Tag Archives: March comes in like a lion

March comes in like a lion – Episode 9

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March comes in like a lion had a bit of a lesser episode this week, though Rei’s match against Mr. Matsunaga was still both entertaining and dramatically important. I continue to appreciate how thoughtfully March approaches character drama focused on someone who’s fundamentally unhappy – Rei’s daily life is full of failures, victories, and new emotional discoveries, but all of that occurs in the context of his more overarching depression. Some occasional lazy jokes are a fine price of admission to a show that handles March’s key variables this well.

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

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Fall 2016 – Week 9 in Review

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Turns out anime is good, everybody. Who would have guessed! As usual, nearly everything I’m watching this season operated at a level I generally just associate with my seasonal favorite, leaving me with a pile of cartoon riches to luxuriate in. Euphonium rallied from a weaker episode with possibly the strongest episode of the season, March continued to lay sturdy dramatic bricks in between episodic pleasures, and Flip Flappers steered itself right back towards the compelling bonds between the three leads. Even JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure was acting like it had something to prove, working hard to give Hayato’s struggle all the manic energy it deserves. Anime will likely go back to being bad again soon, but I can’t say I mind having barely anything to complain about. But I’m not doing this critic shtick for nothing, so let’s start off with some complaints and then work our way to the fawning praise!

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March comes in like a lion – Episode 8

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March had another strong episode this week, one that brought some narrative congruity to a few disjointed sequences by tethering them all to Rei’s upcoming shogi match. The show seems to have largely resolved my initial complaints at this point, mostly through the natural progression of its character work. With Rei, the sisters, and side characters like Harunobu all so well established, the show’s comedy has become more warm and character-focused than abrasive and tonally incongruous, making the show a general pleasure to watch. While I wouldn’t say it’s the “best” show I’m watching this season, I’m pretty sure there’s no show I’m enjoying more than March. It’s a story I’m always happy to spend time with.

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

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Why It Works: March comes in like a lion Explains Shogi

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Hello again! For this week’s Why It Works, I focused on a roughly three minute scene from the latest March, and basically unpacked it into an investigation of Rei’s personality and the nature of teaching and media salesmanship. It’s always nice when some offhand element of a show gestures towards a larger topic like this, and I had a bunch of fun writing this one. I hope you enjoy the piece!

Why It Works: March comes in like a lion Explains Shogi

March comes in like a lion

Fall 2016 – Week 7 in Review

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It was very clear this week that many of this season’s shows took careful notes based on my first half in review post, and adjusted their content accordingly. Normally it takes at least a few weeks for shows to shift gears based on my exact preferences, so I was happy to see the response time so accelerated here. Shows like Girlish Number and Sound! Euphonium clearly took my complaints to heart, and as we all know, being able to accept constructive criticism is an admirable quality. I’m glad we can all agree anime turns out better when it listens to me specifically.

Alright, impossibility of my writing affecting anime production in any way whatsoever aside, this week really did see many shows directly tackling some of my existing complaints. Girlish Number dug in to its cast, Euphonium emphasized the variables that had worked in the first season, Yuri on Ice offered its most well-earned and best-composed personal material yet, and Flip Flappers was just fantastic in all regards. The fall season continues to impress in new ways, so let’s start with those flip flaps and RUN ‘EM DOWN!

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March comes in like a lion – Episode 7

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This week’s March comes in like a lion felt like the first time the show was wholly in control of its more upbeat material. The show has firmly established its main cast at this point, so sequences like Nikaidou’s self-help shogi commentary play off our existing understanding and fondness for the characters. With its evocative depression-focused material matched by equally engaging slice of life segments, March now seems to be hitting just the balance it’s been striving for. Hopefully it stays this strong!

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

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Fall 2016 – First Half in Review

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The season’s halfway point has arrived! Normally this is the part where I’d comment on how quickly time seems to be passing, and probably make some offhand gesture towards our inescapable mortality, but given we just concluded one of the most horrific and dispiriting political contests in my country’s history, it really doesn’t seem like time’s been passing all that fast lately. But if you wanted fatigued political commentary, you’d check my twitter feed – in spite of all else, the world keeps turning, and that means talking about cartoons!

This season has been offering us a terrific bounty so far, presenting close to half the shows that will likely star in my year-end list. The better shows get, the more small-minded and useless it seems to rank them in any kind of reductive list, but what’s the point of a tradition if it’s not celebrated far past the point of reason? So let’s once more do that thing I always do, starting at the top and running down my favorites of the season so far!

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Fall 2016 – Week 5 in Review

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This was a perfectly respectable week in anime! In fact, it was more than respectable – Yuri on Ice managed to grab my interest in a way it never had before, Flip Flappers pulled off a stunning vignette that raised the bar for the show altogether, and Euphonium had possibly the best musical performance I’ve seen in anime. This season is just ridiculous, you guys – normally something like Yuri on Ice, Euphonium, or March comes in like a lion would be the bright spot in a largely weaker lineup, but this season’s crop basically starts at JoJo/Girlish Number and only goes up from there. Given I’m writing this prior to the election results, the world may literally be on fire by the time this gets posted (UPDATE: the world is literally on fire), but at least we’re going out with some pretty cool cartoons. Let’s RUN ‘EM DOWN!

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March comes in like a lion – Episode 5

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We finally got a full expose on Rei’s childhood this week, which was about as horrifying and suffocating as imaginable. March’s execution is still a mixed bag, beyond stuff like its uneven animation – the show just doesn’t feel confident enough to discard the parts of either its source material or SHAFT quirks that don’t work in this format/narrative. It’s still a show I’m very much enjoying, but it’s frustratingly short of the show it could be.

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

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Fall 2016 – Week 4 in Review

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This was a workhorse week in anime. We’re several weeks out from the premieres, meaning most of this season’s shows have more or less established their tone and structure, but we’re still also some distance from the sort of narrative shakeups that often mark the midpoint of one season productions. That point in the season means many shows are entering a bit of a lean period at the moment – demonstrating their fundamental quality, but not really dazzling with any new talents. Yuri on Ice and Flip Flappers have largely settled into their genre spaces, Girlish Number and Euphonium each hit some mid-sized dramatic turns, and JoJo just kept chugging along. Weeks like this put the onus on me to come up with new stuff to talk about, so thanks a fuckin’ lot, anime. Fortunately, after possibly more than a hundred of these Week in Reviews, I’ve learned how to spend a lot of time talking about basically nothing. So if that sounds like fun to you, pull up a chair and take a seat as we RUN THESE SHOWS DOWN!

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