close
You've Earned Badges!
you have earned more badges → see all badges
don't want a popup? edit settings here
view your badges any time in your profile
Ayase Chihaya is a famous beauty at her school, but she’s far from a conventional girl. Three years ago in her final year of elementary school, Chihaya and her friend Taichi became infatuated with the card game, Karuta, after connecting with a lonely boy named Arata Wataya. But when the trio graduated from elementary school, they each went their separate ways but shared one common goal: to excel in the game and meet each other at the national championships. Now, Chihaya is attempting to share her passion for the game by creating a competitive Karuta club at school, but when she reunites with Taichi it seems that maybe she’s the only one with the intention of fulfilling their childhood promise…
click the 
button above
While examining an old Go board in his grandfather's basement, twelve-year-old Shindo Hikaru is possessed by the restless spirit of Sai, an ancient Go master who has waited for over one thousand years to play the Hand of God: the perfect move. Sai convinces Hikaru to act as a vessel for making his moves, but it is soon clear that Hikaru also enjoys Go and wants to play his own games. Moreover, the rules of Go have changed since Sai's time, and Go players from all over the world are now much stronger, having had the benefit of hundreds of years of evolution and experimentation by the masters before them. Can this unlikely pair form a successful partnership and rise to the top of Japan's Go community, and can Sai finally play the Hand of God and find some peace?
Both series feature a protagonist trying to be the best at a niche game. Both also feature matches which can get pretty intense, and I got a similar feeling while watching both of them.
Both anime are about the competetive world of games, and feature skilled characters who spread their intense love of their games to others. Chihayafuru is arguably more serious than Hikaru no Go, but both shows mix the psychology of competition with characters passionate about their dreams and alternate between tournaments, training montages, and other events focusing on the characters' lives.
In both shows, you see how much the main characters love and are passionate about their games. Their love for the game transfers to others, until others have no choice but to love the game too.
They both have incredible and intense battles. Their opponents keep getting stronger. Both series have an incredibly strong rival that pushes the main character into becoming stronger, and never giving up.
If you liked one of these series you will surely like the other
Hikaru no Go and Chihayfuru share several elements, some more obvious than others.
First of all, they both involve a game that warrants respect. Both games have roots in long tradition, include national tournaments, etc. These traits are emphasized throughout the anime.
Both involve rivalry and friendship. Hikaru and Toya's rivalry is a little different than the one between Chihaya and Arata, but the similarities are undeniable.
Chihayafuru is a little more serious than Hikaru no Go, and it focuses on older kids, but it does have its comedic moments. And, despite behing aimed at a younger and different audience, Hikaru no Go is captivating on a level that could still appeal to many fans of Chihayafuru.
At their core, both series are about people drawn together by the love of a game. Hikaru no Go focuses more on the development of its main character as a player, so if you're less interested in the interpersonal stuff but want something with the same action-gamey feel. You won't go wrong with the earlier Pierrot title.
Ohana Matsumae is a sixteen-year-old girl with no purpose or direction in life. One day, however, she gets the chance to reinvent herself when her mother and her boyfriend do a moonlight flit to escape his debts. Left alone, Ohana goes to live with her estranged grandmother, but when she arrives she finds herself forced to work at the family’s hot spring resort, the Kissui Inn. With her grandmother considering her nothing more than an employee and a roommate who hates her, Ohana’s happy dream of a new life soon turns into a nightmare. Now the wide-eyed girl must learn the value of hard work as she attempts to make friends and familiarise herself with life at the resort.
Chihayafuru and Hanasaku Iroha both sell you on their characters. The characters direct the whole story and you will most likely love them. Another exceptional thing about both anime is how they bring you into their world and atmosphere. If they want you to feel happiness, angst, loneliness, whatever feeling- they can do it. I think Hanasaku Iroha and Chihayafuru have strong characters. If you like one, I definitely recommend the other. Hanasaku Iroha boasts consistent beautiful animation while Chihayafuru is quite engaging and educational (I didn't know anything about Karuta before watching this).
