Chihayafuru: Part I (2016) (2024)

Popular reviews

• Review by edil 3

  It’s just really hard for me to accept the fact that Suzu Hirose is older than me lol. Like, she was our little sister right!? The narrative framing of that Kore-eda classic was in such a way that I viewed her as a younger sibling only to realize now that I’m even younger hahaha.

  Was a bit of an experience, thrown into this over-the-top and cartoonish world, but after the first act and the group setup, it settled nicely and I warmed up to it. Got better and better.

  The “iced tea commerical” cinematography had me in a trance.

  Suzu was charming as always but also Shuhei Nomura is so good-looking!!

  There’s something endearing about card games and cards. I've…

• Review by _Stephan_ ★★★½

  Sports-Film and RomCom about a Card Game called Karuta ( although that almost looks like Karate).

  Funny, sometimes a bit too Cheesy, but the Part with the Karuta Club and everything around it was good and Interesting enough that I'm Curious about Parts 2 and 3 too.

• Review by Carlo V 1

  Based on a shoujo manga (which I have not read), and you can tell. So in that sense it's successful, it absolutely feels like you're watching a live action manga aimed at teenage girls. I do not mean that in a negative way at all, it's just... that's what you're gonna get. Absolutely fine on a production level (doesn't feel like a cheap 2000s TV drama) but there's two more movies after this and I can't say I'm super in a rush to get to them either.

• Review by Hugo ★★★½

  This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

  Such a killer ensemble cast this film has - Suzu, Nomura Shuhei, Mackenyu, Mone, Kunimura Jun, as well as other familiar faces whose names I wasn't familiar with enough. And even though you'll see her on the poster there, unfortunately Mayu would only start appearing in the following entry. Sorry.

  As a film that's been on my watchlist since the earliest days of yours truly becoming very enthusiastic towards J-films (and later dramas as wellthanks to the pandemic,) "Chihayafuru Part I" definitely did not disappoint. In addition to the packed talent that perhaps could only be rivaled by the "Rurouni Kenshin" films, this film also introduced me to the world of karuta; a traditional Japanese sport which existence I have absolutely no idea about prior to coming into this. And it did so well on that alone.

  It really should've been longer, but I already enjoyed it enough. Definitely looking forward to the sequels!

• Review by kiew ★★★★★

  Watched at GSC Nu Sentral, 2018 JFF.

  My heart is so full. I can't believe I got to watch this again, and on the big screen! One of my absolute favourite adaptations since I first saw it on the small screen, Chihayafuru: Kami no Ku (2016) did everything right. The beloved characters are handled with care, the performance, story, editing and transitions, soundtrack are all top notch. This is a heartwarming and endearing film about youth, love and friendship. And to be able to witness this again on the silver screen, with a hall full of people smiling and laughing and crying together, it's definitely a special occasion.

• Review by Luis_989 ★★½

  50/100

  Manga has the uncanny ability to extract stories even from elements that we might not think would work in any other medium. Perhaps it's because in the manga world, these stories unfold in a unique way that live-action series or movies can't match.

  I don't have much knowledge about the manga that inspired this movie, except that it enjoys a certain amount of fame. However, what I can say is that, as a movie, it failed at times to capture my interest, either for the characters or the plot.

  Maybe it's my fault, as I failed to immerse myself as I apparently needed to.

• Review by Miartono ★★★

  Ga ngerti permainannya, tapi karena lumayan asik jadi tetep nonton sampe akhir. Dasar permainannya lumayan bisa dimengerti, tapi karena keterbatasan bahasa dan budaya bikin gw ga terlalu ngerti apa yang tertulis di kartu dan kenapa karakter-karakter itu ngambil kartu itu.

  Karuta juga permainan yang cukup barbar menurutku. Dengan jarak ruang setiap pertandingan yang deket-deketan, gw selalu mikir kalo setiap karakter menyapu kartunya, kartu-kartu yang ada di pertandingan di sebelahnya bakal ikut berantakan gara-gara sapuan tersebut. Diliatin juga di awal kalo anak-anak yang mau join club karuta malah pada kabur gara-gara kebarbarannya.

  Penasaran dengan sekuelnya, semoga menarik dan bisa bikin gw lebih ngertiin permainan kartu semacam ini.

• Review by Rolf ★★★½

  Five high school students launch a Karuta club, where they practice a traditional card swiping game and enter a tournament...
  I'd never thought I'd ever watch a movie about swiping cards. And even if I didn't fully understand the rules it was quite exciting watching these young folks giving their all in that game.
  This is not a 'classic' tournament flick though but much more a story about team spirit, friendship and dedication. And romance. None of these elements are overdone here or taken too seriously which makes CHIHAYAFURU a breezy watch full of typical Japanese humor which can be broad at times but is mostly fun in my books.
  The characters are pretty stereotypical (the ambitious girl, the posterboy,…

• Review by IdlyBlue ★★½

  Overall Rating: Average

  I decided to watch this because of Suzu Hirose, since Our Little Sister is one of my favorite films and I was curious in seeing what other projects she's been in. However, I was not aware that this was an anime/manga live adaptation. I'm not at all familiar with this genre, so I was quite surprised at first when I saw just how anime stylized it was, from it's shots, acting, editing, lighting, color palette, pacing, music, and story structure. I'm not the biggest anime fan, especially regarding Shounen/Shoujo anime and Chihayafuru Part I is not a good film overall, but it's innocent, lighthearted, adorable nature and performance from Suzu Hirose was actually pretty fun and enjoyable.…

• Review by Invincible Asia ★★★½

  Fun high school "sports" film that makes the card game karuta intriguing and features heaps of likeable characters building wonderful friendships.
  And Suzu Hirose is a treasure who deserves every star vehicle role she gets.

• Review by Kristina Winters ★★★½ 1

  Cute. Simple. Full of lovely performances and minimal angst.

  I’m ready for part 2.

• Review by ambuns2021 ★★★½

  I don’t usually connect with sports movies, but I found the ensemble cast of characters in this one really charming