If cards could talk, they’d apparently tell a love story.
Earlier today, Sentai Filmworks announced that they acquired the domestic rights to both seasons of the Chihayafuru anime series. Sentai will bring the series to digital storefronts in the near future, which will be followed by a home video release at a later date.
Chihayafuru is based on Yuki Suetsugu’s manga of the same name. The 50-episode series aired from the Fall 2011 broadcast season through Summer 2013. Morio Asaka (My Love Story!!) directed the title at Madhouse, with Kunihiko Hamada (My Love Story!!, Nana) providing character designs. Naoya Takayama (Supernatural: The Anime Series) was in charge of series composition on the project.
Sentai describes the series as:
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.
In North America, the Chihayafuru anime is currently streaming in its entirety on Crunchyroll.
In addition to the anime, Suetsugu’s Chihayafuru manga also inspired a pair of live-action films, which hit theaters earlier this year. A third film is currently in production.
Source: Anime Herald
