March Comes In like a Lion (Japanese: 3月のライオン, Hepburn: Sangatsu no Raion, lit. "The Lion of March"), is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Chica Umino, best known for Honey and Clover. It has been serialized in Hakusensha's seinen manga magazine Young Animal since July 2007, with its chapters collected in fifteen tankōbon volumes as of December 2019. The manga has commentary by professional shogi player Manabu Senzaki on shogi rules and culture.
An anime television series adaptation by Shaft aired on NHK G between October 2016 and March 2017, with a second season airing from October 2017 to March 2018. A two-part live-action film adaptation was released in March and April 2017.
The series is set in Tokyo, following the everyday life of a 17-year-old shōgi player, Rei (lit. "Zero").[4] Umino based the setting of March Comes In like a Lion on research she conducted herself, whereas she was already familiar with the setting for her earlier work, Honey and Clover.[5]
Rei lives by himself, his parents and younger sister died in an accident, he is estranged from his foster family and has scarcely any friends. Among his acquaintances is a family consisting of three sisters—Akari, Hinata, and Momo Kawamoto—who also keep several cats. As the story progresses, Rei deals with his maturing as a player and as a person, while developing his relationships with others, especially the Kawamoto sisters.
Characters
Main characters
Rei Kiriyama (桐山 零, Kiriyama Rei)
Voiced by: Kengo Kawanishi (Japanese); Khoi Dao (English)[6][7]
Played by:Ryunosuke Kamiki
17 years old at the beginning of the series, later turns 18. A five dan in the beginning of the series, he is later promoted to six dan. Rei became a professional shōgi player while in middle school and his achievements soon made him one of the most promising players of his generation. After his parents and sister died in a traffic accident, he was taken in by his father's friend Kōda and became his apprentice in shōgi. After becoming a professional shōgi player and completing middle school, he decided to become independent and not attend high school. However, after feeling a "need" to attend school, Rei joins a high school after a one-year delay. He lives in the city of Rokugatsu-chō (June town).
Akari Kawamoto (川本 あかり, Kawamoto Akari)
Voiced by: Ai Kayano (Japanese); Laura Post (English)[6][7]
Played by:Kana Kurashina
A resident of Sangatsu-chō (March town), she is the eldest of three sisters. After her mother's death, she starts taking care of her two younger sisters. In the morning, she helps her elderly grandfather run a traditional wagashi (Japanese confectionery) shop, Mikazuki-dō, while in the evening, she works as a hostess for a bar in Ginza, Misaki, which her aunt manages. Akari gets acquainted with Rei when she finds him on the street when his older shogi rivals got him drunk and abandoned him;she takes him to her home and looks after him all night, which starts Rei's close relationship with the family. She often calls Rei "Rei-kun".
Hinata Kawamoto (川本 ひなた, Kawamoto Hinata)
Voiced by: Kana Hanazawa (Japanese); Kayli Mills (English)[6][7]
Played by:Kaya Kiyohara
The second of the three sisters. A middle school student. She sleeps in late in the mornings till the very last minute and often makes bentos by herself. She calls Rei "Rei-chan". Like her elder sister Akari, she likes taking care of Rei, who develops romantic feelings for her as the series progresses. She has a strong loyalty towards her friends and family. She aspires to be as mature as her sister when she gets older. Later she graduates from middle school, enrolls at the same high school where Rei studies and starts dating him.
The youngest of the three sisters. A preschool student, she attends a daycare center. Pure and innocent, she has a bit of a selfish streak at times. Her favorite anime character is Bodoro (modelled on My Neighbour Totoro's Totoro). She calls Rei "Rei-chan".
Rei's shōgi teacher, a pro eight dan. He was both Rei's adopted father's friend and rival in shōgi. After Rei's parents and sister died, he adopts Rei and guides him in shogi. He is serious about shogi and is very strict with his biological children when they were studying it themselves. Because of the attention that their father showed Rei, both the Koda children grew to resent Rei and treated him poorly as he was growing up in their household.
Kōda's daughter. She is four years older than Rei. Beautiful and hot tempered, Kyōko seems to hold a grudge on Rei as she has the habit of exerting a negative influence on him by discouraging him purposefully before his matches. She appears to be in love with Masamune Gotō, a married man. When she was younger, she was openly hostile to Rei when he first joins the family because she is jealous of the attention her father gives Rei. She aspired to become a shōgi professional but was discouraged by her father as the field was dominated by men and she was not talented enough to be a part of it. She often goes to Rei's apartment whenever she is feeling lonely. Later on, she admits to herself that she was unfair to Rei because she realizes that he wasn't trying to steal her family, rather, he just wanted to be part of one.
Kōda's son and Kyōko's younger brother. He is of the same age as Rei. After losing to Rei in shōgi, he stopped playing at all, and afterwards started confining himself to his room and only playing video games.
Rei's self-proclaimed "best friend" and "lifelong rival". A four dan, he has played with Rei since they were children. Even though he appears to be healthy, he is in fact chronically ill, which has contributed to his obesity. He is from an extremely wealthy family. He is modelled after actual real-life shōgi player Satoshi Murayama.
