The second episode of the TV drama "Chihayafuru -Meguri-" (NTV, Wednesdays at 10pm), starring actress Ami Touma, was broadcast on July 16th. In the episode, the trauma of Meguru Aizawa, a ghost member of the Umezono High School Competitive Karuta Club, was revealed, causing a stir on social media.
◇The following contains spoilers.
In the second episode, Meguru experiences the fun of karuta at the school festival, but her intention to quit the club remains unchanged. Meanwhile, Shirano Fuki (Jun Saito), a classmate, requests to join the karuta club. Advisor Oe Kanade (Mone Kamishiraishi) and club member Yono Sota (Soma Santoki) are delighted and teach the amateur Fuki the basics of karuta. To help Fuki get a feel for the atmosphere of a match, everyone decides to go watch Sota's individual match on Saturday, but Meguru declines the invitation and submits her withdrawal from the club.
Later, on her way home from cram school, Meguru bumps into Orie Kenshin (Fujiwara Daisuke), the ace of the Mizusawa High School Karuta Club. Kenshin invites Meguru into the world of karuta, leaving her in a difficult position. Then Fuki appears, doing roadwork. Fuki is an amateur boxer, and has been immersed in boxing since he was a child, bearing the full weight of his father Masato (Takahashi Tsutomu), who runs a boxing gym. Now that he is unable to practice due to an injury, he has been allowed to join the Karuta Club, saying that he wants to "train his reflexes until he recovers," but...
In the story, on the day of Kusata's individual match, Meguru visits Fuki's gym. Fuki confesses to Meguru that he is having doubts about continuing boxing and has kept quiet from his father that his injury is healing.
When asked by Fuki, "Why can't I enjoy my youth?", Meguru reveals that after failing her junior high school entrance exam, she accidentally overheard her father Susumu (Jun Kaname) and mother Touko (Yuki Uchida) talking about how, "If we had invested all the money we spent on Meguru's junior high school entrance exam now, we might have been able to FIRE in 10 years." She then revealed the feelings she had, saying, "It's not that I'm sad... I'm angry. I can't forgive myself for wasting my parents' feelings, money, time, and friends."
On social media, as Meguru's trauma became clear, voices of sympathy flooded in. Comments such as "Poor thing," "Parents may be having casual conversations, but kids take them seriously," "So her parents were the ones that influenced her to invest in them. Conversations between parents are hurtful...," "It must be painful to hear a conversation like that between your parents," "The curse of parents is too heavy... youth is not a luxury," "They're not toxic parents, but it's painful to see them unintentionally hurting their children's feelings," and "Hearing words like that would be traumatic." were posted.
