Chihayafuru 24

*Only for use by Lazy Ass Scans

tl by JinHea

02
- Characters & Story
Chihaya: Ayase Chihaya / In 6th grade, she met Arata and came into contact with competitive Karuta for the first time. Naturally blessed with sharp hearing, she began utilizing this exceptional ability once she started playing Karuta.
Arata: Wataya Arata / The one who led Chihaya into the world of Karuta. His grandfather holds the title of Eisei Meijin. After graduating from primary school, he returned to his hometown of Fukui with his family in order to look after his ailing grandfather, leaving behind Chihaya and everyone else. [NB. Eisei Meijin – literally Eternal Meijin, bestowed upon players who have served as Meijin for 5 consecutive periods OR who have served as Meijin for a total of 7 or more periods]
Taichi: Mashima Taichi / An all-round athlete and honours student. He dislikes losing, and began playing Karuta out of antagonism towards Arata, who had grown close to Chihaya through the game. Co-founded the Mizusawa High Karuta Club with Chihaya.

03
Kana: Ooe Kanade / Daughter of a traditional clothing retailer, loves the classical period. Joined the Karuta Club out of desire to wear hakama.
Nishida: Nishida Yuusei / Faced off in Karuta against Chihaya and co. during primary school. Joined due to this history. Commonly known as Meatbun-kun.
Komano: Komano Tsutomu / Once fixated on studying, he joined the club after being moved by Taichi’s passion for Karuta. Commonly known as Desk-kun.
- As a young girl in 6th grade, Chihaya met Arata, a transfer student from Fukui, and came into contact with the world of competitive Karuta. Arata was already a National level player, and Chihaya’s inborn listening ability gradually drew out her aptitude for the game. The two of them influenced Taichi to play, and somewhere along the way the trio became fast friends. However, Arata returned to Fukui right after graduation……
- With the bond Karuta forged between them and Arata in their hearts, Chihaya and Taichi set up the Mizusawa High Karuta Club. Along with fellow enthusiastic club members, they dominated the Tokyo preliminaries and gained the privilege of participating in the National Tournament group matches for the very first time, but poor health led Chihaya to collapse during a match, leaving her with no choice but to forfeit halfway through.
- The Oumi Jinguu of Chihaya’s dreams. What have her friends decided—!?

05
Left grid:
- Round 1 / E Block
- School
- Name / Nishida / Ooe / Komano / Ayase / Mashima
- Win/loss
- Name / Rin / Kida / Ki / Yamamoto / Mori
- Win/loss
- Name / Midorikawa / Shiroda / Chabatake / Aoshima / Kurosato
Second grid:
- Round 2 / E Block
- School
- Mizusawa High / Name / Nishida / Komano / Ooe / Ayase / Mashima
- Win/loss / [under Ayase] Forfeit
- Ootokawazoe High / Name / Midorikawa / Akai / Shiroda / Chabatake / Aoshima
- Win/loss
- Takechi High / Name / Ki / Kida / Rin / Yamamoto / Mori

Logo insert: 24th song
- We lost the second round, but we still have a chance.
- We can advance to the finals as long as we win the next round.

Kana: Chihaya-chan… / I wonder if she’s okay…

Taichi: Gather around, everyone.

06
Taichi: You all understand, right?
Taichi: Chihaya is the one who most wanted to be here.

Taichi: If we lose so easily…
Taichi: Chihaya will definitely cry her heart out.
Taichi: We must win.

07
- Let’s win this, Mizusawa!
- Yeah!

08
Bag: Medicine

- I can’t believe it…

09
Sudou: I can NOT believe it…
Chihaya: Gyahah—!?

Chihaya: Nooooo! Gyaaaah!
Sudou: Oh / You’re unexpectedly energetic, huh. / Don’t close the door!
Chihaya: Why is someone from Hokuou here?

Sudou: I’m competing in the individual matches tomorrow. / Our school stays at this inn every year.
Sudou: Aaanyway.

Sudou: Forfeiting due to poor health?
Sudou: Do you realize that you were in this as Tokyo’s representative!?

- You forfeited the match.

