__Height:__ 172 cm (5'7") 

Taichi is from a wealthy family (His father &amp; Grandfather are both doctors). Chihaya's childhood friend is quite the golden boy. Smart, good looking, and mature, he excells at nearly everything he does which makes him the voice of reason in the Misusawa Karuta Club. While he sees himself as keeper of Chihaya and the less experienced members, he demands a lot of himself both in games and as a leader and can overthink even the most simple situations. Taichi's karuta leverages his incredible memory to give him a sense of which cards might be called next and the ability to out-think opponents. He also has a crush on Chihaya but is hesitant to do anything as he thinks that she only has eyes for Arata.

Chihaya Ayase is a girl who has spent most of her life simply supporting her sister in her model career. That changes when she meets a boy named Arata Wataya, a talented karuta player who recognizes Chihaya's potential to become a great player herself. As Chihaya takes on a new dream of becoming Japan's best karuta player, she is soon separated from her karuta playing friends, Taichi Mashima and Arata Wataya, as they grow up. Now in high school, Chihaya still continues to play karuta in the hope that she will one day meet her friends again. 
 
(Source: Chihayafuru Wikia)

__Height:__ 182 cm (6'0")

[Website](https://miyanomamoru.com/) | [Twitter](https://twitter.com/miyanomamoru_pr) | [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHzevlEL9JfsBIm86uNCJqg)

A Japanese actor, voice actor, singer and narrator from Saitama Prefecture.

Miyano joined The Himawari Theatre Group at the age of 7 under the influence of his older brother, yet he did not attend the class as much as he should have. After entering high school, due to the uncertainty he felt towards the future, Miyano started attending singing and dance lessons he has been skipping until now. While taking music lessons, Miyano started to discover his music style through the encounter with music produced by singers like CHEMISTRY and EXILE. Miyano's first acting job was in 1992 in Tokusou Exceedraft, where he appeared in a flashback as a child in a yakuza member's past.

In 2001, he had his voice acting debut in a live action teen drama Caitlin's Way.

In 2002, he voiced Riku in the Japanese version for the video game Kingdom Hearts. Miyano also had his first anime voice acting role the same year, voicing Akira in [Shin Megami Tensei Devil Children: Light & Dark](https://anilist.co/anime/4068/). In 2003, he voiced [Kiba](https://anilist.co/character/241/), the main character in [Wolf's Rain](https://anilist.co/anime/202/). A few years later in 2006, he had what most would call his breakout role in [Death Note](https://anilist.co/anime/1535/) where he voiced the main character [Light Yagami](https://anilist.co/character/80/). For his role as Light, he was nominated for two awards at the first ever Seiyuu Awards in March 2007.

On May 28, 2007, on the King Records label, Miyano debuted as a singer with the single "Kuon." The single debuted at number 47 on the Oricon charts and was used as the ending theme song for anime series [Koutetsu Sangokushi](https://anilist.co/anime/2162/). On June 13, he released a collaboration single titled "Fight," with fellow voice actress [Romi Park](https://anilist.co/staff/95082/). The duo's single debuted on the Oricon chart at number 73.

In 2008, at the second Seiyuu Awards, Miyano won "Best Actor in a Leading Role" for his roles [Setsuna F. Seiei](https://anilist.co/character/4234/) and [Rikuson Hakugen](https://anilist.co/character/2844/), from [Mobile Suit Gundam 00](https://anilist.co/anime/2581/) and [Koutetsu Sangokushi](https://anilist.co/anime/2162/) respectively. Miyano also married later that same year and he and his wife have a son together.

__Non-anime voice roles:__
- Riku - *Kingdom Hearts* series (VG)
- Ignis Scientia - *Final Fantasy XV* (2016 VG)
- Peter B. Parker - *Spider-Man: Into The Spider Verse; Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse* (Films; JP dub)
- Mario - *The Super Mario Bros. Movie* (2023 Film; JP dub)
- Newt Scamander - *Fantastic Beasts* series (Live action films; JP dub)
- Percy Weasley - *Harry Potter* franchise (Live action films; JP dub)


**Height:** 151.6 cm

[Official Website](https://www.takagakiayahi.com/) | [Music Ray'n profile](https://musicrayn.com/takagaki_ayahi) | [Official Blog](https://ameblo.jp/takagakiayahi-blog/)

Ayahi Takagaki graduated from a Tokyo music college majoring in operatic singing. Her professionally trained operatic voice can be heard in songs like "Life", "Inori" or "Justice".

One of the members of Seiyuu Group, [Sphere](https://anilist.co/staff/103636).

**Non-anime roles:**
- Aloy - Genshin Impact

[Official Website ](https://www.iamadamgibbs.com/) | [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Adamngibbs) | [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/adamngibbs/)

Chihaya is a girl in the sixth grade, still not old enough to even know the meaning of the word zeal. But one day, she meets Arata, a transfer student from rural Fukui prefecture. Though docile and quiet, he has an unexpected skill: his ability to play competitive karuta, a traditional Japanese card game.
 
Chihaya is struck by his obsession with the game, along with his ability to pick out the right card and swipe it away before any of his opponents. However, Arata is transfixed by her as well, all because of her unbelievable natural talent for the game. Don't miss this story of adolescent lives and emotions playing out in the most dramatic of ways!
 
(Source: Kodansha USA)
 
Notes: 
- It won the 2nd Manga Taisho Award and the 35th annual Kodansha Manga Award for Best Shoujo. 
- It was nominated for the 20th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in 2016.

They may have just won their most coveted karuta tournament, but members of the Mizusawa karuta team still have a long way to go. Each member chases their dreams, and with a win under their collective belt, those dreams are closer in reach than ever. Chihaya Ayase is determined to challenge Wakamiya Shinobu and win the title of Queen, and Taichi Mashima is ready to take on Arata Wataya now that he’s made it into the most elite of karuta players — but an unexpected revelation will deal these karuta players a hand none of them saw coming. (Source: Sentai Filmworks)

Now in their second year of high school, Chihaya and her friends share all the fun and worries that come with welcoming underclassmen to the team as they face tough rival schools. The passion of the Mizusawa Karuta Club burns hotter than ever, but with the same refreshing, youthful mood carrying over from the first season. 
(Source: Crunchyroll)

Original episode bundled with the 22nd manga volume.

The manga adapts Yui Tokiumi's spinoff novel series for Yuki Suetsugu's Chihayafuru manga. 
 
The novels feature a series of stories detailing various characters' lives in middle school. (The original manga begins when they are in elementary school and skips to high school.) 
 
(Source: Anime News Network & Be-Love issue 21)

Ayase Chihaya is a cheerful tomboy without any ambitious aspirations in life. At school one day, she meets a boy named Wataya Arata who is an outcast at school. Feeling pity despite peer pressure, Chihaya befriends Arata as he reveals to her his aptitude in karuta which institutes Chihaya's dream to become a karuta queen.

Taichi Mashima

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