In his late 30s, of the same age as Tōji Sōya. Eight dan. He is a senior fellow student of Nikaidō, who he takes care of like his own little brother. He is a gentle tempered person and is naturally inclined to look after younger shōgi players. But he is also an incredibly tough soldier in shōgi. He hosts the "Shimada shōgi study groups", which he invited Rei to join. He originally comes from a rural area. In his youth, he had to work long hours on the farm and relied on his fellow villagers' donations to support his shōgi study in Tokyo. He has chronic stomach pain because of the stress from his matches. The president of the shogi association often laments that Shimada is not charismatic or as good looking as the meijin, Soya, who is his same age.
Masamune Gotō (後藤 正宗, Gotō Masamune)
Voiced by: Hiroki Tōchi (Japanese); Ray Chase (English)
Played by:Hideaki Itō
In his early 40s. Nine dan. A tall and muscular man with a stern and frightening face. His wife is in a coma and appears to have been hospitalized for a long time. He was a younger fellow pupil of Masachika Kōda, whose daughter Kyōko he appears to have a very complicated relationship with, though he calls her a "stalker". Rei sees him as a main antagonist in life for he thinks Gotō is having an affair with Kyōko and breaking her heart. He had an altercation with Rei where he punches him when he was confronted for his improper relationship with Kyoko. Even though she loves Goto, Kyoko is the one who often helps him get gifts for his comatose wife. He is generally very forthright and impatient to the point of being arrogant, but he also doesn't hesitate to stand up for Shimada when he overhears some other players making demeaning comments about him.
The current meijin. He has longed for a rival like Rei. Similar to Rei, he became a professional shōgi player in middle school and several players who faced both pointed that their playing styles are very similar. He became the youngest ever meijin at age 21. Later in the story it's revealed that he has intermittent hearing loss due to unknown causes.
26 years old. Five dan. A quite expressive and enthusiastic person, he can be aggressive at times as well. He comes from the countryside. He is a fan of Akari.
A 9 dan professional shougi player, ranked A for the past 8 years, Tsujii Takeshi is a lover of wordplay and craves public attention. Other people within the shougi world calls him 'a waste of good looks' due to his propensity for dad jokes and terrible puns. He is usually the only one to laugh at his own gags. Tsujii played against Rei during the quarterfinals of the 20th Lion King Tournament.
65 years old. A seven dan. He is a veteran who has been a professional shōgi player for over 40 years. He comes from Fukushima.
Manabu Yasui (安井学, Yasui Manabu)
Voiced by: Mitsuo Iwata (Japanese); Joe J. Thomas (English)
A six dan. Upon losing a match, he lost his temper, thus resulting in him divorcing his wife.
Raidō Fujimoto (藤本 雷堂, Fujimoto Raidō)
Voiced by: Akio Ōtsuka (Japanese); Taylor Henry (English)
Shogi Dragon titleholder. Passionate about eventually dethroning Sōya. He temporarily separates from his wife when he thinks a hostess from a bar has genuine affection for him.
Other characters
Yūsuke Takahashi (高橋 勇介, Takahashi Yūsuke)
Voiced by: Yoshimasa Hosoya (Japanese); Chris Hackney (English)[8][7]
A middle school student. A childhood friend and classmate of Hinata's, he is her first crush. He is the son of a milkman. He is the ace of his school's baseball team and aims to be a pro. Since Rei became a shōgi pro in middle school, Yūsuke greatly looks up to him. His father and grandfather are both fans of Rei. He is very straightforward and encourages Hinata during the time she was being bullied. In order to realize his dream to become a professional, he moves to a high school in Shikoku seeking to participate in the kōshien baseball tournament, much to Hinata's sadness.
The grandfather of the three Kawamoto sisters. He runs a traditional wagashi shop, Mikazuki-dō (Crescent Moon). Even though he gives off an impression of a grumpy old man, he actually dotes on his grandchildren a lot, in particular Momo, and aims to live long enough to send them away for their marriages. He is incredibly passionate about being the sole male protector of the family.
Hanaoka (花岡)
Voiced by: Yōji Ueda (Japanese); Doug Stone (English)[7]
The butler of the Nikaidō family, who has been in continuous service for them for over 45 years. A gentle and kind elderly man, he has been taking care of Harunobu ever since he was a baby.
A teacher of the high school where Rei decided to join. He is a big fan of shōji and regularly reads shōgi magazines. He is the only one in the high school who had heard of Rei being a professional shōgi player though when he first knew of him joining, he presumed he only had the same surname. He speaks in a very friendly manner with Rei and is often concerned with his wellbeing, always thinking of ways to help him socialize with others. He later develops feelings for Akari.
The aunt of the three Kawamoto sisters. She, helped by Akari, manages a bar in Ginza called "Misaki". She has a strong and confident personality and employs Akari to work at her bar so she can at least spend one night a week to dress up so she doesn't lose herself to a state of only being a mother to her younger sisters. She encourages Rei to bring his fellow shogi players to the bar so she can make money off of them.
President of the Burners club (as in Bunsen burner), a chemistry club in the school Rei goes to. Because he has a mustache, everyone assumes he is Rei's teacher.
