Viewers are delighted when Suzu Hirose appears as "Chihaya" at the end of "Chihayafuru -Meguri-", saying "It's so exciting" and "It made me cry"

The first episode of the TV drama "Chihayafuru -Meguri-" (NTV, Wednesdays at 10pm), starring actress Ami Touma, was broadcast on July Getsuku. In the episode, Ayase Suzu Hirose Suzu in the film series, appeared at the end, causing a stir on social media.

◇The following contains spoilers.

In the first episode, Meguru (Touma), a second-year student at Umezono High School and a ghost member of the competitive karuta club, places great importance on typography in everything she does. She is a member of the karuta club because it is beneficial for her school report card if she is a member of a club, but she has never attended a club activity and doesn't understand the rules of competitive karuta at all. However, Meguru is called in to make up the numbers for the third-years' retirement match, and is stunned to see her seniors in tears after losing in the first round. Feeling that "youth doesn't suit me," Meguru decides to quit the club.

With the retirement of the third-year students, the karuta club is on the verge of being disbanded, with only second-year students Yono Sota (Soma Santoki) and Meguru remaining. In an attempt to keep her, the club's advisor, Kanade (Mone Kamishiraishi), insists that it's important to have experiences that can only be had now, but Meguru calls Kanade's way of thinking "the classical Japanese of the Heisei era."

Meanwhile, the karuta club holds a competitive karuta demonstration at the school festival. There, Meguru reunites with Tsukiura Nagi (Nanoka Hara), a classmate from elementary school who is a member of the Mizusawa High School Competitive Karuta Club. Meguru runs out of the clubroom without thinking, and tells Kanade that Nagi, who is like the protagonist of a manga, makes her realize that she is a loser, and tries to leave. However, she reveals her true feelings to Kanade, saying, "If I could win even one thing against her, I might cry like the seniors did that day," and returns to the demonstration, hiding her face with a mask. Then, Meguru challenges Nagi's team to a karuta match, and is happy when she gets the "one-character rule" card she was aiming for... and so the story unfolds.

In the episode, after the demonstration, Kanade sends Chihaya a message on her smartphone saying, "I'm now the advisor for the karuta club!". Chihaya, who was teaching karuta to local children in India, receives a message from Kanade and replies with a smile, "Really?! That's awesome!!! Let's go to Omi Shrine together!!"

On social media, the appearance of Chihaya, played by Hirose in the film series, at the end of the episode elicited a flood of cheers of joy. Comments included, "Chihaya is here!", "So hot! Seriously hot!", "It was so emotional I cried," "I was so happy that Chihaya appeared at the end," and "It brought me to tears."