The Philosophy of Humans
In March Comes In like a Lion, Chica Umino illustrates humans as the only creatures that can express emotions through music, art, words, and so on. The characteristics of every human being are not fixed but bonds. They can be flexible, fun, complex, or simple. Every human being is connected by expressing these emotions. It breeds many bonds; even so, one cannot explain all the connections or feelings.
We can consider how happiness is one word that is difficult for us to define. Alternately, in the environment in that we grow up, red threads bind us and form our emotional thought patterns. Briefly, the anime depicts strange bonds and emotions. It explores realism full of poetry and allegory, adapted from the award-winning manga. Studio Shaft made the anime of seasons one and two, the same studio that made Puella Magi Madoka Magica and the Monogatari series.
March Comes In like a Lion follows the life of Rei Kiriyama, a professional shogi player and introvert. He is a 17-year-old boy whose many problems intertwine with his life. Despite what people think of him as a high school prodigy, Rei’s true self doesn’t strive to become a professional out of passion.
Reflecting Shogi and Rei Kiriyama
Shogi is the only impetus for Rei to survive. After his parents died, a friend of his father adopted him. He is a professional shogi player, and that is almost everything. To fulfill his vision, Rei started practicing shogi with all his might. However, it was unpleasant for his adopted siblings and resulted in conflict between family members. To restore their peace, Rei becomes independent and aims higher.
He became the fifth high school student to turn professional. Once at the top levels of the shogi world, Rei soon becomes a source of disillusionment and lacks any motivation. In essence, he became the unmotivated individualist among passionate people. The series depicts how the protagonist feels when he steps other people’s desires only to survive. Of course, nobody got it. However, Rei has nothing but shogi.
People who perceive other attachments, neglect, or passion for shogi hurt him. The essence of March Comes In like a Lion is the protagonist’s relationship with shogi and his gradual emotional acceptance. Rei’s shogi life came about as a result of a family tragedy. On the other hand, it becomes his life support system.
Overcoming Emotion
People both hate and love him because of his job. He had the added pressure of being very young. Since professional shogi players were elderly, Rei could see how imprecisely they handled their ranks. Though they’ve spent time getting it, Rei has never had the luxury of seeing shogi as a distraction from responsibility. To make matters worse, early influences in Rei’s life. His adoptive father, as well as his adopted sister and her affair with a married man, linked shogi with evil that Rei had unknowingly grown up with it.
Shogi’s methodical but slow playing style hides dysfunctional players in the structure. Even though they may be older, they are not mature. Therefore, Rei realized that by investing in the people around him and allowing himself to overcome his emotions, he would begin to realize his weaknesses. Indeed, it would be hard to handle it. However, he found he had the drive to win when Rei thought he didn’t care.
Somewhat cruelly all-over comments about helplessness, Rei slowly finds fulfillment and value by investing in relationships and his job. Many writers and directors have done such plots over and over again.
The Kawamoto Family
There is a privilege in watching Rei slowly become his own without anyone directly pushing him to do it. He realized that those around him must want to need him. Such awareness became his key to growth, and Rei’s rather complicated situation stems from simple reasons like survival. He doesn’t need it but still attends the high school. To experience affairs that others his age do daily, some people expect him to shine from above.
Even though he couldn’t, some people thought very little of him overly. What made it especially difficult was Rei’s indifference. He just wanted to follow his own life, his old routine life unescorted by the need or sense of accomplishment. Fundamentally, he did what he had to do to stay the way he is. To make him even more twisted, we see how Rei also has his needs. Regardless he wants happiness and warmth he only wants a place people call home.
For the moment, he meets the ever-living Kawamoto family. The Kawamoto family is the emotional heart of March Comes In like a Lion. The series does a great job visualizing the seasons through the families: Akari, Hina, and Momo. Kotatsu blankets always pack them in their homes.
