Chihayafuru fans have waited over six long years to say this but season 3 of this series is finally going to hit the airwaves on October 22! Not only that but they are bringing in some big guns in the form of adding veteran voice actor Maaya Sakamoto to the cast! This information comes courtesy of a brand new promotional video that was released to the internet on August 2.
https://twitter.com/chihaya_anime/status/1157260506492805120
In the PV, it is revealed that Sakamoto will be playing the new character, Haruka Inokuma. Inokuma is an older karuta player who held the Queen title four times before she left the game to have children. As you can see in the video, she ends up facing off against main character Chihaya in a match which I’m certain will be an exciting moment in the new season.
In terms of the announced cast and crew, for the most part, it’s going to remain the same as the previous two seasons. Sadly, two cast members (Unsho Ishizuka and Toshiko Fujita) have passed away in the last half-decade since season two finished airing so they have been replaced. Other than that, however, things will remain the same with Asami Seto, Mamoru Miyano, and Yoshimasa Hosoya leading the cast. Behind the scenes, Morio Asaka will return to direct the two cour season at studio Madhouse.
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 this 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
