The second season of 3-gatsu no Lion.
Now in his second year of high school, Rei Kiriyama continues pushing through his struggles in the
professional shogi world as well as his personal life. Surrounded by vibrant personalities at the
shogi hall, the school club, and in the local community, his solitary shell slowly begins to crack.
Among them are the three Kawamoto sisters—Akari, Hinata, and Momo—who forge an affectionate and
familial bond with Rei. Through these ties, he realizes that everyone is burdened by their own
emotional hardships and begins learning how to rely on others while supporting them in return.
Nonetheless, the life of a professional is not easy. Between tournaments, championships, and title
matches, the pressure mounts as Rei advances through the ranks and encounters incredibly skilled
opponents. As he manages his relationships with those who have grown close to him, the shogi player
continues to search for the reason he plays the game that defines his career.
This review was written after completing season 2 of the show but also covers season 1. First of all, I would like to clarify that this review might be strongly biased. I was going through tough times myself when the show was airing, and the show dealt with some of the problems I was going through and in some ways, helped me overcome them. If you're just reading reviews, because you're unsure whether or not you should watch this show, watch it now. You can thank me later. Story: First and foremost, this show is about one thing; love. Not only the romantic kind of love but familial love. The kind of love that can change the person the most, the kind of love that motivates you, because you don't feel like you deserve it, the kind of love that gives you hope for the future, and also the kind of love that frightens you. What would become of you, if that love suddenly, disappeared? Without getting too much into spoiler territory, the show deals with a vast array of problems, with a focus on mental health. The show shows a realistic representation of how people actually act in difficult situations, and how depression and other mental health issues can be different from person to person. Noone suffers in the same way, and that's an important lesson we could all learn from. Art: The art in this show is beautiful. With shocking realism at times, and other times very stylised. The show uses its art to convey the emotions of the story. If the story takes a dark turn, so does the art, and if the story lightens up, so does the art. Sound: Much like the art of the show, the music is also extremely well made and fits always perfectly with the situation happening on screen. The music itself sometimes had me in tears. The acting was also some of the best I have ever experienced. Especially Rei Kiriyama and Hinata Kawamoto (played by Kengo Kawanishi and Kana Hanazawa respectively), connected with me in ways few characters have ever done. Characters: I love every character in this show. Everyone was given reasoning for their actions and all of them seemed like people. Even the ones who seemed evil at first were shown to have insecurities of their own. This show did a fantastic job of showing why people act the way they do, why people sometimes do terrible things because they are feeling trapped or unloved. There is always reasoning behind a person's actions even if their actions go against whats commonly deemed acceptable, whether or not that justifies their actions, I don't know. It just makes them more human and makes you feel empathy for them. Enjoyment: While watching this show, it was not uncommon for me to reach for a pack of tissues. Emotionally this show connected with me in so many ways, and it often brought me to tears. Seeing the final episode of season 2 was heartbreaking, and I pray more of it will come. Overall: I think this show is a must-watch for everyone who loves anime. Especially if you're going through tough times.
A strong display of emotional resonance; the second season of 3-gatsu no Lion manages to go above and beyond expectations to provide something of overwhelming beauty. It’s a show of many acts; the first season—while boasting many heavy themes—is an elegant watch, which reels the viewer in with a soft mood, realistic characters and delightful interactions, but never hits you with strong emotions. The second season—filled with melancholic tones, depressing themes and powerful messages—gives the show raw emotional power to invest the viewer at full force. Shifting from the focus of Rei’s depression, this season brings more focus to the different mentalities of the supporting cast, both in the real world and the back-drop of shogi. The season starts off with a focus on Hinata, and the daunting problem of bullying. Bringing forth an insight into the mass hysteria it brings and the draining effects on the victims, and those caught up in the drama. This arc is nothing short of impactful, and although it’s heavy, it never becomes painful to watch, something many other drama-oriented series fail to accomplish. What makes this so powerful is down to the commonly relatable topic of bullying, the powerful visual presentation and the amazing characterisation found in the antagonist Megumi Takagi. Megumi’s construct as a bully sets her apart from other archetypical antagonists—in the sense that, there are reasons to her actions—she clearly suffers problems in her mentality, leading her to torment others as a form of escapism, giving her somewhat an ability to be emphasised with for the wrong reason. It’s even easier to empathise with Hina, due to her characteristics, with her helping Rei with his struggles and inspiring him to escape his depression. Rei feels the same on the topic of helping her, creating a close bond between the two, something that plays importance throughout the rest of this season. Although the first arc is definitely in the lime-light of this season, the series continues to impress in its focuses on different characters. The character study of Souya Touji is a breath-taking display of a mind disturbed solely by the life-style of shogi, with stunning direction to show his inability to hear those around him. The shogi match between Shimada and Yanagiharai uses profound visual imagery to show the determination of both characters and the weight Yanagihara carries. And the pleasant moments with Hina give the show a relaxing and charming escapism from the heavier themes. I don’t consider the cast to be merely characters, they feel human. From Rei to Nikaidou to Yanagihara; each one has strong human characteristics that allow for relatability and empathy for these personalities as we see into their differing lives. Even though Rei has less focus this season, his role as the lead character is as strong as ever as he seeks a way to help those around him. It’s inspiring to watch, as Rei’s empathy drives him to assist in fighting the varying problems that arise for everyone close to him. His outlook and narration provide a strong connection from the viewer as he continues to improve his life which was once locked in place by his haunting past. As the main character, his journey is an impeccable experience and he is character of relatability and complexity. This season exposes elements of characters unbeknownst from the first season, such as the extent of Nikadou’s illness, the pressure Akari feels being unable to help Hina and the different psychological and emotional effects each character experiences in accordance to their surroundings. Each revelation is equally as tense and creates stronger connection to the characters once their situations are understood. Studio SHAFT empowers storytelling through visual motifs and stunning presentation, bringing everything to life with powerful imagery to reflect the mood each scene portrays. Every visual element is a sight to behold, with gorgeous backgrounds, varying styles and ability to speak many words through its delivery that bring out many emotions from the viewer. This mood is only enhanced by the stunning soundtrack composition. Melancholic tracks reflecting the depressing yet elegant mood can easily bring you to tears, acting as peaceful additions to the stunning composition of visuals and story. For a while now I’ve been pondering over the topic of depression, this in turn has affected the way I view anime titles, and what I get out of said titles. While Cardcaptor Sakura healed me from having negative thoughts, End of Evangelion’s existential elements blew my mind away so much that the thought of depression was no longer on my mind. But, I think the best form of escapism from a feeling like depression is facing it head on, and that’s exactly what 3-gatsu gave me; giving me personal affection to its elements. To me, 3-gatsu no Lion is the epitome of human emotion, an experience rivalled by none. A show that has brought me to tears almost every episode, and something I hope many others can appreciate in the same way.
After thinking for a while the best thing I could come up with about this anime is that it is __BEAUTIFUL!__ The story remains mixture of feelings. It makes you sad and some time after it gives you warmth. In this part of the story I felt there was more growth and change. At some point the story shows the ugly side of some new people but this only serves to display que good on some of the characters even more. The characters are great and I really like how you get to know them a little bit better this season. And there is growth in several of them as even some old characters show some change. # Momo is as adorable as ever if not more! I may be repeating myself but I truly need to emphasize that this anime as a whole is really beautiful. The art is pretty special and colorful, after two seasons I'm liking even more the line art and the color palette with that watercolor like style. It suits really well the mellow vibe of the series. The music although it may go unnoticed is really on point in every scene and the sound effects in some matches make them feel like the players are really battling themselves and their opponents. The characters as I said before are fantastic and really charming and instead of getting tired of them somehow I found myself wanting to get to know them better. This season appart from Rei's siblings we meet some other dislikable people in Hina's school who make her and a friend go through some difficulties and hard times but this helps to show a side of Hina that makes her go from a sweet child to a strong girl that makes her family proud. The best part is that while Rei tries to help Hina it also ends up helping himself with his past traumas and it strengthens the bond between Rei and the family. The story advances at a perfect pace neither too fast nor too slow making it incredibly enjoyable to watch the whole series in a row although I would've liked to see more of the girls and a little less Rei and did I mention that Momo is so friggin kawaii? The seiyuu's acting really make the characters come alive to the point you wish for them to exist in real life and be your neighbors or something like that. In my case I would even like to adopt the three girls and make them a part of my life. I mean I have sisters of my own but they are not adorable as the three girls, specially Momo. This review might be messy and disordered but I rarely write anime reviews and at first did not notice there was a minimum requirement or 2200 characters for a review on this site. Anyway. As bad as this review came out I'm glad I wrote it since I rarely get the chance or take the time to express my thoughts about animes or mangas I really enjoy. If you are reading this review before watching this season of 3-gatsu no Lion I truly hope it helps you decide to watch it.
With the conclusion of Season 1, I felt March Comes in Like a Lion was a charming show with strong characters but ultimately felt dissatisfied with its tone and comedy. It had the typical Shaft qualities with its art style and visual direction, but I often felt like it dampened the heart of the message rather than accentuated it. Still, I believed that there was something special about the show, in particular with its characters and psychological elements. After watching the second season, I am happy to say the show has embraced its strengths and has blossomed into a fine drama series. Season 2 of March Comes in Like a Lion shifts its focus slightly from some of the core elements of Season 1. While Rei is still ultimately the protagonist, a lot of attention is also given to its supporting cast, in particular the Kawamoto sisters. In the first season, we see their soft struggles in maintaining a happy home life despite the deaths of their mother and grandmother and the disappearance of their father. In the second season, these feelings are far more explicit. Arguably the biggest moment of this season is found within Hina’s character. The result of recent bullying has caused her dear friend Chiho to move away, causing a swirling torrent of new emotions inside of her. Anger, sadness and shock are at constant battle with one another as Hina confronts a cruel internal system that continuously perpetuates the bullying. The discussion of bullying has been in many TV shows and movies, with mixed results due to representation and understanding of the issue. March Comes in Like a Lion handles this near flawlessly, showing the impacts and people involved in an honest and realistic fashion. Fear and confusion clouds the thoughts of those involved, ultimately pointing to a flaw of conformity that renews the cycle. Solutions are not easily obtained or practically applied due to the social pressures and anxiety that serves to impasse the mind. Most important in this arc is the central character of Hina. As a young girl in her last year of junior high, key choices now become more important than ever. The decisions she makes now could shape her life in high school and even adulthood. It’s an arc that can be tough at times to view and, with such a focus on emotion, even borders on the melodramatic. It is perhaps these very reasons that contribute to such an impactful arc and make even the littlest of moments of acting in good conscience feel extraordinary. What makes this moment even stronger isn’t just the fact that it develops Hina – it in turn also develops Rei. Despite all the small steps Rei has taken thus far, Rei still feels bound internally by the very game he plays. Shogi has always been a means of survival, even at the cost of further isolating himself away from others and learning the price of victory. Hina’s character arc gives him a new sense of foundation, her actions and beliefs giving him a new sense of reason for the game. Though Rei isn’t actively fighting alongside Hina in her quest to seek justice, his decisions stemming from that sense of empathy give Hina more power to continue her fight. It is a symbiotic relationship that allows them both to mature. Additionally, it is a catalyst that helps Rei remember the love that’s shared from those around him. Events and memories of the previous season resonate within Rei’s head with a new impact, allowing him to find answers to problems he normally couldn’t overcome. It also helps give the show a sense of progression, seeing moments that felt more like a day in the life to have weight and shape the identity of Rei. That’s not to say that Rei has become less introverted but more so open to those around him, finally finding a family amongst his peers. A final story element that makes the show work wonderfully is its passage of time. Littered throughout Season 2 are discussions of characters growing older and the weight it carries. Whether used as a joke or in the use of soliloquy, it helps the show retain a sense of organic motion and realism that makes me look forward to each new episode. The show’s most powerful moments can only happen during a certain character’s age or time in their life, so seeing it so well executed makes me look forward to the future of this show. Rei and Hina are the main characters to focus on in Season 2, but there are still good moments from the supporting cast to maintain the show’s characterizations. Nikaidou, Rei’s extraverted buddy, had touched on health concerns in the previous season but it’s seen on a more personal level here, adding to his driving force as not only Rei’s rival but as an aspiring shogi player. New characters such as Yanagihara appear as a humorous senior on the surface but has personal reasons for continuing to hold on to his Shogi Maestro title that are reminiscent of the best moments of shows such as Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu. Not every supporting character is given this level of depth, but their sensible reactions and dialogue can more than make up for it, especially if it ties back to our central characters such as Rei. Some viewers might feel disappointed that characters such as Kyouko and Ayumu are still fairly in the dark, but their influence on the characters/story is not as crucial as of this season and will be better suited on an arc focusing more on the Kouda family than the Kawamoto. One of my problems with the first season of the show is that I didn’t really care for the zany artistic moments as much as other viewers. Compared to last season, I feel they are executed a lot better in showing the anxiety and sporadic emotions of the characters. Even the show’s more humorous moments feel a lot stronger. This could be because of a stronger use of dynamics from the show’s more explicit drama or perhaps I’ve gotten more accustomed to Shaft’s style of handling the show. Regardless, those who liked Shaft’s artistic flair of closeups, alternate color palettes, and exaggerations will be as happy as ever with Season 2 of March. The music in the show doesn’t move me as much as others do, though one piece that’s composed for flute and piano used in the show’s more dramatic moments added extra “punch” to the scene. OP 1, “Flag wo Tatero”, is a much better opener from YUKI than last season’s “Sayonara Bystander”, with a melancholic rock verse that leads to an uplifting pre-chorus and semi-shouted chorus. ED 1 “Kafune” is even more melancholic, accompanying visual imagery of a distraught Rei with a string section and falsetto break in the chorus. OP 2 “Haru ga Kite Bokura” is my preference of the two, utilizing a clever octave vocal harmony in the pre-chorus and a fast beat with string section in the chorus. ED 2, “I AM STANDING” by RUANN, is visually interesting with the introduction of color to the gloomy black-and-white drawings at the beginning but the chorus’s melody change makes me not appreciate the performance as much. The seiyuus of the previous season are just as strong as before in this one, possibly more so with Kana Hanazawa’s more emotional delivery of Hina. It’s as much as anyone would want from such a drama, giving the characters meaning behind their words. Overall, I give March Comes In Like a Lion S2 a 7.0/10. I feel March handles the drama of its characters in a wonderful way, showing complexity and weight behind decisions in handling each character’s personal issues. Though it could easily have gone off the rails, solid writing and character motivations kept the hysterics in check and made the show a strong representation of well-executed drama. Even if you do not care for those elements, there is still an otherwise good shogi story that continues to progress for each of the players and makes for an entertaining sports/game series. I definitely recommend this season and I will look forward to what else occurs for the future of this series. Do you like or dislike this anime? If you haven't watched it, are you encouraged to watch it or not? Leave a comment on my profile telling me what you think of the anime and/or my review. Thanks for reading and have a blessed day!
