I will try to make this short and quick: Chihaya WILL end up with Taichi, NOT

Arata. The title of the anime CHIHAYAFURU screams it out. That is my theory,
and I believe I have some pretty strong evidence to back it up, at least on a
literary point of view.

So why should you care for my opinion? I feel like i have to maintain a
sort of credibility to you, my dear readers, so here goes: I am a college student
majoring in literature, and I analyze symbols and pay attention to details when i
read a story. When it comes to anime pairings, I try to be as objective as
possible, and see the story from a literary perspective. Basically, I believe that
story-wise, Chihaya x Taichi is a much more practicable match than Chihaya x
Arata.

Lets go back to what Ive mentioned beforethe titleCHIHAYAFURU

and why I think its the most crucial clue to my theory. You see, the title of an
artistic piece, be it a novel, a short-story, a painting, a musical composition, or in
this case, a manga, speaks a lot about what the story is about and the theme it
is trying to convey.

In this case, the title CHIHAYAFURU conveys different meanings if we

look at it through the eyes of each of the three main characters: Chihaya, Arata
and Taichi.

Chihayathe connotative meaning of CHIHAYAFURU

Words can have multiple meanings. Connotative meaning is the
expressiveness of the word, or the associations that comes into mind when we
use it. For example, the connotative meaning of the word home is love,
security, and belongingness.

CHIHAYAFURU tells us about Chihayas love and passion for karuta. Its
basically the bulk of the story: a girls journey in competitive karuta and finding
herself along the way. CHIHAYAFURU is her card, the card she first took from
Arata. It is to her, the only red card in a field of karuta cards. Wherever it may
be placed, she is bound to take it, because she is connected to it, as a soul is
connected to its body. In a sense, we can say that Chihaya and CHIHAYAFURU
are inseperable.

From Chihaya, we learn that passion, despite its drawbacks, will always give the
person a sense of fulfilment. Our passions are us. Our individual passions speak
a lot about us, about who we are and what we desire in life. We are taught that
even passion requires hard work and we must not stop until we achieve our
dreams. Thus, the connotative meaning of CHIHAYAFURU is perseverance and
dedication.

Aratathe denotative meaning of CHIHAYAFURU

Denotative meaning is the literal meaning of a word. In our previous
example of home its denotative meaning would be, a place of residence.

The title of the series, CHIHAYAFURU are the first syllables of a Karuta
card that Arata once told Chihaya was her namesake card, a word that means
with deep feeling. Both would always see that particular card as special, and
representative of their friendship. Incidentally, it becomes Chihayas strongest
card because her hand is always drawn to it. Kana later explains its true meaning
as a red colored love/passion that never fades.

From Arata, we learn the literal meaning of CHIHAYAFURU. After all, Chihayas
motivation in karuta was largely due to Arata whom she looked up to as a role
model and example. Memories of Arata and the times they spent playing karuta,
led to Chihayas love/passion that never fadesthe literal meaning of
CHIHAYAFURU.

Taichithe love in CHIHAYAFURU

So how does Taichi fit into the picture?

If from Chihaya we learn the connotative meaning (perseverance

and dedication) and from Arata the denotative meaning (love and passion that
never fades) what do we learn from Taichi?

My friends, we learn from Taichi both things! He has both

perseverance and dedication AND unfading love!

Taichis love for Chihaya is unrequited. It is from him that we learn

about love and how it is to love. Its when things dont turn out the way you
want them to and youre not having fun, and yet you still want to be with
him/her.

Taichis love for Chihaya is not mere infatuation, but it is REAL. True love
differs from infatuation, for the latter does not see the flaws in a person, while
the former sees the flaws but loves the person anyway. This differs from
Chihayas feelings for Arata. Her adoration for karuta eventually led to her
adoration of him, whom she looks up to as her role model, a God of karuta.

Taichi, on the otherhand, knows Chihayas feelings for Arata, he is

aware of her eccentricities and yet he loves her whole-heartedly and is the
person by her side as she goes to fulfill her dream.

Taichi has seen ALL the sides of Chihaya, and yet he is still,
hopelessly in love with her.

So how do we relate the two meanings to Taichi?

During the meijin qualifier match, Taichi lamented over the fact that
he was unable to take the CHIHAYAFURU card. In his mind, we saw that he
immediately associated Chihaya with the CHIHAYAFURU card saying that
wherever it is, I ought to take it. Losing the card was like losing Chihaya.

From Taichi, we learn a lot about love. Love is like aiming for the CHIHAYAFURU
card. To get it, you must have perseverance and dedication. To keep it, you
must have passion that never fades. That is what Taichi is trying to be all
throughout the story.

So basically, we can see the two meanings of CHIHAYAFURU in Taichi.

Of all the characters in the story, he is the most human and the one most of us
can very well relate to. We feel his burden and pain as much as we feel ours.
But just as Chihaya will someday be queen because of her perseverance and
dedication, just as Arata will continue becoming Chihayas role model for his
unfading love and passion, so will Taichi continue loving Chihaya for both
reasons. And it will only take some time until Chihaya notices it, and might
perhaps, return it.

That is my simple logic. Taichi only needs to be himself, and not try to be anyone
else. Also, I think that until Taichi overcomes his insecurities, Chihaya will never
see him more than a friend. Fortunately, in the later part of the manga, Taichi
has become much stronger because he had gradually accepted his weaknesses,
and we can see that CHihaya had started to see how unique he is.

Story-wise, Chihaya x Taichi makes much more sense than Chihaya x Arata for
the following reasons: 1.) the former has gone through a lot of development, trial
and testing, and is 2.) more suited to the meaning being implied by the title, and
is 3.) more consistent with the theme of the story, than the latter.

So thats my theory. Chihaya will end up with Taichi, or the writer might choose
not to settle with anyone at all, but a Chihaya x Arata ending will be highly

improbable. Aratas confession makes no difference. A common love for karuta,

is a poor basis for love.

If the story doesnt end this way, either the writer is completely cruel
and twisted, or Ive made a mistake in analyzing the symbolisms present in the
story. Perhaps when Im through with my literary criticism course, Ill make
another analysis of this very splendid story.
I agree with this. This is the main reason I ship Taichi/Chihaya: it makes sense for
both the story and the characters.

When I started to read the manga, I had no doubt that The Couple was going to
be Arata and Chihaya (and I loved it). I liked Taichi for being that great-yet-soobviously-flawed male character but I was prepared to follow him in his journey
of unrequited love. Until I started to see all these little details.

I, for once, wasnt crushed when Arata confessed his feelings (surprised, yes, it
happened a lot sooner than I expected) because I knew how Chihaya was going
to react. And everything Chihaya thinks and says about Arata reaffirms my
opinion that her feelings towards him are platonic. Beautiful and intense, but
platonic.

So, for me, theres no ship battle in Chihayafuru. Either Suetsugu chooses the
pairing that goes along with the message of her story or she doesnt