Chihayafuru

Chihayafuru (ちはやふる) is a manga series written and illustrated by Yuki Suetsugu, serialized in Be Love and published by Kodansha. The first Chapter was released on December 28, 2007.

The manga has won the Manga Taishō Award and the Kodansha Manga Award. Since its fourth volume was released in March 2009, it has regularly appeared on the Japanese Comic Ranking chart, and in August 2011 was estimated to have sold over 4.5 million copies. Its popularity has boosted the profile of competitive karuta in Japan.

The Manga has also been adapted into an anime television series, which aired on Nippon Television and Crunchyroll between October 2011 and March 2012. A second season aired between January and June 2013 and a third season has been announced for Fall 2019.

A four volume light novel series has been published between September 2012 and December 2013, depicting the life of the characters during their junior high school years. This story has also being serialized as three volume Manga adaption, by Oto Tōda, from October 2017 until December 2018.

A live action film adaptation titled Chihayafuru: Kami no Ku was released on March 19, 2016, with a second film released on April 29, 2016. The third and final installment of the movie trilogy has been released on March 17th, 2018.

Plot
The story revolves around the high school girl Chihaya Ayase, a girl who has spent most of her life simply supporting her sister in her model career. Things change when she meets a boy named Arata Wataya, a talented karuta player. He believes that Chihaya has the potential to become a great karuta player herself. As Chihaya takes on the new dream of becoming Japan's best karuta player, she is soon separated from her karuta playing friends as they grow up. Now in high school, Chihaya still continues to play karuta in the hope that she will one day meet her friends again and reach her dream...

Official

 * Manga Official Website (Japanese)
 * Chihayafuru Anime Official Website (Japanese)
 * Chihayafuru 2 Anime Official Website (Japanese)
 * Chihayafuru Movie Official Website (Japanese)