I really don’t know how to write about this series. That isn’t to say I don’t know why I like it or anything, but I don’t know how to not hide the bias. 3-gatsu no lion is my favorite anime. I think it’s the best thing this medium has to offer, & it’s by far not only shaft’s but Akiyuki Shinbou’s best project he ever has directed, & ever will direct. That statement may come back to bite me in the ass at some point later on, but I don’t care. I feel it a disgrace to not write about my favorite series. Spoiler alert, you have been warned. Story: 10/10 Phenomenal. That’s the only word I need. 3-gatsu no lion combines simplicity with complexity. The overall story is simple, it’s about pro-shogi player Rei Kiriyama working to overcome his struggles in life. But what elevates this story is the concepts 3-gatsu tackles, from self-discovery, depression, bullying, understanding others, & many, many more. It takes a story that’s about an ordinary guy overcoming his struggles & turns it into something a bit more grandiose. The places this story takes us too, oh my god. Everyone in this series has their own arc that they go through, their own stories to tell, their own paths they take, every character has something to offer & not one person is wasted space. From learning about Souya’s deafness & how it affected him & his shogi career, Nikaidou & how his match against Kiriyama as a child motivated him to push harder & become a better shogi player, or Hinata’s bullying arc about her friend, Chiho getting bullied out of school, & Hinata standing her ground against the bullies. All of it is great stuff & involved storylines that don’t detract from the overall storyline of the series. The episode structure & storyboarding is also stuff made of legends, creating a great & seamless flow. The flow of the storyboarding also makes the area’s feel jam-packed & full of life. It’s an all around superb effort. Characters: 10/10 I already briefly touched upon the excellency that are the characters of this show in my story segment, but I will say it again, the character in 3-gatsu are brilliantly written. Rei Kiriyama’s depression doesn’t feel like some cheap tactic to try & make him feel like a relatable character, his depression feels earned because of his circumstances, Shogi is the only thing this poor man has, without it he is nothing. He lives by himself while he’s taking highschool, & he grew up in an abusive upbringing (not from his adoptive father, but his sister & brother either hurting him or ignoring him flat out). But Rei isn’t mopey the whole time, Rei can actually be quite a cheerful individual & when good things happen to him he’s very appreciative of it. Rei Kiriyama is above all else balanced. Speaking of bright sides of Rei’s life, we have the Kawamoto sisters that consist of Akari, Hinata, & Momo. The Kawamoto sisters are perfect, they serve the story purpose brilliantly & contribute a lot of things to the development of not only Rei Kiriyama, but Rei as a whole. The Kawamoto sisters are very cheerful & upbeat citizens who take in & look after Rei as if he was their own. 3-gatsu no lion has tone-shifts, usually involving the Kawamoto sisters, but these aren’t bad as the series builds up to these tone-shifts through both an establishing structure, & shot. Not only that, but the art-style will also change to match the tone of a scene. From momo’s innocence, Akari’s motherly love of both her sisters & Rei, & Hinata in general, the Kawamoto sisters are actually perfect & this series would be worse off without them. That’s just scratching the surface of the well rounded cast of this series. We have Gotou, a shogi player with an ill wife doing all he can to try & help his wife, all the time staying loyal to her. We then have Kyouko, Rei’s adoptive older sister who was hard on Rei because her Father gave more attention to bettering Rei in shogi than he did to his own daughter. Next we have Hayashida, Rei’s homeroom teacher who eats lunch with him & is there to have a conversation with Rei & help comfort him. I could go on all day, but the point is that 3-gatsu’s characters are all fleshed out & involved being who all have something to contribute to the story at hand. Not one character in this series is underutilized & each one of them go through their own arc (big or small) that makes them not only memorable, but believably sympathetic characters as well. This might just be one of the most rounded cast’s of characters that anime has ever seen they’re that well written. Art:10/10 3-gatsu is an artistic masterpiece, but this is Studio-Shaft we’re talking about, even their worst works look good & 3-gatsu no lion is no exception to Shaft anime looking gorgeous. The way the series adapts Chika Umino’s art into animation is excellent, the line work & colors choices were excellent & each scene (even dark ones) are well lite & let the colors pop. The design works are good too, from character designs that tell you exactly what you need to know about the characters, said designs representing the characters well, the general design works of the settings is all excellent stuff. If I may be so bold, as gorgeous as the Monogatari series looks & as much as I praised the design works in my review of Bakemonogatari, the designs works on display on 3-gatsu are so excellent & the adaptation of Chika Umino’s artstyle into animation here transitions so well that I actually prefer the way 3-gatsu no lion looks over the Monogatari franchise. Animation is of course excellent, the weight, flow, mechanics, etc. All of it is really good stuff. From more intense action moments (such as the shogi battles) & all the little animation details in more relaxed scenes, the animation remains consistently high quality through the (at the time of writing) 44 episodes that this series spans. To put it bluntly, I have no problems with the animation of this series, & the animation itself has no flaws. Sound: 10/10 The sound is just as great as everything else about the series is, what more did you expect? The voice acting in particular is really good (how does Shaft not only know how to hire talented voice actors, but keep them coming back?). Kawanishi Kengo as Rei, Hanazawa Kana as Hinata, Kuno Misaki as Momo, & Sakurai Takahiro as Hayashida, it’s all great stuff from some really talented people. The music is also really good, it creates some great atmosphere but remains humble & a nice easy listen outside of the show itself. I must also bring mention to the first OP of the series, ‘Answer” by “Bump of Chicken” which might just be my favorite anime OP of all time. I listen to it almost everyday & in-fact I’m listening to it now as I write this review. Overall: I’ve got 5 words for you, “10 out of fucking 10!” Finally getting around to write about this series has felt really rewarding. Getting to express my love of my favorite anime, talking about all its great points, its excellent storytelling, it’s phenomenal & well rounded character cast, it’s excellent art & sound. Really, what more can I say here? It’s damn near perfection. Unlike 3 other shows in my top 5, they all have glaring aspects to them that I can pinpoint as flaws, albeit flaws that aren’t high enough to detriment their status as being in my top 5, but still some flaws to them nevertheless. 3-gatsu no lion on the other hand, I have absolutely nothing negative to say about it. It’s in the top 10 on MAL for a reason (though frankly is deserves to be number 1 if you ask me). In conclusion, 3-gatsu no lion #1 anime, Hinata & Rei are the best characters, Answer best OP, Akiyuki Shinbou at his best directing job on this one, & this is what all adaptations should strive to be. Already said it but this one is getting the full 10 out of 10 to nobody’s surprise.
The first season of March Comes in Like a Lion was already really damn good. I feel like I need to say that up front so we can get a baseline of what we’re dealing with here. Sangatsu was a masterpiece right from the start. Gripping drama, compelling characters, some of the most intricate relationship writing I’ve ever seen, some of the most striking, emotionally affecting visual storytelling in all of anime, and a heartfelt sincerity that spoke to the best of everything that hope and kindness is capable of. It was a ten-gallon steam-powered shotgun blast right to my heart, speaking to all the real-life values I believe in and presenting them with more alacrity, humanity, despair and joy than I’ve almost ever seen them. You couldn’t ask for an anime more in touch with what I value in anime, nor for a better version of exactly what it was trying to be. Sure, the plot was a little aimless at times, and sure, it was more a series of moments and sensations than a well-structured story at this point, but that couldn't stop me from giving it full marks across the board. Bottom line, season 1 was an incredible show, and if that was all that existed of this story, I’d still be thankful for the experience. Season 2 is so fucking spectacular that comparing it to season 1 at all almost feels like an insult. To be clear, that is in no way a knock against the first season. Everything it did so incredibly well is still on display here: fantastic production values, sound design and direction, a complex story that weaves the lives of so many different characters together while giving them all unique, compelling motivations, the ability to whiplash between gut-busting comedy and gut-wrenching drama without breaking a sweat. Sangatsu Season 2 is still the same show it always was, with everything that made it special still intact. But because of the groundwork the first season laid, because of all the slow, patient, rewarding effort put into establishing these characters and their relationships, the second season is able to take this already staggeringly high base line and push it beyond the fucking stratosphere. If the first season was about Rei’s slow awakening to the realization that he has the ability to change his life for the better, then the second season was about what happens when he finally gains the courage to put those changes into effect. It’s more focused and compact overall, with much more of the plot taken up by the overarching throughline of Hina’s struggles with bullying at school, and how both she and Rei grow as a result of them. It builds on what’s come before, pushing its characters to take bigger, more breathtaking risks. It’s a funneling of all this show’s many interlocking stories into a single cohesive whole, still branching out and exploring all different facets of these characters’ lives, but more committed than ever to make sure they’re all moving forward together. Or, to summarize more succinctly, simply look at how the motif of water imagery evolves across the show's OPs. Whereas season 1's first OP depicts Rei sinking deep into the dark waters of his depression, season 2's first OP shows him literally running on water, rising above his demons and pushing himself forward with unyielding determination. Rei Kiriyama is no longer drowning; at long last, he's found the courage to swim. And the result is that a show I already loved dearly is transformed into something akin to a divine miracle. I cannot overstate just how fucking incredible this season is. I’ve already spilled countless words over countless hours gushing over it on my Tumblr, and I’m sure I still haven’t done its justice. It doesn’t just do everything the first season does better, it invents entirely new languages of quality. It blasts through every obstacle in its way with the force of a blazing comet, topping itself again and again with impossible emotional height after impossible emotional height. Rei gaining the courage to reach out to the people around him and try to repay their kindness. Hina’s refusal to stay silent in the face of impossible social pressure. The stunning portrayal of how bullying takes place and how easy it is for the entire system to cave under the stress. Rei and Hina giving each other the strength to keep trying, holding each others hands as they walk toward the future together. The fantastic reveal of what’s going on with the enigmatic child of god Souya. The themes of changing times, hellos and goodbyes. The unyielding, defiant refusal to give up on humanity’s best, bursting forth in every one of Hina’s impassioned speeches and every one of Rei’s monumental leaps forward. Any one of these achievements alone would be worthy of the highest honors. But together, all contributing to the same soul-resurrecting tale of a lost boy finally taking hold of the world around him and refusing to let go, it erupts with a shockwave majestic enough to make the world’s largest hydrogen bomb bow its head in shame. And I have loved every last second of it. I have loved every single moment, every single detail, every single frame of this jaw-dropping, impossibly wonderful show. Watching Rei finally take action to forge connections in his life left me screaming in joy. Watching him cry at realizing how genuinely happy he’s become left me a blubbering mess. Watching Hina’s blazing star rise throughout the entirety of this season, pushing the show’s best character to even more staggering heights, was beautiful beyond the capacity of human language to describe. I have laughed more over the course of this season than I’ve laughed at pretty much anything else. I have cried more regularly over the course of this season than with any show prior. I have been stunned, overwhelmed, devastated, utterly broken, then sewn back together and sent soaring into the brilliant light of the morning sun. Every single trail this show chooses to follow is nothing short of incredible. Every single direction it takes its characters, every single way it makes they grow and learn and struggle and triumph and laugh and cry and love and live, puts entire other anime to shame. I love all of these characters. I care about all of their struggles. I’m invested in all ways multifold ways their lives intersect and overlap, all the warmth and comfort they give each other, all the barricades they form together against the darkness threatening to drag them under. There is not a single moment in this entire season- no, strike that. There is not a single moment in this entire show that doesn’t fill me with joy. There is not a single part of Sangatsu no Lion that doesn’t make me believe