I finished rewatching the first season of Chihayafuru this evening. The story is about a group of high school students who play karuta, a card game based on the 100 poets anthology and quite popular in Japan. On the face of it it sounds like it would be quite a dull series, but it isn't, the storyline is really good and is very well paced. The artwork and animation are excellent and it has a good cast of characters each with their own distinctive personalities and each undergoes quite a bit of development as the series progresses.
Overall I found this series to have a very engaging storyline as it follows the contestants through the highs and lows of playing Karuta at competition level, which can be very demanding.
