March Comes In like a Lion (3月のライオン, Sangatsu no Raion) is a two-part Japanese film directed by Keishi Ōtomo, starring Ryunosuke Kamiki and based on the manga series of the same name written and illustrated by Chica Umino.

After his adoptive father forces his children to stop playing shogi when they are unable to defeat Rei, he decides to live independently, hoping that his absence might lessen the stress on the family brought on by his presence.

When Rei defeats his adoptive father in shogi in a professional match, he goes into a panic out of guilt, and ends up collapsing in the street when he accidentally gets drunk.

When spending the holidays with the Kawamotos, Rei runs into Kyoko and her boyfriend, middle aged professional shogi player, Masamune Gotō.

Still reeling from the loss, Rei runs into Kyoko again, who believes that he told their father about her relationship with Gotō due to her being cut off financially.

However, Rei is shocked when he discovered that not only had Nikaidō had been eliminated, he had been hospitalized, due to a life long condition that leaves him constantly unwell.

However, as Rei is about to make a rash aggressive move instead of defending and improving his position on the board, he suddenly remembers Nikaidō's passionate words of advice to cherish his shogi more, and elects to take the safer option.

Rei also learns of Sōya's secret, that he is completely deaf for unknown reasons – a fact only known to the people who have faced him in shoōgi.

Hina admits privately to Rei that while she was scared that she might become a target if she intervened, and even though no one – not even her teacher – helped her, she insists that she does not regret defending her friend and what she did was absolutely not wrong.

The Kawamoto sisters appear to give their father the benefit of the doubt, agreeing to his offer to spend the day at an amusement park.

Kyoko returns to the Kōda home in a drunken stupor, angrily asking her father how he can dedicate himself to the sport that had ruined their family.

Gotō chides the younger pro for acting indecently while playing shogi, before admitting defeat to Rei.

At the door, he apologizes to Hina and the other two sisters for hurting them while trying to defend them, admitting that in the end, he was completely terrified of losing them.

As the winner of that year's Lion King tournament, Rei is given the opportunity to face off against Tōji Sōya in a title match for meijin.