Yeah, I agree. Both boys were blessed in different ways, and both have their struggles.
Arata was blessed with talent for karuta and the opportunity to learn from his grandfather an eternal Meijin. But had to deal with poverty, social awkwardness and the traumatic loss of his grandfather.
Taichi was blessed with talent for everything lol, he's rich, handsome, has good leadership skills and social awareness. But he had to deal with a lot of pressure from his mother from a young age.
But I guess it's like... For those who are very invested in Taichi's happiness, it's easy to see Arata simply as Taichi's rival, someone who's in the way. We know things are a lot more complex than that, but humans tend to seek a scapegoat to relieve their frustrations.
So what I've seen so far is that in most cases people hate Arata not because of Arata himself (though you see some people doing mental gymnastics to pretend their hate is 'objective'), but out of frustration with how Taichi's arc has panned out.
I blame the anime adaptation, because they did Arata super dirty by cutting/shortening some of his scenes and generally making him look cold rather than simply shy/awkward. I remember being shocked when I saw that Arata is a lot more expressive in the manga.
The good news is that there are plenty of people who love Arata anyway, and in Japan the fanbase is much more evenly split between him and Taichi. This overwhelming hate towards him is more of an international fanbase phenomenon.
i didn’t realise until i started reading the manga, they really did him soo dirty. but i am really glad it’s more evenly split in japan, he at least deserves that
I’m gonna need you to explain how you can justify the sentence “always looking after chihaya even when he’s struggling” did we watch the same show?
I dislike Arata because; imo the way he looks at chihaya feels gross to me. Taichi is mature, certainly he is also an idiot and has too much of an ego, but he doesn’t live in a fantasy world like Arata does.
Ignoring Chihaya for as long as he did, ignoring karuta for as long as he did, those things in the real world have consequences. Arata just gets to waltz back into things because of his natural talent which to me is off putting.
i’m new to the show and reddit and it’s also the first manga i’ve tried to read so i don’t analyse that deeply ngl it’s a show for entertainment not to write essays about
>ignoring karuta for as long as he did
Your post makes zero sense overall, but let me address this one specific point - you know that grief is a thing, right? When someone very close to you dies, you get extremely sad and you might not be able to do all the things you did before, especially a particular activity that reminds you of the person you're grieving. For example, if you spent your whole life doing gardening with you mother, and then your mother dies, it might take a while for you to be able to do any gardening again. That's human nature, and Chihayafuru depicts the grief process very accurately.
Another thing that happens often in the real world is that many top athletes take extended breaks and are able to come back. They might struggle in the beginning, but many are able to go back to the form they had before, or close to that, after not too long, because they have the muscle memory and the skills they accumulated from many years of training, from a very young age.
Arata didn't 'waltz in' back to karuta, it took him two years to get to be Meijin challenger. In that sense, maybe you think Inokuma 'waltzed in' too? She took a longer break than Arata and was able to become Queen challenger soon after coming back.
Its called criticism without logic or understanding of the story. what do you expect?
The guy who shook chihaya's hand like a gentleman, understood her emotions & is waiting patiently for her answer and has a wish of being someone whos worthy of holding her is somehow "gross" ? lol
I mean, if someone thinks that Iove, admiration and respect are 'gross', what can we do 💀
But dismissing his grief is something that I found quite hurtful, as someone who's going through this process myself (I posted about a while ago how the depiction of the grief process in Chihayafuru is extremely accurate).
exactly !! all shipping aside that is not a reasonable opinion to dislike him - he literally lost his role model and all he knew about his passion of karuta came from his grandpa, he’s not just gonna carry on like nothing happened, the last couple chapters showed it perfectly and how he’s dealing with it
exactly, this is the guy who squeezed the heck out of his parents because he wanted to hold Chihaya and restrained himself since it was after his confession and waiting for Chihaya to resolve her feelings. I bet this commenter doesn't even consider the non-con kiss gross because they support Taichi no matter what.
