Chihayafuru Manga Ends After Nearly 15 Years of Serialization

by Tamara Lazic July 31, 2022

Written by Tamara Lazic July 31, 2022

Chihayafuru manga has officially ended, after almost 15 years of serialization. The final. 247th chapter was published in Kodansha’s Be Love magazine, where Yuki Suetsugu’s series has been running since December 2007. The series is also gracing the cover of Be Love’s September issue:

Throughout its run, Chihayafuru manga won the Manga Taisho and the Kodansha Manga Award and is estimated to have over 27 million copies in circulation. In 2011, it got an anime adaptation by studio MADHOUSE, which ran for 25 episodes. The second season followed in 2013, while the third aired throughout the Fall 2019 and Winter 2020 anime seasons. The franchise also has multiple live-action movies, that started with Chihayafuru: Kami no Ku in 2016. It also has multiple light novels, including the adaptation of the movies and Chihayafuru: Chuugakusei-hen spin-off novels, which featured Yui Tokiumi’s art.

Kodansha licensed the manga in English and describes the plot as:
Chihaya is a girl in the sixth grade, still not old enough to even know the meaning of the word zeal. But one day, she meets Arata, a transfer student from rural Fukui prefecture. Though docile and quiet, he has an unexpected skill: his ability to play competitive karuta, a traditional Japanese card game. Chihaya is struck by his obsession with the game, along with his ability to pick out the right card and swipe it away before any of his opponents. However, Arata is transfixed by her as well, all because of her unbelievable natural talent for the game. Don’t miss this story of adolescent lives and emotions playing out in the most dramatic of ways!