Seijirō
The father of the three Kawamoto sisters. He left them and their mother when Momo was still a baby to live with another woman and returns several years later, after a long time without contacting them once. Once Misaki warns Rei about him, Rei makes his own investigation about Seijirō and discovers that he kept leading an irresponsible life, involving himself with other women and abandoning them on his own whim, just like he did with Akari, Hinata and Momo's mother. After Rei exposes Seijirō, the sisters reject his plea to raise their half-sister, daughter of one of his other women, and he leaves with her to never return.
The cats
The three cats of the Kawamoto household. The first two cats, the tuxedo (black and white) and calico (black, white and orange) cats, were the first two gathered, while the white cat is a new arrival. Their names are Kuro-chan, Mike-chan, and Shiro-chan, respectively. They are big-eyed and always apparently hungry. The white cat looks strikingly like an owl at times.
Production
The English title "March Comes In Like a Lion" is written on the cover of the manga. Although Umino had not seen the movie "March Comes In Like a Lion," the movie poster and the title of the movie left an impression on her:"A girl with a black haircut is holding a half-eaten ice cream in her mouth." This phrase is from the British weather proverb "March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb."[10] In addition, the supervisor, Manabu Senzaki, commented that the Shogi rankings begin in June, and the final game for promotion and demotion is held in March, so the professionals become lions in March.[11]
Media
Manga
March Comes In like a Lion is written and illustrated by Chica Umino. The series began in Hakusensha's seinen manga magazine Young Animal on July 13, 2007.[12][4] Hakusensha has collected its chapters into individual tankōbon volumes. The first volume was released on February 22, 2008.[13] As of December 26, 2019, fifteen volumes have been released.[14]
Chapter 154: "On the Night the Stars Fall Upon (Part 1)"
Chapter 155: "On the Night the Stars Fall Upon (Part 2)"
Chapter 156: "Azusa Number 1 (Part 1)"
Chapter 157: "Azusa Number 1 (Part 2)"
Chapter 158: "Azusa Number 1 (Part 3)"
Chapter 159: "Azusa Number 1 (Part 4)"
Chapter 160: "Azusa Number 1 (Part 5)"
Chapter 161: "Path (Part 1)"
Chapter 162: "Path (Part 2)"
Chapter 163: "Path (Part 3)"
Chapter 164: "Path (Part 4)"
Chapter 165: "Path (Part 5)"
Chapter 166: "Path (Part 6)"
Anime
See also: List of March Comes in Like a Lion episodes
An anime television series adaptation was announced in the Young Animal magazine's 19th issue of 2015 on September 25, 2015.[29] The 22-episode[30] series is produced by Shaft and directed by Akiyuki Shinbo and Kenjirou Okada, featuring character designs by Nobuhiro Sugiyama and music composed by Yukari Hashimoto.[31][32] The anime's first opening and ending theme songs are performed by Bump of Chicken,[33] titled "Answer" and "Fighter", respectively.[34] Yuki performed the series' second opening theme song, titled "Goodbye Bystander", while Kenshi Yonezu performed the series' second ending theme song, titled "Orion".[35]
Season one of the anime began airing on October 8, 2016 on NHK G and finished airing on March 18, 2017 with a total of 22 episodes.[36][31][9] The series has been licensed by Aniplex of America and Anime Limited for North America and the United Kingdom, respectively.[37][38] Crunchyroll simulcasted the series in their Fall 2016 line-up.[39] A second season, announced at the end of the first season's final episode, premiered on October 14, 2017 and finished airing on March 31, 2018 with a total of 22 episodes.[40][41] Crunchyroll streamed the second season.[42]
Live-action films
Main article: March Comes in Like a Lion (film)
A two-part live actionfilm adaptation of the same name directed by Keishi Ōtomo, starring Ryunosuke Kamiki and distributed by Toho and Asmik Ace was released in two parts in 2017, with the first part released on March 18 and the second released on April 22.[43][44][45]
Reception
In 2009, the series was nominated for the 2nd Annual Manga Taishō,[46] and it won this award in 2011.[47] Also in 2011 it won the Kodansha Manga Award in the general category (shared with Chūya Koyama's Space Brothers).[48] In 2014, it won the Grand Prize of the 18th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize.[49] On Kadokawa Media Factory's Da Vinci magazine "Book of the Year" list, March Comes In like a Lion topped the list for three consecutive years from 2015 to 2017,[50][51][52] ranked 4th in 2019 and 8th in 2020.[53][54]
Notes
^Credited under the collective pen name Fuyashi Tō.
^The second volume of the manga featured an alternate cover illustrated by Berserk manga artist Kentarō Miura.[16]
^Chapter 152 and 153 were combined into one chapter in the Volume release.
^『ダ・ヴィンチ』2008年4月号 [Da Vinci, April 2008 issue] (in Japanese). Kadokawa. 2008. pp. 214–218. Archived from the original on December 25, 2020. Retrieved December 25, 2020.
^From "Manabu Senzaki's Lion Shogi Column 4", volume 2 of the manga.
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