The final episode of the drama series "Chihayafuru: Meguri" (NTV, Wednesdays at 10 PM), starring actress Ami Touma, aired on September 10th. In the episode, Meguru (Touma) and the Umezono Karuta Club faced off against Nagi (Nanoka Hara Club in the final qualifying round to advance to the national tournament. Nagi's actions after the match caused a stir on social media.
◇The following contains spoilers.
In the final episode, Meguru and the Umezono Karuta Club face off against the reigning champion, Mizusawa. The caller is Kanade (Mone Kamishiraishi). Umezono and Mizusawa, Meguru and Nagi face off against each other. Kanade's introductory song reverberates throughout the venue, and her beautiful voice captivates Mizusawa alumni, including Chihaya (Suzu Hirose), Taichi (Nomura Shuhei), Nishida (Yamoto Yuma), and Sumire (Yuki Mio), who are in the audience.
The match was a back-and-forth battle with neither side giving in. Chieri (Arashi Rina) and Yakumo (Sakamoto Aito) lost, pushing Umezono to the brink, but Meguru and Mizusawa's ace Kenshin (Jun Saito) and Sota (Soma Santoki), who showed a furious comeback, and finally it was a fateful match between the three pairs. Meanwhile, Sota won one game, and Meguru began practicing the signal that the Umezono members had decided on to attack the enemy camp. Then the cards were called, but Meguru and Fuki's hands were just a little short of the cards, and the match ended with Nagi and Kenshin winning, and Mizusawa finishing with four wins... and so it went.
In the episode, after beating Meguru, Nagi hears Kenshin say, "Mizusawa...3 wins," and then, crying, she shouts, "Mizusawa...4 wins!" As the venue erupts in applause, Nagi erupts in joy, hugging Kenshin next to her and sobbing, saying, "Kenshin...thank you." The other Mizusawa members then embrace Nagi and Kenshin in joy.
In the film series, there is a scene in which Taichi, after winning a match at a tournament, shouts "Mizusawa wins!" and Chihaya embraces him, so the scene in which Nagi hugs Kenshin became a hot topic on social media. Comments included, "The hug reminded me so much of Taichi and Chihaya that I cried," "Nagi-chan was so similar to Chihaya flying towards Taichi," "Nagi-chan crying as she went to hug Kenshin, and Chihaya crying as she went to hug Taichi," and "It's just like Mizusawa back then..."