in the best that people are capable of. And honestly, I think that makes this show so fucking valuable. We all know the world’s kind of a scary place right now. It’s so easy to look at all the darkness, all the cruel men in charge making all the wrong decisions, all the long-festering systemic issues bursting to the surface, and completely lose hope. It’s so easy to see all these examples of humanity at its worst and conclude there’s nothing left worth fighting for. But Sangatsu no Lion is a full-throated battle cry against the forces of darkness. It’s a kaleidoscopic beacon of hope and kindness, an unbreakable reminder of what humanity’s capable of at its best. It is everything good about us, all our kindness, all our compassion, all our community, all our love, communicated with the rawest, most emotionally resonant visual storytelling possible. At times when I’m feeling crushed by the weight of the world, this is the show that reminds me why it’s still worth fighting for. This is the show that reminds me why everyone still deserves happiness. This is the show that gives me hope that together, we will overcome this long night and see the dawn on the other side. In my season 1 review, I described it as the best example of “radical empathy” I’d seen, and that has never been more true than it is now. We need stories like Sangatsu no Lion. We need fiction capable of speaking to our reality with this much heart and soul. We need reminders that no matter how dark things get, we have the capacity to make things right again. And no piece of fiction I’ve seen, anime or otherwise, has responded to that need quite like this one. Sangatsu no Lion is a masterpiece, but that word doesn’t do it justice. Frankly, I’m not sure any words are good enough to do it justice. Even just after finishing the first season, I knew this was something really special. Then we hit this season’s episode 4, and I knew this was gonna end up in my top ten list. Then we hit episodes 9 and 10, and I realized it was gonna crack my top five. Then we reached the glorious episode 13, and I wondered if it might even get into my top three. And now that it’s all over? Now that I’ve reached the end of all 44 episodes of this utterly remarkable show? Well, while I’m going to have to roll this question over in my head for a good long time before I’m fully satisfied with my answer, it’s entirely possible that Sangatsu no Lion may end up being my single favorite anime of all time. No, you didn’t misread that. No, your eyes aren’t deceiving you. Sangatsu no Lion is so fucking good that I might honestly come to love it more than Gintama. This might be the show that finally cracks the Odd Jobs’ stranglehold on my number 1 spot. THAT’S HOW FUCKING GOOD IT IS. Honestly, the one advantage Gintama still has over Sangatsu is that Gintama is pretty much done at this point. Over the course of 367 incredible episodes, it told almost every ounce of the story it wanted to tell, bringing every one of its amazing characters and interconnected stories to the conclusion of a lifetime, with an upcoming film likely set to finish the adaptation off for good. Sangatsu, by contrast, still has so damn far to go. Even after the incredible peaks we’ve reached this season, there’s still so much left to explore. There’s still so many characters with stories left unfinished, so many directions left to go in, so many new avenues and emotional connections left to foster and bring to culmination. Hell, we barely got any of Kyouko this season, and she’s one of the show’s most compelling characters. Not to mention Shimada’s still fighting for his title, and the next step in Hina's life could lead to all sorts of wonderful developments. These stories are not yet over; there’s still so much more left for them to tell. But if we’re ever lucky enough that the manga gets a full adaptation that keeps this level of quality all the way through? If we get to see all these stories play out to the end? Then Sangatsu might just have it beat. As much as I love Gintama, there’s an immediacy to just how fucking good this show is that I just can’t look away from. It took Gintama around 60 episodes to get as good as Sangatsu starts. It took Gintama 140 episodes to break the same impossible standard of quality that Sangatsu overtakes by episode fucking twenty-six. If Sangatsu’s given the chance for its story to play out in full, there’s no telling how high it might be able to reach. Shaft could spend the next couple decades doing nothing but adapting Sangatsu and I would consider it the greatest thing they’ve ever done. So I hope you can all join me in praying for a season 3 announcement once their upcoming Assault Lily Bouquet finishes airing. God knows, I could watch this story for the rest of my life and never get tired of it. But for now, sadly, it’s time to say goodbye. So thank you, Sangatsu no Lion. Thank you for every incredible step of this life-affirming journey. And if you still haven't gotten around to watching Sangatsu no Lion yet, consider this your call to action. Watch Sangatsu no Lion. Don't let it pass you by for another moment. I promise you, you won't regret it.
There is a bit of folklore about March. The saying goes that “if March comes in like a lion, then it will go out like a lamb.” Essentially it means that if the Month of March starts off with cold and harsh winter, it will end with a warm and welcoming Spring. Or in its literary meaning, a character who starts off cold and distant, but ends up learning how to live. March Comes in Like a Lion follows 17-year old Rei Kiriyama. We don’t know much about him besides that he’s depressed and really good at board games, namely “Shogi” or Japanese Chess. Well actually, now that I think about it … I know nothing about Shogi, and after watching March Comes in Like a Lion…I still don’t know anything about Shogi besides that one really sad scene from Naruto (yes _that_ one). In the case of Sangatsu, Rei made his decision long ago that he would cultivate his innate talent for Shogi, and well where did it get him. While he's never defined as having any kind of psychological or psychiatric disorders, he's frequently portrayed as a few steps outside the norm. He shows frequent evidence of clinical depression and has poor social skills. Combined with an inability to understand others' feelings and an obsession with a singular subject, namely Shogi, it begs the question, where did it all go wrong? March Comes in Like a Lion is a gentle tale about people trying to regain something. For Rei, it’s the feeling he had when he was a child. The desire to win for someone other than himself, to play with a purpose, to have that passion and enjoyment of the game. And this is a story that just does that. It’s a story of redemption that uses Shogi matches and human interaction to further develop our character. The progression feels natural, as if you’re there with the person, watching them progress in real time. Studio SHAFT manages to pull this feat off by adapting each and every chapter of the source material faithfully and accurately, as each episode is named after the chapters it adapts. In order to tell a compelling story, you need a few things. 1. First, a compelling story (obviously). 2. Second, an appropriate medium to properly convey the story. Sangatsu is a very simple story, but the animation knows when to go out of this world when it needs to be. Movies such as Pixar’s Inside Out personify our emotions to make those emotions easier to understand. We see Joy as bright yellow ball of sunshine, and Sadness as a blue and gloomy cloud of sadness. We can display physical conflict with large grandiose fights and clashing swords, but how do we properly express the desire to stay in the game when all of your friends have died, or a bully arc that is the most realistic portrayal of bullying that I’ve seen in any medium. Well, you force the viewer to dive right in. Bombard them with incredible visuals, and make them accept the reality that you’ve presented them. Studio SHAFT empowers storytelling through visual motifs and stunning presentation, bringing everything to life with powerful imagery to reflect the mood each scene portrays. Every visual element is a sight to behold, with gorgeous backgrounds, varying styles and ability to speak many words through its delivery that bring out many emotions from the viewer. You see the weight that Saku feels during his match with the cords and the burnt field around him. You feel the isolation and hostile emotions when Hina is being bullied. You feel a fluffiness in your heart when Rei realizes that he is needed by someone. You feel all these emotions because they’ve force-fed you all these emotions, and you have no real choice but to feel what they want you to feel. The series just captured depression and the struggle with inadequacy so well. Without going into specific details because I truly want people to experience this show with their own two eyes, the series just does a fantastic job of thoroughly fleshing out its characters so that each one is believable no matter how they’re presented. Nichijo is so much more than just a rival, Kyoko is so much more than a step sister, and Saku is so much more than just a geezer who should have retired ages ago. Our lives are oftentimes defined by the people we surround ourselves with. Whether it be willingly or against our wishes, those people all play a supporting role in our own epics. But with depression, that’s different. It’s easy to feel like you’re not even the main character in your own story. You meet so many people so vibrant and full of life, that it makes so much more sense to revolve the story around them. That isn’t the case with March Comes in Like a Lion. Rei is hurting, and oftentimes he doesn’t know why, yet the center never shifts from him that much. We see his sleepless nights, his intrusive thoughts, his inability to have a normal conversation, and his need to push all his problems aside to help someone else. We endure every single step of his journey with him, and after some time has passed it feels like we went through it ourselves. Eventually you start to realize that all you can do, is experience what is directly in front of you. >“You refuse to make an effort with anything because you’re scared of learning your own capacity and being disappointed by it. But… it’s okay to be disappointed. Once you learn your own capacity, you at last understand what it is you should do. When you understand yourself, what you want to do will also become more clear. Once you do that, you’ll at least be able to get past your incredible anxiety. I can guarantee at least that.” March comes in Like a Lion taught me to live my life with both arms open, and ready for whatever comes next. It’s cheesy, but sometimes, it just takes that one piece of work that radiates with you and resonates with your entire being for you to see a message that has been obscured for the last two decades. It’s a series I will never stop loving, with messages that I will never stop quoting: >“This time is precious. But it’s flowing onward, and I can’t stop it.”
~~~__Every now and then an anime exceeds all expectations, and turns into an unbelievable masterpiece. This is the case with the 2nd season of March Comes in like a Lion.__~~~ Similarly to the first season, I shall start off by straight up saying that you should only watch this anime if you are okay with exploring in depth themes, emotions and more adult-like content. Without delving too much into this, the anime talks a lot about depression, the effects of depression, and how it can completely crush an individual. Together with this, unlike season 1, season 2 also deals with bullying, goals, and the meaning of life. As such, I highly recommend avoiding this anime if you are uncomfortable with these themes. On the other hand, if you are capable of understanding and handling these themes, then I fully recommend it, as this anime not only handles it well, but rather handles it excellently to such a point that there were moments when I had to stop watching to actually think about the themes presented by the show, as there is definitely a lot of thought put into this season. Furthermore, this season fixes most of the shortcoming of the previous season, resulting in a masterpiece. Below I will delve into the main categories of this show, without spoiling anything from season 1 or 2; #~~~Story 10/10:~~~ As mentioned above, the story of March Comes in like a lion revolves around depression, and how it affects the main character, as well as him slowly getting through it. In this season we also are introduced to many other characters, some minor, some major, and through them we get to also experience other themes, such as bullying. Which I must say, was handled extremely well, as such these themes make it definitely a worth-while story. #~~~Art 10/10:~~~ The art was absolutely outstanding, there is a very good combination and transitions of pure darkness when needed, to beautiful imagery and light in order to show happiness and tranquility, especially in this season, in that regard, I really loved the artistic choices and imagery used to represent emotions in this season, that I just can't see myself giving its art style any score smaller than a 10. #~~~Sound 8/10:~~~ There are a good number of good OSTs in the show, but nothing really memorable apart from a couple of them. #~~~Character 10/10:~~~ The characters are EXTREMELY well detailed. This season introduces a lot of brand new characters, each with their own highly detailed backstories, goals, friends and even their own problems. There were literally parts in this season where we had characters compete against each other. And I didn't know who to root for, since both sides had such powerful goals, that it made it near impossible to say which individual deserved to win. #~~~Enjoyment 9/10:~~~ I overall enjoyed watching this anime, and I would gladly re-watch it time and time again. Furthermore, after seeing this season, I had to recommend it to everyone I knew. #~~~Overall 10/10:~~~ The author has done an incredible job writing what I consider to be a masterpiece, and the director of this anime adaption, together with its studio, made a remarkable job brining the author's creation to life, with everything I have seen, I have to say that this anime is a true masterpiece.
