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EP. REVIEW: March comes in like a lion


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Stark700



Joined: 30 Jan 2012
Posts: 11762
Location: Earth
PostPosted: Sat Oct 15, 2016 9:33 pm Reply with quote
This is one of my favorite shows so far for the season. I'm impressed by the artistic quality of what Shaft has done and the music is pretty well done too from the OP song to the OST to the character voice mannerisms.

Given it's a 2-cour, they could adapt quite story quite a bit.

The comedy is pretty funnny imo even if it feels a bit silly at times.
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Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 23668
PostPosted: Sat Oct 15, 2016 9:43 pm Reply with quote
I'm glad the second episode confirmed what the the last half of the first one did: this is not going to be a dive into one young man's unrelieved misery. Thank god there is some levity to go with the heavy stuff. In episode 2, I was a bit worried when Blonde Guy went into detail about how that other dude really wanted to win so that his grandfather, who taught him shogi and is currently in hospital, could see him. That sort of thing seems like the type of information that could really bring Rei down. Fortunately, Aggressive Guy's mooching ways distracted Rei, I guess and Akari ultimately took care of the mooching, as well.
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whiskeyii



Joined: 29 May 2013
Posts: 2242
PostPosted: Sat Oct 15, 2016 10:00 pm Reply with quote
While I'm expecting this to be more of a recovery story than a downward spiral, I will say that hearing Rei's description of his depression--the gray, lifeless scenery, the chronic busyness, questioning genuinely compassionate motives, the lack of motivation to do anything but the most essential things (you'll notice he has no furniture up despite moving in about a year ago)--and even then only with an empty fridge to spur you to action--is so painfully accurate to my own experience with depression that it almost smarts to watch. Not to mention the "in and out" nature of his depression, characterized by the occasional black-and-white segments, since depression isn't always a 24/7 deal.

It's odd to see a show so blatantly laid out along chapter lines, but for some reason, that helps me think of this show as more of a peek into Rei's life rather than a strict linear telling of it, and for some reason, I find that refreshing. Curious to see how the rest of this series goes, particularly since it's a two-cour show.
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SNaGem



Joined: 23 May 2016
Posts: 41
PostPosted: Sat Oct 15, 2016 10:05 pm Reply with quote
I've been reading the manga and it is excellent. Hell, the first five minutes of the first episode is enough to show that the team at Shaft truly understands this work, and I'm very confident that they can bring it to life. 23 episodes should be plenty to get a huge chunk of the manga in and give a satisfying story.
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Angel M Cazares



Joined: 23 Sep 2010
Posts: 5406
Location: Iscandar
PostPosted: Sat Oct 15, 2016 10:21 pm Reply with quote
I am absolutely adoring this show. Its first 2 episodes have done what I like to see in dramatic animes; the bits of comedy are also nice. If I keep liking it this much March Comes in Like a Lion will become my favorite anime series of 2016.
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Kon'Doriano



Joined: 17 Sep 2016
Posts: 552
PostPosted: Sat Oct 15, 2016 10:51 pm Reply with quote
The one thing that turns me off about this show is the comedy. Many scenes are a bit too over-the-top and they often ruin the depressing atmosphere instead of easing the tension. Though there are a few scenes that made me chuckle a bit like when Issa into saying he'll pay for the crew at the bar when he and Smith were trying to get Rei to treat them, that was a good scene because it actually felt natural and grounded. This show to me is just a simple slice-of-life focusing around character drama which isn't a bad thing at all because it succeeds through the artistic presentation, how the script essentially uses the "show not tell" rule, and the likable cast of characters. It's just the comedy for the most part that just doesn't sit well with me very much however I still believe that this is a decent show, for now. Because this is running for 22 episodes, I will reserve further judgement until I see a few more episodes.
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meiam



Joined: 23 Jun 2013
Posts: 3442
PostPosted: Sat Oct 15, 2016 11:36 pm Reply with quote
Honestly at the pace they're going, we're not going to make it very far even in a 2 cour show, eventually the manga goes at glacial pace and they would need to skip quite a bit (which would be fine, some scenes and even arcs are really redundant) but it doesn't seems like they intend to skip any. I also can't remember any natural stoping point along the way, so we'll probably get an award ending.

