Chihayafuru: Season 3 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Chihayafuru: Season 3 Blu-ray Movie Review

Directed by Morio Asaka (Cardcaptor Sakura).

Chihayafuru: Season 3 continues the Karuta card game experience: the stakes of the game are higher than ever before as new matches begin. The series is based on the original manga by Yuki Suetsugu. The series features animation production by studio Madhouse (One Punch Man, The Tatami Galaxy). The opening theme song is “Colorful” by 99RadioService. The ending theme song is “Hitomebore” (Love at First Sight) by Band Harrassment.

Produced by Atsushi Kirimoto (Flying Witch, Real Girl), Ayuri Taguchi (Death Parade, Boogiepop and Others), Hidetada Soga (Tokyo Ghoul, Castle Town Dandelion), Hiroyuki Inage (Run with the Wind, Laughing Under the Clouds), Kazunari Sengoku (Flying Witch, Endride), and Natsuko Tatsuzawa (Ghost in the Shell: The New Movie, Elegant Yokai Apartment Life), Chihayafuru: Season 3 explores a new chapter in the saga of the Karuta card game and fans of the ongoing saga will want to see what happens next.

Chihaya Ayase (Asami Seto) has become obsessed with playing the card game Karuta. The game has become her core passion in life. The Mizusawa High School team has even gone on to win it all: the team takes the top prize from the national high school tournament for Karuta. Yet the big prize isn't enough for Chihaya. Setting her sights on an even bigger goal, Chihaya decides she should go up against the ultimate Karuta champion: grand master Shinobu Wakamiya.

Fellow classmate Taichi Mashima (Mamoru Miyano) wants to become a master at Karuta himself. Can Taichi manage to become a skilled enough player to go up against his best opponent, Arata Wataya (Yoshimasa Hosoya)? Will Arata win in a match? The card game continues!

The production has exceptional animation. One of the greatest strengths of Chihayafuru: Season 3 is the first-rate art style. Featuring art direction by Tomoyuki Shimizu (The World Is Still Beautiful, Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card), the animators brought their best to the production. The series showcases beautiful background artwork: detailed, complex, and visually rewarding. There is stunningly realized animation with a nice use of color.

The card game continues.

The character designs by Kunihiko Hamada (Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card, Nana) make a solid impression. The character designs are distinctive and creative. Each character on the series has a compelling character design that seems well-suited to the respective roles. The design given to Chihaya Ayase is especially noteworthy and is well-suited for a central protagonist.

Chihayafuru: Season 3 continues to showcase the beautiful cinematography by Akane Fushihara (Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card, Boogiepop and Others). The series is a wonderful looking production: a visually rewarding effort. Fushihara manages to showcase the light and dark. Highlighting the Karuta card game matches, Fushihara finds the right visual component.

The score composed by Kousuke Yamashita (The World Is Still Beautiful, Glass Fleet) adds a sense of serenity to the production. The effort adds to the series charm. Yamashita highlights the drama of the card games and the journeys taken by each of the characters. The music is well-composed.

Written by Yuuko Kakihara (Heaven's Lost Property, Unbreakable Machine-Doll), Chihayafuru: Season 3 continues to explore the challenges of the Karuta card game and the impact the game ultimately has on its players. Focusing on the new challenges the central characters face in the season, Kakihara expands the storytelling fold. The epic journey of Chihaya Ayase is the central focus and fans of the series will be compelled to see what happens next. The season also explores the role of Taichi Mashima and his goal of becoming a Karuta master himself. Kakihara balances these storylines.

Morio Asaka (Cardcaptor Sakura, Chobits) brings the game of Karuta to life. As director of the series, Asaka is the creative energy that makes the series so compelling. Asaka is a wonderfully gifted anime director. Having made some of the best anime series of all time – with Cardcaptor Sakura as his big creative milestone – it's nice to see Asaka is still directing entertaining series which showcase the director's creativity.

Chihayafuru: Season 3 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Arriving on Blu-ray from Sentai Filmworks, Chihayafuru – Season 3 is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high definition in the original television broadcast aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen. Featuring breathtaking animation, the Sentai Filmworks encode does a solid job of presenting the animation at its best. Color reproduction is exceptional. The presentation looks crisp and engaging. There aren't any egregious issues of banding. A solid presentation showcasing the high definition visuals.

Chihayafuru: Season 3 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release includes a selection of lossless audio options: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and the original Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (with English subtitles). The high-resolution audio has great clarity throughout the presentation. The original music composed by Kousuke Yamashita is highlighted well. The score adds a sense of vibrancy to the soundtrack. Dialogue is clear and well reproduced.

Chihayafuru: Season 3 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Clean Opening Animation (HD, 1:12)

Clean Closing Animation (HD, 1:17)

Japanese Promos (HD, 3:39)

Japanese TV Commercial (HD, 00:17)

Commercial Bumpers (HD, 2:02)

The release also includes a selection of trailers promoting other releases available from distributor Kino Lorber: Ahiru no Sora (HD, 1:17), Kids on the Slope (HD, 1:33), Heaven's Memo Pad (HD, 1:37), and School-Live! (HD, 1:32).

Chihayafuru: Season 3 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Chihayafuru: Season 3 continues to expand the storytelling of the anime. The third season of the series adds new challenges for Chihaya Ayase to face. Fans of the anime will want to continue the journey and see the new chapters in the saga unfold. The animation is beautiful. The production benefits from direction by the great Morio Asaka (Cardcaptor Sakura). The Sentai Filmworks presentation is impressive (with quality video-audio encoding). Recommended.