March Comes In like a Lion is a Japanese manga turned anime series written and illustrated by Chica Umino. The writer is best known for his work in Honey and Clover. The manga was serialized in Hakusensha’s seinen manga magazine Young Animal in July 2007. The chapters have collected around fifteen tankōbon volumes by December 2019.
The manga was then adapted into anime series by Shaft. The studiod aired the show on NHK G between October 2016 and March 2017. Later, the second season was revived from October 2017 to March 2018. A two-part live-action film was also released in March and April 2017. However, 3 Gatsu No Lion Season 3 is releasing soon.
If we talk about the accolades that the show has collected, March Comes In like a Lion won the 4th Manga Taishō and the 35th Kodansha Manga Award in the general category in 2011. It also won the 18th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize’s Grand Prize in 2014.
Season one of the anime began airing on October 8, 2016 on NHK G and finished airing on March 18, 2017. It had a total of 22 episodes. The second season was announced right after the end of the first season’s final episode. It finally premiered on October 14, 2017 and finished airing on March 31, 2018 with a total of 22 episodes. MCLL can be seen on Crunchyroll and Funimation
March Comes In Like A Lion: Story
March Comes In Like A Lion Season 3 is a series set in Tokyo, which follows the everyday life of a 17-year-old shōgi player, Rei. The plot is based the setting on the personal research work of the writer Chica Umino. She infamously did the same experimentations for her earlier work Honey and Clover as well.
The young boy Rei lives by himself. He lost his parents and younger sister in a road accident. He lives a estranged life away from any relatives and friends. Among his peers is a family of three sisters-Akari, Hinata, and Momo Kawamoto. The three siblings live with a number of cats in the house. As the story progresses, we see that Rei deals with his internal conflicts. Rei is maturing as a player and also as a person. We also see his relationships evolve with the Kawamoto sisters.
Protagonist: Rei Kiriyama- Rei is a 17 years old simple boy who learns the ways of the world in a beautifully crafted say. Due to the lack of his social skills, Rei focuses all his efforts in becoming the most promising professional shōgi player. After losing his parents and sister in an accident, he was taken by his father’s friend Kōda to his residence. After completing middle school, Rei decides to discontinue school and live independently. He rejoins high school after a year to complete his education. That’s where the story of his coming-of-age kicks off.
The show is currently off-air. No news of a third season have been heard yet. Even the show makers are silent on the subject of the show’s return.
