Chihayafuru

Chihayafuru

Cover of the first manga volume
ちはやふる
Genre Sport, Romance
Manga
Written by Yuki Suetsugu
Published by Kodansha
Demographic Josei
Magazine Be-Love
Original run 2007 – ongoing
Volumes 15
TV anime
Directed by Morio Asaka
Written by Naoya Takayama
Music by Kousuke Yamashita
Studio Madhouse
Network NTV
Original run 5 October, 2011 – ongoing
Episodes 25 (List of episodes)
Anime and Manga Portal

Chihayafuru (ちはやふる?) is a manga series written and illustrated by Yuki Suetsugu, serialised in Be Love and published by Kodansha. It is about a school girl, Chihaya Ayase, who after seeing her sister become a fashion model, is inspired by a new classmate to take up Hyakunin Isshu karuta competitively. It has been adapted into an anime television series, screening on Nippon Television and Crunchyroll from 5 October, 2011.

The manga has won the Manga Taisho Award and the Kodansha Manga Award. Since its fourth volume was released in March 2009, it has regularly appeared on the Japanese Comic Ranking chart, and in August 2011 was estimated to have sold over 4.5 million copies. Its popularity has boosted the profile of Competitive Karuta in Japan.

Contents

Plot

Chihaya Ayase is a girl who has spent most of her life simply supporting her sister in her model career. That changes when she meets a boy named Arata Wataya, a talented karuta player. He thinks that Chihaya has a potential to become a great player. As Chihaya takes on a new dream of becoming Japan's best karuta player, she is soon separated from her karuta playing friends as they grow up. Now in high school, Chihaya still continues to play karuta in the hope that she will one day meet her friends again.

Characters

Chihaya Ayase (綾瀬千早 Ayase Chihaya?)
Voiced by: Asami Seto[1]
A determined schoolgirl who "possesses a remarkable hearing ability". She believes that by persevering in karuta, she will meet Arata again, and begins a karuta club at her high school with Mashima.[2] While she is beautiful, she is considered too weird, her classmates referring to her as a "waste of a beauty".[3] Carl Kimlinger from Anime News Network described her as a "tomboy trapped in a supermodel's body".[4] Her "guileless" nature has been criticised as seeming unrealistic by Shigeko Matsuo of the Asahi Shimbun,[5] but Bamboo Dong feels that her "pure, sweet" characterisation "just works", although Dong feels Chihaya's attachment to Arata and Taichi is "a little weird".[6] Chihaya is extremely childish, and when she was younger, looked very much like a boy due to her short hair. She has a pronounced sense of right and wrong, which causes her to befriend Arata when the other kids made fun of him.
Arata Wataya (綿谷新 Wataya Arata?)
Voiced by: Yoshimasa Hosoya,[1] Yuka Terasaki (young)[7]
A transfer student to Chihaya's elementary school, grandchild of a master karuta player, Arata inspires Chihaya to take up karuta.[8] He has difficulty fitting in at Chihaya's elementary school because of his Fukui dialect and passion for karuta, but Chihaya befriends him.[9] His dream is to become a karuta Meijin. After graduating elementary school, he returns to Fukui to care for his grandfather.[8] After returning to Fukui, he quits karuta[2] because his grandfather died while Arata was competing in a karuta tournament to rise to A-rank.
Taichi Mashima (真島太一 Mashima Taichi?)
Voiced by: Mamoru Miyano,[1] Ayahi Takagaki (young)[7]
An all-round sportsman,[8] and Chihaya's childhood friend.[2] His mother is very strict with him, telling him he should stick to activities he can win at.[3] Because he is a sore loser, he becomes Chihaya's rival in karuta.[8] He seems to have feelings for Chihaya although he has a girlfriend, and is jealous of her feelings for Arata. A talented student and athlete, he claims to have outgrown karuta, but then, after watching Chihaya excelling and obviously having fun, he decides to help her form a karuta club.
Kanade Ōe (大江奏 Ōe Kanade?)
Voiced by: Ai Kayano[1]
A girl with a taste for the classics,[8] Kanade is a quiet girl who works in a kimono store and loves all kinds of traditional clothing. She is quite knowledgeable about the true meanings behind the One Hundred Poems and joins the karuta club on the condition that they start wearing hakama.[10]
Yusei Nishida (西田優征 Nishida Yūsei?)
Voiced by: Tōru Nara[1]
A rather tubby boy who is reluctantly often called 'Porky' (肉まんくん Nikuman-kun?, lit. Meat boy) by Chihaya. Once a top karuta player who had previously played against Chihaya, Arata and Taichi in an elementary school tournament, Yusei quit karuta after suffering a defeat against Arata and took up tennis as a refuge. However, Chihaya manages to remind him how he used to play for fun and he ends up joing the karuta club.
Tsutomu Komano (駒野勉 Komano Tsutomu?)
Voiced by: Tsubasa Yonaga[1]
An intelligent boy in Chihaya's class who is second only to Taichi in test scores. Often tied to his desk and anti-social, he feels that nothing is worth doing unless it makes you smarter. However, Chihaya and Taichi help to convince him that karuta involves a lot of strategy and he joins the club.
Shinobu Wakamiya (若宮詩暢 Wakamiya Shinobu?)
The current Queen of Karuta, she is also the youngest Queen in history.[8]
Yumi Yamamoto (山本由美 Yamamoto Yumi?)
The former Queen of Karuta, she is 24 years old.[8]
Hisashi Suō (周防久志 Suō Hisashi?)
The current Meijin of Karuta. He began karuta in college, and took three years to take the title of Meijin. His favourite food is sweets.[8]