10
Sudou: You’ve gotta be kidding me!
Arrow: Enjoying himself
Sudou: You think you’ll be forgiven if you cry? / How will you make up for it if people start thinking of Tokyo as small fry?

Taichi: You!
Taichi: What are you doing?

- Chihaya-chan…

11
- Chihaya-chan, / are you sure you should be up?

Chihaya: E…
Chihaya: Everyone, I’m so sorry.
Chihaya: Sorry—
- Eh!?

Kana: What are you doing, Chihaya-chan? / You don’t need to apologi—
Komano: Ayase, I…

Komano: won for the first time ever today!!

12
Kana: That’s right! All four of us won against Kisei High, / then in the finals, we beat the school from Okayama. / Desk-kun won twice in a row!

Komano: Ahh… looking back, it was when both sides had 7 cards left… / I successfully predicted the next card and got “Shira”…
Komano: that card decided the outcome of the match.

Komano: We lost to Fujisaki in the finals… / but I really wanted to keep competing…
Chihaya: Um…
Kana: I feel the same way, Desk-kun!!
Nishida: Individual intra-level matches are being held tomorrow. / I’ll get my revenge on those Fujisaki guys!! [NB. Individual intra-level matches – matches of A-Level vs A-Level, B-Level vs B-Level etc]

Komano: Ayase, you won’t be recovering anytime soon, right? / Maybe you should take the first shinkansen back tomorrow morning?

13
Chihaya: I WILL recover!!
Chihaya: I’ll participate in tomorrow’s individual matches with perfect health!!
- Chihaya.

Chihaya: Taichi.
Taichi: How’re you feeling?
Taichi: Komano’s getting good at mouthing off, huh.

Taichi: Reckon you’ll be able to participate in tomorrow’s matches?
Chihaya: I will participate!!

Chihaya: But today… / I was a complete mess…

14
Chihaya: Arata… / I wonder if he’s disappointed with me…
Chihaya: And he came all this way… / I wanted to show him a better side of me…

Taichi: Ah well. / You were pretty heavy, you know.
Chihaya: I was!?
Taichi: I thought you’d be lighter, but you were REALLY heavy.
Chihaya: Eeeek!!

Taichi: Here, it’s from Arata. / He got the overseer, Yoshioka sensei, to pass it along to us.
Chihaya: Eh?
Taichi: I think it’s a souvenir from Fukui.

- Habutae Mochi? / Ooh— / I wonder what they taste like…
Text below panel: They’re fluffy and yummy.
- He’s pretty mindful of the little things.

15
Package Middle: Fukui product / Habutane Mochi
Writing: See you in the match next time. / Arata

Writing: See you in the match next time.

16
Arata: You don’t get it?
Arata: I’m not playing Karuta anymore. / I won’t play.

- Look, Arata! These are my friends! / Come see us at Oumi Jinguu! / Chihaya

17
- Arata.

- Arata.
- We got through to him.

18
- Go forth.
- Go forth.

- Onward.

19
Sign: Oumi Hall of Learning / (Institution) Tenchi Seitoku Educational Foundation

- Unlike the group matches, individual matches have no elimination rounds, / so there are more than 400 players entered.
- 31 A-Levels, 107 B-Levels, 95 C-Levels, / 198 D-Levels (rankless).

Miyauchi: You’ll all be competing at different locations…
Book: Karuta Rulebook
Aside: I spent all yesterday researching so I’ve got a pretty good idea of what goes on.
Miyauchi: You’ll be facing rivals from around the country. Go try out your strength. Don’t hold back!

Chihaya: Yes!
Chihaya box: A-Level
Kana: We’re rivals today, Desk-kun!
Box: Both D-Level
Nishida: Kana-chan said we don’t have to wear hakama. Thank god!
Nishida: I’ve got my eye on a complete victory today!
Box: Both B-Level

Writing: See you in the match next time. / Arata

20
Taichi: B-Level…
Taichi: So I can only play against other B-Levels, huh…

Nishida: That’s a given…
- Fufufufufu

Hyoro: You guys are super sweet [asterisk]!! / [asterisk] naïve [NB. in Japanese, the word for sweet also means naïve]
Hyoro: ‘Cuz yours truly is in B-Level too!
Nishida: You came…

- With individual Karuta matches…

Box: sheets with players’ names are reshuffled after each match and match-ups are decided randomly.
Paper: Ayase Chihaya
- Please check who your opponent is…
- and be seated according to your number.

