March Comes In like a Lion (3月のライオン) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Chica Umino. It has been serialized in Hakusensha's manga magazine Young Animal since July 2007, with its chapters collected in 17 volumes as of August 2023. It features the life of Rei Kiriyama, an introvert professional shogi player, who gradually develops both his play and his relationship with others. An anime television series adapted by Shaft aired on NHK G from October 2016 to March 2017 and a second season aired from October 2017 to March 2018, with each season consisting of 22 episodes. The English dubbed version was released in four parts by Aniplex of America between December 2017 and April 2019. A two-part live-action film adaptation was released in 2017. The manga has been licensed for English release by Denpa. A spin-off of the manga ran from 2015 to 2020. March Comes In like a Lion won the fourth Manga Taishō, the 35th Kodansha Manga Award in its general category, the 18th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize's Grand Prize, and the manga division's Grand Prix of the 24th Japan Media Arts Festival. The story has been praised for the psychological depiction of its characters. The anime adaptation has been overall well received by critics, being considered as one of the best of 2010s.

Plot

Rei Kiriyama's parents and younger sister died in an accident in his childhood. He then started living with the family of Masachika Kōda who was a friend of his father. Reaching adulthood, Rei left his foster family thinking he was only causing trouble. He now lives alone and has few friends. Among his acquaintances are three sisters of the Kawamoto family—Akari, Hinata, and Momo. As the story progresses, Rei deals with his maturation both as a professional shogi player and as a person, all the while strengthening his relationships with others, particularly the Kawamoto sisters. The town where the main character Rei Kiriyama lives is set in Shinkawa which is situated along Tokyo's Sumida River. The Kawamoto family's home is set in Tsukuda which is connected to the town Rei lives in through the Chuo bridge. The shogi hall of the manga is set in Sendagaya area and it resembles the headquarters of the Japanese Shogi Association that is situated there.

Characters

Main characters

Kōda family

Professional shōgi players

Other characters

Production

The English title March Comes In Like a Lion is written on the cover of the manga. Although Umino had not seen the 1992 film March Comes In like a Lion (1992 film), 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". 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. Umino stated that the manga is "a story based on researching and hearing various stories about worlds [she] didn't know" whereas her previous work, Honey and Clover is "a story about a world [she] already knew without having to extend [herself]". She chose to write something different from her previous work for if it was a failure, people would think she moved to another field too hastily rather than call her a "one-hit wonder". Umino stated that she only wanted an adaptation if it was to be directed by Akiyuki Shinbo and produced at Shaft, otherwise the manga "did not need to be adapted". She doubted if they would accept to adapt the manga as, unlike adapting a light novel (like Monogatari) or original anime (such as Puella Magi Madoka Magica), they would not have much freedom. Ryou Tomoda, Umino's editor from Hakusensha, asked about the possibility of the director-studio duo adapting the work, but was told that such a production would be impossible. Despite this, Makoto Tanaka, the son of famous shogi player Torahiko Tanaka, who worked at Tohokushinsha Film, approached Tomoda about the potential for an anime adaptation as he was a fan of the manga. Through Tanaka, Tomoda was able to meet with Aniplex producer (and soon-to-be CEO) Atsuhiro Iwakami about the possibility of asking Shinbo and Shaft to make the series. Iwakami then met with Mitsutoshi Kubota (CEO of Shaft) and Shinbo, and the two agreed to the project. Although Shinbo is credited as director, many of the main responsibilities were shared with series director Kenjirou Okada working under Shinbo. As a fan of Shinbo's works with Shaft, Umino had originally wanted the series to take a similar aesthetic to Hisaharu Iijima's art direction and Akio Watanabe's character designs in Bakemonogatari; however, Shinbo told her that he did not think that type of art direction would suit the series, and Watanabe's schedule was already busy enough that he could not participate on the series. Instead, the services of art director Seiki Tamura were employed and the team made use of watercolor-style; and although Watanabe could not participate, the character designs were instead drawn by Shaft animator Kazuya Shiotsuki. Umino believes that Shinbo usually shows a close-up view of the characters rather than showing them from a distance, which is a reason she stated why she wanted him as the director. Shinbo said that he wanted to make each of the three primary settings—Rei's room, the Kawamoto's house, and the shogi hall—distinct to make the world into a sort of triangle. He also visited Tsukishima to see the Kawamoto house area and a bridge used in the manga. In the 17th volume of the manga, released in August 2023, Umino revealed that the manga was heading to its final stretch.

