March Comes in Like a Lion

 After we moved, I needed a shorter show for a bit as there was so much going on. March Comes in Like a Lion had showed up on Netflix (it had been on my Crunchyroll queue for ages, but you can't download things on there) so I thought I would give it a go. Someone had told me eons ago that I'd like it based on other shows I loved.

Well, they weren't wrong. I've actually now gone through the entire first and second seasons and now I'm a bit bereft because there isn't a third one yet AND the manga has not yet been translated into English. Sigh. 

It's a bit of an odd show. A bit slice of life, a bit "coming of age,", a wee bit of romance. So. Rei is a 17 year old professional shogi player living on his own. He's quiet and lonely, due in part to the rest of his family dying in a car wreck when he was young. He'd always been an introspective kid, but when his aunt was ready to dump him in an orphanage instead of taking him in, he jumped at the chance to live instead with a friend of his father's. 

It was a man who had often played shogi with him and it's quite clear that the reason he took Rei in is because of that. He's a professional player himself and sees promise in Rei. However, his two biological kids are a mess, in part because of how their dad treats them. The girl, who is older than Rei by 4 years, is the one that has the longest impact on the poor kid -- she's bitter and jealous and also wildly inappropriate (in an abusive kind of way and in ways that make it obvious she never sees Rei as a brother figure). So poor dude has some hangups. He becomes a professional player in middle school (only the 5th in history to do so at that age) and moves out on his own as soon as he can. He internalises a lot of guilt even though literally nothing is his fault. He's just a good kid (there's a scene late in the second season where he visits the "adoptive" mom and it's obvious she sees it -- her kids aren't good, not like he is and she doesn't know why). 

Anyway. The bright spot in Rei's life is that he's been "adopted" again -- but by three sisters. They are also orphans, though they have each other and their grandfather, who runs a wagashi shop. There's Akari, the oldest, who takes care of everyone. Hinata, or Hina, is in middle school at the start and she's usually unflappably positive. And Momo, who is a toddler and adorable in the same way as Poco from Poco's Udon World. They are exactly what he needs in life. Their relationships together are what family is about and the slowly developing (given their ages; by the end of the second season, Hina is entering his high school) romance/love between Rei and Hina are my favourite parts. He supports them (even though he often discounts his contributions) and they support him. 

There's also the other side of his life -- the people he plays shogi with, including Nikaidō, who, when you first meet him, think he's going to be the mean bully in Rei's life but it turns out he's Rei's biggest cheerleader and probably his only friend his own age. There's another father figure in Shimada, an older man who beats Rei in a tournament but later befriends him and teaches him. There are a couple of comic relief types (love the guy who adopts the kitten). A crazy leader. And Gotō -- another top player in his 40s with a wife in the hospital that Rei's mentally unbalanced adoptive sister is trying to have an affair with. That whole storyline is very frustrating.

At this point, since I've watched all I can watch, I don't want to go and re-cap everything. There's a lot. 44 Episodes! There's a whole bullying arc with Hina (where Rei does his best and begins to really come out of his shell in hopes of helping her), some great bits with the teacher Hayashida (who really supports Rei), the crazy scientist club at the school...I'd have to write a book to cover it all.

So...to sum up, it's a lovely show. I learned a lot about shogi and wagashi. The cats are hilarious. It's a bit slow-paced and there were times where there wasn't enough with the sisters, but overall it's really just a great show. I adore Rei and want to give him a hug. He needs it. 

There's also a live action movie version that I wonder if I should try to watch, though from the summary, it goes on past the point in the anime. I'm assuming it follows the manga? I dunno! Since the manga is still ongoing, I'm not sure. I don't want to spoil it. It's just a treasure.