The official website of the Chihayafuru anime series announced on Monday that the third season's broadcast will be delayed to October 2019 due to "various circumstances." The new season was originally scheduled for an April premiere on NTV's AnichU programming block.

The production staff issued a statement that they will make a diligent effort to deliver a superior work, apologized for the delay, and thanked the fans for their continued support.

Morio Asaka will return to direct the third season at Madhouse. The three lead cast members, Asami Seto, Mamoru Miyano, and Yoshimasa Hosoya will also reprise their roles as Chihaya, Taichi, and Arata, respectively.

The first two seasons premiered in Fall 2011 and Winter 2013, each running for 25 episodes. Sentai Filmworks licensed both seasons in North America and released them on Blu-ray and DVD volumes in September 2017 and March 2018.

Kodansha's Be-Love magazine has been serializing Yuki Suetsugu's award-winning competitive karuta manga series since December 2007. The 40th volume was published last November, with the 41st volume planned for a March 13 release. Chihayafuru has a cumulative 21 million copies of its compiled volumes in circulation.

Kodansha Comics licensed the manga in February 2017 for digital release and published the 14th volume on January 8. The 15th volume is scheduled to go on sale on March 5.

Source: Anime! Anime!