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Chihayafuru Manga's Editor Discusses Series' Progress in Interview
posted on by Sarah Nelkin
In an interview with Japanese entertainment news website Comic Natalie that the site posted on March 11, Chihayafuru manga editor Emi Miyazawa talked about how far along the manga is in the story:
In the latest chapter, Chihaya and her friends are third year students in high school. The arc in which the national high school karuta team competition championships take place is the endgame, so I suppose if you put it in terms of climbing Mount Fuji, we've reached the seventh station. Though, this is just in terms of the timeline. I think it's what [original manga creator Yuki Suetsugu] wants to draw the most, considering the large mountain waiting in Chihaya's path on her way to fulfilling her dream of becoming queen.
The seventh station on Mt. Fuji is one of the major checkpoints along the various trails that lead up to Mt. Fuji's summit. The different trails have a starting point at the fifth station, and the ninth station is the last checkpoint before the summit. The different trails have seventh stations at different heights: for example the seventh station of one trail is at 2,700 meters (the summit is at 3,776 meters), whereas the seventh station on a separate trail is at 3,010 meters.
Suetsugu launched the manga in Kodansha's Be Love magazine in December 2007, and Kodansha published the manga's 31st volume (pictured above right) on March 11.
The series inspired the first 25-episode television anime season from October 2011 to March 2012, and the second 25-episode season aired in Japan from January-June 2013. Additionally, the 22nd volume of the manga bundled an original anime DVD when it shipped in September 2013.
The manga is also inspiring two live-action films. The first film, Chihayafuru: Kami no Ku (Chihayafuru: Upper Phrase), will open on Saturday, and the second film, Chihayafuru: Shimo no Ku (Chihayafuru: Lower Phrase), will open on April 29.
