The cast of students for the July drama series "Chihayafuru -Meguri-" (NTV, Wednesdays at 10pm), starring actress Ami Touma , has been announced, revealing that Nanoka Hara , who also appears in the NHK morning drama series " Anpan ", will appear. Hara will play Tsukiura Nagi, a current member of the competitive karuta club at Mizusawa High School, which was once built by Ayase Chihaya ( Suzu Hirose) and Oe Kanade (Mone Kamishiraishi) and is now a strong team.
"Chihayafuru" is a manga by Yuki Suetsugu that was serialized in "BE・LOVE" (Kodansha) from 2007 to 2022. The story is about Ayase Chihaya, who awakens to the charm of competitive karuta through her encounter with transfer student Wataya Arata, and becomes passionate about karuta together with her childhood friend Mashima Taichi and the other unique members of the karuta club.
This drama is an original story that depicts the world 10 years after the movie trilogy. The competitive karuta club at Umezono High School, where the club is set, has few members and is on the verge of being disbanded. The protagonist, Meguru Aizawa, a ghost club member and second-year high school student played by Touma, meets Kanade Oe (Kamishiraishi), a part-time classical Japanese teacher and the new advisor for the competitive karuta club, and his fate begins to change dramatically.
The cast members are 15 members of the competitive karuta clubs of three schools: Umezono High School, played by Touma, Mizusawa High School, which has grown into a strong school that has won the national championships many times, and Hokuo Gakuen, which once competed with Mizusawa High School. The cast members are up-and-coming, with an average age of 19, and are all new stars who will lead the next generation, and they are said to be training hard every day to play competitive karuta.
The members of the Umezono High School Competitive Karuta Club, who grow up alongside Megu, will be played by Jun Saito(as Shirano Fuki), who won the Newcomer of the Year award at the 48th Japan Academy Awards, as well as Soma Santoki(as Yono Sota), Arashi Rina (as Murata Chieri), Takamura Keito (as Okuyama Haruma), and Sakamoto Manato (as Yakumo Riki).
Along with Hara's character Nagi, the other current members of the competitive karuta club at Mizusawa High School, which has become a powerhouse school, are played by Fujiwara Daisuke (as Orie Kenshin), Ishikawa Raizo (as Shinohara Yosuke), Seto Kotoka (as Yoshino Oto), and Takahashi Yutaro (as Niwano Kota).
Standing in Meguru and her friends' way are the competitive karuta club members of Kitao Gakuen, a veteran boys' school, played by Onishi Riku (Okuyama Sho), Tachibana Yuki (Kuroda Arashi), Fujieda Yoshiteru (Hisamoto Wataru), Otomo Issei (Arima Hitoshi), and Urushiyama Takumi (Hiiragi Ibuki).
