The end of Season 3 in 2020 has fans hoping for Chihayafuru Season 4 even two years later. Chihayafuru first received an anime adaptation in 2011 and quickly became popular! It was written and illustrated by Yue Suetsugu and has been in publication since 2007 in Kodansha’s Be Love magazine. The manga is critically acclaimed and has been the recipient of many awards.
The Chihayafuru manga is also coming to an end after a 15-year run! There have been 3 seasons of the anime along with live-action adaptations of the series as well. With Season 3 having ended and more room for Chihayafuru Season 4, here’s a look at the odds of a new season in the near future.
Chihayafuru Season 3 is rated 8.5/10 on My Anime List!
What is Chihayafuru About?
Chihayafuru began as a josei manga that dabbled in the sport of Karuta, a traditional Japanese competitive game that roped in the protagonist, Chihaya Ayase. As a young, enthusiastic and bubbly person, Chihaya found love for Karuta in her childhood while playing alongside her friends, Taichi Mashima and Arata Wataya.
As the years go by, she loses her link with Karuta only to rediscover it in her high-school years. She forms a Karuta team with Taichi and others to play Karuta competitively and find Arata once again. Chihayafuru is a romance as well as a coming of age story that thrives in its beautiful animation and the magic of Karuta. Chihaya leads the Mizusawa Karuta club hoping to be the best Karuta player ever!
Will There Be A Chihayafuru Season 4?
Madhouse Productions has worked on all the seasons of Chihayafuru till now. Madhouse has not revealed any details or plans for Chihayafuru Season 4. But a recent Twitter update has fans hyped and buzzing with theories. For Chihayafuru’s anime’s 10th Anniversary, character designer and illustrator Kunihiki Hamada released artwork celebrating the event with several characters from the series.
Upon a closer look, the illustration says Chihayafuru 4 in the corner which is now being interpreted as an indicator for Chihayafuru Season 4. In a post released on 29th October 2021, it read – “I’m Grateful For This 10th-Anniversary Illustration! I Want To Watch Chihaya Move And Shine Again Through Kunihiko Hamada’s Design.”
There is enough source material from the manga remaining to have Chihayafuru Season 4, so that end of the production logistics should not be a problem.
Chihayafuru’s anime has historically taken years off between seasons and is currently at a 2-year gap from its last release. Given the popularity of the anime and its reception among the audience, a new season should definitely be on the way.
Whenever the anime does get greenlit, the season should be a 24-25 episode release covering the tail end of the manga series. One of the reasons for the delay could also be the ongoing status of the manga and the production wanting to remain true to the source and therefore waiting for the conclusion before working on Chihayafuru Season 4 which may as well be the final season of the anime series.
When will Chihayafuru Season 4 release?
There is no official confirmation about Chihayafuru Season 4 release date. It is all speculation based on the teasers and wish list of fans. However, we all know that sufficient material from manga can be adapted to anime. Hoping that confirmation does come through, we can also expect a spin-off or a Chihayafuru movie. If Season4 gets announced now, then we can expect a Chihayafuru Season 4 release date to fall in teh Winter anime calendar of 2022 or Spring of 2023.
In teh meantime check out the Chihayafuru official trailer and relive the moments.
Where Can I Watch Chihayafuru?
Chihayafuru has 3 anime seasons with 24-25 episodes in each season. Crunchyroll has streamed all the seasons of the anime that is available on the platform! Sentai Filmworks has licensed the first two seasons of anime in North America for home video distributions. Netflix had also added Chihayafuru Season 3 to its catalogue.
Chihayafuru Season 4 Cast
There are no details for the returning season yet but the cast of the anime in its previous seasons should be returning whenever the next season does get announced. The voice actors include:
- Asami Seto as Chihaya Ayase
- Mamoru Miyano as Taichi Mashima
- Hoshimasa Hosoya as Arata Wataya
- Ai Kayano as Kanade Oe
- Toru Nara as Yusue Nishida
- Mihoko Nakamichi as Shinobu Wakamiya
- Megumi Han as Sumire Hanano
- Tsubasa Yonaga as Tsutomu Komano
Is Chihayafuru Manga coming to an end?
While speculations about Chihayafuru Season 4 continue, the Chihayafuru manga is officially coming to an end. There are currently 48 volumes of manga that are in circulation. Volume 47 revealed that the manga was in its final bits. Volume 48 was released on February 10th 2022 and the final volume of the manga will soon be on the way!
FAQs – Chihayafuru Season 4 Edition
Q. What does Josei mean?
A. Chihayafuru is categorized as a romance and slice of life josei series. The most popular indicators for target demographics are the Shoujo or Shonen series that is mainly targeted towards young girls and boys respectively. Similarly, for mature audiences, seinen and josei are usually the associated terms to indicate the core intended demographic as men and women.
Q. Is there romance in Chihayafuru?
A. While Chihayafuru focuses mainly on Karuta and the challenges that the players face while playing the sport and in their high school lives, there is a clear element of romance in Chihayafuru. Arata, Taichi and Chiaya are perpetually in a love triangle situation where Chihaya has feelings for Arata, and Taichi has feelings for Chihaya.
The situation spreads about with Sumire having feelings for Taichi and a number of people having crushes on Chihaya.
Q. Is Chihayafuru worth watching?
A. Chihayafuru is a delight to watch with stunning aesthetics and actually good attempts at telling a coming of age story for a group of friends that try to be in each others’ lives. Other than the really slow release of the anime episodes, the series is quite a gem. The manga may be a better option for a lot of fans who may want to catch up on the story, especially since it’s wrapping up soon.
Stay tuned for updates on Chihayafuru Season 4 and all the good stuff from your favourite titles. In the meantime, don’t forget to let us know your picks from Winter 2022 anime releases and let us know all you plan to watch in the upcoming season!
