"Chihayafuru -Meguri-" viewers excited by "high-five" between "Meguri"Ami Touma and her neighbors

The first episode of the drama series "Chihayafuru -Meguri-" (NTV, Wednesdays at 10pm), starring actress Ami Touma, was broadcast on July Getsuku. In the episode, Meguru (played by Touma), a ghost member of the competitive karuta club, is shown taking part in a competitive karuta demonstration at the school festival, which caused a stir on social media.

◇The following contains spoilers.

In the first episode, Meguru, a second-year student at Umezono High School and a ghost member of the competitive karuta club, places great importance on typography in everything she does. She is a member of the karuta club because it would be beneficial for her school report card if she were to join a club, but she has never participated in club activities and doesn't understand the rules of competitive karuta at all. However, Meguru is called in to make up the numbers for the third-years' retirement match, and is stunned to see her seniors in tears after losing in the first round. Feeling that "youth doesn't suit me," Meguru decides to quit the club.

With the retirement of the third-year students, the karuta club is on the verge of being disbanded, with only second-year students Yono Sota (Soma Santoki) and Meguru remaining. In an attempt to keep Meguru, the club's advisor, Kanade (Mone Kamishiraishi), insists that it is important to have experiences that can only be had now, just like how she once won the national championship in competitive karuta, but Meguru calls Kanade's way of thinking "the classical Japanese of the Heisei era."

Meanwhile, the Karuta Club holds a competitive karuta demonstration at the school festival to recruit new members. At Kanade's request, Meguru is forced to participate, where she reunites with Tsukiura Nagi (Nanoka Hara), a classmate from elementary school who is a member of the Mizusawa High School Competitive Karuta Club. Meguru rushes out of the clubroom and confesses to Kanade that seeing Nagi, who looks like the protagonist of a manga, makes her realize she is a loser. She tries to leave, but then reveals her true feelings to Kanade, saying, "If I could win even one thing against her, I might cry like the seniors did that day."... and so the story unfolds.

In the story, Meguru then returns to the demonstration, hiding her face with a mask, and sits opposite Nagi. The match between the Umezono High School Competitive Karuta Club and Nagi's team begins. Kanade hands Meguru a paper with a selection of "one-character rule" songs and tells her to memorize them all. While Nagi takes one card after another, she patiently waits for her chance. Then, as she waits for the card "Kumokakure ni yo wa no tsuki kana" to be read, Meguru reacts faster than Nagi and Kanade and takes the card the moment the first verse is read. "I did it!" Meguru exclaims joyfully, and high-fives Sota and Kanade, who are on either side of her.

On social media, there were many excited comments about Megu's "high-five" scene. Since the high-five with the people on either side of her also appeared in the movie series, comments such as "This high-five made me cry," "This is it," "The high-five with the people on either side, that's what Chihaya, Taichi, and Arata did," "Wow! So emotional! It's a high-five!", "It made me cry," and "The high-five with the three of them gave me goosebumps" were posted and became a hot topic.