Ah, 3-gatsu no Lion. How I wanted to love you, and how disappointed I ultimately was. Most of the time I agree with the crowd when it comes to such things such as media review. If it’s well-received by critics, I tend to like it as well. If most people find shortcomings, most of the time I resonate with those as well. But considering I’m giving this anime a rating substantially lower than the stellar (above 9 at the time of writing) average on MAL, take this review with a grain of salt. Sangatsu no Lion disappointed me not so much with what it was but with what it could have been. For a bit of context, I originally watched the first season as part of an anime club viewing (1 episode weekly) at my school. I remember never feeling that the show and I really properly got along. I was put off by the constant metaphors and imagery that seemed to be picked up in one episode and abandoned the next, the seeming lack of direction in the show’s pacing and plot, and the overall lack of true character development not only in the MC but also in those surrounding him. Some scenes, drawn and animated not beautifully but to a degree I could really appreciate, were strikingly offset by the garish “comedic” inserts that seemed to be inserted randomly and looked as if they were made right at the end of a weekly deadline. The music, while featuring some good tracks, was largely forgettable. It was one of the shows that I felt no connection toward and one that I rarely looked forward to seeing the next week. It existed, I watched it, and that was it. But after so many episodes, the first season finally ended and I was left with a choice – give it up or go on to the next season? My brother told me the second season was better, and it looked like MAL agreed. I decided it was best not to leave it undone and began the second season in the summer of this year. And now the real review begins. First, let’s talk about the animation. It’s good. I can’t fault Shaft for what they’ve done here. In particular, the openings tend to be very well drawn and make good use of color and lighting. But the second season still suffers from the bizarre comedic inserts that plagued my enjoyment of the first season. 3-gatsu is not designed as a comedic SoL, but for some reason the writers felt that their story would be better portrayed with numerous, brightly colored and loudly voiced insert scenes with 2-D caricatures of the main cast, often when expressing something intended to be funny or outrageous in nature. I found myself laughing at these scenes not because I found them truly funny (and I rarely did) but because they seemed so out of place in an anime that leaned so heavily on meaningful use of color, light, and sound to explain the story both within and outside of the cast’s heads. Furthermore, there was never a place during the anime where I paused and said to myself “what a beautiful scene,” something that I have found myself doing in the majority of shows I’ve scene (regardless of how well I like them). So in total, I found the animation and the art style good, but held back by some of the strange comedic inserts (though it is worth saying that there are less in the second season than the first). Let’s move on to the music. The openings and closings, again, while being decent, are not memorable. I am a major believer in the idea that the opening of any anime play an absolutely critical role in setting the mood for the show, and those that do it well (looking at you, Spice and Wolf S1) are that much better for it. But very little about either of the openings (and closings too) use their positioning in the show to their advantage. I found myself skipping them more often than not. I only realized just how forgettable this show’s soundtrack really was until I realized that I could hum the next episode preview BGM more accurately than the actual opening – and that’s a bit of a shame. Now for the meat – the characters. I sincerely believe that Sangatsu no Lion suffers from the curse of Evangelion. While this is more prevalent in the first season, 3-gatsu is mainly premised on the MC, Rei, and the thoughts that rage within his head. But unlike Eva and some of its excellent protégé, this show does not use the “internal battle” motif effectively, and I believe it is mainly due to a fundamental misunderstanding of what it means to tell a story. Like so many others, 3-gatsu is designed to evoke a sense of commonality in its viewers. You are supposed to resonate with Rei’s internal struggles and see yourself in them. And this idea, at first glance, is executed well. A boy, feeling outcast by his peers, picks up a hobby and meets other people to find new meaning in his life. It’s a realistic concept, while exceptionally overused, but it isn’t the problem. The issue comes with the context. Rei is a child prodigy, a middle school marvel who turns professional in his sport of the mind, Shogi. His family, having died in a car crash, leave him absolutely alone, adopted by a family who simultaneously reverences and disdains his skill. We pick up on Rei’s story as he moves out of his adoptive house to his own apartment, living entirely off his own income from professional shogi tournaments. The realism of Rei’s basic condition – outcast, depressed, alone – is tempered by the sheer unrealism of his situation and character – a genius whose entire family has passed unexpectedly, in the most stereotypical of anime tropes. This would be one thing if the show was written such that it was self aware of this uneasy juxtaposition between realistic and unbelievable, but it isn’t. At all points are the viewers stuck in the limbo between “yes, I identify with this” and “this simply isn’t me.” There’s a bit of Rei in most of 3-gatsu’s intended viewers, but there’s very little of the viewership in Rei, and the anime acts as if this glaring issue simply doesn’t exist. Shaft portrays the MC as a normal young man, without agreeing to the fact that he is anything but. In the interest of keeping this as spoiler-free as possible, I won’t dig too deep into Rei’s story, but very little of it helps the frustration I have with his characterization. As a slice of life, it follows his daily movements – to school, to Shogi Hall, to tournaments, and to the Kawamoto house. While the second season is notably better than the first in this regard, Shaft still suffers from the curse of pacing and focus. There are several sub-arcs in this season, lasting anywhere from one to several episodes long, but very few of them are properly followed-up on and brought to a satisfying conclusion. The writers introduce a character – normally one of Rei’s opponents but occasionally someone related to the rest of the cast – and draw out their character in great depth for a small while. You start to get excited: this is interesting. You become invested. But as soon as it starts, it’s over. The writers turn aside, never to bring the arc to its conclusion, and even some of the intimate insight we are given into the newly-developed character’s mind are cast to the wayside. Some of them reappear – too little and too late, unfortunately – later on in the series, but several are never heard from again. I suppose this may be Shaft’s way of pressing their overall thematic movement – that everyone is on the train of life together, and separating and joining is all part of the journey – but it’s overused and honestly frustrating by the time the season concludes. By far the best arc in the story deals with bullying experienced by Hinata Kawamoto, one of the three sisters whom Rei befriends in the first season. It’s realistic. It’s brutally honest in many ways. It resonates with so many of the show’s viewers. And unlike so many of the other disappointing sub-arcs, it is the only one that is actually brought from start to a satisfying (though still realistic) conclusion at the end of the season. But why? Why do you need a boy genius, an orphaned shogi sensation, and all the rest of the show’s unrealistic characterization to talk about such a mundane but meaningful topic? It almost supports the argument that 3-gatsu is better off without it. And it almost seems that the show directors become almost aware of this by the time the last season concludes. Rei takes his wins and losses less seriously. Shogi exists mainly as a continued tool but the show’s passion for it dies away. The boy genius becomes less and less notably for his acuity, but Shaft trudges on with the theme almost out of necessity. Why? 3-gatsu is one of the few shows where the unique premise (come on, how many anime are based around professional board game players?) drags it down rather than making it memorable. I have relatively little to say about the rest of the show’s cast and characterization, mainly because some of the most interesting characters have only a temporary turn in the spotlight just to be more or less used as distraction fodder for the remainder of the anime. Shimada and Nikaido – likely two most interesting and round (literally in the latter’s case) in the entire show, only appear as major story points in only a few episodes. While one could argue that Shaft is simply exercising reason with its balance of character development as to not overstep and overreach, these omissions are more frustrating than welcomed. You expect some deep development only to be played with a minor plot point or comedic insert. To wrap up this review, let’s talk about what this anime could have been. The directing has a very solid grasp on conceit, and even does a decent job following through from arc-to-arc, season-to-season. The water analogy is used frequently and to good effect, not only for Rei but also for supporting cast members. The art, again, can be very appealing and used to good visual effect. Some of the characters – though perhaps not the main cast – are actually quite interesting and show some good, though limited development. But the off-putting insert comedy, the lack of ability to focus and finish on character development, and particularly the juxtaposition between a “realistic” and “unrealistic” MC ruined much of the show for me. 3-gatsu second season would almost have been more appealing for me had it focused on the life of a single, normal boy who experiences the realistic trials and struggles of himself and those whom he cares about without the shogi theme or the constant need to press the “prodigy” moniker. 3-gatsu is a superhero anime that masquerades as a realistic slice-of-life. As such, it fails at both without a shred of self-awareness of what it is trying to do. But I’m not mad I saw it – I think it really opened my eyes to what I appreciate in an anime, and made me respect just that much more how difficult adapting a source material into video can actually be. But perhaps unfortunately, finishing it has made me more excited than anything else to move on.
March Comes In Like a Lion is an anime that surpasses even the most nuanced of modern media. It’s well-lauded by fans and critics alike, and many of the reviews on this site and others speak meaningfully to the reasons why. However, I feel that while these reviews do an outstanding job of touching on the core elements of why this anime is must-watch, they do not fully capture my understanding of why this show is so essentially perfect. I respect the acute style and touching language of these core reviews, but for the sake of what I’m writing today, I want to divert a little bit into my experience with the show and offer perhaps another explanation for why this show breaks ground in ways that no other anime does, and why it forms an essential bridge between multiple genres. This will probably be a very long review, so I’ll just get my recommendation out of the way first – this is the first and likely only show that I will be giving a perfect 100/100 score to. Anything less would be misrepresentative of how masterful this piece of work really is. Please watch this show, I recommend it for your own sake. First of all, we need to deconstruct what actually makes up a piece of media. 3-Gatsu no Lion is an “anime.” A show that is made distinctive by its Japanese style of animation. While Anime comes in many art styles and forms, it is, at its most basic, a way of transcribing art onto a screen that is then consumed by the onlookers. This art is combined with voice acting, music, subtitles perhaps – into a single show that we then take in. But an anime is more than a show. It brings the viewers into the equation. When watching 3-Gatsu or any other anime – or any piece of media for that matter – you, the viewer, live in an odd state of liminality. You are very much in your own existence (after all, it’s not like you’ve left the planet!) and most likely not undergoing an out-of-body experience. However, you are pulled into a world that is, in many cases, very different than ours. Some shows are set in fantastical worlds so very fundamentally different from our own that it takes little effort to realize the lines that separate the two. Surely, an anime about incredible super powers, such that we do not observe in our earth’s reality, can be incredibly interesting, and such shows form many of the genre’s most famous works. Acclaimed titles, such as Bleach, Pokemon and Fullmetal Alchemist come immediately to mind. Certainly – there are elements of those worlds that are very similar to our own, and the viewers minds make instant connection between the type of world that they themselves inhabit and the one on the other side of the screen. But there are also fundamental differences. As much as we may like to believe it, Pokemon don’t exist in our reality, and the same could be said for the myriad other shows in this list. But here’s the major first point I want to introduce about 3-Gatsu. It is a show that somehow manages to be so incredibly, heart-wrenchingly realistic that sometimes it is difficult to separate our own world from the universe it masterfully spins. Perhaps this is just a feature of living in the slice-of-life genre that the show occupies (according to Anilist, at least), but so much of this show is just simply believable. I find myself identifying, a bit at least, with the struggles and triumphs of characters in other less realistic shows. But in so many cases, my relationship with those characters is only tangential. They possess powers or responsibilities to others – to the well-being of their very world, in some cases – that I myself simply do not possess in real life. I may identify with their struggles and desires to succeed, but in general their position in life does not mirror mine. And there’s nothing wrong with that! If you feel that you identify with an anime character, for even the simplest of reasons, that is a valid response. Personally, however, I feel like the ultimate unrealisticness of other Anime worlds caused me to lose sight of how much different their worlds were from my own. I really love shows that paint a world different enough from mine to trap me up inside of it, but that being said, it makes it harder for me personally to identify with the characters in many other aspects. 3-Gatsu, for me at least, is fundamentally different. I don’t want to jump into character specifics just yet, but it’s completely irrefutable in my mind that the characters all possess an inherent realism that I just haven’t been able to find matched in any other show. Their daily lives, their occupations and interests, their fears and doubts, somehow all seem so tantalizingly human. And this isn’t to say that characters in fantastical anime don’t show some human qualities – but never have I found something that so closely matches what I see to be my surrounding reality. The world, moreover, is built to align with this truth. I love Rei Kiriyama because he is a realistic person with his own realistic struggles and outlook on life. Again, I fear I’ll get too much into specifics too early, but in what other shows does a person’s basic thoughts and behavior towards relationships align with my own? I can’t think of any. Before really jumping in, I need to lay some additional groundwork regarding this show’s fundamentals. Most of the time, I look at several categories when reviewing Anime. Roughly, I classify these into the art, the music, the plot, and the characters. I’ll leave the latter two for the latter part of this review, and look at the first two now. I do need to emphasize right from this beginning, however, that all four of these categories are masterfully tied together and mesh into a single coherent story in a way that I really haven’t seen replicated in other shows. The art and music build a visual and audible world that draws you in by their realism, and really help to better drive the plot and characterize the players. Each of the four elements tie into each other – whereas on other shows I might say “this show had a great soundtrack but I really couldn’t identify the characters” or others “this show had amazing art but I thought the plot had some holes,” in 3-Gatsu each of the four elements parallel and complement each other, and this is a rarity that itself surpasses so many other works. Why not first take a look at the art, one of my favorite aspect of any good piece of animation. And right from the beginning, I assure you. It. Is. Stunning. 