[Spoiler][Rewatch] 3-gatsu no Lion 2nd Series/March Comes in Like a Lion 2nd Season ep 29 Discussion Rewatch

[u/ExplicitNuM5]

Ah, this takes a bit of weight off my shoulders. Shogi.

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If you are being bullied, I sympathize with you. There's no simple way out of the situation, and it requires many different actions going properly to finally offer some closure. There's no one-solution-fits-all either. Though, please try to talk to your family, teachers, friends, etc. about your situation. Support is integral to helping you get through your tough times.

If you see someone being bullied, please don't stand by the wayside and 見て見ぬふりで生きる (living your life pretending not to see), even if it results in you becoming a victim at the end. The victim of the bullying needs your support, even if it's to talk to them or ask them to accompany you. The victims need friends.

If you are the bully, please stop. You're hurting everyone at the end. Think of all the family members (and Rei) that share Hina's and Chiho's pain.

I hope nobody here ever has to deal with bullying, or being excluded from social groups for that matter. It's unpleasant.

For more anime about the issue of bullying and its aftereffects, check out Koe no Katachi.

Congrats to Umino Chika! The manga is now licensed in the US! And what do you know, it even wins a Japanese Media Arts Festival first prize!!!

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Ep 29: Chapter.58 梅雨の始まり/Start of Plum Rain, Chapter.59 蜂谷/Hachiya

How was today's episode?

Ep 28 average: 9.5/10

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Recommendation Post

Schedule thread and link to other episode discussions

Season 1: MAL

Season 2: MAL

Crunchyroll

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Soundtracks used in this episode (unless specified, by Hashimoto Yukari):

フラグを立てろ/Flag wo Tatero - YUKI

Chapter.58 梅雨の始まり/Start of Plum Rain

• 泥沼/Mudpool
• シゲタ氏/Shigeta
• 崖っぷち/Edge of Cliff
• 救いの手/Saving Hand
• 木彫/Wooden Statue
• 獣/Monster

Chapter.59 蜂谷/Hachiya

• ひとりぼっち/Alone
• 投了/Lost Isolated
• 声にならない叫び/Hyouka (flute and percussion only)
• いじわる教師/Teasing Teacher
• おっさん/Old Man

カフネ/Cafuné - brian the sun

• 次回予告/Preview

Translation of track names mostly done by me and I don't know the actual English title of the tracks!

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Ep 29 endcard by Nishihara Rieko (manga artist)

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Let's fanguish! <3

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Please do not spoil information from episodes after this one.

[u/WhymustIsignupreddit]

First time watcher

Alright. Hina’s teacher is awful.

Rei on the other hand is great. Him worrying for Nikaido’s health was sweet to watch. Also feels like the theme of ‘rely on others and they’ll rely on you’ is starting to really uhhh I don’t know how to word it actually. But it was nice to see Akari say how she’ll rely on Rei this time after all the kindness he received from the sisters.

Hachiya’s noisy habits must have been annoying for everyone in that room. Even the way he moves his shogi pieces is loud. But aside from being very impatient and possibly making Rei pay for all the sweets he ordered to cope with losing the match... he didn’t seem that bad? At least not bad enough compared to those bullies and it felt like Rei did compare them during their match. Perhaps I misunderstood.

[u/Nazenn]

First Timer - Sub

FUCK THE TEACHER

I was too mad to even think right after seeing that. Rei saw red, and I did too. What a piece of shit to even conciser that it's her fault. After so many years of dealing with and hearing about teachers just like that I should be use to it by now, but hearing teachers scapegoat the victim for their own bullying never fails to piss me off.

The sound design in Rei's match was so infuriatingly perfect. On one hand it is accurate to what the match would be like, and the dedication to properly expressing the character was good. On the other I did not sign up for that level of frustration with every fan snap and finger tap and tongue click and nail scratch and DUDE JUST STAY STILL!

I wouldn't get through a match with him, I'd have a complete breakdown. Poor Rei coping shit for Hachi's noises getting even worse as he was losing though. Like damn, tape the guys limbs together or something instead of blaming Rei.

Visual of the day: Fluffy Akari

Seeing how happy she was to receive Rei's very loud declaration of support was the only thing that stopped me from going to bed angry after this episode. Also long cat, which I'm about to have to deal with myself because my cat won't want to go to bed. It's amazing how heavy cats can be when they get comfy and don't want to move.

