About Chapter 201:This card is
#4:
the card of Mount Fuji which I mentioned several times before in the MAL TAT symbolism thread.
It's the card that represents the chance to meet the Meijin and Queen "on the lofty peak of Mount Fuji" (that is in the final challenge for the title).
In fact, Chihaya meets Shinobu just after that.
You guys have aready pointed out so well the meaning of the wind in regards to Taichi and we touched on the moon references before, which of course are once again present in these chapters, so I'll leave that part aside for now.
Before I get to the meaning of
card #18, I wanted to highlight just a couple more cards:
From Chapter 199:#59 This card, touched by Arata's hand, deals with waiting in vain. The "descending moon" is also mentioned.
Better to have slept
Care-free, than to keep vain watch
Through the passing night,
Till I saw the lonely moon
Traverse her descending path.
#15 brings back the contrast between spring and winter, herbs and snow which, (as explained in the old TAT), symbolized the friendship between Arata and Taichi through the passing years.
It is for your sake
That I walk the fields in spring,
Gathering green herbs,
While my garment's hanging sleeves
Are speckled with falling snow.
#35 This poem also addresses the friendship between Taichi and Arata and it has a very nice image: no matter the passing years and the complexity of human hearts, the poet finds comfort in the image of the plum blossoms from his childhood days.
The unchanging memory of the past spring is still alive in him and soothing his desolation. We know the meaning of spring (+ Se o hayami and the importance of the image of their childhood memories) for Taichi and Arata.
Maybe a new spring will come?
The depths of the hearts
Of humankind cannot be known.
But in my birthplace
The plum blossoms smell the same
As in the years gone by.
#91 I think this poem could symbolize the meaningful connection between Taichi andd Suo, both experiencing painful feelings of loneliness (like the poet hearing the realatable cricket's lonely call) thus picturing their very strong bond.
(The contrast between the imagery of white snow and a dark night evokes once again the aestethics of Taichi's black and white butterflies and Suo's black Mount Fuji with the white peak.)
In my cold bed,
Drawing close my folded quilt,
I sleep alone,
While all through the frosty night
I hear a cricket's lonely sound.
From chapter 200:Chihaya fights to take
#11 (Arata's card)
Over the wide sea
Towards its many distant isles
My ship sets sail.
Will the fishing boats thronged here
Proclaim my journey to the world?
#7 In this poem the poet is far from home and ends up comparing the sight of the moon from where he is now to the image he could see from his own place. I wonder if this poem is dedicated to Taichi and his mom... just when the "moon" was looked at from another side, while far from home, the observer maybe started to better picture its (his) true, original, essence. Is this moon the same that she ever saw?
On the other hand, from Taichi's pov, his mother certainly symbolizes "home" and this poem may chant his longing to reconcile and reunite with her. (Mizusawa and Chihaya being the other "home" he got parted with).
When I look up at
The wide-stretched plain of heaven,
Is the moon the same
That rose on Mount Mikasa
In the land of Kasuga?
******
Now to explain the meaning of
poem #18, we need to analyse the symbolism of
waves and shores. As you guys certainly mentioned before, this kind of image isn't new between Taichi and Chihaya, so we possibly need to go back in time to understand its true meaning. Actually this image occured more frequently than we could imagine. It always showed up at important times and it gradually displayed some sort of evolution running sidelong with the progress of Chihaya and Taichi's relationship.
First of all a few keywords:
ocean waves mostly symbolize a lover's feelings in the Hyakunin Isshu, as perfectly sampled by the metaphor that followed Taichi's confession. When the ocean waves encounter a
rock, those can end up broken or, on the contrary, resist the adversity and establish their solidity with the rock becoming an enblem of their
steadfastness.
Another word we'll need to take account of is "
Matsu" which means "waiting/pine" and it's part of both Taichi's namesake card and symbolic of typical places where lovers wait to meet (like "Matsu-yama" where "yama" means "mount").
Now I'm going to list a few examples where this kind of imagery was used.