Both are slice-of-life titles that explore what it means to have dreams, goals, and asipirations and the hard work required to achieve them. Both have touching love stories and beautiful animation quality.
Both series share a beautiful, very tradtional aesthetic, not just in the gorgeous animation but also in more subtle, thematic ways. The delicate, but strong sense of romance is also incredibly successful. What really shines in both series, though, are the main characters. Ohana and Chihaya are perenially optimistic, cheery, friendly, and most importantly, cause everyone around them to be the same. Watching either of their adventures is nothing short of sheer joy and pleasure.
Both these series center around a girl coming of age and recognizing her dream. Both feature love triangles, but not in an obscene or over the top way. Both stories are played out against a tranditional Japanese setting. Both have really beautiful animation with exqisite details and character designs!
Moritaka Mashiro feels as if life is passing him by; with no dreams or motivation, he trudges through day-to-day life. One day, after leaving his notebook behind, he returns to school and finds the smartest guy in class, Takagi, waiting for him. Takagi is happy to return the book, but on the condition that Mashiro agrees to become a mangaka with him. Though Mashiro initially declines, he soon reconsiders when he discovers that the girl he likes, Azuki, dreams of becoming a voice actress. And after promising that she can have the lead role if their manga is ever adapted into an anime, he suggests that they get married once they are both successful! Shockingly, she agrees to the proposal and Mashiro and Takagi embark on their quest to become manga artists.
You might say that these series have nothing in common as their plotlines revolve around completely different things - Bakuman centers around young people trying to become manga authors and Chihayafuru is about youth playing karuta. But on the other hand, these shows have plenty of similarities as they both depict young people moving towards their desired goals, steadily improving, competing to become the best, making new friends and meeting new rivals. Both shows create notable tension at some point and fill you with enthusiasm at times, though you have to notice Chihayafuru has very little comedy and romance compared to Bakuman.
Both anime are uplifting and motivational about characters pursuing their passion and constantly aiming to be the best of themselves and in their chosen interest. Although their content and demographic is different the aforementioned similarity gives them an almost identical feel when watching as the same emotions are portrayed in each.
When I was watching Chihayafuru, I related it a lot to Bakuman. The reasons maybe because both of the animes are about a couple or a bunch of people striving for their dreams. They have a goal set in their minds. Especially the leads, both want to meet someone special after they reach their goals which becomes their motivation.
Kojirou-sensei, the rather indifferent teacher and coach of the school kendo club, is in financial dire straits. As a result, he makes a bet with his fellow kendo coach and former upperclassman to see who can assemble and train the better female kendo team, with the prize for Kojirou being a year's supply of food if he wins. Motivated by the idea of free food for a year, he begins to teach the club seriously; however, most of its members have already graduated, and so he is tasked with assembling members in addition to training them for the competition with his rival. While dealing with his eccentric students, he slowly rediscovers why he loves kendo and what it truly means to be a teacher.
Both have a tournament focus and cute bishoujo girls. However, that's not their only similarity! Chihayafuru may focus more on the drama and romance side of things, but both shows are character driven and feature varying degrees of development and backstory for their leads. Chihaya is very similar to Kirino in that they are both devoted to their respective clubs (Karuta and Kendo) and are fairly loud about it. Both shows have the characters stuggling to keep their club afloat as well as attend as many tournaments as they can and improve as much as they can.
Keitaro Urashima is somewhat of a failure. In order to fulfill a promise he made to a girl fifteen years ago, he has tried time and again to get into Tokyo U but has never managed to pass the exam. However, fate smiles upon him and he ends up working for his aunt, managing an all-girls dorm! Living with the feral Kaolla, the timid Shinobu, the sake-loving Mitsune, the blade mistress Motoko and the punch-happy Naru, can Keitaro keep his focus and keep his promise? And will he ever end up meeting that girl from his past?
Both Love Hina and Chihayafuru feature a main character who is desperately trying to fulfill a childhood promise, however, things are of course not so easy as they might seem at first. Both series are also very cheerful and amusing to watch.
