"Chihayafuru -Meguri-" Episode 2 Synopsis Released

The drama series "Chihayafuru -Meguri-" (NTV, Wednesdays at 10pm) starring actress Ami Touma. The synopsis and stills from the second episode, which will air on July 16th, have been released.

Meguru Aizawa (Touma), a ghost member of the Umezono High School Competitive Karuta Club, who believes in investing in the future rather than in youth, experiences the joys of karuta at the school festival but is still determined to quit.

Meanwhile, classmate Hakuno Fuki (Jun Saito) requests to join the karuta club. Advisor Oe Kanade (Mone Kamishiraishi) and club member Yono Sota (Soma Santoki) are delighted and teach the amateur Fuki the basics of karuta. To help Fuki get a feel for the game, they decide to go watch Sota's individual match on Saturday, but Meguru declines the invitation and submits her withdrawal from the club.

Meanwhile, Murata Chieri (Arashi Rina), who quit the baseball club for some reason, is also very interested in karuta, and begins spying on the karuta club practice with Okuyama Haruma (Takamura Yoshihito), who also quit the baseball club.

On her way home from cram school, Meguru bumps into Orie Kenshin (Fujiwara Daisuke), the ace of the Mizusawa High School Karuta Club. Kenshin competed against Meguru in the retirement match of the third year students, and afterwards, he went on to the national tournament, winning both the team and individual matches to become the best high school player in Japan. Meguru is troubled when Kenshin invites her into the world of karuta, saying, "Let's play together." Then, Fuki, who is doing roadwork, appears.

Fuki, an amateur boxer, has been boxing since he was a child, bearing the expectations of his father, Masato (Takahashi Tsutomu), who runs a boxing gym. Now that he is unable to practice due to an injury, he is allowed to join the karuta club, saying that he wants to train his reflexes until he recovers. However, Fuki has a secret that he cannot tell Masato. While Sota challenges a strong opponent in an attempt to achieve his long-cherished dream of being promoted to B-class, Megu's heart is shaken when she finds out Fuki's secret...

"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 with her childhood friend Mashima Taichi and other unique members of the karuta club. The drama depicts an original story set 10 years after the trilogy of films "Kami no Ku" and "Shimo no Ku" in 2016 and "Musubi" in 2018.