TV anime "Chihayafuru 3," "Chihayafuru Festival in Kanda Myojin" event report featuring Asami Seto, Ai Chino, and Meguho Ban on stage!

On December 28, 2019, "Chihayafuru Festival in Kanda Myojin" was held at the "Room of Reiwa" in Kanda Myojin, Tokyo.

Chihayafuru" boasts a total of 25 million copies of the 43-volume comic series, and the live-action movie "Chihayafuru: Knot" starring Suzu Hirose was also released, making it a very popular comic loved by people of all ages. It won the 2nd Manga Grand Prize (2009), the 1st place in the "This Manga is Amazing! Based on a coming-of-age manga about competitive karuta, it has been adapted into two seasons of TV animation. With its beautiful visuals and passionate coming-of-age story, it is popular not only among women but also among men.
⇒ The teaser visual for the third season of the TV anime "Chihayafuru" has been released! Comments from Masami Seto, Mamoru Miyano, and Yoshimasa Hosoya have arrived!

The third season of the TV series has been airing favorably since October 2019, and today, January 7, 2020 (Tuesday), the second TV anime "Chihayafuru 3" will start airing.

On December 28, 2019, "Chihayafuru Festival" was held at Kanda Myojin's "Reiwa no Ma" in Tokyo with Asami Seto (Chihaya Ayase), Ai Chino (Kanade Ooe), Megumi Ban (Violet Hanano), and Kota and Kohei Horiuchi of 99RadioService, who sing the opening theme "COLORFUL", on stage. HAYAFURU Festival in Kanda Myojin" was held. The official report has arrived and will be introduced below.

Official Report】※原文ママ

Chihayafuru 3", which is currently airing its third TV anime season and will start its second cool season on January 7 (Tuesday), held a premium event limited to 100 people at Kanda Myojin on December 28, 2019, titled "Chihayafuru Festival in Kanda Myojin". The event was held at Kanda Myojin on December 28, 2019. Asami Seto (Chihaya Ayase), Ai Chino (Kanade Ooe), Megumi Ban (Violet Hanano), and Kota Horiuchi and Kohei Horiuchi of 99RadioService, who sang the opening theme "COLORFUL," took the stage to talk, read, and perform live.

After the world-fastest screening of the 13th episode, "Furiyuku Mono Wa Mimi Narikakeri," the cast members appeared on stage dressed in gorgeous kimonos, which excited the audience. He also reminisced about the first season when Mr. Seto was still in high school and wearing his school uniform.

The topic then turned to episodes during the recording. Ms. Seto said that Maaya Sakamoto, who plays Haruka Inokuma, a character introduced in the third season, fits the role too well. She said that Miyano-san and Sakamoto-san discuss the accents of technical terms on the set. The cast members also excitedly recalled that the interaction between Ms. Sakamoto and Ms. Megumi Hayashibara, who plays Midori Sakurazawa, was like watching an exchange between the gods.　As for the highlights of the upcoming production, "There is a lot of heartbreaking stuff going on with Taichi, but the story is getting exciting, so watch out for it." The triangle between Taichi, Chihaya, and Arata makes you want to root for them." "Shin's black, burning expression is something that can only be seen in the third season." The "game corner" followed.

The first question was "I rode softly and got off with a shout. The first question was "I rode it softly, screamed and got off." Among various answers such as "roller coaster," "Kiyomizu Temple," and "skateboard," Ms. Chino answered "scale" and got the correct answer. Hearing the correct answer, Mr. Seto and Mr. Ban nodded their heads and said, "I know! The second question was "Skirt in, flabby belly is 000000". When the MC gave a hint that the answer was related to a comedian, Seto, who loves comedians, answered "You missed the M-1, Kamaitachi" and "Time Machine No. 3, Seki-san" in succession, which made the audience laugh. The third question was "Yes man, only love is 000000. Ms. Chino wrote "NO THANK YOU" horizontally on a strip of paper, but answered incorrectly (the correct answer was "no"). The fourth question was "First meeting, confirmation work: 000000". When the MC gave a hint that it was a part of the body, the answer was "face," "height," "pancreas," "liver," and so on, but all the answers were incorrect. When the MC asked them to confirm their marriages, all three answered "ring finger," which was the correct answer.

The original reading play "Let's Valentine Cooking" depicted Chihaya, Kanade, and Violet making chocolate for Valentine's Day in an attempt to bring back vitality to the karuta club. The background music for the reading play was created by Kohei Horiuchi and Kota of 99RadioService for the occasion, and the sound effects during the reading play were reproduced by Kohei Horiuchi and Kota using their mouths without using any instruments!
As Kohei told the audience before the reading, "Please laugh as hard as you can at the sound effects," the audience laughed out loud as he beautifully reproduced onomatopoeic sounds such as the "thud" of chocolate melting, the "gush" of crushing, and the sound of a hand mixer.

Next, Kohei Horiuchi and Kota Horiuchi performed two acoustic live songs, "YOUTHFUL" and "STAR," the opening themes of the first and second seasons, respectively. The audience clapped their hands in excitement. As a surprise, Ms. Seto sang the ending theme song for the first season, "And Now," and the audience fell silent, intoxicated by her beautiful singing voice and her high, elongated tones. At the end of the live corner, Ms. Chino and Mr. Ban joined the audience to sing "COLORFUL," the opening theme for the third season.

