i think the reason i so emphasize that reading chihayafuru as an adult versus as a teenager is impt is because reading about high school students when you no longer are one really offers a world of difference in terms of perspective

in high school a lot of rivalries with our peers or our desire to do well in competition feel as if they’re the epitome of our existence. but when you go off to college or wherever else as an adult you kind of realize just how much more there is to life

and that’s not to say those rivalries or competitive rigor are unimportant or disappear or are trivial but that it’s easy to get caught up in them as as a kid when everyone feels like they’re working towards the same goal, and you’re not going in your own distinct directions

it’s easier for kids to perceive each other as threats, in a sense. that’s rounding it out a little too much and it’s definitely more complex than that but at least in regards to how i see people consume the series i think a lot of interpretation is owed to teenage projection