March had a pretty shaky episode this week, both in terms of its structure and its visual execution. The actual material being covered was fine, but the show’s adherence to its chapter-by-chapter format and creaky animation didn’t really do this block any favors. I’m probably enjoying the show more than I would if I’d read the manga – since this is my first time enjoying this story, I can accept some sloppy execution.
You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my notes below.
A lengthy recap of the end of the previous episode
Opening with this remarkable long, animated shot of Rei’s friend waking up and having breakfast, combined with this funky brass song
His morning ritual
A nice internal monologue from this guy. Nicely demonstrates how the show isn’t limited to Rei’s perspective
Gotou looking down at this guy
More strong animation of Gotou unwrapping his pieces
Describing his and Gotou’s strategies. Gotou favors heavy defense, this guy likes constant movement and agile setups
Once again we’ve got a strong piano track, and this time even the weather fits the match
I don’t think the show conveys his turn well enough to feel his loss. It’s too sudden and too metaphorical
Gotou actually gives him excellent advice after the match
And he finds a stray cat, lol
This episode sure is heavy on the recaps – a mid-episode recap of last episode’s midpoint, too
Kai Shimada is Rei’s immediate opponent
He’s a “play not to lose” type
This episode’s visual identity is so weird. This constant focus on the board itself during matches, perhaps necessitated due to the production issues
A kind opponent, one working from Rei’s best friend’s request
I don’t know if this was just a coincidence, or even if I understand the rules of Shogi enough to comment at all, but I remember while watching Smith’s game that he suddenly did a move that looked defensive to me, when his monologue was all about how he needed to stay on the offensive. I thought that was odd until the end of the game, where Gotou seemed to point that out as what cost him the game. I just thought that was an interesting moment that would have worked better if Shogi was more than vague abstraction to me.