for what itās worth, chihayafuru had a pretty faithful anime adaptation but within the first 5 minutes we already see a divergence in how the anime chooses to introduce the setting and the characters.
in the manga, the very first page we are treated to is chihaya playing her queenās match in her third year of high school. this was established from the very start that she was always going to get there. itās very briefāwe donāt get who sheās playing against or how well sheās doingāand we are immediately transported to six years ago where she was stillĀ āclueless about passionā, to her very first meeting, as well as introduction to our second mainĀ character, arata. meanwhile taichiĀ is briefly introduced a few pages later, but his character only really gets established in the second half. this first part focuses on chihayaās introduction to karuta, how arata helps her find her own passion and dream beyond her elder sisterās successes and just generally fleshing out their characterisations.
look at how cute they were as children LOL
in the anime, it begins with chihaya pinning two karuta posters in her first year of highschool. at this point, she already has found her passion and is pulling off ridiculous stunts to get people to help her achieve her goals share the same passion. we see that everything she does (joining track) was in a way to further herself in karuta. as she lays in the grass reminiscing about the pastāwhere we briefly see the then unnamed trioāwe then get introduced to our second main character taichi.
the background, that one line, the whole scene. dare i say endgame foreshadowing?
it is only after we get a feel of their dynamics and their present* attitudes towards karuta, do we then get introduced to karuta itself via the flashback to their sixth grade days. it is only midway through the first episode that arata is then introduced to us beyond chihaya and taichi namedropping him with such a heavy atmosphere.Ā
*whilst the manga introduces chihaya in her third year, the bulk of the story chronologically follows her progress from her first year of highschool
why i found it pertinent to point out this divergence is that the manga focused more on introducing the audience to chihayaās passion aka karuta and its rules. besides the first two pages, the manga is essentially chronological. meanwhile, the anime, by choosing to introduce chihaya in her first year before the flashback, focused more on fleshing out the dynamics of the charactersā relationships at present.Ā
i also remarked to a friend that the way the two talked about arata was similar to the anime trope of that one dead friend who inspired the main characters
in a way, i found the animeās take more compelling because it made me want to learn more about each character. it also expanded upon the kidsā interactions whilst slowly introducing karuta via showing the students memorising poems. personally, the manga, by delving into karuta straight away, came off a little bit too technical for my liking. but perhaps it is because as a foreigner, i am quite literally coming into the manga blind while the average japanese most likely is already somewhat familiar with karuta.Ā
but besides the divergence, or my own personal preferences, is what it means to be the second main character. iām out of touch with manga now, but a common trope back then was that the first male to be introduced is the male lead. that he is the one that will be the endgame love interest.Ā
in this sense, is chihayafuru a subversion of this trope? or does it bolster the theory that arata was initially supposed to be the endgame love interest? or is it because we are treated to a flashback scene at the very start that throws thisĀ āruleā out? perhaps this doesnāt even matter: romance, after all, isnāt the main focus of chihayafuru.Ā
regardless, the manga and the anime had different takes on how to handle exposition and i would absolutely love to hear the logic behind such a narrative decision by the anime team.
