Ah, 3-gatsu no Lion. How I wanted to love you, and how disappointed I ultimately was. Most of the time I agree with the crowd when it comes to such things such as media review. If it’s well-received by critics, I tend to like it as well. If most people find shortcomings, most of the time I resonate with those as well. But considering I’m giving this anime a rating substantially lower than the stellar (above 9 at the time of writing) average on MAL, take this review with a grain of salt.

Sangatsu no Lion disappointed me not so much with what it was but with what it could have been. For a bit of context, I originally watched the first season as part of an anime club viewing (1 episode weekly) at my school. I remember never feeling that the show and I really properly got along. I was put off by the constant metaphors and imagery that seemed to be picked up in one episode and abandoned the next, the seeming lack of direction in the show’s pacing and plot, and the overall lack of true character development not only in the MC but also in those surrounding him. Some scenes, drawn and animated not beautifully but to a degree I could really appreciate, were strikingly offset by the garish “comedic” inserts that seemed to be inserted randomly and looked as if they were made right at the end of a weekly deadline. The music, while featuring some good tracks, was largely forgettable. It was one of the shows that I felt no connection toward and one that I rarely looked forward to seeing the next week. It existed, I watched it, and that was it.

But after so many episodes, the first season finally ended and I was left with a choice – give it up or go on to the next season? My brother told me the second season was better, and it looked like MAL agreed. I decided it was best not to leave it undone and began the second season in the summer of this year. And now the real review begins.

First, let’s talk about the animation. It’s good. I can’t fault Shaft for what they’ve done here. In particular, the openings tend to be very well drawn and make good use of color and lighting. But the second season still suffers from the bizarre comedic inserts that plagued my enjoyment of the first season. 3-gatsu is not designed as a comedic SoL, but for some reason the writers felt that their story would be better portrayed with numerous, brightly colored and loudly voiced insert scenes with 2-D caricatures of the main cast, often when expressing something intended to be funny or outrageous in nature. I found myself laughing at these scenes not because I found them truly funny (and I rarely did) but because they seemed so out of place in an anime that leaned so heavily on meaningful use of color, light, and sound to explain the story both within and outside of the cast’s heads. Furthermore, there was never a place during the anime where I paused and said to myself “what a beautiful scene,” something that I have found myself doing in the majority of shows I’ve scene (regardless of how well I like them). So in total, I found the animation and the art style good, but held back by some of the strange comedic inserts (though it is worth saying that there are less in the second season than the first).

Let’s move on to the music. The openings and closings, again, while being decent, are not memorable. I am a major believer in the idea that the opening of any anime play an absolutely critical role in setting the mood for the show, and those that do it well (looking at you, Spice and Wolf S1) are that much better for it. But very little about either of the openings (and closings too) use their positioning in the show to their advantage. I found myself skipping them more often than not. I only realized just how forgettable this show’s soundtrack really was until I realized that I could hum the next episode preview BGM more accurately than the actual opening – and that’s a bit of a shame.

Now for the meat – the characters. I sincerely believe that Sangatsu no Lion suffers from the curse of Evangelion. While this is more prevalent in the first season, 3-gatsu is mainly premised on the MC, Rei, and the thoughts that rage within his head. But unlike Eva and some of its excellent protégé, this show does not use the “internal battle” motif effectively, and I believe it is mainly due to a fundamental misunderstanding of what it means to tell a story. Like so many others, 3-gatsu is designed to evoke a sense of commonality in its viewers. You are supposed to resonate with Rei’s internal struggles and see yourself in them. And this idea, at first glance, is executed well. A boy, feeling outcast by his peers, picks up a hobby and meets other people to find new meaning in his life. It’s a realistic concept, while exceptionally overused, but it isn’t the problem. The issue comes with the context. Rei is a child prodigy, a middle school marvel who turns professional in his sport of the mind, Shogi. His family, having died in a car crash, leave him absolutely alone, adopted by a family who simultaneously reverences and disdains his skill. We pick up on Rei’s story as he moves out of his adoptive house to his own apartment, living entirely off his own income from professional shogi tournaments. The realism of Rei’s basic condition – outcast, depressed, alone – is tempered by the sheer unrealism of his situation and character – a genius whose entire family has passed unexpectedly, in the most stereotypical of anime tropes. This would be one thing if the show was written such that it was self aware of this uneasy juxtaposition between realistic and unbelievable, but it isn’t. At all points are the viewers stuck in the limbo between “yes, I identify with this” and “this simply isn’t me.” There’s a bit of Rei in most of 3-gatsu’s intended viewers, but there’s very little of the viewership in Rei, and the anime acts as if this glaring issue simply doesn’t exist. Shaft portrays the MC as a normal young man, without agreeing to the fact that he is anything but.