Warmness
Seasonal flowers bloom around the house. Apart from that, they also celebrate special occasions with certain foods. Kawamoto’s grandfather, Someji, ran a traditional Japanese sweets shop, a practice of serving different sweets depending on the time of year. The opening theme describes the season when Rei went through a year of changing and growing. The Kawamoto house accommodates and changes all seasons while providing a haven for Rei.
Principally, the three Kawamoto siblings and their grandfather were the people Rei cared about the most. Akari, the eldest sister, finds him on the street unintentionally drunk. Despite her desire to help “a wild animal,” she takes him home and takes care of him. Rei visited them frequently and was fair to their requests to leave. There, he found what he subconsciously wanted, namely warmth.
However, the memory of how he once “destroyed” a family made him always keep his distance. Therefore, he is afraid to be hated to become nothing. Rei saw Kawamoto’s house as a warm blanket in a way that made the outside feel much colder when he was away. The Kawamoto family’s simplicity has to do with their love of cooking; it allows Rei to help the family and share food.
Depicting Relaxation
It strengthens his relationship with them. Indeed, there is an actual attempt to depict the routine and relaxation in the Kawamoto house. It reflects the game of shogi; it is so structured but slow-paced. Such comfort brings us back to the series as Rei grows to invest in the Kawamoto family as well. Akari understands and knows his situation very well. So, she did what she could to comfort Rei.
In reverse, Akari’s younger sisters also want Rei to be happy wholly because they like him. However, they weren’t a magical fix for the protagonist’s problem. The reason is understandable: they have their problems to solve. Despite always being melancholic, Akari always shows her good side. She had to face poverty and raise her younger sister. Hinata, the middle sister, is a kind girl deep down and persistent.
She became a victim of bullying and various other incidents. Since Rei wanted them to be happy, he decided to support them as much as he could. It became his motivation to play shogi more often in the future. Therefore, it becomes a transparent, generous, and reciprocal relationship between Rei and the Kawamoto family.
The Integration
Other characters like Nikaidou, who claims to be Rei’s rival, constantly nags Rei to get excited. To aim higher, he greatly admires Rei despite Rei sometimes rubbing him. He would continue to stand up again to support him. In essence, every character that the series introduces has different emotions, problems, and personalities. The integration of each character’s state is the message that the author conveys to us.
There is so much variety of colors in life that it is impossible to see them as individual colors. We see how Rei interacts with people to the point of cultivating his tree of bonds. Other people will oppose, support, ignore, pay attention to, admire, and even envy him. However, he is an ordinary human who feels frustration, sadness, concern, anger, and even other nameless joy. All emotions curled up inside himself and formed a red strand.
Shogi will continue to consume Rei. However, he is very strict in separating his personal life and work. Kawamoto’s family who befriended him are unaware of his status. Likewise, his teacher and classmates at school. We can see how Rei copes with the growing emotions towards his past and shogi.
Division of Minimalism
It allows the series to form a clear division of space. As Rei opens up, we see his competitors as familiar faces. The characters get their motivations and arcs. Rei’s apartment is surprisingly empty and doesn’t get much lava time. He was slowly getting things to complement it; it never felt like a place where he wanted to spend time. Kyouko, Rei’s adoptive sister, notices how his apartment room hasn’t become his property when his self-discovery takes off.
Most of Rei’s life takes place in the shogi hall, the Kawamoto family home, his apartment, and the train. By contrast, the series has a kinetic force of contrast, playing into the turbulent moments in Rei’s past. March Comes In like a Lion is not an anime about shogi. It is instead about a picture of how people come to terms with the past and what drives them.
Bibliography
- Parian, E. M. (2017). “3gatsu no Lion” Reminds Us That Loss is Real, and Sometimes Inevitable. The Geekiary.
- Qanita, A., & Haristiani, N. (2022). How Do the Japanese Criticize?. In Sixth International Conference on Language, Literature, Culture, and Education (ICOLLITE 2022) (pp. 15-21). Atlantis Press.