The event concluded with messages from the speakers.

Mr. Ban
It has been about 8 years since the anime started, and I am happy to have been involved in one work for such a long time. I hope that we can continue the anime not only for a third season, but also for a fourth, fifth, and sixth season, as long as the original story continues. To do so, I need your help, so please continue to support "Chihayafuru" in the future.

Mr. Chino
This event was only for the female cast of the Mizusawa Karuta Club, but it seems strange not to have Mr. Niku-Man and Mr. Desk, and I would like to invite Shin from Fukui, and I would be happy if we could have an event with all the male cast members and others to talk about our love for "Chihayafuru". Thank you very much.

Mr. Seto
I am very happy that my last day of work was an event of "Chihayafuru" and that I could spend it with you all. I think "Chihayafuru" is a combination of not only the main story but also the opening and ending songs, so I am very happy that this event with talk and music is the most wonderful form of "Chihayafuru". Let's continue to watch "Chihayafuru" in 2020 and make it a year that we can enjoy watching it! Have a happy New Year!

Film information】 ※Honorific titles are omitted.
TV animation "Chihayafuru
＜Broadcast Information
Broadcasting from October 22, 2019 for 2 consecutive seasons
NTV: Tuesdays at 25:29-25:59 (AnichU slot)
Fukuoka Broadcasting System: Every Thursday from 26:10 to 26:40
Fukui Broadcasting Corporation: Every Friday from 25:30 to 26:00

<Distribution information
Hulu: Tuesdays from 24:00 onwards starting October 22

The following is available on Wednesdays from October 23rd at 12:00~.
Nittele Free, TVer, GYAO!, dAnime Store, U-NEXT, Anime Unlimited, dTV, Nico Nico Douga, J:COM On Demand, Video Pass, Miru Plus, Hikari TV, Bandai Channel, Rakuten TV, TSUTAYA TV, Video Market, DMM.com, Video, Amazon Video, Movie Full Plus

＜Introduction
Winner of the 2nd Manga Grand Prize in 2009, No. 1 in the 2010 "This Manga is Amazing! Onna Hen" in 2010, the 35th Kodansha Manga Award for Girls in 2011, and a total of over 24 million comics sold (as of June 2019).

Chihayafuru" (serialized by Yuki Suetsugu in Kodansha's "BE・LOVE") is popular among all ages and genders for its novel subject matter of "competitive karuta" and the heated matches that unfold despite being a girls' manga.

The story depicts high school students who put their adolescence on the tatami mats and continue to grow through "competitive karuta" along with the beautiful "Hyakunin Isshu" poem, which has not faded away over time.

The long-awaited TV anime "Chihayafuru 3" will be broadcast in October 2019, six years after the previous "Chihayafuru 2"! Continuing from the first and second seasons, the animation will be directed by Morio Asaka, character design by Kunihiko Hamada, and produced by Madhouse.

<Story
I don't want to give up my dream of becoming a queen or my future!
I'm going to devote my whole life to this one moment. -----

In the summer of their second year of high school, Chihaya and the other members of Mizusawa High School's karuta club participate in a national tournament with new members.
In the team competition, Mizusawa High School won the championship for the first time, defeating Fujisaki High School, a school that always wins.

Chihaya successfully underwent surgery on her right finger injured in the team competition, and she joins the summer camp of Fujisaki High School with Taichi.
Undeterred by her advisor, Mr. Sakurazawa's spartan instruction, Chihaya trains hard for the Meijin and Queen tournaments, only to learn that her participation in the tournament is in jeopardy. ......

Meanwhile, Shin realizes that having a team opens up new possibilities in karuta, and begins to work toward the establishment of a karuta club.

The appearance of a new rival, his future career path, and his dream of becoming a queen......
The third season of "Karuta Club" opens with the earnest and straightforward thoughts and passions of life-size high school students!

＜Staff
Original Story: Yuki Suetsugu (serialized in Kodansha's "BE・LOVE")
Director : Morio Asaka
Series composition：Yuko Kakihara
Character Designer：Kunihiko Hamada
Art Director: Tomoyuki Shimizu
Color Designer: Harue Ohno
Director of Photography: Akane Fusehara
CG Director: Daiki Suzuki
Special Effects: Team Taniguchi
Editing: Yoshiko Kimura
Music: Kosuke Yamashita
Sound Director: Masafumi Mima
Animation Production: Madhouse
Opening Theme: 99RadioService "COLORFUL
Ending Theme: Band Harassment "Love at First Sight
Production Credit: Anime "CHIHAYAFURU" PROFECTS 2019

<Cast
Ayase Chihaya：Seto Masami
Mashima Taichi: Miyano Mamoru
Wataya Arata: Hosoya Yoshimasa
Yusei Nishida: Toru Nara
Oe Kanade: Ai Chino
Tsutomu Komano: Tsubasa Shironaga
Hanano Violet: Ban Megumi
Akihiro Tsukuba: Miyu Irino
Wakamiya Shihonobu: Nakamichi Mihoko
Hisashi Suo: Hiroki Higashiji
Haruka Inokuma: Maaya Sakamoto
and others