'The Lion of March') is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Chica Umino.
It has been serialized in Hakusensha's seinen manga magazine Young Animal since July 2007, with its chapters collected in 17 tankōbon 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.
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.
[11] 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".
[12] 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.
[14] 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.
[15] 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.
[16] Written and illustrated by Chica Umino, March Comes In like a Lion started in Hakusensha's seinen manga magazine Young Animal on July 13, 2007.
[25] 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, "March Comes In like a Lion – The Untold Showa-Era Tale: Scorching Times"), by Hideaki Nishikawa [ja], was published in Young Animal from April 24, 2015,[26] to March 27, 2020.
[47] 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.
[48] The anime's first opening and ending theme songs are performed by Bump of Chicken,[49] titled "Answer" and "Fighter", respectively.
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.
[83] 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.