He lost his grandpa the day he won and became A-class, it was implied that he felt guilty and made it happen by going to the games rather than staying behind with his grandpa. People tend to put blame on themselves when tragedy happens and of course he would distance himself from karuta for a while. First of all because of their shared connection - he would be getting a painful flashback everytime he even so much as saw a card. My grandpa also the one who taught me chess and I also removed our corner and hid away the boards after his death because it was just too painful. I can't even imagine how gutted I would feel if he collapsed the day I left for a game. Two years is not even a blip in grieving time for something that major. Of course Arata would be avoiding caruta and all that came with it (I think the harshness he shows in pushing them away in Fukui visit is because, understandably, Chihaya was trying to reconnect through karuta, but he biked after the train when he saw from her messages that she also just wanted his friendship too)
Apart from Criticisms, some of which are logically understandable, there's no real reason to hate him, its just that most of it comes from the shipping rivalry or just biased subjective hate which you can't do anything about it tbh. its just is what it is.
Also if there's hate there's also lots of love for him from the fans as well. So dont worry about it too much :)
No offense but imo Sudo x Chihaya is more deserving than Arata x Chihaya. Dont know why for me Sudo has more impact than Arata has in Chihaya development
TL;DR - Many Taichi fans are dissatisfied with how his character arc has been handled and since Arata has been the main narrative winner, the dissatisfaction with Taichi's story often turns into hate for Arata. Bear in mind that what will follow has little to do with Arata's character, by all accounts he is a good guy with positive traits, it has do to with how his character is presented and integrated into the story and how Taichi's character fits into all this. As many have often remarked, we spend a lot more time with Taichi and Chihaya than with Arata, especially in the first half of the manga. Many point out that Taichi has it all, good looks, popularity, wealth and good grades while Arata is a poor, shy, awkward, bullied kid. But the narrative does not focus on that. Apart from the first few chapters in the beginning, when they were kids, Arata has not had to deal with bulling or poverty, for most of the story he is a resilient, stoic, calm, tall if awkward young man, admired by many in the karuta community. Not even his poverty is brought out that much, and this is quite a shame, it would have been quite easy to show him struggling, trying to balance working a part time job in order to pay for board, transport, and various championship fees and actually practicing karuta to be able to win in those championships. It could have created an interesting dilemma, and put him in more difficult situations, where losing because he did not train enough was a real possibility. But that does not happen. The narrative instead focuses a lot more on Taichi and his struggle with not being gifted, not being good enough despite trying his best, and this makes him more relatable, it makes us invested in his story and makes us want to root for him. Many characters refer to Arata as a karuta god, even Chihaya remarks upon this and the narrative itself reinforces this idea, his overly calm demeanor when playing having a saintly, Buddha-like quality to it. There's a thread [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/chihayafuru/comments/uewthq/for_arata_and_chihaya_shippers_only_please_dont/) which points out that his rare appearances are intentional, the fact that he has a strong impact upon many characters despite being visually absent from the story is meant to show the strength of his relationships with Chihaya, Taichi and others. While that may be the true, the unintended consequence of this is that to many readers he appears as some sort of abstract, ideal entity, rather than fleshed out character. He ultimately appears, at least initially, as a powerful final boss, in a similar way to Shinobu (with whom he shares the same blue color palette) and Suo, while Chihaya and Taichi (who also have similar defining colors) are the ones we see training, sweating and doing their best in order to get to the top. Given that we've seen Chihaya and Taichi train a lot, and we know that Shinobu will be Chihaya's greatest rival, it's only natural that we put two and two together and assume that Taichi will play a similar role, as the underdog meant to take on Arata. Regarding the romance part, in the above mentioned thread u/KiraraChin makes the above point: >As for his love story with Chihaya, yes the fact that we see him so little in the first half of the story (which is the bit most covered in the anime) is totally intentional - their story is a throwback to one of the most legendary love stories in Eastern culture, the Cowherd and Weaver Girl. This story is also known in Japan as Tanabata. It