The TV drama series "Chihayafuru -Meguri-" (Wednesdays at 10pm) is currently airing, based on the popular manga "Chihayafuru" by Yuki Suzu Hirose , which is based on the theme of competitive karuta. The drama depicts a world 10 years after the popular live-action film trilogy starring Ami Touma and Mone Kamishiraishi -and-coming actors including Ami Touma and Nanoka Hara is already attracting attention. We spoke to producer Mayuko Sakakibara about why they decided to create a new chapter now.
"Chihayafuru" is a manga that was serialized in "BE・LOVE" (Kodansha) from 2007 to 2022. The story is about Ayase Chihaya, who awakens to the charms of competitive karuta through her encounter with transfer student Wataya Arata, and becomes passionate about the game together with her childhood friend Mashima Taichi and the other unique members of the karuta club. The live-action film trilogy, released in 2016, features a star-studded cast including Hirose, Nomura Shuhei, Mackenyu, and Kamishiraishi. The series' cumulative box office revenue has exceeded 4.5 billion yen, setting a milestone in the coming-of-age film genre.
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 story takes place, has few members and is on the verge of being disbanded. When 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, his fate begins to change dramatically.
According to producer Sakakibara, the project started in earnest in 2023, but as is the fate of a blockbuster, there was talk of a sequel or remake even before that. However, since it was completed as a trilogy, it never came to fruition. On the other hand, Naoaki Kitajima, who produced the film, had promised Hirose and the other cast members at the time a reunion in ten years had also helped, and as the years had passed since the film and times had changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a growing momentum to produce "Chihayafuru" again.
"If we were to make it in this day and age, I wanted to make it a work that properly reflects the current era. I think the biggest difference from when the movie was made (in 2016) is the COVID-19 pandemic. It has had a massive impact on karuta (where large numbers of people gather indoors), and people can no longer go to school in the first place. There is a trend of people who are still in their teens putting aside the joys of youth and studying in silence to prepare for the future. But I wanted to convey through 'Chihayafuru' that putting everything into this moment, this instant, will become a treasure that will support them in the future."
He met with the original author, Suetsugu-san, many times and communicated with him carefully. "Each of the dozens, even hundreds, of characters is the sensei's child. Because I am entrusted with such a world, I felt that I had to create it together with Suetsugu-sensei," he revealed.
The first thing Suetsugu said to me was, "Please don't do the same thing." He said, "There's such a wonderful movie, so instead of making a similar story with a similar protagonist, I want to show something different that is relevant to the present. Meguru, played by Ami Touma, is a completely different protagonist from Chihaya, played by Suzu Hirose. Although the underlying thoughts and worldview are the same, I think it's a different work from the movie."
"We met many times on various occasions, and he would give us great ideas like, 'What do you think about this?' He would also come to our karuta practice sessions and filming locations to interact with the cast. We thoroughly discussed the script with him, conveying our thoughts, listening to his thoughts, and reflecting those thoughts and revising them over and over again until we created it." Of course, he said that "the teacher's thoughts and what he wanted to portray are all in the original work," and that he has reread the original manga, which consists of 50 volumes, so many times that he can't even count them.
"Because it is an original work, I went back to the original and made it my top priority to pick up the message contained therein," said Sakakibara. This work was carefully woven while giving top priority to respect for the original work. I would like to keep an eye on the new "Chihayafuru" that resonates especially in the Reiwa era.
