So, I guess we should stop the Chihayafuru season 3 jokes, eh?
Earlier today, the staff from the two live-action Chihayafuru films announced that a sequel was greenlit for production. The staff revealed the news at a stage show for Chihayafuru: Shimo no Ku (Chihayafuru: Lower Phrase), which hit Japanese theaters this morning.
The two films, titled Chihayafuru: Kami no Ku (Chihayafuru: Upper Phrase) and Chihayafuru: Shimo no Ku (Chihayafuru: Lower Phrase), hit theaters on March 19 and April 19, respectively.
The cast includes:
- Chihaya Ayase: Suzu Hirose
- Taichi Mashima: Shuhei Nomura
- Arata Wataya: Mackenyu
- Kanade Ooe: Mone Kamishiraishi
- Yusei Nishida: Yuma Yamoto
- Tsutomu Komano: Yuki Morinaga
- Akihito Sudo: Hiroya Shimizu
- Hiro Kinashi: Ryotaro Sakaguchi
- Shinobu Wakamiya: Mayu Matsuoka
- Taeko Miyauchi: Miyuki Matsuda
- Hideo Harada: Jun Kunimura
- Harada: Jun Kunimura
Both films were directed by Norihiro Koizumi (Kanojo wa Uso o Ai Shisugiteru, Midnight Sun).
To promote the new film, Toho released a five-minute digest of Chihayafuru: Kami no Ku.
The Chihayafuru manga inspired a pair of anime series from Madhouse, which ran for a combined 50 episodes. Morio Asaka (My Love Story!!) directed the title, while Kunihiko Hamada (My Love Story!!, Nana) provided character designs. Digimon Fusion composer Kousuke Yamashita was in charge of the show’s music.
In North America, the Chihayafuru anime is currently streaming in its entirety on Crunchyroll. They describe the series as follows:
Chihaya Ayase has spent most of her life supporting her sister’s model career. When she meets a boy named Arata Wataya, he thinks Chihaya has potential to become a great karuta player. As Chihaya dreams of becoming Japan’s best karuta player, she is soon separated from her karuta playing friends. Now in high school, Chihaya still plays karuta in the hope that she will one day meet her friends again.
Source: Comic Natalie