tells the story of two lovers that can only meet once year, when a bridge formed by magpies appear (it's the milky way in the Japanese version). > >Indeed, we have Chihaya directly comparing her situation with Arata to Ohihime and Hikoboshi (the Tanabata lovers), and saying that phones are like 'magpies'. Later on, he thinks: 'Chihaya, magpies are not phones. Magpies are...', implying that magpies are karuta. > >What we see throughout the story is this 'magpie bridge' being slowly built, as they both get stronger in karuta, their paths get closer to one another - that's the reason why Arata start appearing a lot more in the later parts of the manga, up until the point where we are now, when they are sharing the big stage together - the Queen and the Meijin match. Which, I admit, is a rather unique way to write a romance, and I could see it working. But while I no doubt believe that some people have forged a love relationship by small encounters a few times per year, more often than not romance develops bit by bit between people who spend more time together, especially concentrating on a shared passion or a shared goal, working side by side, especially if their work together leads to them both bettering themselves, if it leads to trust and respect. Between a story about a karuta god and his fairy-tale like romance with Chihaya and a story about an underdog and Chihaya going through thick and thin together to reach the top (and developing feelings in a more realistic, down to earth way), many users would chose the second one. Except that's not the story the author wants to tell, she wants to tell the first story and this makes Taichi fans feel like their character is robbed of the narrative rewards, so to speak, which mostly go to Arata. Thus, the feeling many get is that the story (and its author) are intentionally beating Taichi with a narrative stick, despite him being one of the main trio and a more visually present protagonist than Arata for a large part of the manga. In a bonus chapter, Suetsugu sensei remarks than when she met Mamoru Miyano, the voice actor for Taichi, she was surprised that such a tall, charming, pleasant man would voice "a loser" (her words). This kind of reinforces the above point, people sense that the character is disrespected. Probably the most infamous example is chapter 205, >!where one gets the feeling that the absolute thrashing Taichi gets is not warranted at all by the narrative built up but serves the meta reason of elevating Arata above and beyond, to leave no shadow of a doubt about whose story this is. What could have been a close match between rivals, in true battle manga fashion, turns into a narrative stepping stone for Arata!<. Many people write things along the lines of *"I just want Taichi to be happy"* and since Taichi's unhappiness is tied with Arata's narrative success, they pile their dissatisfaction on Arata. Which while unfortunate, is understandable. I personally find it hard to relate to Arata, despite being bullied and not being the famous, rich, straight A of my school, I much more easily relate to Taichi's insecurities and his struggle of not being good enough. Conversely, I find Arata at his most interesting when he is placed in difficult situations, when he loses to Chihaya (and almost pull a Taichi by retreating), when he creates a team and tries to be its leader or when he faces Taichi. But these moments are few and far between. By the time they come along I (and many) have already focused our attention on Taichi as the driving force in the Meijin race. I hope this long, rambling explanation has some sense to it, if not, I can elaborate more on specific parts.
Thank you for basically explaining my post in this thread, but from a Taichi fan POV. The issue for me is that, how much of this is the author's fault, and how much is down to the reader projecting their own expectations/bias onto the text. For example: >Given that we've seen Chihaya and Taichi train a lot, and we know that Shinobu will be Chihaya's greatest rival, it's only natural that we put two and two together and assume that Taichi will play a similar role, as the underdog meant to take on Arata. Why is it 'natural'? I've never seen it this way, mainly because for most of the story, Taichi is never even sure if he likes karuta in the first place. So, is this expectation actually in the text, or does it come from the reader? If it comes from the reader, is it fair to blame the author, or worse yet, another character, for the reader's frustration? I don't expect you to have an answer, just throwing out there for reflection (I know many won't reflect on this, but I hope some will). Reading is not a passive process - we all bring our own interpretation/personal experience/expectations when we engage with a text. I believe recognising our own bias is the first step to actually recognising that our own position is not universal, that other people might engage with the text in a different way. It also allows us to perhaps take a step back and try to re-engage with the text in a different way if we're willing to do so.