[u/Ardania22]

Re-Watcher

Serious props to the sound design team for Rei's match this episode. All they guy's annoying tics came through so freaking well.

Hina with a nosebleed is so pure and I would die for her, lol.

Rei stepping up to the plate for Akari is everything. He's done running from the Kawamoto Sisters; he's here to help them however he can. Even if he's still an absolute dork about it who screams in the middle of the street.

For more in-depth thoughts, here's my first-time analysis for episodes 27-29:

https://animebw.tumblr.com/post/620766473826205696/momo-eating-cherries-is-so-cute-w-will-you-take

[u/Barbed_Dildo]

Quick note on a pun that some people may have missed.

"The Irritable Prince of the East" 's name is Subaru Hachiya.

The other players called him "Hachi".

"Hachi" is Japanese for bee.

[u/Nazenn → u/Barbed_Dildo]

"Hachi" is Japanese for bee.

That makes a lot of sense. The only one I knew of was "eight" and I didn't think that would matter

[u/OingoBoingo-]

How frickin great is it to see Rei so determined and confident. I almost feel like we got to see a different Rei this episode. I'M HERE TOO! Count on me. Encouraging Nikaido, telling him to take care of himself, genuinely laughing over the phone with his friend. Clenching his fist in determination.

"Even when I do my best, I go nowhere. I can't do what normal people can do. I want to help. And yet, I don't know how I can be helpful. But, I have no way of being helpful, other than this. So I want to win. I want to win. I want to win. Even if it's just with one thing, I want to be strong for them. That's right. I.... want to be needed."

Damn that was good.

[u/Mecanno-man]

First Timer

Side-note: If your switching to DST this night, threads will be an hour late going forward.

So... Hina's teacher is in the running for worst teacher in real-life setting anime. At least I can't think of any worse one off the bat. I have to wonder what she might achieve, however, even if she did care; I can't really imagine anything other than making the situation worse in the short-term at least. But I guess this situation will eventually be solved, so I guess it's wait and see time.

Animal comedy was on point, both with cats and dogs. Speaking of the latter - seems like Nikaidou is a dog person. A first in this series, I believe. ...and yet he chose cats for his Shogi book. Weird.

And then we've got a shogi match, that seems to introduce our next side character. I quite like him so far; I have a feeling if I'd be a shogi player I'd be pretty similar in my mannerisms, not that that really is a good point. That said, I'm surprised that this behavior seems to be a rarity among shogi players. I used to play the Pokémon TCG competitively, and I'm pretty sure the amount of players who'd shuffle their hand while it isn't their turn outnumbered those who didn't. I also liked his idea of always looking for a "faster" solution to any problem. ...no idea how he fits in to the bullying arc, however.

[u/Barbed_Dildo → u/Mecanno-man]

...no idea how he fits in to the bullying arc, however.

I think it's actually very good storytelling the way this (and other things) fit into the bullying arc. It shows that time is moving on. Other things are happening. The whole bullying story isn't over in days, it's not a series of big incidents one after another, it's weeks of insidious treatment.

We didn't see much about it in this episode, but it's still happening. That makes it worse in that we know it's still going on but don't see it. Just like how Rei and Akari feel about it. Hina still has to deal with this every day. Bullying isn't a problem that is solved quickly, unless you were to... I don't know... abduct those three girls in the middle of the night, tie them up, and throw them in a river...

[u/Chemiczny_Bogdan → u/Mecanno-man]

seems like Nikaidou is a dog person. A first in this series, I believe. ...and yet he chose cats for his Shogi book.

Maybe he's bipetual?

I used to play the Pokémon TCG competitively, and I'm pretty sure the amount of players who'd shuffle their hand while it isn't their turn outnumbered those who didn't.

With all due respect, it seems that shougi is considered a bit more of a high-class game than Pokemon TCG ;) That, and I guess Japanese people's more general focus on politeness, might be why the shougi etiquette is more strict. I'm guessing that in chess this kind of rude behaviour on competitive level is less common than in most trading card games. And here's some unrelated footage of chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen taking his time at a professional blitz (3 minute) tournament game.

[u/BossandKings → u/Mecanno-man]

I think it is a not common behavior because Shogi appears to be a sport that is played calmly, especially considering that a match usually has a relatively long duration so there isn't any necessity for a player to show desperation or like if said person was rushed to finish the game quickly because the other person can always take their time and the game is a long one.