3-Gatsu uniquely steps around the technique that so many studios embrace – heavy use of either light or shadow that blows up the entire Anime into something that’s hard not to classify as either “dark” or “light.” And again, it’s not necessarily a bad thing to create an anime that’s entirely “light’ or entirely “dark.” As a matter of fact, something like darkness can help to evoke gritty undertones, suggest deviousness or mystique, or be worked subvertly to cover over the truth. Or perhaps it can be used in an ironic sense insofar as the dark is itself a source of light that the protagonist has to embrace in order to drive the plot forward. Some great animes are those I would classify as primarily “dark.” Or the heavy use of light, to show clarity or purity, to draw characters in contrast or brightness, can also be an incredibly effective technique. But where 3-Gatsu really begins to stand out in the art department is the way that it intermingles light and dark, frequently in ways that aren’t obvious at the first glance. So how does a show that is inherently about Shogi – Japanese Chess – use light and shadows to effectively drive its plot? Well, the answer comes in the form of incredible artistic metaphor that begins in the very first episode and continues throughout both of two seasons. We constantly see characters – especially the main protagonist, Rei, but also others – surrounded in a battle that is neither explicitly dark or explicitly light. The art, at risk of using a cliché to describe it, comes in shades of grey that truly drive the metaphor. Rei lies on his futon with the grey filtering through his mind. And the grey shows us that nothing – not even the things he thought to be most constant – can be relied upon. Grey is a difficult concept to grasp and perhaps even harder to visualize, but 3-Gatsu does it brilliantly. His position as a student and professional, his relationship with his family both nuclear and adopted – are all shades of grey. Rei, like you or I, can be tempted to classify everything into one of two categories. Light or Dark. Good or Bad. Pure or Spoiled. But the artistic allegory – explicitly in the art itself and also in the language used to describe it – shows us that nothing is that simple. And it’s this fear, the fear of the uncertainty that lies in the in-between space, that comes out so brilliantly in this show. We get scenes into Rei’s head that show many of his internal thoughts, thoughts that almost draw you into the screen into the characters’ own confusion and bumpy mental state. Other reviewers have described this better than I, and because this isn’t a review that tries to hide major elements, I’ll come out and say that the art excellently describes the psychological turmoil that exists in the mind of one who is pulled constantly between light and darkness, into a sea of grey. This show is certainly a slice of life, but it doesn’t fall into a slice of life trope where so many things are easily described as good or evil. Rei, along with every other character in this show, lives somewhere in the space in between. Within the shades of grey. And the art – oh the art – makes sure you know that, right from the beginning. I wish I could use the term “beautiful” to describe it, and in some cases, I will. Because not all of 3-Gatsu no Lion is just shades of grey. Some parts are gorgeously illustrated with color and contrast and hue and saturation that either make you want to laugh with joy or cry like a small child. I believe some parts of where this comes out most obviously in the show is in the Kawamoto house, where Rei goes to visit his close friends. So many scenes in that house emphasize the color and contrast of the three sisters – and even grandfather himself – to Rei. His own color, the hue of his coat, and the shine on his glasses – come to adopt this contrast and shine. Color pervades the show where the grey does not, and the contrast between the grey and the color drives so many plot points and character development moments forward. We see the color of Nikaido’s cheeks glow redder as he pushes into his rival, and the subtle gold in Souya’s eyes as he considers his next move. Color is used intentionally, with thought and care, to describe the meaning behind each scene, each line, and each exchange. It’s difficult to describe and something I will say can only be best experienced. But before I get too deep into color itself, let’s slow down a bit and talk about the art in general. So many shows have outstanding art, but what makes art outstanding? Is it exquisite detail? Is it well-drawn characters? Is it unique and attractive design? I would say that the quality of particular art is hard to describe, and really varies depending on the show itself. In 3-Gatsu’s case, I won’t pretend to say that the art is excessively detailed, or inherently fluid, or incredibly structured. It is, however, a perfect description of the concepts that the show covers. And what do I mean by concepts? I mean the themes and the plot, the characters and the movements. Let’s use an example of Rei and his friend/rival Nikaidou. Rei’s design is upright, focused, contemplative. His black hair, eyeglasses, jacket and pants combine into a character design that reminds me of myself at a certain stage in life. Always nursing a thought in his mind, to the point at which the rest of the world occasionally almost fades away. Nikaidou, on the other hand, is round, brash, explicit. His changing wardrobe – from proper suit to more casual wear – perfectly fits his outright and determined personality. He, like Rei, is focused and dedicated, but the sheer determination of his character is made so obvious in his rounder figure and intense face. Rei is the more subtle, Nikaidou is the explicit. And it’s here where we start, from the art that’s given to us from the first time we see each character. However – it’s in the way that the changing art influences this character development – that I feel sets 3-Gatsu apart. Because Rei, like Nikaidou, is not a two dimensional character, stereotyped only by his glasses and subdued expression. At critical moments, we see his brash and demanding side shine through, which, for someone who regretfully makes the mistake of judging too much on character design, is incredibly surprising and cuts deep. Nikaidou, too, might be outright and loud, but he is also quiet and contemplative, thoughtful just like his closest friend and deepest rival. The character design is a perfect description of the characters they portray – it’s as simple (or complex) as that. Some may criticize the art as being too simple, too formulaic, but to them I would argue that it has the incredible quality of portraying a certain view of someone that becomes increasingly challenged at different key points in the story. Absolutely nobody in this show is “generic” or no more than a passing side-character. One final point I want to make on the art itself – while other studios seem to suffer sometimes from inconsistency, 3-Gatsu remains incredibly consistent throughout both seasons. Frequently I’ve noticed that significant scenes in other shows – such as a critical fight scene – will be drawn with much more detail, more interesting angles, and overall significantly more effort, than less-important supporting scenes. And I want to emphasize that there’s nothing at all wrong with this. This simply shows that studios should and do put their resources into the places that matter to the show. But 3-Gatsu is incredibly consistent – outstanding in the deep and complex allegorical scenes within Rei’s mind, outstanding in the mundane walk through down, outstanding in the intense Shogi showdowns. Never before have I seen a show where a character looks so much alike when they are supposed to look alike, and so different when they mean to look different. The art’s incredible consistency really drives through the subtle believability and realisticness of this show in my own mind. So I’ve talked the art quite a bit, and I’ll definitely return to it once we talk about themes and plots and characters. I’ll shift gears how to perhaps my favorite part of any anime, the music. I want to divert for a moment here to discuss just how significant I feel that a show’s music and soundtrack is to me in general. I feel that an excellent opening song draws you into the show, makes you want to connect with the characters, and makes you excited to see what the next happening is. It recalls to your mind the closing scene of the last episode, and pushes you to what is next. It’s the thing that will play over in your head once you turn off your TV for the night, and it’s the thing you’ll blast in your car when driving down the road. Excellent anime openings can be iconic – A Cruel Angel’s Thesis from Neon Genesis Evangelion comes to mind immediately. That song is iconic because of its unique style and the incredible, influential show that it represents. You hear the opening line and instantly think of NGE. Other shows, even without iconic openings, openings that subtly draw you into what you’re watching. Maybe half the building won’t sing along if you blast it, but at least they’ll be able to appreciate wonderful composition. The opening of 3-Gatsu no Lion – or openings, I should say, as there’s a couple across two seasons – are nothing sort of outstanding. I won’t claim that they’re worthy of infamy or meme status, but that isn’t the point of any of them. The openings are well-composed. “Answer,” “Goodbye Bystander”, “Flag wo Tatero,” and “Haru ga Kite Bokura” are simply nice pieces of music. They are catchy but not repetitive, easy to get stuck in your head but not annoying. “Answer,” in particular, is an excellent introduction to the show as a whole, at a point where viewers are less familiar with Rei and the rest of the surrounding cast. Its visuals (I promise I won’t talk much more about art) perfectly fit the subtle nuance of the show. The following two OPs are a little deeper, a little more emotional. We know who the characters are, and we hear their interests, struggles, and thoughts as the episodes draw to their beginnings. The last OP is almost nostalgic, reminding us of the end of the show and the resolution of its many plot points and character developments. The OPs are excellent introductions to each episode and really help to set the stage for what viewers are going to watch – and plus, they’re simple excellent pieces of work on their own. The endings, moreover, are equally well-built and executed. “Fighter,” “Orion,” “Kafune” and “I Am Standing” make up the four EDs across the two seasons. Like the OPs, they remind us of the characters’ growing permanence in our minds and bring to recollection the events that develop each character as the shows progress. In particular, the final ED “I Am Standing” provides both in its title but also in its sheer emotion, the status that we are left with after all the tribulations we pass through: standing, and prepared to fight another day. Listening to the endings drew me back through the episode that I just watched, through the laughter and the pain that I experience along with Rei and his friends. Again, I won’t call the EDs infamous, but they are simply incredible pieces of music so perfectly poised around a beautiful anime. And the visuals – like the OPs – are top-notch. I also need to give a nod to the OST of the anime as a whole. An anime’s soundtrack, although perhaps less of an obvious place to go than the openings and endings in my mind, has a considerable influence on the feel and progression of the show as a whole. A good OST moves at the right moments. It is subtle when the visuals need subtlety, it comes in at a force when the moment is right. And San-gatsu’s OST is absolutely incredible, just because how much it does without you noticing. Again, I’ll use an example. The soundtrack starts quiet, unassuming, even almost muted sometimes, as Rei walks into the Shogi Hall and greets his opponent. We hear the glug of the water as his considers his next move. But it rises quietly, slowly, as he considers the game within the confines of his mind. The importance of his next move – and the way that we and he feel together will drive the very moment – rises with the sound. And sometimes it comes crashing down in a single jump and the click of a piece of the board. But sometimes it whimpers away, flushed back into the simplicity of what he and his opponent are doing. Again, it’s beautiful, it’s meaningful, it drives the story and the plot forward. The OST is excellent. Okay! Now that we’ve discussed the art and the music, let’s move onto the plot. I will try to be as spoiler-free as possible, talking in broad terms about the characters and what they go through. I will first take a good look at what the show is – yes, it’s a show about Shogi, Japanese chess, a board game. Now some of you reading may think that this sounds like a boring premise for an anime. Just how interesting can a show about professional board-game-playing really be? But I assure you, the plot of this Anime far exceeds what it may appear at first glance. The plot of the show is one about loss, growth, connection, heartache, and search for familial love. Rei is a lonesome character as S1 starts, and seems to be endlessly caught in his own mind and professional studies. But here’s the key point – the plot of this show is NOT about how Rei, by force of sheer will, trains tirelessly to defeat every opponent before him to become the national champion and create his own meaning to his life. No. Sure, that would make a good story, and perhaps some unique and epic fight scenes, but I really don’t think I would like it as well as the plot that 3-Gatsu actually follows. No, the plot of this show is about hos a single man, a child really, finds reconciliation with his past, and the need for others in his life. It’s within this plot, trite as it may sound, that I find this show so very interesting. Personally, my state in life, as an introverted person who finds comfort in hobbies and personal time, matches Rei’s. I may not have undergone the same traumatic background as what we are tragically exposed to even within the first few episodes, but I deeply resonate with his focus in life to set aside everything for a single goal. And maybe the way you resonate with the protagonist is different from mine. Maybe you resonate with Rei’s challenge to find a place he finds home. Maybe you resonate with his uncertainty with how to make friends or grow relationships with the ones he has. Or maybe you resonate with his clouded upbringing and the sensation that what you’ve worked for is perhaps a misguided product of external influence. But the plot – and Rei’s journey through his life – just so deeply resonates with me and I feel like many of us. You certainly have a lot of Rei in you – I know I do – and that’s what makes this plot so attractive to me. But ultimately, it’s how Rei’s struggles are me that makes the plot inherently interesting. 