The first season of March Comes in Like a Lion was already really damn good.

I feel like I need to say that up front so we can get a baseline of what we’re dealing with here. Sangatsu was a masterpiece right from the start. Gripping drama, compelling characters, some of the most intricate relationship writing I’ve ever seen, some of the most striking, emotionally affecting visual storytelling in all of anime, and a heartfelt sincerity that spoke to the best of everything that hope and kindness is capable of. It was a ten-gallon steam-powered shotgun blast right to my heart, speaking to all the real-life values I believe in and presenting them with more alacrity, humanity, despair and joy than I’ve almost ever seen them. You couldn’t ask for an anime more in touch with what I value in anime, nor for a better version of exactly what it was trying to be. Sure, the plot was a little aimless at times, and sure, it was more a series of moments and sensations than a well-structured story at this point, but that couldn't stop me from giving it full marks across the board. Bottom line, season 1 was an incredible show, and if that was all that existed of this story, I’d still be thankful for the experience.

Season 2 is so fucking spectacular that comparing it to season 1 at all almost feels like an insult.

To be clear, that is in no way a knock against the first season. Everything it did so incredibly well is still on display here: fantastic production values, sound design and direction, a complex story that weaves the lives of so many different characters together while giving them all unique, compelling motivations, the ability to whiplash between gut-busting comedy and gut-wrenching drama without breaking a sweat. Sangatsu Season 2 is still the same show it always was, with everything that made it special still intact. But because of the groundwork the first season laid, because of all the slow, patient, rewarding effort put into establishing these characters and their relationships, the second season is able to take this already staggeringly high base line and push it beyond the fucking stratosphere. If the first season was about Rei’s slow awakening to the realization that he has the ability to change his life for the better, then the second season was about what happens when he finally gains the courage to put those changes into effect. It’s more focused and compact overall, with much more of the plot taken up by the overarching throughline of Hina’s struggles with bullying at school, and how both she and Rei grow as a result of them. It builds on what’s come before, pushing its characters to take bigger, more breathtaking risks. It’s a funneling of all this show’s many interlocking stories into a single cohesive whole, still branching out and exploring all different facets of these characters’ lives, but more committed than ever to make sure they’re all moving forward together.

Or, to summarize more succinctly, simply look at how the motif of water imagery evolves across the show's OPs. Whereas season 1's first OP depicts Rei sinking deep into the dark waters of his depression, season 2's first OP shows him literally running on water, rising above his demons and pushing himself forward with unyielding determination. Rei Kiriyama is no longer drowning; at long last, he's found the courage to swim.

And the result is that a show I already loved dearly is transformed into something akin to a divine miracle.

I cannot overstate just how fucking incredible this season is. I’ve already spilled countless words over countless hours gushing over it on my Tumblr, and I’m sure I still haven’t done its justice. It doesn’t just do everything the first season does better, it invents entirely new languages of quality. It blasts through every obstacle in its way with the force of a blazing comet, topping itself again and again with impossible emotional height after impossible emotional height. Rei gaining the courage to reach out to the people around him and try to repay their kindness. Hina’s refusal to stay silent in the face of impossible social pressure. The stunning portrayal of how bullying takes place and how easy it is for the entire system to cave under the stress. Rei and Hina giving each other the strength to keep trying, holding each others hands as they walk toward the future together. The fantastic reveal of what’s going on with the enigmatic child of god Souya. The themes of changing times, hellos and goodbyes. The unyielding, defiant refusal to give up on humanity’s best, bursting forth in every one of Hina’s impassioned speeches and every one of Rei’s monumental leaps forward. Any one of these achievements alone would be worthy of the highest honors. But together, all contributing to the same soul-resurrecting tale of a lost boy finally taking hold of the world around him and refusing to let go, it erupts with a shockwave majestic enough to make the world’s largest hydrogen bomb bow its head in shame.

And I have loved every last second of it. I have loved every single moment, every single detail, every single frame of this jaw-dropping, impossibly wonderful show. Watching Rei finally take action to forge connections in his life left me screaming in joy. Watching him cry at realizing how genuinely happy he’s become left me a blubbering mess. Watching Hina’s blazing star rise throughout the entirety of this season, pushing the show’s best character to even more staggering heights, was beautiful beyond the capacity of human language to describe. I have laughed more over the course of this season than I’ve laughed at pretty much anything else. I have cried more regularly over the course of this season than with any show prior. I have been stunned, overwhelmed, devastated, utterly broken, then sewn back together and sent soaring into the brilliant light of the morning sun. Every single trail this show chooses to follow is nothing short of incredible. Every single direction it takes its characters, every single way it makes they grow and learn and struggle and triumph and laugh and cry and love and live, puts entire other anime to shame. I love all of these characters. I care about all of their struggles. I’m invested in all ways multifold ways their lives intersect and overlap, all the warmth and comfort they give each other, all the barricades they form together against the darkness threatening to drag them under. There is not a single moment in this entire season- no, strike that. There is not a single moment in this entire show that doesn’t fill me with joy. There is not a single part of Sangatsu no Lion that doesn’t make me believe in the best that people are capable of.

