The Master Match with Hisashi Suou’s fifth consecutive title on the line has come to a close with Master Suou successfully defending in a hard-fought battle. As all eyes gather on Suou, who had stated before that he would retire after winning five championships in a row, Arata cuts him off to declare that he will come to defeat the Master next year, creating a commotion in the crowd. Suou then gives Arata a one-year extension. Taichi is also present, standing motionless as he sees these two, only to face none other than Arata the next day in the Takamatsunomiya Cup tournament! These players with unshakable convictions who have vowed to never stop chasing their goals now take the first steps into a new year!
Taichi faces Arata at the Takamatsunomiya Cup Tournament. Though they both share the rank of Class A, Taichi is overwhelmed by frustration at the difference in level between them that his time and familiarity with the game makes all the more stark. In order to return a smile to his face, Chihaya puts together the ""Taichi Cup,"" an unofficial karuta tournament attended by those who love karuta and who have supported Taichi. A few days later, Taichi happens to be alone with Chihaya in the club room. As the spring breeze comes fluttering in, he opens up to Chihaya about the way he’s always felt about her. But this would also be the start of the two embarking on separate paths... Chihaya and the rest of the Mizusawa High Karuta Club have to make it through a spring without Taichi, and the qualifiers for the national tournament are just around the corner!
Chihaya has distanced herself from the karuta club after Taichi’s departure, but one day she receives an e-mail from Arata. It tells of his determination, as he’s created a karuta team so that he can one day stand toe-to-toe with both Chihaya and Taichi. Spurred into action by this, Chihaya heads to the Tokyo preliminary for the national tournament. However, the Mizusawa Karuta Club is thrown into chaos by rule changes and its uninhibited new members. What kind of trap has been set for Chihaya because of her time away from karuta? It’s Chihaya’s final summer to fight alongside her friends, and at the preliminaries she vows to make her dreams come true!
The finals league for the national tournament’s Tokyo preliminary. As the teams sit lined up for the final round, Chihaya and the rest of the Mizusawa Karuta Club face off against their archrivals, Hokuou Academy. Karuta has brought Hokuou together as a team under Leero’s leadership. Will their unity be able to overcome Mizusawa’s?! Meanwhile, Taichi is visiting Master Hisashi Suou. What has Taichi finally come upon while by the side of this genius who seemed to have once left him beaten and battered? These group matches will teach all involved both what it means to be a team and how exactly their friends feel. Who will be the ones in the end to snatch their tickets to Omi?!
"Chihaya and the rest of the Mizusawa High Karuta Club earn their spot at the national tournament for the third time, guided to their destiny by the poems to which they prayed. Waiting for them are the indominable Fujisaki team, Fujioka East’s team as led by Arata, as well as Hokuou, partners along Mizusawa’s own journey. How will Mizusawa, the previous year’s victors, fare against them?! Meanwhile, Taichi goes to a TV recording and witnesses the superhuman abilities of Master Suou as analyzed by science. Just as he searches for his own ideal form of karuta, an unexpected individual appears...! A third and final high school summer. A path blazed together with you in days past."
It’s now the semi-finals of the national high school karuta championships. Chihaya and the rest of Mizusawa High’s karuta club chase after their dream of back-to-back titles as they face off against Fujisaki, who has sworn to get revenge for their loss a year earlier. However, they fall just short of being blessed by the goddess of victory... They’re left with one last opportunity in the form of the third place playoff. One last chance to play karuta, the game they love, together. Appearing before them now in their final team match as high schoolers is Fujisaki East, led by Arata. As each player is matched up, fate leads Chihaya and Arata to face off directly against one another...! Reunited, on it goes. And so will we, I know. Chihaya, Arata, and Taichi are all reunited in Omi!
It’s now the third-place playoff at Chihaya’s final national high school tournament. Everyone is as quiet as can be, their hands clasped in prayer and anticipation as Chihaya quietly focuses on her fated match against Arata. Meanwhile, the battle to crown this year’s champion is played between Hokuou Academy, led by Leero, and Fujisaki High, who aims to retake their lost crown. It is a place to believe in yourself and believe in your friends in order to make your dreams come true, and it’s here that Taichi, who left his team once in the past, appears. Wipe away your tears, whether they’re those of victory or regret, and keep moving forward. Those who fight blaze their own trail!
Chihaya and her friends go to take on the national team tournament. Taichi appears in order to watch their final battle, then leaves behind a promise that he’ll move on to what’s next in life alongside them. The next day, the individual tournament starts, with more competitors than ever before. Its top players will be determined in the Urayasu no Ma, a stage that will connect to the Queen Match in the winter. Chihaya takes on Queen Shinobu Wakamiya once more. Meanwhile, Arata also climbs his way through the tournament, Taichi’s determination stirring his heart. How will the finals, filled with formidable players, go?! "I want to become someone strong." The moment has come to put everything on the line!
"The third-year students have taken on the individual tournament of their final high school national championship, each carrying their own resolutions in their heart. The final between Queen Shinobu Wakamiya and Arata concludes with a gripping battle of fates that ultimately leaves Arata with the victory. Chihaya and Arata have vowed to one another that they’d become stronger. After a long summer where they all fought with passion, it’s now time for Chihaya and the other third-years to take their next step. While Chihaya promised Shinobu that they’d meet again at the Queen Match, she finds herself unsure of what to do now...! Autumn comes as she decides to move forward, even if she has to do it alone. It’s time to make it to that promised match together with her determined heart!"
