The editorial department of Kodansha’s Be Love magazine announced on Thursday, April 14, 2022, that Yuki Suetsugu‘s karuta-centered manga, Chihayafuru, will end with Volume 50. In February, Kodansha had announced the manga series will end with Volume 49.

Kodansha editors explained, that they had to add an extra volume due to the extension of the plot in Chihayafuru. Moreover, Volume 50 will also include a spin-off extra edition.

The publisher posted an illustration drawn by the author explaining the situation on the same day.

The manga currently has 48 volumes, with circulation numbers exceeding 27 million. The 48th volume of Chihayafuru was shipped on Feb 10, 2022.

Chihayafuru, winner of the Manga Taishō and the Kodansha Manga Award, is a manga series written and illustrated by Yuki Suetsugu. It has been serialized in Kodansha’s Be Love magazine since December 2007.

An anime television series adaptation aired from October 2011 to March 2012. The second season aired from January to June 2013 and the third from October 2019 to March 2020.

The series also received three live action adaptations between 2016-2018, starring actress Suzu Hirose in the 2018 movie.

The plot of the series is described by MAL as follows;

Chihaya Ayase, a strong-willed and tomboyish girl, grows up under the shadow of her older sister. With no dreams of her own, she is contented with her share in life till she meets Arata Wataya. The quiet transfer student in her elementary class introduces her to competitive karuta, a physically and mentally demanding card game inspired by the classic Japanese anthology of Hundred Poets. Captivated by Arata’s passion for the game and inspired by the possibility of becoming the best in Japan, Chihaya quickly falls in love with the world of karuta. Along with the prodigy Arata and her haughty but hard-working friend Taichi Mashima, she joins the local Shiranami Society. The trio spends their idyllic childhood days playing together, until circumstances split them up.

Now in high school, Chihaya has grown into a karuta freak. She aims to establish the Municipal Mizusawa High Competitive Karuta Club, setting her sights on the national championship at Omi Jingu. Reunited with the now indifferent Taichi, Chihaya’s dream of establishing a karuta team is only one step away from becoming true: she must bring together members with a passion for the game that matches her own.

Source: Comic Natalie