Among North American reviewers, Gia Manry, writing about the first episode of "Chihayafuru", felt that despite the animators' efforts, "karuta" seemed boring, and criticised the overuse of CG sakura, describing it as a "mixed bag" of an anime. Bamboo Dong says that Chihaya's passion and characterisation make "karuta" interesting. Carlo Santos felt that the series was the "first genuinely good show of the season", citing its characterisation, unusual subject, and polish of the first episode. Marcus Speer enjoyed the production values of the first episode, but felt that the theme songs were "standard fare". He was intrigued by how the characters' childhood impacted on their present interactions. Theron Martin appreciated the focus on the characters rather than the game, feeling that while the teenage Chihaya seemed "gimmicky", her younger self was "quite likable". Chris Beveridge praised the tension shown between Arata and Taichi in the second episode's "karuta" match. Theron Martin felt the second episode's "karuta" tournament was tense and compelling, and that despite the plot unfolding in a predictable fashion, the execution made this forgivable. Crunchyroll's editorial team chose "Chihayafuru" as one of the best anime of the 2010s decade and writer Humberto Saabedra commented, "You might expect such a series to be dry and uninteresting, but Chihaya's journey from bright-eyed freshman player to wiser and well-practiced is why the series shines". Writing for "Forbes", Lauren Orsini considered it to be one of the five best anime of 2011; she wrote, "Even Western viewers will quickly become invested in the fast-paced drama of competitive "karuta"".