Development

Yuki Suetsugu belonged to a karuta club in senior high school, and feels that the school years are a period of a person's life where "you can dedicate the most genuine part of yourself to something". The name of the series comes from the first five syllables of a poem in the Hyakunin Isshu poetry anthology, which is printed on the karuta cards.[11]

Media

Manga

The manga has been serialised in Be Love since 2007,[2] and has been collected by Kodansha into 15 bound volumes as of December 2011,[12] which is also available in eBook format.[13] The manga is licensed in Taiwan by Tong Li Publishing.[14]

No. Release date ISBN
1 13 May, 2008[15] ISBN 978-4-06-319239-1
2 12 September, 2008[16] ISBN 978-4-06-319245-2
3 12 December, 2008[17] ISBN 978-4-06-319252-0
4 13 March, 2009[18] ISBN 978-4-06-319259-9
5 12 June, 2009[19] ISBN 978-4-06-319266-7
6 11 September, 2009[20] ISBN 978-4-06-319271-1
7 11 December, 2009[21] ISBN 978-4-06-319276-6
8 12 March, 2010[22] ISBN 978-4-06-319282-7
9 11 June, 2010[23] ISBN 978-4-06-319287-2
10 13 September, 2010[24] ISBN 978-4-06-319294-0
11 13 December, 2010[25] ISBN 978-4-06-380301-3
12 11 March, 2011[26] ISBN 978-4-06-380309-9
13 13 June, 2011[27] ISBN 978-4-06-380320-4
14 13 September, 2011[28] ISBN 978-4-06-380324-2
15 13 December, 2011[12] ISBN 978-4-06-380331-0

Anime

See also: List of Chihayafuru episodes

An anime television series based on the manga was announced in May 2011.[29] The series was produced by Studio Madhouse under the direction of Morio Asaka with script supervision by Naoya Takayama and character designs by Kunihiko Hamada.[30] The art director is Tomoyuki Shimizu, the director of photography is Kenji Fujita, the colour supervisor is Ken Hashimoto, the CG director is Tsukasa Saito, the music is by Kousuke Yamashita, and the sound director is Masafumi Mima. The opening theme is "Youthful", performed by 99RadioService, and the ending theme is "And Now", performed by Asami Seto.[1] There are 25 episodes announced.[2] The series began its broadcast run on NTV starting 5 October, 2011.[30] The series is simulcast in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand by Crunchyroll.[31]

The series is planned to be released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on 21 December, 2011, with a limited character charm of young Chihaya.[32]

App

A mobile phone app has been released which allows the user to play karuta with other users of the app.[33]

Guidebook

A Chihayafuru guidebook to the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu poetry anthology used in karuta was published on 11 November, 2011.[34]

Music

99RadioService released a Chihayafuru-themed single of "Youthful" on 30 November, 2011. An original soundtrack album is due to be released on 18 January, 2012.[35]

