The artwork is beautiful and cheerful with lots of use of bright and warm colors throughout the show. A lot of the characters and stories being told are funny and sweet. But you see all of this through the eyes of the main character who is lonely and depressed. Contrary to popular belief the perspective of depression is not all grey and sad and joyless, rather it is often humorous and filled with acts of kindness with particular attention paid to interesting little details in social interactions.

This is an orginal and unique anime/manga, that's very different from the generic boy meets girl or girls do cute things shojo genre. It feels like the author is probably drawing a lot of this from personal experience, which makes me wonder if Chika Umino made "Honey and Clover" from her experiences in college and "March comes like a lion" from a particular character she knew later in life.

ok ill start with not understanding why there is not any review for this, its a great show giving a slight view from the eyes seen to the world from depression with great characters. Im not much of a critic at all but since this has no review i wanted to write something for people to maybe see.

This anime is an amazing soft slice of life that will make your heart feel sad and warmth through the different scenes seen through the story, learning more about these characters and just how amazing they are ( in my opinion ), its just on episode 8 at the moment but i couldn't wait till it finished to write something for this since it had no reviews so far, i tear up basically every episode and every episode makes me smile with a warmth watching these characters do what well they do ^_^ all the feelings and emotions that are so very much there but not over the top makes this a great anime and probably one of my favorite this year ! not just season. i apologize for any poor gramma but i really wanted to write something for this show that really should be watched by any anime fan that isnt just interested in action shounen!!!

Stunning is the only word I can use to describe this anime. A deeply reflective piece on the main character, Kiriyama, who suffers from anxiety and depression that is realistic - he lives with it while trying not to sink into loneliness, all the while those around him are reaching out to help. It's hard to believe this is a series just about shogi, but the characters really bring it to life. The three sisters bring so much warmth and joy to the screen, the antagonists make the entire room feel cold, and the friends surrounding Kiriyama are hilarious to watch.
This anime is equal parts light and fluffy, and dark and chilling, but none of the humour or seriousness is out of place. The visual and art direction is phenomenal, and I'll describe my favourite part in the spoiler below but truly a 10/10 would recommend!

Sangatsu no Lion is the king of slice of life anime, faithfully adapting the manga written by the queen of slice of life stories, Chica Umino. The characters are amazingly deep and the story gets incredibly real and moving. Written with a lot of heart and delicately empathetic to its very varied cast of characters, Sangatsu no Lion is a powerful story in many ways. It's left a lasting impact on the way I view the world, especially other people, and I am truly grateful for that. It's a real treat, a blessing, and my favourite anime.

This is my favourite anime to date, and I fear I won't find another like this for a long time. March Comes in Like a Lion is the story of Rei and his journey of self. Rei is a 17 year old professional Shogi player [think Japanese chess] His family died when he was a child, and he was adopted by his fathers friend, a professional shogi player. Feeling he owed the man a debt, he did everything possible to become an expert in shogi, sadly, this resulted in the mans biological kids being heartbroken they could not make their father proud and hating Rei for it. As a result, Rei moved out on his own at 17, feeling he ruins lives, hating himself, feeling worthless and a burden to all.

Enter the sisters Akari, Hina, and Momo. Akari finds Rei one evening drunk, injured, and abandoned [how he came to this state is explained later on] She takes him home and nurses him back to health. From this point on Rei has become part of the family. Sadly, everyone has problems, Rei is haunted by his past, both mentally, and physically when his adopted sister starts to hound him and hit his pain points, doubting himself. This whole story is about Rei overcoming his [undiagnosed] depression, and finding his place in the world. He is surrounded by colourful, happy people, and he is the quiet observer, feeling out of place in the sea of smiles. Any who has dealt with depression can relate to Rei's view of the world.

The other thing this series does well is fleshing out characters. No one is simply a 'monster of the week'. Everyone gets some time in the spotlight to show their story. The jerk is actually stressed, the joker is sick, everyone has a secondary story. This is what makes the highs so high and the lows so low. You feel connected to them, you want them to be happy. Sadly life isn't always sunshine. Without the rain there can be no rainbow, and that's this series. It's beautiful, and I love every second of it.

Do I have complaints about the series? It had to end, does that count? I will say season 2 had a bit of a cut in the art department. Season one is a living water colour, and while season two is still beautiful, you can see the cracks, the lines aren't as crisp. I also felt a little disappointed by some resolutions we got in season two. The biggest one I remember being what happened to the sisters father. They suffered the loss of their mother and grandmother which they still hurt from, and it's hinted at they have issues with their father, but what happened to him? Well we find out and I was hoping for more. Say, more than a sentence and never mentioned again? Yeah, that bugged me, all that build up for essentially a shrug. However, these are nitpicks. The series is calm, fun, funny, exciting, and tragic all in it's own time. It's the perfect slice of life series. Anyone who loves slice of life will love this... Or if you own a cat. Seriously, if you can can find a 'best of the cats' you have got to see it.

March comes in like a lion is an exceptional drama that delves into extremely heavy themes of isolation, loneliness, bullying, family and friend relationships, illness and social anxiety. However even when everything seems to be crumbling around these characters, there's always a sense of warmth and positivity as these characters overcome their problems together through acts of kindness. I've never seen a cast of such interesting characters, all with so many amazing qualities to them that make them so relatable and likeable.

Particularly the bullying arc is one of the finest I've seen portrayed in an anime and the amount these characters grow and mature as individuals over time is moving even if they seem just like they always have been on the outside. Its the moments the characters like Rei take a step back and think how much they have changed that is incredibly powerful.

The art and music are outstanding and truly speak volumes, with so many beautiful, heartfelt scenes elevated by them. Whether it be the soft and colourful Kawamoto sisters home that envelopes you with a welcoming sense of comfort or Rei's cold, colourless apartment, there's a fine balance of light and shade in the tone of the show that doesn't feel out of place. Instead its this contrast that makes the storytelling of Rei's life so interesting and endearing because life is a journey of ups and downs that may seemingly blend together.

Yes this is an anime about shogi but even when these aspects might not be the most interesting and important parts to why I love this anime so much, I highly recommend you give this one a chance. There's simply no anime quite like it and is a truly beautiful experience.