The second episode of the TV drama "Chihayafuru -Meguri-" (NTV, Wednesdays at 10pm), starring actress Ami Touma, was broadcast on July 16th. The scene in which Oe Kanade (Mone Kamishiraishi), the advisor of the Umezono High School competitive karuta club, reads out the cards of the karuta, caused a stir on social media.
◇The following contains spoilers.
In the second episode, Aizawa Meguru (Touma), a ghost member of the Umezono High School Competitive Karuta Club who cares more about investing in the future than in youth, experiences the joys of karuta at the school festival but remains determined to quit.
Meanwhile, classmate Shirano Fuki (Jun Saito) asks to join the karuta club. Advisor Kanade and club member Yono Sota (Soma Santoki) are delighted and immediately begin teaching the amateur Fuki how to play karuta... and so the story unfolds.
In order to teach Fuki about competitive karuta, Sota demonstrates how to pick up a card. At Sota's request, Kanade stands up, takes a deep breath, and reads out the card in a voice that reverberates throughout the school. Kanade's voice reaches Meguru, who has remained in the classroom, as well as Murata Chieri (Arashi Rina) and Okuyama Haruma (Takamura Yoshihito), who are on the school grounds. Chieri, who is intrigued by the voice and exclaims, "That's beautiful," visits Kanade and the other members of the karuta club with Haruma.
On social media, Kanade's voice reading the cards became a hot topic. Comments such as "Moe-chan's beautiful voice is on full display," "Wow, Kanade is the reader, I'm so moved," "Kana-chan sensei, what a great voice!", "Kanade sensei is a genius at reading," "I'm captivated by Oe sensei's voice," and "His voice as he reads the waka poem is so beautiful..." were posted.
