March Comes in Like a Lion Episode 41: An Interlude

This anime continues to impress as it knows when to step back from the hard hitting emotions and give the audience a chance to breath. And yet, even those breaths are full of great character moments, moments that recall past events and remind us issues still unresolved.

A lot of this episode focused on the sisters running a sweet stall and recruiting Rei to assist. This very much draws us back to season one where Rei was literally being dragged out of his apartment to now, where he voluntarily involves himself with this family and is finding himself more and more connected to the world through them. We also see how the sisters are growing and evolving over time and how Hina is bouncing back from her previous trauma. Hina’s growth is particularly highlighted through a visit to Chiho on the farm firmly reminding us how strong Hina has been to get through previous events.

The second half of the episode turns to the middle school and the ongoing fall out from the bullying incident. the head teacher isn’t staying on as the homeroom teacher and the changing of the guard isn’t going smoothly, mostly because the lead bully (not the only bully but the one who became the face of the group responsible) still refuses to actually take any responsibility for her actions.

And this is another reason why I love this show. Nothing is easily solved and then forgotten. There’s never a neat end point to a single story. Each event continues to send ripples through future events and the show doesn’t forget where these characters have come from or how their interactions will impact upon their futures. While this episode might have felt like a breath of relaxed air compared to some this season, it was packed full of points of note and maintained the narrative and character strength I’ve come to expect from this anime.

Season 1 Review:

March Comes in Like a Lion Series Review

Thanks for reading.

Karandi James

If you enjoyed this post and would like to see more great content on this blog, consider becoming a patron for as little as $1 a month.

Another way you can support the content here is by buying a copy of ‘Thoughts on Anime 2017‘ as an ebook. It contains a selection of reviews, features and top 5 lists from 2017 and while the content is available free on the site, this is a great way to give a one off show of support for the blog. It is available for $3.99.

Finally, you can use the affiliate link to shop at Play-Asia.com if you are interested in anime, soundtracks, figures or games. Should you use the link and make a purchase, I will receive a small percentage of the purchase price.