March Comes in Like a Lion Episode 10 Review:
This was a real return to the first two episodes where we are once again fully trapped in Rei’s perspective and this episode showed me exactly why I fell in love at the start of the season of March Comes in Like a Lion.
The use of music, ambient noise and silence is perfect in this episode as is the imagery. However, the real star is Rei himself and to be honest he is a character that I cannot get enough of in these episodes where we see him and how he views the world (the slice of life episodes not so much). I think it is that he is so entirely trapped by his own negative emotions, he knows this and while giving up happens occasionally mostly he is still really struggling to find a reason not to and that inner conflict is quite compelling.
I kind of get that anyone who doesn’t relate to or really care about Rei will mostly find March a mish-mash of visual imagery with a not-so compelling plot given this episode showed us Rei playing Shogi with music conveying the tone, and then had Rei walk us through the game with commentary as part of the post-match review. Not a lot of action there but a lot of subtle (and not so subtle) character work at play. Plus, Rei’s little melt down in the park at the end was kind of the perfect climax to Rei’s turmoil this episode.
March Comes in Like a Lion is available on Crunchyroll.
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Karandi James
Your review echoed my sentiments. Rei can look like such a dull character, but since the story is from his perspective, Rei’s emotions are like a mirror of our own. He is so damn relatable.
Every time I read one of your episode reviews on March Comes in Like a Lion – I keep reminding myself that I need to watch it; it still holds true. I can’t wait to see what I’ve been missing out on! Thanks for the great read!
It’s an odd series and the tone shifts between parts and as I’ve said I’m not so fond of the more slice-of-life and comedic moments but I really love some parts of this show and it’s enough that this one is staying a must watch at the moment. Still not sure how they are going to stretch this though.
Solid rant in the park
It was a well delivered rant. Quite enjoyed watching that scene.
Totally agreed, great episode. The meltdown felt perfect, but I’ll also give props to just how uncomfortable the present-returning scene was — I felt like I was there in person.
That scene (present-returning) was incredibly awkward. I don’t know how Rei didn’t just walk away.
It’s surprising me that this show is too attaching me to it. Rei is a surprisingly great character and that melt down was perfect.
Thank you for your review.
If you just try to describe Rei he sounds like such a generic and dull character but he’s been really brilliant to watch so far. Here’s hoping they can keep it up.