[ 1 ] AFTERTHOUGHTS:
On this essay please read here first!
Welcome to my first Chihayafuru analysis essay? Think piece? Dellusional rant? Idk you decide what this is lmao. It’s actually wild to think
@maci-brainrot messaged me after reading this and made a great point:
The Hakama scene number 2 happened after 173, I wonder if the reason Arata was holding back and feeling like he couldn’t say everything to her, or was self conscious, is because he had been soft rejected.
I definitely considered this to be part of the reason too!!
For those who don’t remember 173 was the chapter where Chihaya told Arata that she would be working on her goals to be Queen. I always understood this scene as a soft rejection even though Chiharata fans took this scene as Chihaya saying she would let him know how she felt after becoming queen (thereby I understand their outrage that Chihaya never… readdressed his feelings in a more formal manner).
However since that scene was… really intended to be a soft rejection (Suetsugu made a tweet about it but then quickly deleted it when fans got even more upset lmao). This moment should have given people a bit of a clue that even Arata himself had taken what Chihaya had said as a soft rejection. It would explain his hesitation and how he was unable to say the right words to her. I wouldn’t know what to say either tbh.
Like Chihaya caught him staring at her and then he was like oh shit what do I do? What do I say to explain the way I am looking at her still.
I also think partly he saw the way that she looked back at him. They were on different wave lengths. He had love in his eyes and Chihaya was like “wtf is happening rn”.
Either way, Arata knew it was neither the time or the place for to voice his feelings and he understood that. We can still respect a king who respects a girl’s boundaries.