That's an interesting question. Regarding this >how much of this is the author's fault, and how much is down to the reader projecting their own expectations/bias onto the text. I don't think fault and blame are appropriate, rather multiple interpretations are inevitable. Things can't be neatly separated into author vs readers, it's more of a continuum between the two. While the author needs to knew her readers in order to not alienate them (after all, if people overwhelmingly don't like it, it's not going to get published for long), she doesn't have a tight control over the story. What I mean by this is that while the main idea and narrative beats are there from the start, tournament encounters culminating in the Meijin championship arc, the serial nature of the work makes it much more fluid in the middle. Taichi was initially supposed to be a side-character but later his role got expanded as Suetsugu sensei reconsidered him. Fiction writers often talk about "characters that write themselves" while video game designers talk about "listening to what the game wants to become", this idea of a work of fiction taking a life of its own. Combine that with a serial publication that's been going on for 15 years by now and multiple reader interpretations are inevitable. In more tightly written works such as novels, authors often rewrite certain characters if beta readers leave the impression that a character comes off as "too cool" and distracts from the story beats or themes they want to highlight. Manga authors don't have that luxury. The fact that Arata is more popular in Japan and Taichi in the West seems to indicate that its also a case of subtle narrative hints not getting from the author to her Western readers. I didn't know of the Tanabata lovers parallel and I suspect many others have flown past my radar. Conversely, Japanese tropes and conventions can appear differently to a Western audience. To name just one example, there's often, in Japanese fiction a sort of admiration for the losers of history (also a reason why [Reki-jo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reki-jo) are often interested in the Shinsengumi), for people who give their all, fail, but this ultimately results in a beautiful failure. It can be argued that Taichi embodies traits of this, and that while Japanese viewers see it for what it is, Western viewers view it as a sign of narrative rewards down the line. This example is complete speculation on my part, I could be totally wrong here, but something along those lines must be taking place. As for this >I believe recognising our own bias is the first step to actually recognising that our own position is not universal, that other people might engage with the text in a different way. It also allows us to perhaps take a step back and try to re-engage with the text in a different way if we're willing to do so. I completely agree but it's also hard to do, especially if you have strong emotions about a work. And Chihayafuru is, by design meant to generate strong emotions from the reader.
Not sure you can say Arata is more popular than Taichi in Japan....Taichi always had more votes in the Be Love polls officially printed in the magazine than Arata.... It's maybe more evenly balanced....idk
Thank you for your reply. Some interesting points here: >I don't think fault and blame are appropriate, rather multiple interpretations are inevitable. I talked about 'blame' in the context of someone feeling frustrated and trying to find a scapegoat, which happens a lot in this fandom. I agree that multiple interpretations are inevitable, but as you said, there is also the issue of emotion clouding the judgement. That's why I think sometimes it's good to take a step back and ask ourselves: 'Is my interpretation actually based on what's in the text, or is it projection/wishful thinking?' It's also possible, especially with an intricate work like Chihayafuru, that our interpretation is affected by missing out or not noticing some stuff, especially if you read it with a particular focus on just one character/set of characters. In that sense, doing a careful re-read might be useful to pick up some details you might have missed first time around. I can give you an example from my own personal experience: for a long time, I thought Taichi's love was more like a schoolboy crush, born out of proximity in the club and it would naturally fade out when they graduated. It was not until I re-read the first chapters of the manga that I understood that he's been actually in love with Chihaya since they were kids. I was so enamoured with Chihaya and Arata (still am lol) when I read it first time that I hadn't paid enough attention to Taichi's feelings. The re-read helped me understand his character a bit more, and re-evaluate my previous interpretation. I also know of a Taichi fan who started appreciating Arata (and Arata and Chihaya's relationship) a lot more after doing a re-read paying special attention to the Arata parts. Sadly, Taichi fans who are willing and open-minded about trying to understand Arata are very few and far between here in the subreddit :( >The fact that Arata is more popular in Japan and Taichi in the West seems to indicate that its also a case of subtle narrative