3-gatsu no Lion (March Comes in Like a Lion)

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Alternative Titles

Synonyms: Sangatsu no Lion, Lion of March

Japanese: 3月のライオン

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Information

Type: Manga

Volumes: Unknown

Chapters: Unknown

Status: Publishing

Published: Jul 13, 2007 to ?

Genres: Award Winning, Drama, Slice of Life

Themes: Childcare, Iyashikei, Strategy Game

Demographic: Seinen

Serialization: Young Animal

Authors: Umino, Chica (Story & Art)

Statistics

Score: 8.86¹ (scored by 19,622 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #28²

² based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #229

Members: 70,185

Favorites: 4,147

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8.86

Ranked #28Popularity #229Members 70,185

MangaYoung AnimalUmino, Chica (Story & Art)

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Synopsis

Rei Kiriyama is an extraordinary shogi player. Among the few elites to have gone professional as a middle school student, he is considered a genius. But what lies behind his prodigious facade is a teenage boy who suffers immense pressure from both his family and from the high expectations from the shogi community. Rei moves out to live a more independent life away from his family, but his unorganized lifestyle and unsociable personality show no signs of improvement.

However, in a twist of fate that will prove to be a turning point in his life, Rei encounters the Kawamoto sisters—the motherly Akari, the passionate Hinata, and the energetic Momo—who take great care of him. 3-gatsu no Lion tells the story of Rei as he reshapes his melancholic life and picks up the courage to begin facing the problems he evaded during his past.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

3-gatsu no Lion was nominated for the second Manga Taisho Award in 2009 and won the fourth Manga Taisho Award in 2011. In the same year, it also won the 35th Kodansha Manga Award in the General category, along with Uchuu Kyoudai. In 2014, the series won the 18th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize Grand Award. The manga won the Grand Prize in the Manga Division at the 24th Japan Media Arts Festival in 2021.

The series has been published in English as March Comes in Like a Lion by Denpa since June 6, 2023. It has also been published in Italian by Panini Comics since February 13, 2011; in Spanish by ECC Ediciones since October 31, 2017; and in Polish by Dango since April 26, 2019.

The manga was adapted into a two-part Japanese live-action film that was released on March 18, 2017, and April 22, 2017, respectively.

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Characters

Kiriyama, Rei

Main

Kawamoto, Hinata

Main

Kawamoto, Akari

Main

Kawamoto, Momo

Main

Shimada, Kai

Supporting

Nikaidou, Harunobu

Supporting

Hayashida, Takashi

Supporting

Kouda, Kyouko

Supporting

Souya, Touji

Supporting

Yanagihara, Sakutarou

Supporting

Reviews

Feb 2, 2012

CherishAnime

Recommended

Preliminary (19/? eps)

Another masterpiece from the wonderful insightful Chika Umino, the creator of the very successful series Honey and Clover. She really knows how to stir you up in emotions with her unique characters and plot.

Story: What would life be like at the age of seventeen, living on your own with no real family and having to play Shogi to earn a living? This is the life of Rei Kiriyama, who is an introverted quietly awkward boy that’s been through so many traumas in his past, that it makes your heart swell. He is also a professional player of a Japanese board game called Shogi, which gives ...

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Oct 25, 2015

Nervin

Recommended

Preliminary (62/? eps)

Losing your parents at a young age can influence your later life significantly. Luckily for the protagonist Rei, he is taken in by a family. How did it affect his life, and the relations with other people? From the creator of Honey & Clover, comes the manga "3-gatsu no Lion", a slice of life manga which incorporates dramatic elements.

As mentioned earlier, due to Rei losing his parents, his life is thrown upside down. Insecurity and loneliness plagues his everyday life, even when living in an adopted family, being shogi his only scapeway to avoid confronting his new-found life. Obviously showing talent in Shogi, he ranks ... up to a professional player, enabling him to move out. Next door a family composed of three sisters live, which have one thing common: both don't have parents. This will enlighten the protagonists mood through this new heartwarming and welcoming neighbours.

It may appear as the main focus of the manga lies in developing the main character as a shogi player; I rather believe it to be play a secondary role in developing and narrating Rei's everyday struggle with life, such as loneliness and his insecurities. Through interactions with different characters, the author manages to flesh out the different main characters as well as developing them subtly through heartwarming, realistic, yet human relationships including their hardships.

To lighten up the atmosphere of the story, humorous moments are introduced through personalities of certain characters, or simple, yet daily situations. The story doesn't focus entirely on Rei: besides of the background stories of secondary characters, and interactions between them, it also incorporates detailed explanations on how Shogi works, as well as providing in-depth explanations at the end of chapters of certain rules or moves on certain matches.

The characters of 3-gatsu no Lion are fleshed out well through background stories and interactions with the cast. However, character development is restricted to the main protagonist, which in turn isn't tremendous either, focusing mainly on exploring his past and behaviour. Nevertheless, through little actions, some of it can be appreciated.

One thing that must be mentioned is the fact that most secondary characters are overly too positive and bright, meaning not acting as realistic as the main characters are. Nevertheless, this in turn provides a good medium to enlighten the overall atmosphere of the manga and enhance the narrative, as I believe its objective isn't to narrate realistic stories, rather a heartwarming tale of a developing young adult.

The art style of 3-gatsu no Lion is well done. The characters are easily distinguishable from each other, even the secondary characters. It must be mentioned that the main character's design is very generic. Backgrounds are detailed and drawn when needed, though at times there were empty panels present. The succession of these panels are not displayed in the usual approach either, which is a nice change.

Overall 3-gatsu no Lion was an enjoyable read, where its main strength lay in portraying human relationships, in which Shogi played a secondary role as a medium to develop the main character. I personally found myself more intrigued in the human relationships and background stories than the game, yet readers that want to have an insight and immerse themselves in Shogi won't be disappointed, as this was shown well.

Thank you for reading.

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Nov 5, 2015

SodiumChloride

Recommended

Preliminary (Unknown/? eps)

Sangatsu No Lion is a good manga that is less talked about than many others that it is superior to .

Perhaps it's because of its synopsis which fails at being eye-catching .In any case this is not bad or boring provided you don't dislike slice of life .

On to the review then .

Story - 7
Being slice of life in its purest form ,Sangatsu No Lion doesn't exactly have what you can call a major plot line .This is just the story of a high school shogi pro with family issues .Like a biography ,you cannot exactly pick a point that represents the story even if ...

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Recent Forum Discussion

Who do you want Akari to end up with? ( 1 2 ) IntrovertedNinja - Sep 29, 2016	64 replies	by Nue_maa »» Sep 4, 8:54 AM
Poll: 3-gatsu no Lion Chapter 209 Discussion tywhoppity - Aug 23	1 replies	by StallionXD »» Sep 3, 3:56 PM
Poll: 3-gatsu no Lion Chapter 208 Discussion tywhoppity - May 23	3 replies	by Ranxomare »» Aug 24, 7:20 AM
Poll: 3-gatsu no Lion Chapter 205 Discussion Jabpi - Dec 7, 2023	8 replies	by insomniac3011 »» Jun 27, 2:39 PM
Poll: 3-gatsu no Lion Chapter 207 Discussion Seiign - Apr 25	6 replies	by Ittan_Momen »» May 25, 9:52 PM

3-gatsu no Lion
March Comes in Like a Lion
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