is a 2016 Japanese

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

romantic Romantic may refer to: Genres and eras * The Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement of the 18th and 19th centuries ** Romantic music, of that era ** Romantic poetry, of that era ** Romanticism in science, of that e ...

teen drama In film and television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication Media (communication), medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of Transmission (tele ...

film written and directed by and starring

Suzu Hirose is a Japanese actress and model. Despite her young age, she is widely regarded as one of the most promising Japanese actresses of her generation. Biography Hirose debuted as a model for Japanese fashion magazine '' Seventeen'', alongside her si ...

, Shūhei Nomura, Mackenyu,

Mone Kamishiraishi is a Japanese actress and singer. She is the older sister of actress and singer Moka Kamishiraishi. Biography Born in Kagoshima, Her family lived in Mexico for three years due to her father's work. She can speak English and a little bit of Sp ...

, , , ,

Miyuki Matsuda is a Japanese actress, the widow of Yūsaku Matsuda, and the sister of Mami Kumagai. At the age of 17 she appeared in a television series, ''Tantei Monogatari'', starring Yūsaku Matsuda, who was then married. They started a relationship and, a ...

and

Jun Kunimura is a Japanese actor who has performed in Japan, Hollywood and Hong Kong. He won Best Supporting Actor and the Popular Star Award at the 37th Blue Dragon Film Awards for his performance in the South Korean horror film '' The Wailing'', directed ...

. It is the first of three

live action Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ...

film adaptations of the

manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is use ...

series '' Chihayafuru'', written and illustrated by Yuki Suetsugu. The film was released in Japan by

Toho is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the produc ...

on March 19, 2016. It was followed by ''Chihayafuru: Shimo no Ku'', released in Japan on April 29, 2016. ''Chihayafuru: Musubi'', the third and final film in the series, was released in Japan on March 17, 2018.

Plot

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

, Chihaya Ayase forms a bond, through competitive karuta, with two of her

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

classmates; recent Fukui transfer student Arata Wataya and Taichi Mashima, her childhood friend. Arata is a prodigious karuta player whose dream is to become Meijin, the men's division karuta champion in Japan, equivalent to the women's division Queen title. He believes that Chihaya has the potential to become a great player. Inspired, Chihaya commits to a new dream, becoming Japan's best karuta player. Not content with only participating in their school's tournament, the trio team up and join a local karuta society. They are soon separated, at the end of primary school, when Arata moves back to Fukui while Taichi and Chihaya enrol in different middle schools. but not before promising each other to remain connected through karuta. In her first year in high school, karuta obsessed Chihaya is reunited with Taichi, when she is recruiting students to join her for karuta competitions. Together, they form the Mizusawa Karuta Club. Participation in tournaments enables them to reconnect with Arata. Unbeknownst to Chihaya, the two boys have fallen in love with her. With her teammates and friends supporting her, Chihaya continues to strive to become the best karuta player in the world, while forging relationships with other players.

Cast

as Chihaya Ayase * Shūhei Nomura as Taichi Mashima * Mackenyu as Arata Wataya *

as Kanade Ōe * as Yūsei Nishida * as Tsutomu Komano * as Akihito Sudō *

Mayu Matsuoka is a Japanese actress. She has been awarded the Tama best Emerging Actress Award and Fumiko Yamaji Freshman Actress Award in 2016. She gained international attention as an ambassador of the Tokyo International Film Festival for 2017 and her rol ...

as Shinobu Wakamiya *

as Taeko Miyauchi *

as Harada Hideo * as Hiro Kinashi * Alice Hirose as Chitose Ayase, Chihaya's sister (cameo) *

Masane Tsukayama is a Japanese actor, voice actor, and narrator from Naha, Okinawa. His wife is opera singer . He is best known for dubbing over Kevin Costner, Robert De Niro, Richard Gere, Liam Neeson and Gabriel Byrne. Filmography Film * '' Otoko wa Tsurai ...

as Hajime Wataya

Production

The film was shot at the Omi Shrine in

Shiga Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Shiga Prefecture has a population of 1,412,916 (1 October 2015) and has a geographic area of . Shiga Prefecture borders Fukui Prefecture to the north, Gifu Prefecture to the north ...

. The

theme song Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at s ...

of the film is "

FLASH Flash, flashes, or FLASH may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional aliases * Flash (DC Comics character), several DC Comics superheroes with super speed: ** Flash (Barry Allen) ** Flash (Jay Garrick) ** Wally West, the first Kid F ...

" by the Japanese group

Perfume Perfume (, ; french: parfum) is a mixture of fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds (fragrances), fixatives and solvents, usually in liquid form, used to give the human body, animals, food, objects, and living-spaces an agreeable scent. ...

. The original soundtracks are composed by

Masaru Yokoyama is a Japanese composer and arranger, known for his work on television dramas and anime series. Biography Yokoyama was born in Nagano Prefecture. He started to take piano lessons at the age of three, taught by his aunt who is an alumna of Kun ...

Release

The release date of the film was announced in December 2015 for March 19, 2016.

Reception

The film reached the fourth place by admissions at the Japanese box office on its opening weekend, with 146,299 admissions and a gross of .

Sequels

A sequel, titled '' Chihayafuru: Shimo no Ku'', was released in Japan on April 29, 2016. Another sequel was announced at ''Chihayafuru: Shimo no Kus premiere. This third and final film, titled ''Chihayafuru: Musubi'', was released on March 17, 2018.

Awards

References

External links

* * * {{Chihayafuru 2010s Japanese films 2010s teen drama films Films directed by Norihiro Koizumi Films set in Tokyo Films set in Fukui Prefecture Nippon TV films Japanese high school films Japanese teen drama films Live-action films based on manga Toho films 2016 drama films 2010s high school films