The “Chihayafuru Chūgakusei-hen” a.k.a. “Chihayafuru Middle School Arc” is reaching its end in just a few weeks. Announced in this year’s 21st issue of Kodansha’s Be-Love magazine, the final issue of the series is set for November 1.
“Chihayafuru Chūgakusei-hen” is a spin-off work of the original “Chihayafuru” series and features various characters when they were in middle school. Adapted from Yui Tokiumi’s spinoff novel series for Yuki Suetsugu’s Chihayafuru manga, the series was launched by Oto Tōda in October 2017. Currently, the series is about to release its second compiled volume on August 9.
It was in December 2007 that the original manga series made its debut in Kodansha’s Be-Love magazine. Currently, there are 39 volumes released and the 40th volume of the series will be launched on November 13. Back in 2016, the series earned the #7 ranking in the Da Vinci magazine’s “Book of the Year” list. Other than this, the manga also won the Manga Taishō and the Kodansha Manga Award.
In October 2011, the series gained an anime adaptation with Madhouse having done animation production and Morio Asaka as the director. As for the series composition and character designs, Naoya Takayama and Kunihiko Hamada took on the roles respectively. The series ran from October 2011 to March 2012; it had a total of 25 episodes and gained a second season which aired from January to June 2013. Other than anime, the series has also inspired three live-action films. Most recently, it has been confirmed that a third season for the anime will be premiering in 2019.
“Chiharafuyu,” tells the story of a strong-willed and tomboyish girl named Chihaya Ayase. Having grown under the shadow of her older sister, Chihaya ended up having no dreams of her own and had been content with her share in life. That was until she met the quiet transfer student, Arata Wataya. He introduces the elementary class to competitive kurata, and upon seeing his passion for the card game, Chihaya ends up inspired and quickly falls in love with the world of kurata. Together with the prodigy Arata and her haughty but hard-working friend Taichi Mashima, she joins the local Shiranami Society. The trio spends their idyllic childhood days playing together until circumstances split them up.
Now in high school, Chihaya continues to be obsessed with kurata and aims to establish the Municipal Mizusawa High Competitive Karuta Club, setting her sights on the national championship at Omi Jingu.
Source: AnimeNewsNetwork