-
Chapter 103 (Yoshino Tournament, Taichi vs Chihaya)
#72Much noise is made of the waves
That break on Takashi beach
So treacherously.
If I went near that shore
I would only wet my sleeves.
Chihaya captured this card during her match with Taichi and the wave imagery we mentioned is already quite eloquent in this poem.
The poem was written by Lady Kii who refused to meet Toshitada on Takashi beach.
As commentators say:
Doesn't the above image sound veeery familiar?
At Yoshino Chihaya started looking at Taichi more seriously as a player but she couldn't meet or understand his feelings there.
Part of the reason why she'd take so long to realize about them is that the realization would be threatening the ever-unchanging status quo of their friendship. Not only that, Taichi's feelings would prompt the inevitable question Chihaya will only dare to ask herself once the confession was outspoken much later: "What about Arata?" Both her relationships with the two guys would be put on the line once the delicate balance is broken.
That's why I think her total cluelessness in love questions wasn't simply a consequence of seeing things partially or blindly but also, in a sense, a subconscious, desperate attempt to safekeep the 2 dearest relationships (leaving family aside of course) she had to her heart since childhood.
So when the realization came, it was as shocking as it could and it shook most of her certainties... and above all broke the illusion that the idealized past she treasured so much with the 2 of them could last, unchanged, forever.
So here we come to Taichi's confession and its aftermath.
- Chapter 139#48Like a driven wave,
Dashed by fierce winds on a rock,
So am I: alone
And crushed upon the shore,
Remembering what has been.
Shaken by the realization of Taichi's love feelings being there since the start of their friendship, Chihaya enters an excruciating period of self-analysis mainly questioning herself upon her relationship with both Taichi and karuta, the two factors being so deeply entangled that suddenly she can't keep up with the latter while being apart from the former.
She thus realizes that she had been the "rock" crashing the waves of Taichi's feelings all along.Another rendition of poem
#48 says:
Like a wave,
dashed by winds on a rock,
only to crash and break in the encounter,
I am the only one of us to get my heart broken,
aching as I worry about you.
Explaining quite successfully how Taichi used to be the one bearing the pain of his one-sided feelings all alone. But something has already started to change: after taking so long to decipher them and finally realzing Taichi's true feelings and sufference, Chihaya is now sincerely participating in that pain, taking up and bearing one part of that grief.
Later, while still being troubled with the sorrowful consequences of her separation from Taichi, Chihaya manages to rediscover her burning passion for karuta and, simultaneously, perceives a fervent feeling of longing for him which eventually prompts her to frantically work, hope and pine for his return.
Taichi's own namesake card had that destiny engraved in it:
#16
(Tachi wakare
Inaba no yama no
Mine ni oru
Matsu to shi kikaba
Ima kaeri kon)
Though we are parted,
If on Mount Inaba's peak
I should hear the sound
Of the pine trees growing there,
I'll come back again to you.
The word "
Inaba" meaning both the mountains of Inaba and "
if I go away", while the word "
matsu" bears the double meaning, as we mentioned, of both "
wait" and "
pine tree".
The highest expression of this concept will occur during the National Championship of Mizusawa's third year where the premise of Chihaya's tireless, intimate calling (pine) for Taichi will indeed result in his return.
- Chapter 145But even before that, during the preliminaries before the Nationals, while Chihaya was just going back to karuta and the club wthout being allowed to compete yet, we got another very precious hint. It was always thanks to the cards, even though it didn't come during a match, as Chihaya wasn't participating. While Chihaya is arranging the decks of cards for her teammates we get a repeated call to focus on a number sticked over one of those decks. Just at that time, Tsuboguchi was teasing Chihaya about the reason why Taichi didn't show up there, supposing that maybe she had rejected his feelings... Surprisingly enough, Chihaya did not appear frustrated or sorrowful at the painful topic that time. On the contrary, a bittersweet, timid blush enlightened her face, while the number 41 was displayed on the cards she was laying on the floor.
It is true I love,
But the rumor of my love
Had gone far and wide,
When people should not have known
That I had begun to love.