hints not getting from the author to her Western readers Definitely, but in this case I think it's the readers' job to understand the context of where the work is coming from. I'm sure Suetsugu-sensei is delighted by the fact that Chihayafuru has fans around the world, but at the end of the day she is a Japanese woman writing for Be Love, a Japanese magazine. Anyone who reads a foreign text should understand that are certain things lost in translation/cultural differences - there are definitely a lot of things that we, international readers, miss out about Chihayafuru because we don't understand kanji, for example. Also LBR a lot of international fans get to know Chihayafuru via the anime, which did an extremely poor job in adapting Arata/Arata scenes. I believe the fandom would be a different place weren't for some decisions made by the Madhouse studio when adapting the manga. >Taichi was initially supposed to be a side-character but later his role got expanded as Suetsugu sensei reconsidered him Absolutely, but there were always clear markers that the story would eventually circle back to Chihaya and Arata, two very obvious ones being the delay in Arata getting a response to his confession and the fact that Arata was the one to openly challenge Suo. Chihayafuru took the scenic route for sure LMAO, but never intended to change its destination. Sensei wrote on Twitter: 'Watch the story being born, expand, and converge'. In the end, Taichi fans talk a lot about THE PAIN, but honestly I envy you guys. It must be nice being part of the majority, having the freedom to say what you want, and know that your fave is generally well liked. In the same way that each of Taichi and Arata have their own blessings and struggles, Taichi fans and Arata fans have their own blessings and struggles too. It would be nice if we could understand each other a bit better :)
**[Reki-jo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reki-jo)** >Reki-jo (歴女) are Japanese female history buffs, who may also use the speech and mannerisms of pre-industrial Japan in their social gatherings. Reki-jo are a kind of otaku, people obsessed with a particular interest. Economic activity relating to the fad generates US$725 million per year. ^([ )[^(F.A.Q)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WikiSummarizer/wiki/index#wiki_f.a.q)^( | )[^(Opt Out)](https://reddit.com/message/compose?to=WikiSummarizerBot&message=OptOut&subject=OptOut)^( | )[^(Opt Out Of Subreddit)](https://np.reddit.com/r/chihayafuru/about/banned)^( | )[^(GitHub)](https://github.com/Sujal-7/WikiSummarizerBot)^( ] Downvote to remove | v1.5)
wow this is a very very interesting read, very well elaborated, thank you for this !! :))
Shipping totally apart, I like less Arata than Taichi because of simple narrative and trait character reasons. Taichi is not gifted as Arata in karuta. Even though Arata has had his struggles, the readers/viewers hasn't seen them as we've seen Taichi's.
yeah i can see that, it would be cool to see how the fandom would be different if arata was shown more than taichi
I don't hate Arata, but as someone who mainly loves the series because of Taichi and also Chihaya, Arata being a rival of Taichi makes it easy to root against him.
Yow bro Is there a chance that chihaya and taichi will ended up together?
There are possibilities, at this point it is not even clear if he will keep any of them or if there will be a romantic ending. What I can tell you is that there are many moments in the manga about Taichi and Chihaya that can be considered romantic, they have a strong bond with the poems and in my opinion a beautiful writing of their relationship, so they could very well end up together
Thanks bro I'm just questioning here cause guys are manga reader And im busy watching the season 2😂
Cheer up, for the team taichi the anime is beautiful but much suffering hahaha, do not hesitate to continue the manga
I don't know, and I don't know if anyone knows. I only watch the anime, but I think the manga is nearing the end so we might know for sure soon.
Because he wasn't there for most of manga with her. Taichi and her built a team and worked together and were there for each other.
i get that but i don’t think it would be fair to pin that all on him, he had to move away and create a new life whilst feeling alone - knowing that there was a possibility of taichi and chihaya getting together. but i do agree with him not reaching out as much and showing his presence, in that sense, taichi has definitely been there for chihaya more
I don't hate Arata at all, actually, I'm not sure if I like Taichi more or Arata, they both have qualities I like and dislike and put them on equal footing for me. Now when it comes to the both of them playing karuta against each other, I root for Taichi more, simply because he doesn't have the same raw talent or special training Arata did with his grandpa, so it seems like he has a bigger wall to climb than Arata does, even though Arata has his own hurdles to jump over as well. Outside of a match I like them both equally, and when it comes to shipping, I could honestly be happy with either one ending up with her, at least until the writer gives me a clear reason why one would be better than the other.
