Irino, Han to play new karuta card-playing club members in January anime

A Thursday press conference announced that Miyu Irino and Megumi Han will be joining the voice cast of the Chihayafuru television anime in its second season. The two will play the new members of the school's karuta club in Chihayafuru 2 ; Irino will voice the self-assured Akihiro Tsukuba, while Han, the daughter of voice actress Keiko Han, will play Sumire Hanano, a girl who joins the club because of the crush she has on Taichi (Mamoru Miyano/Ayahi Takagaki).

The main cast from the first season, led by Asami Seto as Chihaya Ayase, will return for the second season.

Yuki Suetsugu's original manga follows a schoolgirl competing in the Japanese card game of karuta. Chihaya enters her second year of high school in Chihayafuru 2 .

The first 25-episode anime season aired from October 2011 to March 2012. Crunchyroll streamed the first season into several countries as it aired in Japan. The new season will premiere in January.

Source: MyNavi News

Image © Yuki Suetsugu/Kodansha, VAP, NTV

Update: Mamoru Miyano's credit added. Thanks, scineram