In the interest of keeping this as spoiler-free as possible, I won’t dig too deep into Rei’s story, but very little of it helps the frustration I have with his characterization. As a slice of life, it follows his daily movements – to school, to Shogi Hall, to tournaments, and to the Kawamoto house. While the second season is notably better than the first in this regard, Shaft still suffers from the curse of pacing and focus. There are several sub-arcs in this season, lasting anywhere from one to several episodes long, but very few of them are properly followed-up on and brought to a satisfying conclusion. The writers introduce a character – normally one of Rei’s opponents but occasionally someone related to the rest of the cast – and draw out their character in great depth for a small while. You start to get excited: this is interesting. You become invested. But as soon as it starts, it’s over. The writers turn aside, never to bring the arc to its conclusion, and even some of the intimate insight we are given into the newly-developed character’s mind are cast to the wayside. Some of them reappear – too little and too late, unfortunately – later on in the series, but several are never heard from again. I suppose this may be Shaft’s way of pressing their overall thematic movement – that everyone is on the train of life together, and separating and joining is all part of the journey – but it’s overused and honestly frustrating by the time the season concludes.

By far the best arc in the story deals with bullying experienced by Hinata Kawamoto, one of the three sisters whom Rei befriends in the first season. It’s realistic. It’s brutally honest in many ways. It resonates with so many of the show’s viewers. And unlike so many of the other disappointing sub-arcs, it is the only one that is actually brought from start to a satisfying (though still realistic) conclusion at the end of the season. But why? Why do you need a boy genius, an orphaned shogi sensation, and all the rest of the show’s unrealistic characterization to talk about such a mundane but meaningful topic? It almost supports the argument that 3-gatsu is better off without it. And it almost seems that the show directors become almost aware of this by the time the last season concludes. Rei takes his wins and losses less seriously. Shogi exists mainly as a continued tool but the show’s passion for it dies away. The boy genius becomes less and less notably for his acuity, but Shaft trudges on with the theme almost out of necessity. Why? 3-gatsu is one of the few shows where the unique premise (come on, how many anime are based around professional board game players?) drags it down rather than making it memorable.

I have relatively little to say about the rest of the show’s cast and characterization, mainly because some of the most interesting characters have only a temporary turn in the spotlight just to be more or less used as distraction fodder for the remainder of the anime. Shimada and Nikaido – likely two most interesting and round (literally in the latter’s case) in the entire show, only appear as major story points in only a few episodes. While one could argue that Shaft is simply exercising reason with its balance of character development as to not overstep and overreach, these omissions are more frustrating than welcomed. You expect some deep development only to be played with a minor plot point or comedic insert.

To wrap up this review, let’s talk about what this anime could have been. The directing has a very solid grasp on conceit, and even does a decent job following through from arc-to-arc, season-to-season. The water analogy is used frequently and to good effect, not only for Rei but also for supporting cast members. The art, again, can be very appealing and used to good visual effect. Some of the characters – though perhaps not the main cast – are actually quite interesting and show some good, though limited development. But the off-putting insert comedy, the lack of ability to focus and finish on character development, and particularly the juxtaposition between a “realistic” and “unrealistic” MC ruined much of the show for me. 3-gatsu second season would almost have been more appealing for me had it focused on the life of a single, normal boy who experiences the realistic trials and struggles of himself and those whom he cares about without the shogi theme or the constant need to press the “prodigy” moniker.

3-gatsu is a superhero anime that masquerades as a realistic slice-of-life. As such, it fails at both without a shred of self-awareness of what it is trying to do. But I’m not mad I saw it – I think it really opened my eyes to what I appreciate in an anime, and made me respect just that much more how difficult adapting a source material into video can actually be. But perhaps unfortunately, finishing it has made me more excited than anything else to move on.