Personally I rather like the comedy aspect, non stop depression would be very boring.
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Knoepfchen



Joined: 13 Dec 2012
Posts: 698
PostPosted: Sun Oct 16, 2016 12:52 am Reply with quote
There was a bit too much commentary in the second episode for my taste. It felt like they wanted to make sure we really got the subtleties from the first episode. Other than that, definitely a favorite of this season.
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RAmmsoldat



Joined: 19 Oct 2005
Posts: 1261
Location: North wales coast
PostPosted: Sun Oct 16, 2016 2:41 am Reply with quote
loving it, im a huge fan of honey and clover and its killed me not to read the manga of this (for god sake someone licence this already) so the anime was most anticipated and the music vid last year did nothing to help ease the anticipation.
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Merida



Joined: 21 Feb 2012
Posts: 1945
PostPosted: Sun Oct 16, 2016 3:07 am Reply with quote
I'm very happy with this adaption so far, it looks beautiful and manages to convey the emotions incredibly well.

There are a lot of "weirdos" in this series, like Rei's self-proclaimed "lifelong rival" Nikaidou for example, but they usually turn out to be complex and interesting characters. So they could theoretically cut some of the content that focuses more on the side characters but that would be a shame in my opinion since that's one of the manga's strength.

Instead of having them cut any material, i'd rather hope for the anime to be a success and get a second season. Smile
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MarshalBanana



Joined: 31 Aug 2014
Posts: 5294
PostPosted: Sun Oct 16, 2016 4:37 am Reply with quote
I felt like this show has some really bad issues with tone, one minute he's going around depressed, then he's at someones house having dinner and everyones going crazy, the next he's asleep crying and one of them is looking over him, next thing he's getting up and it's all crazy again.
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Swissman



Joined: 11 May 2006
Posts: 766
Location: Switzerland
PostPosted: Sun Oct 16, 2016 9:53 am Reply with quote
MarshalBanana wrote:
I felt like this show has some really bad issues with tone

Jumping constantly between dramatic/introspective scenes and more light-hearted ones corresponds to the storytelling style of manga author Chica Umino. People seem to either love it or hate it - there's no middle ground. It was the same for Honey & Clover.
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Kreion



Joined: 02 Jan 2013
Posts: 332
PostPosted: Sun Oct 16, 2016 10:46 am Reply with quote
MarshalBanana wrote:
I felt like this show has some really bad issues with tone, one minute he's going around depressed, then he's at someones house having dinner and everyones going crazy, the next he's asleep crying and one of them is looking over him, next thing he's getting up and it's all crazy again.


Isn't that the point? That the good doesn't necessarily cancel out the bad. Yes he's happy with them but ultimately his issues are still there and he has to deal with them, he can't just ignore them forever with the sisters...

At least, that;s how I interpreted it.
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MarshalBanana



Joined: 31 Aug 2014
Posts: 5294
PostPosted: Sun Oct 16, 2016 12:23 pm Reply with quote
Kreion wrote:
MarshalBanana wrote:
I felt like this show has some really bad issues with tone, one minute he's going around depressed, then he's at someones house having dinner and everyones going crazy, the next he's asleep crying and one of them is looking over him, next thing he's getting up and it's all crazy again.


Isn't that the point? That the good doesn't necessarily cancel out the bad. Yes he's happy with them but ultimately his issues are still there and he has to deal with them, he can't just ignore them forever with the sisters...

At least, that;s how I interpreted it.
good point, I just wish it was phased in.
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Key
Moderator


Joined: 03 Nov 2003
Posts: 18137
Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Sun Oct 16, 2016 12:49 pm Reply with quote
Since just about everybody but me raves over this show, I've been thinking about giving it a second shot. Based on both Nick's comments and what others have said, though, I'm getting the impression that if I got majorly turned off by the first episode (the comedy that everyone's complaining about was the one things that actually made it barely tolerable) then there's unlikely to be anything in the second episode which will change my mind. True or False?
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