March comes in like a Lion!

Picture yourself as a boy standing in a room full of lamps, yet none of the bulbs is turned on. The boy’s eyes reflect nothing but darkness no matter where he faces on the room. Then, one lamp turns on, then another, and then yet another lamp tries to repel the darkness with its light and the boy’s eyes start to shine. That room is Life, and that boy is You. A slice of this life is represented in “March comes in like a Lion!”.

Summary:

“March comes in like a Lion!” is an anime adaptation from studio shaft of a manga of the same name. The plot of the story revolves around a high school student and a professional shogi player named Rei Kiriyama, who had just moved into his own apartment after spending 10 years with his foster family. After losing his family and spending 10 years with another where he never felt like he belonged, Kiriyama has developed an estranged mindset towards life. He appears to be a loner, someone who would deliberately try to distance himself from society but the only reason for which he had taken up shogi was to be next to someone, even a stranger. But after he meets the Kawamoto sisters, he begins to change himself for the better.

Analysis:

Story:

As far as the story is concerned, I really liked the fact that even though the protagonist is a high school student, the story pays very little attention to his actual school life and steps into his position in society as a professional shogi player. The fact that Kiriyama’s entire life is pivoted on his shogi, yet he doesn’t seem to enjoy it that much, can be related to a lot of people in this world, suffering each and every day of their lives, doing something that they do not even like, trying to earn a living. But this is a ground reality, and such people often look for a hobby or a muse to keep them from breaking under the pressure. For Kiriyama there were the Kawamoto sisters who were one of the few people to show kindness and pity to this fragile boy who had been on his own for as long as he can remember.

Among the Kawamotos, I liked how the story tries to describe that even if something shines bright, doesn’t mean that it will shine forever. In the second season when the situation at Hinata Kawamoto’s school begin to deteriorate, both her and Kiriyama are enlightened by this cruel reality of life.
However, it is not necessary that one’s muse is always good for them. Before he met the Kawamotos, Kiriyama had his foster family, out of which his foster sister, Kyouko Kouda, became his muse. This was one of the short coming of the story so far. The relationship between these two siblings is so horribly complicated that one cannot possibly understand them with all the little attention that the storyline has given to them. I mean, it is evident from the fact that even though Kyouko means a lot to Kiriyama, she acts as just a supporting character in the anime. Rather they had given a lot more attention and screen time to characters in which I was the least interested in. Even though it was necessary for the theme, to display different aspects of life, I would have still appreciated if they had chosen only those aspects that spark a little drama into the anime.

Characters:

The characters in this anime seem a lot more human than other. None of the characters are shown to be immensely strong and resonant. As each and every one of us is susceptible to hardship, everyone is vulnerable and is suffering or has suffered a lot at a time in their lives, so have these characters. Yet out of all the characters in the anime, if I had to choose one, the strongest turns out to be a young middle school student, Hinata Kawamoto, as she faces her past without any regret.

To put it in the words of Rei Kiriyama himself, as he tries to describe his foster sister Kyouko, us humans are like glasses but with cracks in them.

Direction:

I don’t believe it would be wrong to say that this was a masterpiece from Akiyuki Shinbou. It surprised me how the simplest of details, when presented at the right moment, can etch their own importance into the viewer’s mind.
The moment when it is revealed that Kiriyama also had a little sister, which might seem as a small detail to add to the plot, had left me shaken with tears in my eyes.

Animation:

The art style was a little different, rather unique for this anime. The consistency on the animation as we have seen before from studio Shaft has been maintained in this anime as well. The character designs were also very thoughtful, especially that of Akari Kawamoto which gave her both the elegance and grace of a mother and the beauty of a 23-year-old woman still in the spring of her life.

The opening scene of the anime is so captivating that you do not want to avert your eyes from the screen for even the slightest moment, and as the anime progresses this interest is not lost. Some of the stills in this anime are the most beautiful that I have ever seen and the dynamic animation, when Hinata comes home crying from school, along with Kana Hanzawa’s voice acting, is almost surreal.

Soundtrack:

Music is one of the most important aspects of an anime, and “March comes in like a Lion!” doesn’t disappoint. Yukari Hashimoto has out done herself by composing, one after another, the most sensitive soundtracks that an anime could wish for. Tracks like “Send him” and “On the way home” are why I will never forget this anime and will be delighted to come back for more.
Moreover, I would like to give credit to Toishki Keneyama for choosing the subtlest yet profound moments to let the music kick in. For instance, when Hinata asks Rei when he had decided to become a professional shogi player, the music accompanying the thoughts of Rei as he searches for an answer simply heightens the listener’s nostalgia and pity as we go through his past.
As for the openings and endings, we all know how much Bump of Chicken likes March comes in like a Lion, so of course they were going to deliver. Even on the second arc of season 2, I have found myself humming Answer by Bump of Chicken used as the first opening for the anime. Whereas, the first ending was Bump of Chicken’s tribute to march comes in like a Lion, Fighter. Apart from these songs, the first opening of season 2, Flag wo Tatero by YUKI was also quite promising.

Recommendation:

This anime is a work of art, given its unique story, amazing characters, unique animation, and the most beautiful soundtrack to wrap everything up. I would recommend that all of you should at least give it a try, because this anime depicts the story of Life and we are all living it.