March Comes In Like A Lion Now On Netflix

Netflix’s anime roster is already paramount, with examples such as Aggretsuko, Full Metal Alchemist, and the upcoming Neon Genesis Evangelion making up only a small percentage of the overall catalogue of animated series. While there are certainly a number of representatives in the battle anime and sci-fi anime categories, March Comes In Like A Lion presents an all new story that focuses on the trials and tribulations of a young boy struggling with loneliness.

Twitter User WTK noted that the series, which currently has 44 episodes to its name over the course of two seasons, has arrived on US Netflix for old fans and new to partake in:

Much like a large percentage of anime, March Comes In Like A Lion originally started as a manga series, published in 2007 and still continues to this day. The series follows the 17 year old protagonist, Rei Kiriyama, as he attempts to become a professional Shogi player while still in school. However, a wrench is thrown into his plans when his parents and sister are killed in a car accident.

Despondent and alone, Rei is taken in by his father’s friend Kudo, who also acts as a mentor to him in the world of Shogi, allowing him to become an even better player and achieve the success of making it his full time job. Dealing with loneliness and a rising depression, Rei meets a family of women who help him in trying to make a new life for himself, and find the happiness that seems so far away.

If you’re not well versed in Japanese culture, you may be wondering exactly what Shogi is. It’s a board game that is somewhat similar to that of Chess, but rather than moving along different shaped objects in order to defeat one’s opponent, the player movies tiles with different kanji printed on each. The “Game of Generals” does tend to have some pieces that are representative of kings and knights, but their movements and number tends to vary from its western counterpart.

Will you give March Comes In Like A Lion a shot on Netflix? Let us know in the comments or feel free to hit me up on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime.

Created by Chica Umina in 2007, the manga was originally published in the periodical, Young Animal, from the publisher Hakusensha. The manga series has 14 volumes and continues to this day with the anime receiving two seasons and 44 episodes. Netflix describes the series as such: “Orphaned young, a reclusive 17-year old professional Shogi player starts to come out of his shell when three sisters take him under their wing.”