Or:
OUR courtship, that we tried to hide,
Misleading is to none;
And yet how could the neighbours guess,
That I had yet begun
To fancy any one?
Commentators write:
Could that be a hint from the mangaka? Was she just referencing the rumor of Taichi's confession being spread against his will or subtly challenging the readers to find out about some budding "secret feelings" that shouldn't be discovered yet?
This poem deals with feelings of love that the poet doesn't want being known. But an interesting aspect of it is that the author seems to address the topic of a newly born love: it mentions feelings that
"have just budded".
Of course, keeping expectations under control is due here (based on the fact that the author might be sticking to this aspect of the overall interpretation or just overlook it). However, even reading different takes from commentators, further confirmation comes in regarding the potential of the original word play:
"The word omoi in the last line is a 'pivot-word' used firstly in connexion with the fourth line, meaning 'I thought' (nobody knew), and also in conjunction with someshi, where it means
'I began to be in love'"
If something really started to change within Chihaya, laying the premises for an evolution of her feelings and the possibility for a change of heart, this poem might prove to have been marking that switch, not just addressing Taichi's rumored confession but some secret feelings that had been subconsciously blooming secretly in Chihaya's heart, during their separation... We'll have to wait to know the answer.
Edit: Update following the release of chapter 207. Just some fun trivia:
Chapter 145 and chapter 207 both touch on the topic of Taichi's outspoken feelings and portray some kind of subtle reaction on Chihaya's part when the topic of their relationship is addressed by others.
Interestingly enough, both times number 41 is flashing out in a more or less collateral though reiterated portrayal:
And the potential change gets even more apparent right here, in
chapter 176, once again thanks to the symbolism of poems. This scene which features Taichi and Chihaya briefly crossing paths and foreshadows the whole following
arc with qualifiers for the Meijin and Queen title.
I referenced this panel lots of times before because of its importance. Taichi "draws" the winner stick and postpones his meeting with Chihaya, not wishing to revert to "his old self" and be driven by the waves of his feelings again.
(We just recently witnessed how Taichi was bothered by the snow of his memories with Chihaya and Arata and tried his best to stay away from that in chapter 197)
In this panel from Chapter 176, Chihaya sweeps this card:
#92Like a rock at sea,
At ebb-tide hidden from view,
Is my tear-drenched sleeve:
Never for a moment dry,
And no one knows it is there.
Here are again the images of rock, waves, tear-drenched sleeve and secret.
Here is what commentators say:
To put it even more clearly, the image changed drastically from that of poem
#48.
The rock that used to break the waves now welcomes the ocean tide and even when it's lower (lower waves = feelings that are facing adversity/are put at stake by the separation)
nevers ceases to be wet. Like her eyes are never dry from tears of constant longing.
The rock itself becomes a symbol of those unbreakable feelings.-
Chapter 195 (East vs West - first match w/Arata);
Chapter 201 (East vs West - second match w/Arata)
In chapter 201, Chigiri ki na is one of the last 3 cards left in Taichi's formation before the end of the game but truthfuly the card had already appeared in his first match with Arata.
Taichi had successfully attacked and conquered Chigiri ki na from Arata's formation:
#42Our sleeves were wet with tears
As pledges that our love--
Will last until
Over Sue's Mount of Pines
Ocean waves are breaking.
So many familiar images, right?The poets chants how their sleeves wet with tears (
note how the condition is now common to both lovers) represented the promise of mutual commitment, a promise to stay true unless the waves (their feelings) would be crashed over the "Mount of Pines" (= by the waiting")
It is notewhorthy to add that this is not just any card. Chigiri ki na (starting with
Chi) is one of the cards that made Arata's confidence shake during his first match with Taichi in these East vs West qualifiers, while finding himself insecure of actually being able to defend the Chiha card itself or win the match. Hence his fretting and his unfair take to hurriedly end the match.
- Chapters 199/200 (+Chapter 184)
Now finally
#18The waves are gathered
On the shore of Sumi Bay,
And in the gathered night,
When in dreams I go to you,
I hide from people's eyes.