Challengers gather at the Master and Queen Match preliminaries, their sights set on reaching the "endless peak." Just as the first round is about to begin in the lone path to the Queen Match, Chihaya is struck by a feeling of anxiety she has never felt before. "Did I really prepare?" Meanwhile, Taichi’s approach to karuta has changed greatly as a result of spending time with Master Suou. He then proposes an unexpected bet to Sudo at the tournament site, yet it’s Chihaya who’s shaken by this, unsure of Taichi’s true intentions...! The one and only path to becoming Queen ends with a single loss. Chihaya now faces it with determination burning in her heart!
Challengers meet and clash at the Master and Queen Match preliminaries. The Queen Match is on the line as Chihaya takes on Rion Yamashiro from Fujisaki High’s powerhouse team in her semi-final match, a showdown between two players with an unbelievable feel for karuta! Taichi has also made it to the semi-finals and attempts to use the "controlling karuta" he learned from Master Suou against Sudo. Meanwhile in the West Japan preliminary, Arata finds himself in a surprisingly difficult battle...! The three childhood friends who’ve devoted their teenage years to karuta now dream of a future where they’re reunited once more.
It’s now the semifinals for the East Japan Master and Queen Match preliminaries. Chihaya and Taichi find themselves in intense matches as Chihaya faces Rion Yamashiro from the powerhouse that is Fujisaki, while Taichi faces Sudo. After a string of misfortune, they find themselves at a disadvantage, but Harada-sensei’s decision to let them know that Arata has made it through the West Japan preliminary reminds them of how they play karuta. Chihaya begins to focus like never before, this being her final chance. It’s time to make destiny into a reality in a battle where every card matters!
The East-West Challenger Finals for the Master and Queen Match. Though Arata and Taichi had once stepped away from karuta, both they and Chihaya are able to savor the joy of being in this place together. Momo Yuikawa, representing the West, throws off Chihaya’s pace by playing her own style of karuta. Meanwhile, Taichi uses new tactics to attempt to overcome the wall that is Arata and battle Master Suou…?! It’s time for best-of-three matches as they all seek out a landscape that none have ever seen before!
Game 2 of the East-West Challenger Finals for the Master and Queen Match. Taichi prevents Arata from attacking with his thoroughly defensive karuta. Chihaya struggles with being able to hear “too much.” Everything the three have done has been for the sake of these matches. What will the outcome be…?!
Chihaya punches her ticket at last to the Queen Match after a fierce battle. Chihaya sees where Shinobu, with her unmatched talents, stands, and it is a wasteland beyond anything she could have imagined. Shinobu comes to Chihaya with a proposal in order to achieve her goal of becoming the world’s first karuta pro. Meanwhile, Taichi and Arata each have one win and one loss as their feelings for karuta and one another butt heads on the tatami mats! The East-West Challenger Final is determined at last! What is it that they’re going to see after this battle they’ve put their entire youth into?!
Chihaya polishes her skills for the upcoming Queen Match under Eternal Queen Watarai and former Queen Inokuma. What will Chihaya do as she thinks about the role she needs to play, and what action does Taichi take…? A battle that’s special to all begins in the Urayasu no Ma!
Chihaya arrives at Omi Shrine for the Queen Match. Just as the tension grows, she meets Arata and feels a sense of relief. But an unbelievable mistake awaits Chihaya just as she returns to her room after the pre-final reception...!
The first game of the Master and Queen Matches has begun at last! How will Chihaya fight against Queen Shinobu Wakamiya’s overwhelming strength?! How does Arata feel as he faces Master Suou in the same room? And what about Taichi…?!
Chihaya takes on the Queen Match. After overcoming an accident, she leaves her mark in the first game but loses it in the face of Shinobu’s flawless play. Meanwhile, Arata doesn’t hesitate even as he faces down Master Suou, wrestling away a win. Chihaya attempts to deploy a strategy against Shinobu in game two, but then…!
Game two of the Queen Match. Though Chihaya immerses herself into Shinobu’s world of poetry and gets within three cards, she tragically loses in the end. One more loss and her path to being Queen will be cut short. Having done everything she possibly can, Chihaya begins to feel a sense of despair. But just then, something steps in to save her! Meanwhile, Arata has put the Master, an all-time great, in check. Suou’s back is against the wall, but how will he change when he sees his auntie Yukiko who Taichi has brought to him…?
Game three for the Master and Queen Matches. Both Chihaya and Suou manage to pull out wins with their backs against the wall. How will Shinobu and Arata fight back against these two opponents who have started to get a hold of the momentum…? Watch as each of their hopes and emotions meet with one another!
The Master and Queen Matches enter game four at last! The pressure of letting the win get away from them in game three begins to bear down on Shinobu and Arata. Just as Arata struggles, unable to picture a victory, Taichi of all people appears in front of him! The story reaches its climax as Chihaya, Taichi, and Arata all gather in this place they always yearned for!
The first-ever fourth game of the Queen Match ends, and with it comes a change in the condition of Shinobu’s leg… Arata also falls to Master Suou’s fierce attack, bringing his match to two wins a piece as well. What is the nature of the “curse” bearing down on these two as they’re unable to pull away from Chihaya and Suou, who have now closed the gap? It’s time for game five at last! The final game begins as the players head into it having staked their entire youth!
Game 5 of the Master and Queen Matches. The four strong players who all seek to reach the game’s summit burn bright as the final victory sits on the line. But while their passion is scorchingly hot, it’s also a time for them to quietly face it all: sounds, their opponents, themselves, and everyone they’ve come to know. What form does the god of karuta take? Will Chihaya and Arata see that form just beyond the cards they reach out to take? Please, nobody breathe…! The monumental teenage karuta manga reaches its climax!
Game five of the Master and Queen Matches reach their climax! Both matches make it to the final games, and a battle of fates at that. Whoever’s card is recited will now become Queen. What card will come to Chihaya and Shinobu?! The fifteen-year-long series reaches its finale at last! Includes a special side story where we get to meet Chihaya as a college student!