#####This review is spoiler free.

The challenge of any sport anime, or TV show or film for that matter, is getting the viewer invested in the game. It’s easy for a basketball show to grab a basketball fan, but it can quickly fall apart when you’re trying to attract a wider audience than just those who know basketball inside and out. Well, Chihayafuru is about karuta.

I’d never heard of karuta, and I’d presume the same would apply many of my fellow gaijin. It’s an odd game, a poetry and card based mix of memory, strategy and speed. And it looks bloody hard. But strange enough, Chihayafuru uses this obscurity to its advantage. By assuming a low baseline of knowledge, it can go pretty far into explaining the game without it being tiresome. The show does a really good job of on-boarding the viewers onto the game itself. After just a few episodes, one could feasibly start learning the game themselves.

Next, then, is getting the viewers to care. And Chihayafuru really draws the viewer into karuta through a total assault on every angle one could possible be interested in the game.

As each character plays for their own reason, you, as a viewer, can find yourself caught up in any of the plights they have. Whether it’s the desire to be the best at something, the love for the poetry, the desire to push yourself, the strategy, the beauty and formality, or the action. It’s all there for you, and it becomes impossible to not root for our players in every one of their games.

Behind the game is a story about obsession, finding friendship and growing up. Karuta serves as a beautiful lens for this story about how people deal with the world before them. We see what draws our protagonist, Chihaya, to her passion and what keeps her going after every stumble. Every game is more important because we know that for Chihaya karuta means more than just victory.

The production is delightfully done. The animation is beautiful, particularly so in the matches as the visual storytelling builds upon the drama of each individual game. The stakes feel so high and a big part of this is in how we see what’s going on. Seeing cards fly across the room and players leap up to chase after them. Watching the sweat drip from their brow and land before them come the nth hour of the tournament. Seeing a players perspective change as the tide of game turns in or out of their favour. And, damn, the first time the card lands in the wall…

The soundtrack, likewise, is great. That main motif is always so uplifting. It might be a tad cliche of the genre, but the inspiring music as a character reaches their own personal movement of inspiration is a worthy staple of sports shows.

As the first of three series, the story of Chihayafuru is far from complete. But this first entry makes a compelling start and sets up some really loveable characters. The battle has only just begun, but I am damn ready to see them keep fighting!