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 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 second 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 April 29, 2016. ''Chihayafuru: Musubi'', the third and final film in the series, was released in Japan on March 17, 2018.

Plot

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 * Miyuki Matsuda as Taeko Miyauchi *

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

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 * Riku Hagiwara

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 two films 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 April 29, 2016.

Sequel

A sequel was announced at ''Chihayafuru: Shimo no Kus premiere. This third and final film, titled ''Chihayafuru: Musubi'', was released on March 17, 2018. Koizumi returned as director and the main cast reprised their roles. The conclusion of the story, set two years after the events of the first two films, features four new cast members, including

Kaya Kiyohara is a Japanese actress, model and singer. She was named the Best Supporting Actress at the 45th Japan Academy Film Prize for her role in the film ''In The Wake''. Biography Kiyohara was born on January 30, 2002, in Osaka. Kiyohara signed as a ...

who portrays Io Wagatsuma, a character written exclusively for the film. Kento Kaku appears as Hisashi Suō, Hayato Sano as Akihiro Tsukuba and

Mio Yūki , whose real name is , is a Japanese actress, model and tarento from Fukushima Prefecture. Career Yūki's acting career began in 2012 when she won the 37th Horipro talent scout caravan. She was chosen from 29,521 applicants. On November 14, 2012, ...

as Sumire Hanano.

References

External links

* * 2010s teen drama films 2010s Japanese films Nippon TV films Films directed by Norihiro Koizumi Films set in Tokyo Live-action films based on manga Japanese high school films Japanese teen drama films Toho films 2018 drama films 2010s high school films {{2010s-Japan-film-stub