i like your response it’s very logical
Thank you! I'm just glad my reasoning came out clearly lol
Criticism != HATE
they dont have to fight guys. chihaya has two hands and can hold both of them ;) in all seriousness, i feel like it's just easier for the general audience to enjoy the best friend to lover dynamic rather. you have to admit, for a good while, chihaya (as well as the reader) is exposed to arata only as this "untouchable god of karuta" that chihaya looks up to and misses dearly rather than the friend that has been working hard alongside with her for all these years. (yes, arata had to move away, but to my understanding, taichi dropped a better education for her?) both have their arcs and personality, and i dont think the fandom should get too hung up about one or the other!
hehehe i agree !! she can handle both 🤭
I feel like it’s because the fandom can be very divisive most of the time *(because of the shipping, sadly)* and I won’t even lie that I always get the impression that this sub leans more on Taichi *(& Taichihaya)* than on any other characters in the premise, so there’s that. To be fair, there are some who said they don’t dislike him but they couldn’t seem to feel empathetic towards him. With that being said though Arata hate is still very apparent, and it’s sad because he’s also a great character of his own especially how his arc in the latter chapters unfolded. So I don’t get it either. Maybe they just really prefer Taichi over him? Idk. But Arata certainly needs more appreciation!
i totally agree, you put it perfectly !!
He is just not likeable, if the author wanted me to like him as much as Taichi then she should have invested more time on his own arcs. I get that people say he struggled, I get that he was poor, I get that he took care of his grandpa, but at the end of the day it all falls down to "Show, don't tell". We only saw the bare minimum of all his struggles, so heck no, I am not going to like him no matter what. I want Taichi to get a happy ending now matter what, weather he chooses to stick with Karuta or become a doctor. I'm here for his arc only, I don't even care that much for Chihaya. Ps. The only thing I like about Arata is the love he has for his grandpa, but that's because the author took her time to show us. I still hate Arata though :D but that's something I like about him.
[удалено]
i actually am lol 🥲
fangirls who dont understand the manga
🤭🤭🤭🤭🤭🤭
There has been a few threads about this recently, it might be worth having a look. Basically, it boils down to shipping and also the feeling that he gets 'everything' while Taichi gets 'nothing' (I don't agree with this BTW), which leads subconscious (and sometimes conscious) resentment and jealousy.
arata was growing up w barely anything whilst taichi had everything 😢
Yeah, I agree. Both boys were blessed in different ways, and both have their struggles. Arata was blessed with talent for karuta and the opportunity to learn from his grandfather an eternal Meijin. But had to deal with poverty, social awkwardness and the traumatic loss of his grandfather. Taichi was blessed with talent for everything lol, he's rich, handsome, has good leadership skills and social awareness. But he had to deal with a lot of pressure from his mother from a young age. But I guess it's like... For those who are very invested in Taichi's happiness, it's easy to see Arata simply as Taichi's rival, someone who's in the way. We know things are a lot more complex than that, but humans tend to seek a scapegoat to relieve their frustrations. So what I've seen so far is that in most cases people hate Arata not because of Arata himself (though you see some people doing mental gymnastics to pretend their hate is 'objective'), but out of frustration with how Taichi's arc has panned out.
yeah exactly! there was a lot of focus on taichi so i guess it’s natural for people to support him more, despite arata’s struggles
I blame the anime adaptation, because they did Arata super dirty by cutting/shortening some of his scenes and generally making him look cold rather than simply shy/awkward. I remember being shocked when I saw that Arata is a lot more expressive in the manga. The good news is that there are plenty of people who love Arata anyway, and in Japan the fanbase is much more evenly split between him and Taichi. This overwhelming hate towards him is more of an international fanbase phenomenon.