3-Gatsu does not take the road of simply resolving plot points. Unlike other pieces of media, which may simplistically finish up a point of character development and never return to it, Sangatsu really builds off of previous story points. One example of this is Rei’s relationship with Shimada. Sure, Shimada may always remain an experienced player, Rei’s coach encouragement, but his plot doesn’t end with Rei becoming his student. Instead, we are shown into Shimada’s own personal life. The choices that led him to his position. The struggles and triumphs that lie beneath his exterior. I talked about character design earlier – and what I like to call “Shimada’s Arc” in the plot is such a touching and insightful look into a character that I feel would go unnoticed and forgotten in lesser shows. Shimada is not degraded into a one-dimensional guru who has overcome past struggles and now passes them onto Rei because he’s the main character. Instead, Shimada’s Arc shows his own background, nuance, and ongoing build of his relationship with the world and his sport. It reminds us that even what we may think to be lesser characters all have a story to tell. And it makes Rei’s story, which still remains the major flow of the plot, so much more meaningful. But I don’t want to get too detailed into the characters just yet. Let’s talk a bit more about how the plot gathers together so many elements that we simply don’t see in other anime. Without getting into spoilers, I can say with confidence that this show grapples with many realistic and meaningful topics. Let’s start with the most prevalent – Rei’s status in life. Rei is an introspective character. A simplistic, surface-level view of him may suggest that he just likes to think a lot about his game, and the only quality of his character development is becoming a better Shogi player. The truth could not be further away. Hidden to so many outsiders is an internal turmoil that possesses his very mind. 3-Gatsu shows us so much into Rei’s head, and causes us to regard his key thoughts that drive him to study and play the game. Why is he doing this? Is it because he loves Shogi? Is it to pay his rent? Or is it some other reason, perhaps something that isn’t obvious? Yes, one of Rei’s key plot points is the idea of motivation and what drives you. Some may view Rei’s plot as simply that of a determined man, and while he surely is a determined man, his motivation and purpose in life are much more nuanced questions that the plot struggles with viscerally. At first, we think we have an answer, which morphs and evolves as S1 passes and S2 comes through. Suddenly, playing for the sake of the game superficially doesn’t seem so compelling. What keeps Rei linked to Shogi in the way that any one of us might be linked to our studies, our jobs, our livelihoods? It’s a mundane topic – one of motivation – but it’s so incredibly human. And Rei’s process of discovery parallels so many of our own as we seek for meaning in what we do and pursue. Let’s take a look at another plot point – interactions between others. Gotou has a fascinating arc – though I would say that his arc pervades the entire story in a way that cannot be tied to only a few episodes. He is a positively frightening character in some ways. Large and intimidating, physical and dangerous. A simplistic anime would write his plot off as a simple clash between large and scary and small and innocent, but 3-Gatsu eschews this. No, Gotou’s plot is one of loss and heartbreak. It’s one of misguided attention towards something vapid – or that’s at least what we might think at first. But is his strange relationship with Kyouko just a vapid side-note, or does it deeply influence the way that Rei views both his adoptive sister and one of his enemies on the other side of the Shogi board? Surely there couldn’t be anything more to this intimidating and sinister character than what meets the eye, but there certainly is. Rei is caught in a trap, a lie, a tightrope between a storm and a wall. It’s such an interesting plot point, and something that I wish we saw in more Anime. And why not look at a third key piece of the plot – my favorite for sure, and one that shows up in force in season 2 – what happens when the cruelty of others make live almost impossible to live? Hina’s friend, bullied relentlessly by people with no good explanation for her actions, is a tragic but instinctive link to some people that we may know in our real lives – or perhaps even ourselves. This plot arc – and its eventual resolution – does not sugar coat the realities of human cruelty. It doesn’t wipe out the bullies and leave the victims without any scars. Because the marks of this cruelty run deep, much deeper than they appear on the surface, and the hopelessness we feel at being able to stop such cruelty is so innately human. I absolutely have never witnessed such a meaningful topic discussed in such a realistic way in an anime. Rei’s exposure to it – and the way it influences those he cares about – drive home key developments in a way that you won’t necessarily see in other shows. This arc alone is enough to give the show top marks and I can’t recommend it enough. But let’s take a step back. I’ve only mentioned a few and hinted at a few other sub-plots in this show, and I will tell you, there are many of them. The sub-pieces come together and split apart into a train of progression that’s hard to describe. It may seem that such a train would be incredibly hard to track, but 3-Gatsu’s plot isn’t difficult to follow. I think it’s because of how human so much of it is that we as viewers already have the skills to understand it just from our daily lives. I know entering a multifaceted anime with many different characters and plot points may seem intimidating, but I encourage you to do it. Because the resulting effect – and what I’d classify as the major plot of the show – is perhaps the most significant plot of them all. March Comes in Like a Lion is a show about how different people’s lives influence each other. That description may seem trite, basic even. But it’s real, it’s engaging, it’s a metaphor and a reflection on human life as a whole. We are on a train together. You may sit next to someone you see for a few minutes and never again. You may enter at one stop and they depart at another. Or you may sit next to someone on the same train ride multiple days – same starting point, same destination, until one day life and circumstance drive you apart. You may see a traveling companion every day until one day they fail to appear. Or you may only catch a glimpse of someone special out of the corner of your eye as you pay your fare and they disembark. But everyone on that train with you, no matter how long they’re there or how close you sit, influence your ride and your person in some way. What are those ways? How many other stories are within the other people who sit across the aisle or in the seat in front of you? But finally. Let’s get to the point. Anilist tags this show as “Coming of Age” as 98%. And this show is, more than any I’ve seen before, one that perfectly describes coming of age. But it’s not a single moment where Rei defeats his rival that he comes of age. It’s a journey and process as he grows in relationship with the people around him that Rei ceases to become a child and enters into adulthood. It’s all of the sub-arcs and many more we discussed above. It’s his relationship and mutual connection with those other people on the train that bring him into adulthood. It’s raw, hard to swallow, and disgustingly beautiful all at the same time. It’s hard to describe. It’s only best experienced. All right, I think that puts us in a good position for plot. Let’s finally turn to the characters. I don’t want to talk about every character here, but let’s at least touch on the mains for now, with a nod to some of the supporters. Perhaps my favorite character is the supporting character Kai Shimada. Shimada, who I discussed briefly earlier in the review, is a guru, an esteemed student of Shogi, whose experience surpasses Rei. But Shimada is a three-dimensional being, and his relationship with Rei exposes this. Rei is intimidated by Shimada, and is unable to see behind his thoughtful exterior and sheer experience. But Shimada opens himself up to Rei, offering to essentially become his coach, and it becomes Rei’s job to accept or deny. Turn down the offer and live life as your internal sensation? Or accept and look outward for support, and grow to realize that even the gods you look up to aren’t quite what you first expected? This decision gives us a beautiful look into Shimada’s own person, his background and upbringing, the choices that led him to his current place, and where he sees himself in life. The studio puts so much into this character that I so grateful for – such a complex story and meaningful impact on the protagonist that few supporting characters in other stories can truly offer. Maybe next we look at Nikaidou. At first glance a rich and brash boy, intelligent but somewhat belligerent, almost defiant in his face, describing Rei as his rival and opponent that he must overcome. You kind of want to hate his guts and his smiling face – but his character goes so much deeper. His relationship with Hanaoka. His position in the light of his upbringing. His own personal surprising issues that influence him in ways that wouldn’t be at all obvious if you looked merely at his short stature and wide grin. Nikaidou is more than just Rei’s foil, and while he surely is Rei’s foil, he’s so much more. Nikaidou is shown to be just as deeply integrated in the allegory as Rei is – constantly diving into the unknown with all his might. Sure, he’s different than Rei (as we discussed earlier), but in this difference is beautiful potato nuance. It’s so tempting to distill his character into a few words and stereotypes, but 3-Gatsu shows us so many other sides of him. Rei, like us, are left stunned with the similar but oh-so-different ways that he handles the pressure of his occupation and frailty of his own being. Like Shimada, we get an insight into his mind, both from where he came from and where he is going next. What else can we say but what an incredible character with incredible depth of field? All right. Let’s turn now to the mains. I hinted at this before with respect to the bullying arc, but Hinata Kawamoto is an intensely interesting main character, both in Season 1 but ever so much more so in Season 2. Hinata is someone who, like Nikaidou, we may be attempted to slap labels on and call it a day. She certainly seems cheery, interested in her friends and her family business and Takahashi. And can’t we leave it at that? No. Hina is, like Rei and the rest, a character of subtleties. Unlike Rei, we may not get into her mind with the allegorical depth that we see in the main protagonist, but instead, we enter her mind by means of those around her. Hina, perhaps more that anyone else in the show, is a character so driven by the hopes and needs of those around her that almost everything else is pushed out of the scene. I’ll return again to the bullying arc – her utmost concern for her friend Chiho overcomes her to the point at which Rei’s struggles in the professional world become minor in comparison. But her care for other’s isn’t a simplistic soft spot for her friends, it’s a tireless desire for justice and writing wrongs. Hina might seem as sweet as the candies that her grandfather sells but in reality yells and fights for what she knows to be true. I mentioned before that this show centers around the major plot of being on journeys with others, and I want to draw back to that plot point here. Rei’s struggles and Hina’s struggles are not the same. They are different ages, live in different families, and ultimately share a vast disparity in style of life. But while Hina might be amazed by Rei’s shogi skills and care for him as an adopted brother, Rei is absolutely swept along with Hina’s ardent desire for justice. And the relationship here reaches a point where the concept of mutual support comes into the forefront. Is Rei powerless to help his friend? Is she powerless to help hers? Does Rei’s own life become better contextualized through the lens of how Hina approaches her struggles and the struggles of those she cares about? Yes, yes, and yes. Again, I don’t want to go into too much detail, but the character development throughout Hina as a whole and the way it comes back to the character of her sisters, Rei, and others, is nothing short of incredible. It’s so human, it hurts so much, but it works so well. At risk of running just too far over, I’ll turn finally to the final main character, Akari Kawamoto, Hina’s older sister and the defacto substitute mother for their nuclear family. Yes – sister and surrogate to a role that someone so young shouldn’t have to deal with. All the Kawamotos’ stories are one of acute loss, but Akari’s is perhaps the most potent. Like Hina, she may first appear to be cheery and simple, but that’s an assumption that viewers of this anime won’t fall into for long. Akari, like Rei, deals constantly with the reminders of adult responsibility after extreme loss. Rei supports himself in order to pay his bills, Akari supports her entire family and others. But her character is easy to trivialize, even knowing this fact, because she seems at first filled with such grace and poise (and she is!), at least in Rei’s mind. But it’s really in S2 that the story behind this comes acutely to light. Akari, like Rei, suffers from the same trauma that loss brings to Rei. A suspension of one’s childhood in the face of the harsh realities of the world. She isn’t just an older sister happy to provide for her family, she is a woman with her own dreams and aspirations. What are those? And what does it mean to Rei, a young man whom she brings into her own household Rei views Akari’s adulthood as a model for his own coming-of-age and rightly so, but this show beautifully reveals how an apparently-mature seeming character simply cannot be reduced to their outward appearance. Again, I struggle to think of a show where such a nuanced but realistic topic is covered so deeply in its characters, and it’s simply beautiful. So let’s start drawing this to a close. 3-Gatsu no Lion is a slice of life that is so much more than that three-word genre describes. Unlike many others, it deeply and consistently grappes with what are honestly harsh topics about the realities of the world and the way that we interact with it. Rei is not just a simple anime protagonist looking to beat opponent after opponent in the search for stardom in his discipline. He is a nuanced and complex character who, in my opinion, closely parallels many of his own viewers. Supporting characters like Nikaidou and Shimada are also nuanced and multifaceted, with their own stories that help to drive forward the major plots of the show and also the character development of its protagonist. Other main characters Hina and Akari are wonderfully deep players who harbor poignant meaning underneath their exteriors. So what’s to be said about this show? It is a coming of age that deeply draws from his fantastic character-base, consistent and excellent artwork, and outstanding soundtrack to weave a story that is simultaneously incredible and realistic – and perhaps incredible due to its realism. Shogi might be the name of the game and certainly a lot of time is dedicated to it throughout the show, but the real story lies in the way its characters learn from one another and grow as a result. This show certainly has a lot of episodes but it is amazingly well-received on Anilist and other reviewing sites, and properly so. I think its reception really just reflects on the ability of the average viewer to realize the depth and significance of its characters and resonate with the excellent plot, writing, music and art. To conclude, I’ll come back to what I wrote at the beginning. Do I recommend this anime? Yes, absolutely. There’s very little in my mind that would improve the characters or the plot, and it’s fairly obvious to me that many of its viewers can find much of Rei and the surrounding characters in themselves, and much of themselves in Rei. You and I, like Rei, Hina and Akari, have embarked on this monumental train we call life. We may enter and exit on different stops, stand or sit, talk or lie quiet, but we all influence each other in ways we do and don’t understand. The simple truth of this reality drives our experience with a show that so meaningfully recognizes this truth and teases out its themes over the course of two wonderful seasons. I can’t help but give this show a perfect 100/100. Please, stop reading this review, and go and watch both seasons. I think you’ll come to the same conclusions about it that I have. Thanks for reading.
