March returned this week with what was honestly a pretty disjointed episode, mixing Rei’s thoughts on the Kawamoto family home with the first stages of a tournament and even a brief showdown with a new nemesis. Gotou isn’t anything but a one-note antagonist so far, but March has very good about avoiding that sort of character in the past, so hopefully he’ll gain some complexity before the Lion King finals. Either way, it’s nice to have this show back.

You can check out my full review over at ANN or my notes below.

The new year. Rei has regained his health

Rei actually missing life with the sisters. “Has the air conditioner always been this loud?”

Rei knows it’s dangerous to acknowledge his own loneliness, so he goes for a walk and mutters moves to himself to distract himself

“If I stand still, I won’t be able to move again”

Comparing the family to a kotatsu – they make him warm, but he feels all the colder when he leaves

“When I leave, I realize the daily life that I was fine with before is actually freezing cold”

He’s trying to intellectually think his way out of this feeling. Good luck

The Lion King Tournament is coming up

Takeshi Tsuji is his opponent

Fighting an opponent who keeps making bad puns

I love this focus on his friend’s opponent’s mindset. We get a great narrative here, making strong use of the kitties

Is this his sister’s boyfriend? This middle-aged man?

Yeah, it’s Gotou. And she’s nothing to him

This is a pretty unfocused episode

I do like how having so many members of the association interact here makes this feel more like a living organization

Rei overcomes his fear of the home