3-Gatsu no Lion 2nd Season | Episode 17 and 18 Review

Episode Seventeen and Eighteen Thoughts

You know at first, I didn’t whether or not I liked the new OP “Haru ga Kite Bokura (春が来てぼくら)” by UNISON SQUARE GARDEN” but slowly after each episodes it has grown on me. Now I think it’s one of the better OPs I’ve heard in awhile.

Another thing that I adore about 3-Gatsu no Lion is how they manage to make every episode emotional. Although everything surrounding the episodes as of late has been around the game of Shogi. 3-Gatsu no Lion has this way of making a game (something that could be viewed as boring), into something interesting and worth watching simply because of how they attach the human element. It seems as though everyone is fighting for something, it feels like everyone is carrying a burden on their shoulders. A burden that either pushes them forward, or holds them back questioning their very being. I love that about this series, it immerses you in the best sort of way, it connects you with the characters. You feel and experience every emotion and every event that the characters go through.

Something else that I really like about the 3-Gatsu no Lion series is how indepth everything is regarding strategy. Although I still do not understand a thing about Shogi or how anything moves etc. The fact that they go in detail on the moves and the rationale behind every move is a wonderful detail and is definitely something that goes above and beyond something your typical anime would do.

All of this was what episodes seventeen and eighteen were about. What were you fighting for? Who were you fighting for? What continues to drive you? What do you really fear? For Sakutarou Yanagihara, he was fighting for all his friends who couldn’t make it in the world of Shogi. Those same friends who also entrusted their dreams with him. Like any competitor he feared losing, but he also fear letting all those who entrusted their dreams with him down and that was what drove him in his match between Kai Shimada.

The past two episodes really did have me at the end of my seat. It was weird honestly, you couldn’t help but feel tense watching both episodes. Even though the main focus was around Yanagihara and this thoughts, how the match was playing out coupled with the stunning animation that showed every little bit of emotion that he was experiencing during that moment in time; was beautiful. Arcs like “Burnt Fields” are ones I enjoy the most.

The closer I get to finishing this anime, the more I love the series. For the most part it, executes everything perfectly. Arcs like “Burnt Fields” is why the 3-gatsu no Lion series is deserving of it’s praise. You can tell that the second season is by far and away a step up from the first season and that’s an accomplishment in itself. For the story told over episodes seventeen and eighteen, I will give it a solid A, 8/10. My only gripe being that like every exceptional arc thus far, it just wasn’t long enough.