The saying “March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb” is a saying that speaks volumes in the thematic progression of Rei. With something as subtle as the openings getting brighter and brighter with every new arc, it shows that this season of sadness that he’s in isn’t permanent. This message is portrayed with a reverence to the human condition. You will fall, but you can always get back up. You may feel like you’re drowning, but there is always a way to float back to the surface. This progression is what sangatsu does perfectly for me. It shows this tangled timeline that we all take in life. It’s crooked and messy but we somehow get to a point on that line that we are ok with and maybe even happy with. My favorite character, Shimada, shows this crooked path that ultimately leads him to pursuing shogi professionally. Abandoning the possibility of having a secure rural life with a wife and a family, tending to his land and growing old in his childhood home was a permanent decision that changed the course of his life. But it brought him happiness. Through mentoring Nikaidou and Rei, this figure of a teacher emerges. Someone that can be leaned on but also someone that can be viewed as a human. In his match against Souya, a frail side of Shimada is shown. One that is tired and in pain from his health issues. One that is standing, but barely so. Like the rest of the cast, Chica Umino illustrates him as nothing less than a human. In his flashbacks, the late night bus rides back to the countryside in Yamagata are seen. The old men waiting for him when he arrived to congratulate him. He was a hero to everyone back home but more importantly, he’s a hero in Tokyo as well. In one of my favorite scenes in the series, Kiriyama is submerged in a cascade of water as he practices with Shimada in Episode 18 from the first season. After Nikaidou begs him to destroy Rei in shogi, Shimada begins his relentless training. These beautiful animations that could only be done by shaft with the directing of none other than Akiyuki Shinbo are seen with roaring waves, symbolizing the sheer complexity of the game. Moves upon moves can be seen in the water with Shimada's voice reverberating with every single blow he takes at Kiriyama. While this 9x9 grid was originally seen as a comforting place for Rei where logic reigns supreme, it slowly becomes an abstract abyss of limitless moves that he can’t control. This deescalation of understanding is one that I love about this show. Rei is far from the best at shogi and he’s ok with that. There is a constant ebb and flow that he goes through. By the time the second season rolls around, the Kawamoto sisters have illuminated Rei’s entire reasoning to play shogi. As a result of Hinata getting bullied, Rei begins playing shogi for an entirely different reason. Not just to get by and pay rent, but to support hinata. To show gratitude to the action that she made on that day by the pier. March comes in like a lion is a series that is soaked in comfort. Despite all of its themes regarding depression, loss, bullying and the many other serious topics it tackles, I have always found it to be a series that is truly soothing. While it doesn’t fit the usual thematic elements of an iyashikei series, I found many healing aspects that were very warm and comforting. The closest thing I can relate it to is Koe no Katachi and clannad. Both series tackle real life issues yet still manage to have a bright and optimistic backdrop. Because of this, it’s easy to forget that what you are witnessing is a piece of fiction. On the same token however, both Koe no Katachi and Clannad show how hard it can be to simply exist. Bullying is a very serious issue and one that I hold close to my heart. While I can’t say that the moments in which I was bullied brought me joy, I can say that in hindsight, they made me stronger. They showed me that sometimes in life, bad stuff happens to you for simply no reason, but I decided that I wouldn’t let their actions and words hinder me from moving forward. In Hinata's arc, we see all of the parties involved in the act of bullying. They each have their own unique perspectives that show how multifaceted it truly is. Chica Umino shows the layers of bullying in a way that I haven’t seen done before. One character that really stuck out to me during Hinata’s arc was Akari. After feeling that she didn’t do enough to stand up for Hinata when she initially expressed what happened, she shows how much responsibility is on her shoulders. She not only serves the role of an older sister of two girls, but also serves to fill the role of a mother. Sacrificing her own independence to live an adult life, she takes on the role of a caretaker and as such, she comes to realize how worthwhile that truly is. She eventually comes to confront Megumi’s mom who is defending her daughter’s actions resulting in a beautiful display of the sisterhood she and Hinata share. One of the biggest symbolic motifs in the series is water. Upon further inspection though, I found that it’s not just water that serves as a symbol for the cast, but the elements as a whole. They serve as milestones in the coming and goings of different seasons that we go through in our lives. As I said earlier in the video, the development of Rei is brilliantly displayed in the openings. In the first opening, it begins with Rei plummeting into a dark abyss but by the third opening, he is running on the water in the warmth of spring. For fire, we can look at Yanagiharas match against Shimada in the burnt field arc. While water is seen as a source of life and refreshment, it can also be something that is destructive and overwhelming. Similarly, fire plays a destructive role in Yanagiharas match but instead of resisting the heat, he surrenders to it and utilizes it’s power. By carrying the bandages of those that came before him, he was able to finish what they weren’t able to. Like a stubborn old flame, he holds on to the ashes and stokes the fire to win one last championship and win the title of eternal kisho. Flames can serve to destroy but they can also serve to refine. As someone who has watched many generations come and go from the sport, Yanagihara serves as a reminder of everything that shogi was and is. As for Air, wind blows through kiriyama as he crosses the bridge to get to the Kawamoto sisters house. I saw this bridge as almost a lifeline for Kiriyama, symbolic of how warm and welcoming their house is. As he travels home, the wind from the river flows through his hair and rustles his coat. It’s often portrayed as a descent into the void that is his apartment. As the series progresses though, this descent becomes a little less deep and a lot more lite. Once he makes the decision to open up to the sisters, he realizes that he’s not viewed as a burden. He is able to depend on them and still be independent. For earth, the trees and nature that are beautifully portrayed in the fourth opening come to mind. Kiriyama gazing at the blossoming cherry blossoms is just out of this world. It truly shows how much he’s come to appreciate not just the people around him, but nature and the world at large. There’s something to be said for the season of spring. Since watching the show, it’s become my favorite season. Not just for the warmer weather, but for the symbolic qualities it has. Seeing these characters pass through these seasons of their life has meant a lot to me, and I’m sure it will continue impacting my life in many ways. The manga has a lot of big moments that the anime still has to adapt so I’m hoping that a third season is in the works. With umino still releasing chapters and the manga getting an official English license that's going to be published this year, the future is quite bright for this behemoth of a series approaching 200 chapters. I would hope that Akiyuki Shinbo returns for the third season as he gave it a really special quality. Initially I was shocked to see that he directed as it’s completely different from monogatari and the typical “shaft” pacing but there are still plenty of shaft qualities, including head tilts. It is nice that he did justice to umino’s style with her signature mouth designs that are also present in honey and clover’s adaptation, which was originally made by Chica Umino. But to be honest, these two seasons are more than enough for me. As I rewatch this series, I’m reminded of who I was when I originally watched it and who I’ve become since. While I’m not a shogi master or an orphan, I see a lot of similar kinds of people in my life and because of this, I try to be a little more understanding and a little more helpful to those going through a rough patch in their life. This anime changed my life, and it will continue to do so. Thanks for taking the time to read all of this!
~~~img410(https://imgs.search.brave.com/yZORE4rG5K1Rau2Ig1IgrAKPpxYNXRI3-y4LPqsfSo4/rs:fit:1200:1080:1/g:ce/aHR0cHM6Ly93YWxs/cGFwZXJjYXZlLmNv/bS93cC93cDQwODg1/MjQucG5n)~~~ img820(https://i.postimg.cc/cLvmPqRC/unnamed-1.png) ~~~ >“Gaining” and “losing” things are an unavoidable part of life for everyone. You feel joy, you feel disappointment, and it repeats. And that’s how you learn to handle your feelings. Disappointment and loneliness are necessary emotions. Because of loneliness people master courage and reach out to a new world.” – Eisaku Noguchi ~~~ img820(https://i.postimg.cc/cLvmPqRC/unnamed-1.png) ~~~ A shout. He decides to go outside on the balcony as he stretches to combat the residual sluggishness from a restful sleep. A gentle morning's warm wind gently caresses his frail frame as if to say "hello." Just below the railing, the sun reflects off the river, and a lustrous shimmer announces the changing of the seasons. He exits the residence. Over the past year, a lot has changed: his listless attitude has almost completely vanished; he has made friends and acquaintances; he is no longer by himself. His strides have grown firm and focused. He has advanced.~~~ img820(https://i.postimg.cc/cLvmPqRC/unnamed-1.png) ~~~He is not the focus of this show. It has moved past times of subdued, somber sadness, just like Rei, and another storm is brewing off in the distance. The normally upbeat Hinata arrives home one evening and the current abruptly changes: her face is pale, her expression hurt, and a sinister stream of tears begins. Bullying is occurring in Hinata's class. The bullies turned their attention to her after standing up for and defending the previous victim, Chiho, who has since left the school. She is aware that what she did was right and that she did nothing wrong, but this does not stop her stomach from hurting or her heart from breaking. Hinata is completely alone, ignored by her former friends and classmates, and abandoned at a pivotal point in her life. There is no simple solution to bullying; all it takes is one difficulty, such as a weak-willed teacher, to start rips and ripples that reflect, add to, and cancel each other out, resulting in chaos.~~~ img820(https://i.postimg.cc/cLvmPqRC/unnamed-1.png) ~~~img410(https://imgs.search.brave.com/Sfj_EHLDbtXVAFsUXOTSX_2lLB3u9gAVAj3ircb2iII/rs:fit:1200:1080:1/g:ce/aHR0cHM6Ly93YWxs/cGFwZXJjYXZlLmNv/bS93cC93cDQwODg1/MTUucG5n)~~~ img820(https://i.postimg.cc/cLvmPqRC/unnamed-1.png) ~~~Rei tries to pay back the debt of Hinata and her sisters saving his life from gloom and depression in a misguided attempt to rack up money; Akari, on the other hand, views Hinata's well-being as a responsibility relayed to her by her late mother—a responsibility too big for her to carry—in the face of a problem that is nearly impossible for an outsider to resolve. They both fall short of their objectives and suffer what seems to them to be an unquestionable defeat. This conclusion, which is based on the self-centered and self-serving tenet that anyone can achieve anything given enough effort, couldn't be further from the truth; their alleged failures led them to spend time with Hinata and listen to her. Rei pursued her when she fled; during difficult times, she found comfort in a calming and encouraging home that helped her regain her smile. She could not have persevered if it weren't for these small, everyday acts of kindness and her friends and family standing by her no matter how fierce or frantic her emotions were. They succeeded. They succeeded.~~~ img820(https://i.postimg.cc/cLvmPqRC/unnamed-1.png) ~~~youtube(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MH7glnUi5cA)~~~ img820(https://i.postimg.cc/cLvmPqRC/unnamed-1.png) ~~~Hinata and Chiho might never fully recover, but in the end, these flaws are a part of what makes a person: they give their personalities, goals, and passions a deeper level, and they affect how they interact with their family, friends, and foes as well as the context in which they act daily. As these values build-up, they give shape to something bigger than a character. All of these individuals have unique histories to share, some of which we may never learn about; these histories intertwine, and their paths occasionally diverge and recombine. A friendly flux may occasionally accompany the torrents, which on some days may become harsher. Some of the tributaries may unexpectedly come to a dead end, while others may continue to flow until they are discharged into the vast, dark ocean.~~~ img820(https://i.postimg.cc/cLvmPqRC/unnamed-1.png) ~~~img410(https://imgs.search.brave.com/zAsyQewf5VRHU4_yTh0rVoPeal6XHA1RAbCdmjItwc4/rs:fit:1024:794:1/g:ce/aHR0cHM6Ly93YWxs/cGFwZXJjYXZlLmNv/bS93cC93cDQwODg1/NDAuanBn)~~~ img820(https://i.postimg.cc/cLvmPqRC/unnamed-1.png) ~~~As a result, as one continues to coast, they lose more friends and communities to these splits. For someone like Kishou Yanagihara, there are no more people to lose because all of his former friends and rivals have given up, passing on what is left of their hope and passion for the game along with them as they depart from the shogi world. The oldest active shogi player is battling illness and exhaustion, and this burden is weighing heavily on his frame. Their sashes feel suffocating, and he is left with nowhere to turn and no one to turn to as he stands in the charred remains of a field. But just like the farmer, he is aware that this lifeless wasteland will soon give way to a fresh, mellow-appearing meadow that is fertile and fruitful. As his fiery fighting spirit overpowers his self-doubt, he finally accepts that life moves on—even if he won't let go just yet. His burning passion paints the image of a haunting human torch slowly burning into a cinder.~~~ img820(https://i.postimg.cc/cLvmPqRC/unnamed-1.png) ~~~Their paths continue to cross and their stories continue to intertwine as the show progresses, its organic flow containing both healing and heartbreak. And as the puzzle pieces come together, they create a moving and unique display of life and humanity. Not only does March Come in Like a Lion redefine the Slice-of-Life genre, but also the art of storytelling.~~~ img820(https://i.postimg.cc/cLvmPqRC/unnamed-1.png) ~~~youtube(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52WjP04s-IA)~~~ img820(https://i.postimg.cc/cLvmPqRC/unnamed-1.png)