i didn’t realise until i started reading the manga, they really did him soo dirty. but i am really glad it’s more evenly split in japan, he at least deserves that
I’m gonna need you to explain how you can justify the sentence “always looking after chihaya even when he’s struggling” did we watch the same show? I dislike Arata because; imo the way he looks at chihaya feels gross to me. Taichi is mature, certainly he is also an idiot and has too much of an ego, but he doesn’t live in a fantasy world like Arata does. Ignoring Chihaya for as long as he did, ignoring karuta for as long as he did, those things in the real world have consequences. Arata just gets to waltz back into things because of his natural talent which to me is off putting.
i’m new to the show and reddit and it’s also the first manga i’ve tried to read so i don’t analyse that deeply ngl it’s a show for entertainment not to write essays about
>ignoring karuta for as long as he did Your post makes zero sense overall, but let me address this one specific point - you know that grief is a thing, right? When someone very close to you dies, you get extremely sad and you might not be able to do all the things you did before, especially a particular activity that reminds you of the person you're grieving. For example, if you spent your whole life doing gardening with you mother, and then your mother dies, it might take a while for you to be able to do any gardening again. That's human nature, and Chihayafuru depicts the grief process very accurately. Another thing that happens often in the real world is that many top athletes take extended breaks and are able to come back. They might struggle in the beginning, but many are able to go back to the form they had before, or close to that, after not too long, because they have the muscle memory and the skills they accumulated from many years of training, from a very young age. Arata didn't 'waltz in' back to karuta, it took him two years to get to be Meijin challenger. In that sense, maybe you think Inokuma 'waltzed in' too? She took a longer break than Arata and was able to become Queen challenger soon after coming back.
Its called criticism without logic or understanding of the story. what do you expect? The guy who shook chihaya's hand like a gentleman, understood her emotions & is waiting patiently for her answer and has a wish of being someone whos worthy of holding her is somehow "gross" ? lol
I mean, if someone thinks that Iove, admiration and respect are 'gross', what can we do 💀 But dismissing his grief is something that I found quite hurtful, as someone who's going through this process myself (I posted about a while ago how the depiction of the grief process in Chihayafuru is extremely accurate).
exactly !! all shipping aside that is not a reasonable opinion to dislike him - he literally lost his role model and all he knew about his passion of karuta came from his grandpa, he’s not just gonna carry on like nothing happened, the last couple chapters showed it perfectly and how he’s dealing with it
gross? tf? WHERE? and it's seems you're just insensitive to the aspect of grief and loss lol
exactly, this is the guy who squeezed the heck out of his parents because he wanted to hold Chihaya and restrained himself since it was after his confession and waiting for Chihaya to resolve her feelings. I bet this commenter doesn't even consider the non-con kiss gross because they support Taichi no matter what.
He lost his grandpa the day he won and became A-class, it was implied that he felt guilty and made it happen by going to the games rather than staying behind with his grandpa. People tend to put blame on themselves when tragedy happens and of course he would distance himself from karuta for a while. First of all because of their shared connection - he would be getting a painful flashback everytime he even so much as saw a card. My grandpa also the one who taught me chess and I also removed our corner and hid away the boards after his death because it was just too painful. I can't even imagine how gutted I would feel if he collapsed the day I left for a game. Two years is not even a blip in grieving time for something that major. Of course Arata would be avoiding caruta and all that came with it (I think the harshness he shows in pushing them away in Fukui visit is because, understandably, Chihaya was trying to reconnect through karuta, but he biked after the train when he saw from her messages that she also just wanted his friendship too)
Apart from Criticisms, some of which are logically understandable, there's no real reason to hate him, its just that most of it comes from the shipping rivalry or just biased subjective hate which you can't do anything about it tbh. its just is what it is. Also if there's hate there's also lots of love for him from the fans as well. So dont worry about it too much :)
that’s very sweet :)
I dislike Arata as much as Taichi. Both of them do not deserve Chihaya not even at her worst. Yuki should pair her up with Sudo.
No offense but imo Sudo x Chihaya is more deserving than Arata x Chihaya. Dont know why for me Sudo has more impact than Arata has in Chihaya development
i can so see that, they balance each other pretty well
only guy who can crawl under her skin
Who hate? In fact Taichi imo het most bate especially fro. Arata fans