Or:
TO-NIGHT on Sumi-no-ye beach
The waves alone draw near;
And, as we wander by the cliffs,
No prying eyes shall peer,
No one shall dream we're here.
From commentators:
As you see, all the imagery shown up to now beautifully come together in this scene!
One lover waiting for the other to join them on the beach.
The shore becomes the place where the waves (feelings coming from both lovers) can finally meet or so they wish...
In fact, while the sea waves approach and "draw near" on the shore, all the 2 people can do is try to meet in dreams (in the chapter: the common dream of meeting through karuta by advancing step by step to the next stage together).
But even that possibility is put at stake. For both the legendary lovers and our characters. The outcome of their games is indeed still all but given at that point and the possibility to win and advance together is on the line. Hence Taichi's worried face (he's obviously concerned about his match but also by the realization that Chihaya has been having a hard time catching certain sounds from the reader). And hence his reminder to Chihaya which I'd interpret along these lines:
"
This is our longed-for chanche to meet in our dream."When he takes that card, he's calling her to join him on the path of their dream.
Chihaya is happy with Taichi's take and even though discouraged because she has lost the card (getting temporarily further from the achievement of said goal) she gets fired up with Taichi's contagious, passionate motivation so that she goes back to her match with full focus, reinvigorated with the extra power and determination to pursue their joint wish.
Looks like Taichi here is the one to pass on all of his passion to Chihaya (Chihaya being "impassionate", if you will), much like Arata did before.
Isn't that a strong hint of how much Taichi actually holds this dream and karuta dear?
I like to think so...
On a further note, the recurring reference to a secret kept from others is also remindful of the above-mentioned concealed feelings from poems
#41 and
#92.
Spider liliesBeautifully close to the meaning of poem 18 is the symbolism of Spider lilies and the legend that's connected to these passionate, scarlet flowers.
Spider Lily is commonly associated with reincarnation and guiding souls to their next life. Its blooming represents transiencce, the changing of summer to autumn.
(The concept of hurricane ("the wild wind, the destroyer") and rebirth are quite fitting for Taichi, don't you guys think?)Being symbolic of death and reincarnation, Spider lilies are often associated with feelings of loss, longing, abandonment and are said to grow along the path taking the person to the afterlife. Spider lilies, however, are also believed to bear within their scent all the beautiful memories of the person's past life.
All of this could splendidly explain why these flowers were pictured on the cover of volume 26 (when Taichi's confession prompted him to leave Chihaya and the club which separation would lead to a new life for him...)
In fact:
Now what's the connection with the current chapters and poem 18 specifically?
I think this charming - and quite bittersweet - legend might have to do with it. It's about two lovers who dreamed to meet each other but were punished with separation. And it has to do with the flower's name itself.
While the popular Japanese name for Spider lilies is Higanbana (referencing the shore of Sanzu River, the river the dead must cross on the way to the afterlife), there is another fascinating name they are called with and that's "Manjusaka".
This name was...
And that's why legends "have it that when you see someone that you may never meet again, these flowers, also called red spider lilies, would bloom along the path."
When we look at the panel where Taichi shows Chihaya the card with poem 18, surrounded by spider lilies, we can easily sense both their burning desire to meet along the path of their dream, and the frustration mixed with fear of not being able to actually accomplish their promise. They are ideally walking parallel ways in a highly tensive passage of their respective routes, with Taichi being able to capture the card and Chihaya temporarily failing to match (meet) him on that.
But truth is, while aparently a worrisome sign, that mutual glance was also something so motivating and strenghtening that they both derived a renovated energy to
fight for that reunion... and meet again, maybe closer than ever.Although they have been separated for a while now, their feelings are extremely powerful and their connection is amazingly strong.I don''t doubt that even if a new separation was to follow in the next future, their bond, just like in the legend, would only prove
as solid and steadfast as the rock that once used to break them apart ^_^
One lover waiting for the other to join them on the beach.