Media

Manga

Written and illustrated by Chica Umino, March Comes In like a Lion started in Hakusensha's manga magazine Young Animal on July 13, 2007. Hakusensha has collected its chapters into individual volumes. The first volume was released on February 22, 2008. The first eleven volumes were originally released under Hakusensha's Jets Comics imprint, before Hakuensha rebranded it as Young Animal Comics starting in June 2016. , 17 volumes have been released. In North America, Denpa announced in March 2021 that they have licensed the manga for English release. The first volume was released on June 6, 2023. A spin-off manga, titled Sangatsu no Lion Shouwa Ibun: Shakunetsu no Toki (3月のライオン昭和異聞 灼熱の時代), by Hideaki Nishikawa, was published in Young Animal from April 24, 2015, to March 27, 2020. It features 27-year-old Takanori Jingūji who is the chairman of the Japanese Shogi Association in the manga. Its chapters were collected in ten volumes, released from September 26, 2015, to May 29, 2020.

Volumes

Chapters not yet published in volume format

These chapters have yet to be published in a volume.

Anime

An anime television series adaptation was announced in the Young Animal magazine's 19th issue of 2015 on September 25, 2015. The 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. The anime's first opening and ending theme songs are performed by Bump of Chicken, titled "Answer" and "Fighter", respectively. Yuki performed the series' second opening theme song, titled "Goodbye Bystander", while Kenshi Yonezu performed the series' second ending theme song, titled "Orion". Season one of the anime began airing on October 8, 2016, and finished airing on March 18, 2017, with a total of 22 episodes. 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. The series aired on NHK G at 23:00 on Saturdays. It was also simulcasted by Crunchyroll. The series was licensed by Aniplex of America and Anime Limited for North America and the United Kingdom, respectively. Aniplex of America released the English dub of the first season in two Blu-ray discs, the first half of the season was released on December 19, 2017, and the second on April 10, 2018. The second season was also released in two halves, the first on December 18, 2018, and the second on April 9, 2019.

Live-action film

A two-part live action film adaptation of the same name directed by Keishi Ōtomo, starring Ryūnosuke 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.

Reception

Manga

By January 2022, March Comes In like a Lion had over 3 million copies in circulation. The manga was nominated for the second annual Manga Taishō award in 2009; and it won this award in its fourth edition in 2011. Also in 2011, it won the 35th Kodansha Manga Award in the general category, along with Space Brothers. In 2014, it won the Grand Prize of the 18th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize. In 2021, the manga won the manga division's Grand Prize of the 24th Japan Media Arts Festival. 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; it ranked fourth in 2019; eighth in 2020; seventeenth in 2022; and sixth in 2023. In the top manga for male readers category of Takarajimasha's Kono Manga ga Sugoi! list, the manga ranked fifth and tied for seventh (with Drifters) in 2012 and 2017, respectively. On TV Asahi's Manga Sōsenkyo 2021 poll, in which 150,000 people voted for their top 100 manga series, March Comes In like a Lion ranked 99th.

Anime

The anime series was listed as one of the top 25 anime of 2010s by Anime Feminist. Crunchyroll listed it in their "Top 100 best anime of the 2010s". IGN also listed March Comes In like a Lion among the best anime series of the 2010s. The second season was placed as "runner-up" in IGN's "best anime series of 2018" list. Both seasons of the anime adaption was given 4 stars out of 5 by Allen Moody of THEM Anime Reviews. He liked how Kyoko is shown to have a vulnerable side under her external cruelty and how the Kawamoto sisters are portrayed when Hinata is being bullied. He also found the story relatable to his own life, and stated "A neurotic and sometimes endearing hero, an incredibly nuanced "villainous" sibling, and a shogi master in the twilight of his career are all fine, I appreciate the things it is trying to do I can identify with some of the things that happen here from personal experience. Overall, lots of solid drama. It was a vert pleasant surprise to discover". Chris Beveridge of The Fandom Post also praised the portrayal of the characters and their lives. He liked Nikkaido's backstory and his connection with Shimada. Beveridge gave the anime an audio grade of "B+", and he gave the video an "A" praising how Shaft presented the details, animation quality, and color design in the series. After watching the first episode, Amelia Cook of Anime Feminist found the art direction unconventional. She liked the art style and praised the transition from the expression of Rei's depression to the presentation of humor saying that it was skillfully done. Marion Bea of the same website praised the exploration of the characters' lives and struggles. She also praised the portrayal of the character's psychology and the depiction of others' support in solving one's problems. Bea commended the use of the surrounding environment in portraying the characters' emotional state, for instance showing them struggling to keep swimming or surrounding them with snow.

Book citations