I’ve really tried to go light on talking about my current obsession with anime. However, there’s one title I think is perhaps the best such program I’ve watched, and certainly ranks in my own personal Big Three (along with K-On! and the Monogatari series, and believe me, I consider those shows to be the very heaviest of hitters). So I was extremely excited to suddenly discover that it’s now available on Netflix, making the program accessible to a much broader audience.
March Comes in Lion is a ‘slice of life’ drama, albeit with a lot of comedy as well, that follows the adventures of Rei, a young professional shogi player. Fear not, I’m sure it’s another fun layer if you know how shogi is played, but I know basically nothing about it and it hasn’t hurt the show with me in the slightest. As the narrative progresses we learn of Rei’s tragic backstory, and the beginning finds him mired in a deep depression. From there the show just takes off to be one of the best things in any medium I’ve ever consumed. I don’t want to detract from anyone’s discovery of it, so I’ll leave the description at that.
If anyone decides to give it a go, I hope you won’t mind if I further recommended that, at least until you get into the show’s rhythm, you watch it at night with the lights off and hopefully when it’s quiet. This is not an action-packed show and you need to fall into its pace to really appreciate it fully (don’t worry, this isn’t hard). Moreover, it is gorgeous, and the pastel watercolor-esque animation really pops when you’re watching it in darkness. Even watching the episodes for a second or third time I marveled at how good it looks. (Does Netflix have higher bandwith than Crunchyroll? Or had I just forgotten how beautiful the show looks?) I discovered the show after a now rare trip to Netflix at about midnight last night, and stayed up until nearly 3:00 watching it until my eyes drooped too much to continue.
I also suggest that you watch the opening and closing songs/credits at least a few times (and later when they switch). Netflix tries to do you a favor by skipping over credit sequences for you, and usually that’s fine, but here I found it very obnoxious.
Sometimes the things you love the most are the hardest to recommend to others, because you find it hard to believe that it will connect as deeply and personally to other people. I will say that if you love March Comes In Like a Lion half as much as I do, you will find the viewing well worth your time.
I won’t lie, there’s an element of selfishness on my part to this recommendation. There hasn’t been an announcement of a third season for the show since the second season ended in spring of 2018. However, if it garners eyes on Netflix, there’s at least a wee chance the streaming service will bankroll a third season as a Netflix exclusive. Man, that would be sooooo great. I’ve been considering cancelling my Netflix subscription since I nearly never watch anything there anymore. However, if they bring me a third season of March I’ll stay a costumer for life.
If anyone watches some of it I’d be glad to hear your thoughts, even if you think the show is awful (well, not your cup of tea, I can’t imagine anyone finding it awful).
