#both of them are way more complex than simply their skill level in karuta

[formashimataichi]

i ask this as an arata and really enjoy your write-ups but do you think arata is a weak written character? i go on r/chihayafuru often and there's a general consensus that he's not well-written and it's not a surprise that he's unpopular but i like the way he's written but i wonder if im just being biased as an arata fan?

I definitely do not, lol! I think people are mostly thrown off by the storytelling structure employed with his character arc, because it’s a bit different in comparison to how Chihaya’s and Taichi’s are executed. Personally, I believe part of why Arata’s arc feels so distanced and sparse in comparison is because, initially, that is the point. He is a character who is for a long time perpetually alone. He does have a small support system of some close friends, but few of them actually deeply understand his troubles—either because they lack an understanding of his relationship with karuta (his hometown friends) or they lack an understanding of his relationship with his grandfather (Chihaya and Taichi). Thereby, contending with those struggles is difficult and often a slow and stifled process, because he’s ultimately isolated in his own paranoia and grief. He struggles with conceptualizing how to move on and move forward from his grandfather’s death, until certain catalysts prompt him to take action—namely those to do with him reaching Chihaya and Taichi again. These catalysts obviously come to a head with the conclusion of his second year and the beginning of his third year, because he decides to challenge Suou to put off his retirement, and he decides to form a school team. Arata breaks out of his mental paralysis and takes these enormous steps to forge a path forward for himself. He starts involving himself more with the people around him, regardless of how deeply they understand his inner troubles; he starts actively reaching to compete alongside Taichi and Chihaya and shape his own dreams in light of them shaping theirs; etc.

To many readers who don’t readily identify with Arata’s struggle to allow himself to just be, the win against Taichi at the Qualifiers likely feels blindsiding, because to what end does Arata win other than to reinforce that he’s simply the “best” at karuta and can never be beaten? To the end that allows him to forgive himself. After years upon years of carrying guilt over the position he holds in other people’s lives—whether as his grandfather’s indirect killer, as Taichi’s obstacle, or as the future of the association’s intimidating dreams—Arata truly unleashes himself. He indulges in the love and the passion and the hunger for this game that’s been ingrained into his soul since he was a child and that he’d almost forgotten how to hold onto. It’s a huge, huge moment that I think perfectly predicates his increased presence thereafter, because it’s the natural conclusion to him finally refusing to remain stuck in one place, never moving, never evolving, never again reaching out. Time moves forward.

And, obviously, as we all know, the Qualifiers aren’t necessarily a guarantee of closure for him. There are still serious doubts and fears that plague him as he competes with Suou at Oumi Jingu—but the point that the final matches seem to drive home is that because time has already long since begun to move forward, there is no going back. Arata has an entire support system behind him now, ready to lift him up from the depths of despair should he ever recede into them. He has Chihaya. He has Taichi. He has his kouhai. He has Harada-sensei. He has Yuu. He has his grandfather. And all of that is okay. Relying on people is okay. Entrusting your back to the people you love so that you can be your best self on the tatami is okay. Arata’s arc is an exercise in how distance and proximity are used to illustrate a belief in self; it’s another extension of that infamous Harada-sensei quote: Solo matches are team matches. Team matches are solo matches. So, so much of the narrative in Chihayafuru centers itself in the importance of community building, and I don’t think that Arata escapes this concept! He’s an omnipresent character by the final arc not because Suetsugu needs to illustrate that he’s the superior male player and was always meant to be, but because he’s finally fully entrenched in the world he once left behind. He’s a part of the community. He helped build that community per his own kindness and loneliness, and these are the fruits of those earnest efforts and endeavors. Even the way he dialogues with Suou during their most recent matches with each other is emblematic of that.