And honestly, I think that makes this show so fucking valuable. We all know the world’s kind of a scary place right now. It’s so easy to look at all the darkness, all the cruel men in charge making all the wrong decisions, all the long-festering systemic issues bursting to the surface, and completely lose hope. It’s so easy to see all these examples of humanity at its worst and conclude there’s nothing left worth fighting for. But Sangatsu no Lion is a full-throated battle cry against the forces of darkness. It’s a kaleidoscopic beacon of hope and kindness, an unbreakable reminder of what humanity’s capable of at its best. It is everything good about us, all our kindness, all our compassion, all our community, all our love, communicated with the rawest, most emotionally resonant visual storytelling possible. At times when I’m feeling crushed by the weight of the world, this is the show that reminds me why it’s still worth fighting for. This is the show that reminds me why everyone still deserves happiness. This is the show that gives me hope that together, we will overcome this long night and see the dawn on the other side. In my season 1 review, I described it as the best example of “radical empathy” I’d seen, and that has never been more true than it is now. We need stories like Sangatsu no Lion. We need fiction capable of speaking to our reality with this much heart and soul. We need reminders that no matter how dark things get, we have the capacity to make things right again. And no piece of fiction I’ve seen, anime or otherwise, has responded to that need quite like this one.

Sangatsu no Lion is a masterpiece, but that word doesn’t do it justice. Frankly, I’m not sure any words are good enough to do it justice. Even just after finishing the first season, I knew this was something really special. Then we hit this season’s episode 4, and I knew this was gonna end up in my top ten list. Then we hit episodes 9 and 10, and I realized it was gonna crack my top five. Then we reached the glorious episode 13, and I wondered if it might even get into my top three. And now that it’s all over? Now that I’ve reached the end of all 44 episodes of this utterly remarkable show?

Well, while I’m going to have to roll this question over in my head for a good long time before I’m fully satisfied with my answer, it’s entirely possible that Sangatsu no Lion may end up being my single favorite anime of all time.

No, you didn’t misread that. No, your eyes aren’t deceiving you. Sangatsu no Lion is so fucking good that I might honestly come to love it more than Gintama. This might be the show that finally cracks the Odd Jobs’ stranglehold on my number 1 spot. THAT’S HOW FUCKING GOOD IT IS. Honestly, the one advantage Gintama still has over Sangatsu is that Gintama is pretty much done at this point. Over the course of 367 incredible episodes, it told almost every ounce of the story it wanted to tell, bringing every one of its amazing characters and interconnected stories to the conclusion of a lifetime, with an upcoming film likely set to finish the adaptation off for good. Sangatsu, by contrast, still has so damn far to go. Even after the incredible peaks we’ve reached this season, there’s still so much left to explore. There’s still so many characters with stories left unfinished, so many directions left to go in, so many new avenues and emotional connections left to foster and bring to culmination. Hell, we barely got any of Kyouko this season, and she’s one of the show’s most compelling characters. Not to mention Shimada’s still fighting for his title, and the next step in Hina's life could lead to all sorts of wonderful developments. These stories are not yet over; there’s still so much more left for them to tell.

But if we’re ever lucky enough that the manga gets a full adaptation that keeps this level of quality all the way through? If we get to see all these stories play out to the end? Then Sangatsu might just have it beat. As much as I love Gintama, there’s an immediacy to just how fucking good this show is that I just can’t look away from. It took Gintama around 60 episodes to get as good as Sangatsu starts. It took Gintama 140 episodes to break the same impossible standard of quality that Sangatsu overtakes by episode fucking twenty-six. If Sangatsu’s given the chance for its story to play out in full, there’s no telling how high it might be able to reach. Shaft could spend the next couple decades doing nothing but adapting Sangatsu and I would consider it the greatest thing they’ve ever done. So I hope you can all join me in praying for a season 3 announcement once their upcoming Assault Lily Bouquet finishes airing. God knows, I could watch this story for the rest of my life and never get tired of it.

But for now, sadly, it’s time to say goodbye.

So thank you, Sangatsu no Lion. Thank you for every incredible step of this life-affirming journey. And if you still haven't gotten around to watching Sangatsu no Lion yet, consider this your call to action. Watch Sangatsu no Lion. Don't let it pass you by for another moment. I promise you, you won't regret it.