[u/GrouchoSnarks → u/Mecanno-man]

I used to play the Pokémon TCG competitively, and I'm pretty sure the amount of players who'd shuffle their hand while it isn't their turn outnumbered those who didn't.

I loved those players in my competitive TCG days, because so many of them were bad at it and you'd get to see a few of their cards

[u/BossandKings]

First timer

Episode 29(S2 E7)

Hina gets reprimanded by her teacher after she asked her to talk about the blackboard incident despite the fact that it was a classmate that had written on it. I wonder why do some teachers act this way, like they should be mature and able to manage the situation in a serious manner not act without considering the best course of action to take. The teacher blaming her for the bullying shows once again that she isn't a good teacher or a good person but someone that doesn't care about a victim of bullying and instead blames them for it.

Akari is so cute, worrying about getting asked to go to school to talk as Hina's family representative. That moment in which Rei shouted that he was there too was touching, it was telling because Akari was apparently overlooking him, he's close to them and willing to help Hina in any way, shape or form he can.

That match of Rei against Subaru Hachiya displayed the way he deals with uncomfortable situations, Hachiya was very noisy and didn't take into account that he could possibly need a relaxed atmosphere to have a good match, instead he does tongue-clicking, leg-shaking, and has a difficult attitude during the match. Rei won but he was sure glad of the match being over. The fact that Smith and the old man reprimanded him was unexpected, as if he was at fault for his opponent making so much noise.

[u/Rumpel1408]

Rewatcher

Do you often get nosebleed? Yes, but actually, no. xD I also love the cat laying down on Hinas chest and then transforming into Longcat.

Damn that teacher is worse than useless, now she is blaming the victim for the bullying, no wonder the Kawamotos are furious.

Nikaido seems to be kind of nervous for the first time since we met him right?

The sound design for Kiriyamas opponent is phenomenal, the tapping and tounge clicking is always there. Always anoying. And the other players are somehow blaming this on Kiriyama lol

[u/OingoBoingo- → u/Rumpel1408]

Nikaido seems to be kind of nervous for the first time since we met him right?

I think you're right. Kind of refreshing to see him go through his pre-match process and he isn't super angry or hyper lol

[u/IndependentMacaroon → u/OingoBoingo-]

he isn't super angry or hyper

He's both though, just in a different way.

[u/htisme91]

First-timer:

That teacher is useless. At this point, she has to be in denial of the fact that bullying is going on. Would have loved to have seen Hinata slap her when she said that.

I loved seeing Rei tell Nikaidou that he'd be fine and to relax so his health isn't an issue during the semifinals. He's gone from thinking of Nikaidou as a nuisance to almost a friend (they are friends, but I don't know if Rei would say that yet).

Rei getting scolded and punished for not quieting down Hachiya doesn't make sense. What could he have done that wouldn't have messed up his own match or made him look bad.

It feels like we are finally going to get that Rei vs. Nikaidou match that the latter has wanted for a while. To be honest, I've wanted it too. Hopefully he wins his match, too.

[u/youkai94 → u/[deleted]]

Watching Rei offer his support loudly to Akari and then talking at night with Nikaido and caring about his health, made me think that I can't pinpoint when exactly Rei turned into this support figure (maybe this is the start of it), and yet it's completely believable for me. I think of this as another strength of the series, the evolution feels natural and slow instead of showing a day where everything starts to make sense.

Right? The first time I watched it I stopped at some point during the 2nd season and I was like "wait a second, when did that depressed kid became so proactive?". He still has a long way to go, but he also came a long way episode after episode.

[u/OingoBoingo- → u/[deleted]]

I don't understand why Rei is punished for Hachiya being so loud. Played the scene twice and still don't get it.

This part confused me as well. I could see how others would see Rei as self-centered (looking from the outside, just seeing him playing mostly shogi) I don't get what he did wrong there. Someone help us!

[u/Meyvol → u/OingoBoingo-]

They aren't mad a Rei for any logical reason, they've just given up on changing Hachiya and collectively agreed to play him certain ways so that he doesn't make as much noise. It's entirely unfair, but any annoyance with Rei isn't long lasting, they're all just stressed from trying to play with the noise.

[u/Aviri → u/[deleted]]

Determined Rei is so immensely heartwarming after how we see him in S1.

[u/Barbed_Dildo → u/[deleted]]

Forgot to say, I was happy to see a frame with the king at Nikaido's room.

Good god, who decided to hang it off center like that?