The fifth episode of the drama series "Chihayafuru: Meguri" (NTV, Wednesdays at 10 PM), starring actress Ami Touma, aired on August 6th. In the episode, Fuki (Jun Saito), a member of the Umezono Karuta Club, competes in the tournament and performs well in the first round against a strong school. The scene depicted in the episode where Fuki is approached by Orie Kenshin (Fujiwara Daisuke), the ace of the Mizusawa Karuta Club and the top high school player, sparked a buzz on social media.
◇The following contains spoilers.
In episode 5, Meguru (Touma), who had lied to her family about attending the training camp, is confronted by her mother, Touko (Uchida Yuki), and father, Susumu (Kaname Jun), who slaps her. Meguru leaves the training camp with the final day remaining, and Kanade (Mone Kamishiraishi) and the others see her off with mixed feelings.
With her parents not allowing her to continue playing karuta, Meguru decides to quit the club after the next Musashino tournament. To the dejected Umezono members, Meguru tells them, "That's why I want to practice more than ever in the remaining time, so that I can play as many karuta matches as possible with everyone." Meguru and the others begin intense training, but in the first round of the Musashino tournament, they face an unexpected and tough opponent, Adore Girls' Academy.
In the first round, Umezono showed the results of his practice from the beginning, and Meguru and the others took cards one after another. Then, with a quick movement, Fuki swept the "Shira Tsuyu ni" card backward, and it collided with the card thrown by Kenshin, sending it flying... and so on.
Seeing Fuki's card collide with Kenshin's, Kanade exclaims in amazement, "He's as fast as the number one high school student...!" Then, when Kenshin meets Fuki as he goes to get the card, he calls out to Fuki as they pass each other, "You're doing great." Kanade cannot hide her amazement at Fuki's growth, and mutters, "He's grown so much... Shirano-san, he might turn out to be something special."
On social media, many people expressed their anticipation for a future showdown between Kazuki and Kenshin. Comments included, "I'm curious to see what happens next," "I really want to see a match between Kazuki and Kenshin," "I'm already so excited for the match between Hakuno and Kenshin," and "The flag has been raised for Shirano to transform! Please hurry up and fight Kenshin."
