I can’t be the only person who waits with bated breath every Tuesday when the new episode of Chihayafuru comes out, right? This third television season has been the best yet in terms of drama and cliffhangers and really things cannot get any better for the series… or could they?
In an announcement that hit the Internet the morning of Tuesday, January 14th, it was revealed that the creator of the original manga series is putting her money where her mouth is by establishing a foundation that will give back to the karuta community that she holds so dear.
Yuki Suetsugu has established the ‘Chihayafuru Fund’ which aims to give back to the karuta community. While the details are still a little vague on how exactly the fund aims to give back, we know that one of the first steps will be the establishment of the first annual Chihayafuru Kokurayama Cup. This will be a tournament held in Kyoto on February 23rd which will award a one million yen grand prize to the winner and 500,000 yen prize to the runner-up. That’s a good first step!
Adapting the manga of the same name created by Yuki Suetsugu, Chihayafuru is the definition of a “niche favorite” thanks to its unique central subject, competitive karuta. Serialized in Kodansha’s Be Love magazine since 2007, the series opens with an elementary school girl named Chihaya Ayase who has no real dreams of her own other than supporting her older sister’s modeling career. This changes as soon as she meets a transfer student named Wataru who has a secret: he is an expert competitive karuta player. Introducing the game to Chihaya, she falls in love with it and dedicates her life to becoming the best in the world while making friends along the way. The series has been collected into 42 manga volumes as of last year.
The first anime season aired in 2011 and quickly became a critical darling. This was followed by the second season in 2013 which ended very openly, which left fans desperate to see more. Unfortunately, the anime adaptation went radio silent for the next five years before the third season was announced in early 2018. Originally set to premiere in April 2019, the series was delayed for six months to improve the overall quality.
Via Comic Natalie
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