I wanted to talk about 3-gatsu no lion and I figured using the Anilist tags of the franchise could help me structure this review. I will not explicetely talk about scenes that may give spoilers without the spoilers mark but I'll still talk about the progression of the story as a whole thus there will undoubetly be some implicite light spoilers so be warned. This review deals with both S1 & S2. ____ __COMING OF AGE__ : How does Kiriyama matures through rehabilitation and family life ? At the beginning of the story, Kiriyama is a gloomy, shy and self centered individual. He's broken by his past and shogi is the only thing that rattaches him to the present. Except for shogi, he doesn't devote himself to anything. Many characters try to form bonds with him but he rejects them because he thinks of himself as undeserving of their love. We can observe this by seeing how reluctant he was to drop by the Kawamoto house or by how he interacted with Nikaidou. How did a character stuck in the past grew? Firstly, wiith rehabilitation. Japan society and work culture will reveal it's many negative aspects if you commit yourself to work too much. However, for someone with vital needs for responsibilities and human connections the beauty of Japan's culture will unveil itself. Kiriyama goes to a shogi department practically everyday, this forces him to talk with many people. He has to show respect to his elders and colleagues, use tutoring, ask for advices and __live in a community__. All these things make him take his responsibilities. How he lives and acts will affect persons other than himself, which is something he desperatly tried to avoid by moving out of the Kouda house. Along the story, Kiriyama develops an image to sustain, for himself and for others. Secondly, with family life. We all know it, living with other people is hard as much as physically and mentally draining. Nonetheless, it is a necessary process for the human experience. The Kawamoto sisters and grandpa (and cats) become Kiriyama's found family. It's what truly saved Kiriyama, why ? Because people depend on him and he depends on people. Trying to live up to what others want from you can become a hellish burden but having no one excpecting nothing from you is also a sort of hell. It would be nice if every human were able to think of themselves as sufficent to validate themselves but that's not how we work. We need others to validate us, it's essential. That's why having people depending on you feels good, it gives a purpose, it gives a meaning to your actions, it makes you realise that you're not useless and that you can accomplish many things for others. It would also be nice if every human were able to carry the "burden" of their lives by themselves but that's not how we work. We need help from others, we need relatibilty and we need bonds. That eases the weight of living and makes us realize that we're accepted, that we belong somewhere. Along the story, Kiriyama develops relationships to deepen. To end this section in a philosophical fashion, Kiriyama was engulfed in his __past__ to the point he couldn't be interested by all the things that the __present__ offered him. Thanks to many introspections he made throughout the two seaons : Instead of dwelling on his past and using shogi to distract himself from it like he used to do, Rei now uses his past as way to work on his present self, which is what maturing is all about. ____ __IYASHIKEI & TRAGEDY__ : How are the two opposite slice of life subgenres actually essential and complementary for the storytelling? Iyashikei : Primary aim is to heal the audience through serene depictions of characters' daily lives. _(Spy x Family, Wotakoi, Yotsuba To, Tonikaku Kawaii, Shikimori-san, Barakamon etc)_ Tragedy : Centers around tragic events and/or unhappy endings From the descriptions alone you can see how opposed these genres are. Even more so if we're focusing on their subgenre-use for Slice Of Life animanga. In general, even if the SOL contains both subgenres, it clearly favors one and use the other as a sort of extra setting _(We still have crazy works that cunningly blend the two like Shoujo Shuumatsu Ryokou where the serene depictions of characters' daily lives precisely centers around tragic events but that's another subject for another review)_. Why do both subgenres work for this anime ? Firstly, Iyashikei is the cure for the nekketsu shonenification of SOL animanga. - I love nekketsu shonen (OP, Naruto, Bleach, FT, DB, MHA, Black Clover etc) for infinite reasons but for being realistic is not one of them. To exemplify what I mean by "nekketsu shonenification" let's take Shokugeki no soma. It's a famous manga revolving around food (100%) that made many believe it was a SOL but it's actually a complete battle shounen manga. ~!- _Nekketsu shounen : Literally means "boiling blood", it is a sub-category of shonen. In this works, we follow the hero's initiatory journey of self-transcendence. He will brave all the obstacles to reach his goal or become the best in his field. Here are some recurrent clichés of the genre: an orphan looking for his father or wishing to surpass him; a naive but brave hero with a big heart; the hero's first enemies will become his allies; the hero has a strong sense of justice; the hero always gets up stronger because he refuses to give up (here we touch the deep meaning of "nekketsu"). We also often find tournaments, competitions or other things of the kind..._!~ - Shokugeki no soma, despite being a cooking related manga, follows these patterns to the letter. It may be easier to accept for shounen that already have fantasy/fantastic elements to it but since SNS was supposed to be about "normal" humans, many critisized how irrealistic and ridicule the characters and the story were. I love SNS but the critisicms made agaisnt it are undeniable (I mean, not every story has to be realistic but whatever). Real life isn't an adventure and not all of us have a huge dream or goal. Living life is actually more similar to iyashikei SOL, it's about the little moments and the mundanity. Many SOL follow a pattern similar to the nekkestu shonen formula and it's fine but if you read SOL to see more down-to-earth and relatable characters and conflicts, iyashikei may feel more real. Secondly, tragedies are the cure for the iyashikeification of SOL animanga. At this point, this section might seem like a bad joke but I'm serious. Many iyashikei take the concept too far and the stories end up being irrealistic over-cheesy self insert stories. In these cases, SOL tragedies may seem more realistic and down to earth than their counterparts. While everyone has it's preferences, __San Gatsu no Lion manages to blend both subgenre in a way that feels even more realistical, had it been it hadn't contained both.__ The fact that the narrative is an iyashikei allows the viewers to feel immersed in the world and close to the characters and the story being a tragedy permit the viewers to share the lives of the cast and their troubles at a profound level ; both subgenres merged together, letting the audience see this work of art not as a fiction but as a transcript of real people's lives. Outstanding writting which is the necessary element that makes San Gatsu storytelling so good and real. ____ __SHOGI & PHILOSOPHY__ : How is shogi the prefect philosophical metaphor for Rei's life and life in general ? "I know that a beast lives within me. It's a rampaging beast that'd bite off everything in sight to survive. When the battle begins, no matter what, it's hand reaches out for the path to survival. Even if it means misery for others. No matter what kind of world awaits." _- Kiriyama Rei Seaon 1 Episode 10_ How does this quote resonates with Kiriyama Rei and San Gatsu no Lion philosophy ? Firstly, this refers to his past with the Kouda family. ~!Kiriyama Rei lost his parents at a young age, therefore he had no choice but to live with the Kouda. This caused many problems for the family as the children were jealous of Rei due to his shogi skills acclaimed by their father. Furthemore, Rei's general behaviour, which was originally meant not to bother anyone, brung the kids displease upon him. Due to his precense and other factors, the Kouda family has been severly fractured. One interpretation could be that he blames himself for the whole situation, comparing himself with a calculating beast that destroy others life for his own survival, which is correct but not all there is to it.!~ Secondly, it refers to the shogi players in general. Stating that shogi is a chessboard game is true but it's ignoring everything around it. Being a shogi player is a job and whole tournaments, events, tv channels and lives revolve around it. Shogi players put everything they have Into this chessboard game to get money, bring food to their families, perfect themselves in one domain and so on. Even though, winning implies making someone else lose. Being a shogi professionnal player is a dangerous job, the stress is considerable, some players age faster, lose hair and it affects the health of players who already had weak constitutions to begin with. Many players suffer from depression due to not being able to climb up the ranks. Knowing that their opponents have gone through the same suffering as themselves, they still fight eachothers, trying to win no matter what, ruining people's lives and bringing themselves under even more stress and suffering. Kai Shimada 8-dan is the perfect exemple to illustrate the idea I conveyed. ~!He left his hometown, he lost his girlfriend, he lost his health (and his hair) and now has terrible frequent stomachaches. He gave himself completely to shogi and it consumed his life, it consumed him wholly. Before going at an important match, he dreams about what his life could have been if he hadn't persevere in shogi. Even in his deam, he was still playing shogi to find happiness. Even in his deam, he still had stomachaches. Since the day he discovered shogi, his life couldn't be the same. Both outcomes of him playing shogi and him not playing shogi will result in him suffering as his love for shogi will find a way to cause him stomachaches. Then, which route is the true nightmare? To know if he's done the wrong choices, to know if the other life would have been more preferable... He can only persevere in the life he's already chosen and see it until it's through, like a beast, never backing down, "No matter what kind of world awaits".!~ Another perfect example would be Sakutarou Yanagihara. He's the oldest active shogi player. ~!And living up to this title isn't an easy task. In the first section, we discussed about how burdenning expectations could actually be positive. This old man is the living incarnation of this idea. As the oldest active player, many of his colleagues that couldn't make it to the top asked him to achieve the dreams they couldn't achieve. They all excpect him to be immortal and to fight for them. "These "excpectations" are "cords". With hundreds and thousands of them tied onto me, with time they've become so heavy, that I can't even move. But they also bound me and weigh me down so I don't run away from the fear of getting covered in flames. Ironic isn't it?" Having people expecting things from you is a curse but this curse gives you a purpose and the will to live. By this logic, having no one of excpecting nothing from you is far worse and destructive. You could say it's the power of friendship but well written. To really confirm it though, you have to see it until the end and devote yourself completely, "No matter what kind of world awaits". !~ Last example is the lyrics of the second opening theme. img500(https://media0.giphy.com/media/5xg3uTYsU13hfOBVre/giphy.gif?cid=6c09b952y1wcvf9h9i0q3dwuhovsthjnxj8u51rpd649jn2r&ep=v1_internal_gif_by_id&rid=giphy.gif&ct=g) Shogi was the savior and the downfall of Kiriyama Rei. It allowed him to ignore things around him and his problems, making his situation worse but it's now thanks to shogi that he's able to grow and meet more persons. To synthetize, shogi is like life. We might live in community but there's still competions in every area. We can't all have the same things and roles. So, in order to get what they want, shogi players will enter hell and beat everyone there, ignorant if the result will take them to a better place or a even greater hell but the only way to find out is by actually going through all of it. Nevertheless, to accomplish that they will need the support of others who will burden them and by burdening them, they will simultaneously give them even more reasons to hold out. And that's what life is all about. ____ __THANKS FOR READING__ In conclusion, we've seen how March Comes Like A Lion perfectly develop it's coming of age aspect with social themes. I'm really fond of how the author emphasizes the importance of family and human bonds in one's self journey. Many self-improvement preachers deny this aspect and the so called self-improvement becomes a sort of coping mechanism, to become "better" than other people despite not fitting in. We've also seen how the storytelling stood out from other slice of life anime by effectively writting merging both iyashikei and tragedies as narrative tools and settings. This aspect is really important because it make the story feels much more real. I genuinely felt like I was going to the shogi department with Rei and sharing his life. Lastly, with many examples, we've seen the philosophy of March Comes Like a Lion. This made many moments very emotional and breathtaking. ~!I remember almost crying when Kiriyama goes back to his house and the mother says she's happy he's not her real son so he doesn't end up like her son who gave back on long life term goals and only focus on instant pleasure and disrespect others. !~ Last thing I haven't mentioned is the godlike production of Shaft, my favorite studio that makes everything even better. Like for the Monogatari Series, the visual direction of 3-gatsu no Lion make it look like the visuals aren't simply a tool to convey the story but it's the story itself. Due to many symbolysms and representations, the story can be comprehended through images alone and that's called cinema. img500(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/721078635251105873/1136463396104048803/MV5BNzhkNzA0ZDUtMmI2My00YjBmLWFmODMtMzY3MjFjOGIzYjlmXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTMwMjczNDMw.png) img500(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/721078635251105873/1136463419051081830/m6GjlTd.png) img500(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/721078635251105873/1136549563117863002/Lion-header-gif.gif) img500(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/721078635251105873/1136549573804957746/telechargement.gif) I can't put all the praise on Shaft though. I checked the manga and such representations of characters state of minds are also present. Shaft and Umino Chica is the ultimate combo. The anime is very truthful to the manga but the manga's pace is faster, it's something to consider if you want to dive in the manga too. I also have to mention the musics... This anime is the contender for the best osts and ops/eds of the media. The second opening remains one of my favorite things ever created to this day. img500(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/721078635251105873/1136596304999497809/Sangatsu-no-Lion-visuel2.png) 3-gatsu no Lion easily is one of the most well written shows I've ever watched and I recommend it to anyone in search of a good coming of age! _(any sort of feedback is appreciated)_