Rei's problems, while significant and real, aren't much different from what everyone else in his world is dealing with. This isn't meant to instil feelings of pity in the viewer. He needs to feed on other people's happiness to give meaning to his own existence, as without shogi, he will have nothing. Even shogi brings him pain, as his thirst for victory ends only with him driving the loser to disappointment and despair. He has nothing he can relate to but shogi. He never had a real family, nor even a youth, hence why he goes to school in an aimless search of one. There is more to Rei than the people around him give credit for. And so they think, and so they patronise him. He is still in his teens, after all, so it could merely be an irrational fit of teenage angst. Many characters do not understand why he is this way, and indeed, for someone so gifted at shogi- enough as to turn it into a career from a young age- and blessed by such having such a kind family care for him, it is easy to be envious and to question why someone in his position could ever feel unsatisfied. He is timid - incapable of speaking his mind or getting his feelings across - and unhappy with his role in life. Rei, the series' protagonist, is a deeply and inherently flawed being. Sangatsu no Lion is at its surface an anime about shogi, but at its core a coming-of-age story of overcoming depression. Sangatsu no Lion is as well masterfully-produced, a technical triumph, Shaft's greatest accomplishment. A simple, everyday conversation between family, about what their plans could be for the next day, or a brief conversation about one's quiet hometown can contain more weight and characterisation than a series might in its entire duration. Most things are left implicit and unsaid. There are numerous moments, much like the opening scene, that do much with little. To say that Sangatsu no Lion is powerful would be an understatement. What it did, rather, is give me the tools to better understand myself and, more importantly, why I am here. Sangatsu no Lion is not life-changing, least not in the sense of it developing for me a different personality, or in creating new passions. People often describe their favourite pieces of fiction with vague terms such as "brilliant" or "life-changing". me was how illustrative it was of human life. I thought it could have been the beautiful music, or perhaps the captivating artwork so characteristic of Shaft. He just moves on with his life.Īt first I did not understand why this scene had such an impact on me. He doesn't tell people about his problems. A boy listlessly wakens, drinking out of necessity, dressing out of obligation, and leaving his sterile apartment out of confusion, an existence so fragile it could perish with the wind. Sangatsu no Lion's first five minutes contain a scene I might characterise as one of the best in animation. As he struggles to maintain himself physically and mentally through his shogi career, Rei must learn how to interact with others and understand his own complex emotions. The Kawamoto sisters, coping with past tragedies, also share with Rei a unique familial bond that he has lacked for most of his life. Akari, the oldest of the three girls, is determined to combat Rei's loneliness and poorly sustained lifestyle with motherly hospitality. However, not long after his arrival in Tokyo, Rei meets Akari, Hinata, and Momo Kawamoto, a trio of sisters living with their grandfather who owns a traditional wagashi shop. As a 17-year-old living on his own, Rei tends to take poor care of himself, and his reclusive personality ostracizes him from his peers in school and at the shogi hall. Seeking independence from his tense home life, he moves into an apartment in Tokyo. Due to this, he faces an enormous amount of pressure, both from the shogi community and his adoptive family. Having reached professional status in middle school, Rei Kiriyama is one of the few elite in the world of shogi.
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