Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
March Comes In like a Lion
March Comes In like a Lion (Japanese: 3月のライオン, Hepburn: Sangatsu no Raion; lit. '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 18 tankōbon volumes as of September 2025. It follows the life of Rei Kiriyama, an introvert professional shogi player, who gradually develops both his play and his relationship with others.
An anime television series adapted by Shaft aired on NHK G from October 2016 to March 2017 and a second season aired from October 2017 to March 2018, with each season consisting of 22 episodes. The English dubbed version was released in four parts by Aniplex of America between December 2017 and April 2019. A two-part live-action film adaptation was released in 2017. The manga has been licensed for English release by Denpa. A spin-off of the manga ran from 2015 to 2020.
March Comes In like a Lion won the fourth Manga Taishō, the 35th Kodansha Manga Award in its general category, the 18th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize's Grand Prize, and the manga division's Grand Prix of the 24th Japan Media Arts Festival. The story has been praised for the psychological depiction of its characters. The anime adaptation has been overall well received by critics, being considered as one of the best of 2010s.
Rei Kiriyama's parents and younger sister died in an accident in his childhood. He then started living with the family of Masachika Kōda who was a friend of his father. Reaching adulthood, Rei left his foster family thinking he was only causing trouble. He now lives alone and has few friends. Among his acquaintances are three sisters of the Kawamoto family—Akari, Hinata, and Momo. 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. The shogi hall of the manga is set in Sendagaya area and it resembles the headquarters of the Japanese Shogi Association that is situated there.
The English title March Comes In Like a Lion is written on the cover of the manga. Although Umino had not seen the 1992 film March Comes In like a Lion, the movie poster and the title of the movie left an impression on her: "A girl with a black haircut is holding a half-eaten ice cream in her mouth". This phrase is from the British weather proverb "March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb". In addition, the supervisor, Manabu Senzaki, commented that the shogi rankings begin in June, and the final game for promotion and demotion is held in March, so the professionals become lions in March.
Umino stated that the manga is "a story based on researching and hearing various stories about worlds [she] didn't know" whereas her previous work, Honey and Clover is "a story about a world [she] already knew without having to extend [herself]". 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".
Umino stated that she only wanted an adaptation if it was to be directed by Akiyuki Shinbo and produced at Shaft, otherwise the manga "did not need to be adapted". She doubted if they would accept to adapt the manga as, unlike adapting a light novel (like Monogatari) or original anime (such as Puella Magi Madoka Magica), they would not have much freedom. 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. Despite this, Makoto Tanaka, the son of famous shogi player Torahiko Tanaka, who worked at Tohokushinsha Film, approached Tomoda about the potential for an anime adaptation as he was a fan of the manga. 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. Iwakami then met with Mitsutoshi Kubota (CEO of Shaft) and Shinbo, and the two agreed to the project. Although Shinbo is credited as director, many of the main responsibilities were shared with series director Kenjirou Okada working under Shinbo.
Hub AI
March Comes In like a Lion AI simulator
(@March Comes In like a Lion_simulator)
March Comes In like a Lion
March Comes In like a Lion (Japanese: 3月のライオン, Hepburn: Sangatsu no Raion; lit. '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 18 tankōbon volumes as of September 2025. It follows the life of Rei Kiriyama, an introvert professional shogi player, who gradually develops both his play and his relationship with others.
An anime television series adapted by Shaft aired on NHK G from October 2016 to March 2017 and a second season aired from October 2017 to March 2018, with each season consisting of 22 episodes. The English dubbed version was released in four parts by Aniplex of America between December 2017 and April 2019. A two-part live-action film adaptation was released in 2017. The manga has been licensed for English release by Denpa. A spin-off of the manga ran from 2015 to 2020.
March Comes In like a Lion won the fourth Manga Taishō, the 35th Kodansha Manga Award in its general category, the 18th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize's Grand Prize, and the manga division's Grand Prix of the 24th Japan Media Arts Festival. The story has been praised for the psychological depiction of its characters. The anime adaptation has been overall well received by critics, being considered as one of the best of 2010s.
Rei Kiriyama's parents and younger sister died in an accident in his childhood. He then started living with the family of Masachika Kōda who was a friend of his father. Reaching adulthood, Rei left his foster family thinking he was only causing trouble. He now lives alone and has few friends. Among his acquaintances are three sisters of the Kawamoto family—Akari, Hinata, and Momo. 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. The shogi hall of the manga is set in Sendagaya area and it resembles the headquarters of the Japanese Shogi Association that is situated there.
The English title March Comes In Like a Lion is written on the cover of the manga. Although Umino had not seen the 1992 film March Comes In like a Lion, the movie poster and the title of the movie left an impression on her: "A girl with a black haircut is holding a half-eaten ice cream in her mouth". This phrase is from the British weather proverb "March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb". In addition, the supervisor, Manabu Senzaki, commented that the shogi rankings begin in June, and the final game for promotion and demotion is held in March, so the professionals become lions in March.
Umino stated that the manga is "a story based on researching and hearing various stories about worlds [she] didn't know" whereas her previous work, Honey and Clover is "a story about a world [she] already knew without having to extend [herself]". 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".
Umino stated that she only wanted an adaptation if it was to be directed by Akiyuki Shinbo and produced at Shaft, otherwise the manga "did not need to be adapted". She doubted if they would accept to adapt the manga as, unlike adapting a light novel (like Monogatari) or original anime (such as Puella Magi Madoka Magica), they would not have much freedom. 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. Despite this, Makoto Tanaka, the son of famous shogi player Torahiko Tanaka, who worked at Tohokushinsha Film, approached Tomoda about the potential for an anime adaptation as he was a fan of the manga. 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. Iwakami then met with Mitsutoshi Kubota (CEO of Shaft) and Shinbo, and the two agreed to the project. Although Shinbo is credited as director, many of the main responsibilities were shared with series director Kenjirou Okada working under Shinbo.