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March comes in like a lion
Episode 8

by Nick Creamer,

How would you rate episode 8 of
March comes in like a lion ?
Community score: 4.4

Harunobu's lesson continued in this week's March comes in like a lion, as he went through the movement mechanics of each shogi kitty in turn. From there, the show segued into using Harunobu's passion to talk about Rei's own tenuous career path and his inability to move forward as a player. And on the eve of his latest match, Rei finally received an unexpected visitor, who had some unusual words of wisdom for our melancholy hero.

The episode's first sequence carried over directly from last week's finale. It was fairly unusual in how completely it followed along with Harunobu's teachings. I figured we'd simply cut away from this scene and start on a new topic this week, but it seems clear that March is deeply invested in making sure the audience can actually parse the show's matches, to the point where it's happy to use Hina as a proxy in order to orchestrate the classic “time to teach the rookie/audience the rules of this game” sports show conceit.

Though it may have come off as a little long-winded, I'm ultimately happy that March is taking this approach. I've always appreciated how much attention March has invested in its matches; instead of simply turning shogi into a prop, the actual mechanics of the game are continuously becoming more intertwined with the show's other dramatic threads. Investing the time to make sure the audience understands the matches could pay off in a variety of ways later on, and the matches we've seen have already been bolstered by tangible stakes and exchanges. Sequences like this make me hopeful that next week's key match will actually be conveyed as a multilevel battle, with Rei's internal disagreements being echoed in his plays on the board.

This sequence was also noteworthy in how charming it let Harunobu be. Characters like Harunobu - loud, portly, self-declared “best friends” - are rarely granted much dignity in anime, often coming across as just comic relief. The fact that Harunobu is considerate, charming, and generally well-liked in spite of also being oblivious and abrasive reflects March's general concern for its characters, making his sequences far more warm than they would be if he were framed as truly annoying. It's this sensitivity toward its characters that I think will ultimately vindicate March, since granting humanity to your cast is one of the best ways to make sure your comedy is actually endearing.

Unfortunately, even Harunobu couldn't drag Rei out of his gloom this week. Having recently plateaued in his professional development, Rei spent much of this episode simply wandering the streets of his city, a black silhouette contrasted against the beautiful scenery. Rei's outfit and design really facilitated the mood of these sequences, cementing him as constantly isolated from the gorgeous mornings and nights. And that visual focus on Rei's “darkness” came home to roost in the final act, where Rei's nature was contrasted against the shock of lightning that is his step-sister Kyouko.

Rei's long-awaited reunion with Kyouko was as painful, charged, and deeply awkward as you'd expect it to be. There's a clear tension between these siblings that dances between legitimate concern, jealousy, hate, and even lust. In visual terms, Kyouko was often made to embody light itself, with Rei content to languish in her shadow. In dialogue terms, her entreaty was a mixture of pity, scorn, and awkward seduction. Though she claimed to want Rei to return home for her father's sake, it seemed her true goals were to both gain insight into Rei's new life and twist the knife a little just before his upcoming match. Kyouko is a bad news femme fatale that Rei is utterly unequipped to deal with.

Overall, this was a somewhat rigidly segmented episode of March comes in like a lion, given unity of purpose only through Rei's upcoming match. It wasn't a highlight, but it still demonstrated many of the show's finer qualities, and Kyouko's reappearance promises some fun drama down the line. March continues to chug not-so-merrily down the line.

Overall: B+

March comes in like a lion is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Nick writes about anime, storytelling, and the meaning of life at Wrong Every Time.


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