Reception

Chihayafuru won the second Manga Taisho award,[36] and the 35th Kodansha Manga Award in the shojo manga category.[37] When Chihayafuru won the Manga Taisho award, it was commented that the series combines elements of the sport genre and literary elements with a discerning eye on the subject matter.[38]

In the week of 10 March - 16 March, 2009, the fourth volume of Chihayafuru appeared at #24 on the Japanese Comic Ranking chart, selling 29,776 copies in that week.[39] In the week of 8 June - 14 June 2009, the fifth volume appeared at #11 on the chart, selling 46,774 copies in that week.[40] The next week, it slipped to #21, selling an additional 40,344 copies in that week.[41] In the week of 7 September - 13 September 2009, volume six of Chihayafuru appeared at #8 on the list, selling 61,089 copies.[42] The next week, it appeared at #23, selling 45,028 copies in that week.[43] In the week of 7 December - 14 December 2009, the seventh volume ranked at number nine on the list, selling 70,790 copies.[44] The following week, it ranked at #15, selling an additional 55,266 copies.[45] The eight volume of Chihayafuru ranked at #5 on the bestseller's list, selling 92,555 copies in the week of 8 - 14 March, 2010.[46] The following week, it slipped to seventh place, selling an additional 72,957 copies.[47] For the week of 7-13 June 2010, the ninth volume of Chihayafuru appeared at #6 on the chart, selling 99,296 copies in that week.[48] The following week, it slipped to ninth place, selling an additional 74,885 copies.[49] The tenth volume of Chihayafuru placed first on the list for the week of 13-19 September,[50] slipping to nineteenth place the next week.[51] For the week of 13-19 December, the eleventh volume debuted at #2,[52] slipping to #23 the next week.[53] The twelfth volume appeared at #9 for the week of 7- 13 March 2011,[54] rising to #4 the following week.[55] The thirteenth volume debuted at #3 for the week of 13-19 June 2011,[56] slipping to #20 the following week.[57] The fourteenth volume debuted at #3 for the week of 12- 18 September 2011,[58] slipping to #24 the following week.[59]

As of August 2011, it was reported that there were sales of over 4.5 million copies of the manga volumes.[2]

The popularity of Chihayafuru has boosted the popularity of competitive karuta.[11][60]

Gia Manry, writing about the first episode of Chihayafuru, felt that despite the animators' efforts, karuta seemed boring, and criticised the overuse of CG sakura, describing it as a "mixed bag" of an anime.[61] Bamboo Dong says that Chihaya's passion and characterisation make karuta interesting.[62] Carlo Santos felt that the series was the "first genuinely good show of the season", citing its characterisation, unusual subject, and polish of the first episode.[63] Marcus Speer enjoyed the production values of the first episode, but felt that the theme songs were "standard fare". He was intrigued by how the characters' childhood impacted on their present interactions.[64] Martin Theron appreciated the focus on the characters rather than the game, feeling that while the teenage Chihaya seemed "gimmicky", her younger self was "quite likable".[65] Chris Beveridge praised the tension shown between Arata and Taichi in the second episode's karuta match.[66] Martin Theron felt the second episode's karuta tournament was tense and compelling, and that despite the plot unfolding in a predictable fashion, the execution made this forgivable.[65]

References

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  66. ^ Beveridge, Chris. "Chihayafuru Episode #02 Anime Review". The Fandom Post. http://www.fandompost.com/2011/10/11/chihayafuru-episode-02-anime-review/. Retrieved 2011-10-14. 

