'Chihayafuru' Finale to be Delayed

Chihayafuru will be returning for a third season later this year, but the manga has been in the [...]

By Nick Valdez

Chihayafuru will be returning for a third season later this year, but the manga has been in the works consistently. It seems that the manga's finale has been hit with the same kind of delay the third season has, however.

Series creator Yuki Suetsugo revealed on Twitter that the end of the manga will not likely happen until at least October, around the time of the release of the anime's third season.

According to translations from @karice67 on Twitter, Suetsugu shared that she was privately asked about a third season of the anime series years ago for a potential release in 2019. She was asked whether or not the manga would be ended by then, and she initially believed it would end around Spring 2019.

But Suetsugu now believes that the manga finale will not likely be finished until around October, but she does say the manga will be at its climax. Suetsugu hopes fans will able to enjoy the anime and manga at the same time. There's currently no clue as to whether or not the third season of the anime was delayed from its initial April 2019 release because of Suetsugu's shifting finale, but that potentially could be a cause of the later October release window.

Regardless of whether or not this turns out to be the case, October is going to be a good period for Chihayafuru fans who will get to enjoy the long awaited third season of the series alongside the climax of the original manga. As for that third season, there are currently not too many details about its production. But Morio Asaka will be returning to direct the third season for Madhouse alongside the core voice cast of Asami Seto as Chihaya Ayase, Mamoru Miyano as Taichi Mashima, and Yoshimasa Hosoya as Arata Wataya.

Originally created by Yuki Suetsugo for Kodansha's Be Love magazine in 2007, Chihayafuru has printed more than 21 million volumes in Japan. The first two seasons of the series ran for 50 episodes from 2011-2013, and can currently be found streaming on Crunchyroll and HIDIVE. Sentai Filmworks has licensed the series for a home video release in the United States and they describe the series as such:

"Chihaya Ayase is a beautiful and headstrong young woman with a passion for karuta, a card game inspired by classical Japanese poetry. As a child, Chihaya was introduced to the game by a quiet, gifted transfer student named Arata, and she was instantly drawn to it. Now in high school and reunited with her childhood friend Taichi, Chihaya dreams of finding Arata and the three resuming their love of karuta, only to discover that Arata has quit the game due to personal reasons. Determined not to let Arata's passion go to waste, Chihaya and Taichi form the Mizusawa High School Karuta Club, where they learn that in karuta - as in life - working toward your dreams is the key to winning, even when what you want seems just out of reach."

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