Chihaya: I’m playing Hanamoto, from Kagoshima.
Chihaya: I wonder who it is?
- Ayase.

Chihaya: Wah! Sudou-san!
Sudou: Ayase.

Sudou: The Queen’s participating.

21
Sudou: Amakasu from my school is facing her in the first match.

Sudou: Wakamiya Shinobu.
Paper: Wakamiya Shinobu.
Sudou: She achieved A-Level in fourth grade.
Sudou: Currently a first year high schooler in Kyoto.

Sudou: She is the youngest Queen in history.

22
- It’s that girl.
- The one I passed at Oumi Jinguu yesterday—

Linked: Predictably dowdy today, too.
Aside: The shirt’s even tucked in!!
- Now that’s dowdy. / It’s July though, why a snowman? [NB. In Japan, July is the summer season]
- She’s pretty cute, but… / she sure lives up to her reputation for dowdiness!!

Shinobu: Oh my.
Shinobu: Sudou-san, you’re here.

23
Sudou: Hello, Queen.
Shinobu: Do please stop with the Queen nonsense. / When I saw that my first opponent wasn’t you, Sudou-san, it was such a relief.

Shinobu: But for you to enter the individual matches when group competition was out of the question…
Shinobu: You must like Karuta quite a lot.

SFX: irk
Shinobu: Well then, should we meet in a future match, do go easy on me.

Sudou: I’m taking her down.
Chihaya: Ehh!?
Sudou: She was spewing sarcasm with a straight face!!

Sudou: I’m bringing you down too!
Chihaya: Ehh!?
Sudou: It’s payback for what happened at the prelims.

24
- The Queen…

- She is Japan’s…
- best female Karuta player.

- My goal.

- What style of Karuta does she play?
- Just how strong is she?

- Please treat me kindly.
Amakasu: Wah— what a weird shirt.

- Win quickly.
- Please treat me kindly.
- I want to see her Karuta.

25
- Taki no oto ha—
- Alright!

- Koisu cho—

- Ashibiki no—
- Ugh!

- Thinking “I want to hurry and win”—
- kashan
- I was naïve.
- Every single person here is A-Level, after all!

- Carefully…
- Memorize and confirm the cards’ positions.
- Take this one at a time.
- Thank you very much.

26
- Finished already!?

- Against Hokuou’s Amakasu Nayuta…
Paper: First match / Hokuou / Amakasu / [circle with 24 beside it] / Kyoto // Second match // Wakamiya Shinobu
- a 24 card difference…

- In other words, he was only able to get one card off her?
- So strong… / that’s the Queen for you.

Aside: She has her own water flask.
Aside 2: Hot water in the summer?

27
- The Queen…

- I want to play her.
Sudou: I’ll take her down.
- I don’t want to play her.

- I do NOT wanna face her. / Too scary.
- I don’t wanna.

- I want to play her.
- I’m doing match-ups for the second match now.

- I don’t want to play her.

Name slips: Wakamiya Shinobu // Ayase Chihaya

28
- I want to play her.

29
Name slips: Wakamiya Shinobu // Ayase Chihaya

- Let’s see… / this is the switch for video mode…
- Hmm hmm

Miyauchi: Ah. / Ayase-san.
Miyauchi: I borrowed a video camera from Ooe-san’s mother. / I’ll film everyone’s matches toda…

30
- A-Level, second match round. Could all participants / be seated according to your numbers please.

- Please treat me kindly.

31
- Memorization time lasts from now until quarter to.

- I’m seated right in front of the reader.
- If it’s Harada-sensei…

- He’d say “The seat to surefire victory!!”
- This is an advantageous position.

- So close.
- An exhale.

- An inhale.

32-33
- Listen!

- That initial sound…

- Ho

Miyauchi: What just happened?

Miyauchi: Even when played in slow motion, I can’t see …

34-35
- Mika no

- Sailing through the air…
- needle-like…

36
- soundless Karuta.