Further reading

External links

Works of Madhouse
Films
The Fantastic Adventures of Unico (1981) • Natsu e no Tobira (1981) • Haguregumo (1982) • Harmagedon (1983) • Unico in the Island of Magic (1983) • Barefoot Gen (1983) • The Dagger of Kamui (1985) • Barefoot Gen 2 (1986) • Wicked City (1987) • Neo Tokyo (1987) • A Wind Named Amnesia (1990) • Ninja Scroll (1993) • Memories (segment Stink Bomb) (1995) • X (1996) • Perfect Blue (1997) • Cardcaptor Sakura: The Movie (1999) • Cardcaptor Sakura Movie 2: The Sealed Card (2000) • Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (2000) • Metropolis (2001) • Millennium Actress (2001) • Nasu: Summer in Andalusia (2003) • Tokyo Godfathers (2003) • The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006) • Paprika (2006) • Highlander: The Search for Vengeance (2007) • Piano no Mori (2007) • Summer Wars (2009) • Mai Mai Miracle (2009) • Redline (2009) • Yona Yona Penguin (2009) • Trigun: Badlands Rumble (2010) • The Tibetan Dog (2011) • To Aru Hikūshi e no Tsuioku (2011)
Television series
Aim for the Ace! (1973-1974) • YAWARA! (1989-1992) • Azuki-chan (1995-1998) • Trigun (1998) • Cardcaptor Sakura (1998-2000) • Master Keaton (1998-1999) • Jubei-chan: The Secret of the Lovely Eyepatch (1999) • Boogiepop Phantom (2000) • Carried by the Wind: Tsukikage Ran (2000) • Hidamari no Ki (2000) • Hajime no Ippo: The Fighting! (2000-2002) • Beyblade (2001) • Galaxy Angel (2001-2004) • Shingu: Secret of the Stellar Wars (2001) • Chance Pop Session (2001) • X (2001-2002) • Aquarian Age: Sign for Evolution (2002) • Chobits (2002) • Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi (2002) • Pita-Ten (2002) • Dragon Drive (2002-2003) • Hanada Shōnen Shi (2002-2003) • Ninja Scroll: The Series (2003) • Texhnolyze (2003) • Gungrave (2003-2004) • Gunslinger Girl (2003-2004) • Gokusen (2004) • Jubei-chan: The Counter Attack of Siberia Yagyu (2004) • Paranoia Agent (2004) • Tenjho Tenge (2004) • Monster (2004-2005) • BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad (2004-2005) • Strawberry 100% (2005) • Akagi (2005-2006) • Paradise Kiss (2005) • Kiba (2006-2007) • Strawberry Panic! (2006) • NANA (2006-2007) • The Story of Saiunkoku (2006-2008) • Black Lagoon (2006) • Otogi-Jūshi Akazukin (2006) • Kemonozume (2006) • Death Note (2006-2007) • Claymore (2007) • Oh! Edo Rocket (2007) • Princess Resurrection (2007) • Dennō Coil (2007) • Devil May Cry (2007) • Shigurui (2007) • Gyakkyō Burai Kaiji (2007-2008) • Majin Tantei Nōgami Neuro (2007-2008) • Ani*Kuri15 (animated sequence) (2007-2008) • Chi's Sweet Home (2008-2009) • Allison & Lillia (2008) • Kamen no Maid Guy (2008) • Top Secret ~The Revelation~ (2008) • Kaiba (2008) • Ultraviolet: Code 044 (2008) • Casshern Sins (2008) • Kurozuka (2008) • Mōryō no Hako (2008) • One Outs (2008-2009) • Stitch! (2008-2010) • Chaos;Head (2008) • Hajime no Ippo: New Challenger (2009) • Rideback (2009) • Sōten Kōro (2009) • Needless (2009) • Kobato. (2009-2010) • Aoi Bungaku (2009) • Rainbow: Nisha Rokubō no Shichinin (2010) • The Tatami Galaxy (2010) • Highschool of the Dead (2010) • Marvel Anime (2010-2011) • Gyakkyō Burai Kaiji: Hakairoku-hen (2011) • Hunter × Hunter (2011-) • Chihayafuru (2011-2012)
OVAs
Demon City Shinjuku (1988) • Goku Midnight Eye (1989) • Cyber City Oedo 808 (1990-1991) • Record of Lodoss War (1990-1991) • Tokyo Babylon (1992-1994) • Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals (1994) • Bio Hunter (1995) • Birdy the Mighty (1996-1997) • Space Pirate Captain Herlock (2002-2003) • Trava: Fist Planet (2003) • The Animatrix (animated sequence) (2003) • Hajime no Ippo: Mashiba vs. Kimura (2003) • Lament of the Lamb (2003-2004) • Last Order: Final Fantasy VII (2005) • Clamp in Wonderland 2 (2007) • Nasu: A Migratory Bird with Suitcase (2007) • Batman: Gotham Knight (animated sequence) (2008) • Hellsing Ultimate V-VII (2008-2009) • Supernatural: The Animation (2011)
Video games