Joseph Luster
April 15, 2022 
The ending of Yuki Suetsugu’s Chihayafuru manga was previously set for its 49th volume, but those plans have changed. According to the latest update from Suetsugu and Kodansha, some editorial circumstances led to the need for an extra volume to finish developing the manga’s story, so the final volume will now be the series’ 50th.
Kodansha plans to publish Chihayafuru volume 50 this winter, complete with a spinoff manga. Volume 49 will make its way to shelves in Japan on July 13.
The author explained the delay in a comic:
The Chihayafuru manga inspired three seasons of TV anime, with the first running from 2011-2012 and the latest premiering in October 2019. Crunchyroll streamed all three seasons as they aired and they’re also available on HIDIVE both subbed and dubbed. Sentai Filmworks released the seasons on home video and describes the series like so:
Chihaya Ayase is a beautiful and headstrong young woman with a passion for karuta, a card game inspired by classical Japanese poetry. As a child, Chihaya was introduced to the game by a quiet, gifted transfer student named Arata, and she was instantly drawn to it. Now in high school and reunited with her childhood friend Taichi, Chihaya dreams of finding Arata and the three resuming their love of karuta, only to discover that Arata has quit the game due to personal reasons. Determined not to let Arata’s passion go to waste, Chihaya and Taichi form the Mizusawa High School Karuta Club, where they learn that in karuta – as in life – working toward your dreams is the key to winning, even when what you want seems just out of reach.
