It was serialized in Kodansha's josei manga magazine Be Love from December 2007 to August 2022, with its chapters collected in 50 tankōbon volumes.

It is about a school girl, Chihaya Ayase, who is inspired by a new classmate to take up Hyakunin Isshu karuta competitively.

[3][4][5] Written and illustrated by Yuki Suetsugu, Chihayafuru was serialized in the josei manga magazine Be Love from 28 December 2007 to 1 August 2022,[6][7] with a spinoff side story chapter released on 1 November 2022.

[8][note 1] Kodansha has also published the first three volumes in a two-volume bilingual edition, with English translations by Stuart Varnam Atkin and Yōko Toyozaki.

[12][13][14] On 14 February 2017, Kodansha Comics began publishing a digital edition of the series in English;[15] 40 volumes have been released as of October 2023.

[20] A sequel manga series, titled Chihayafuru plus Kimi ga Tame (ちはやふる plus きみがため, lit.

[32] An original video animation episode was released on DVD bundled with the special edition of the 22nd manga volume on 13 September 2013.

[35][36] A 24-episode[note 4] third season was originally announced to premiere on Nippon Television's AnichU block in April 2019, with the main cast and staff reprising their roles,[37][38][39] but was delayed and aired from 22 October 2019[40][41] to 24 March 2020.

[47] The third season's opening and ending themes are "Colorful" by 99RadioService and "Hitomebore" (一目惚れ, "Love at First Sight") by Band Harassment.

[48] In September 2016, Sentai Filmworks, announced that they had licensed the first two seasons of the anime series for home video and digital release in North America.

[71] A 4-volume novel series, Chihayafuru: Chūgakusei-hen, was published by Kodansha under their KC Deluxe imprint between 9 September 2012,[72] and 13 December 2013.

[73] The books were written by Yui Tokiumi and illustrated by Yuki Suetsugu and follow the middle-school years of the three protagonists.

[72] A manga adapting the novels, written by Tokiumi and illustrated by Oto Tooda, was published in Be Love from 13 October 2017 to 1 November 2018 and compiled into three volumes.

[83] Among North American reviewers, Gia Manry, writing about the first episode of Chihayafuru, mentioned that despite the animators' efforts, there was an overuse of CG sakura, describing it as a "mixed bag".

[85] Carlo Santos felt that the series was the "first genuinely good show of the season", citing its characterisation, unusual subject, and polish of the first episode.

[86] Marcus Speer enjoyed the production values of the first episode, but felt that the theme songs were "standard fare".

[87] Theron Martin appreciated the focus on the characters rather than the game, feeling that while the high school-aged Chihaya seemed "gimmicky", her younger self was "quite likable".