March Comes In Like a Lion 2nd Season Episode 9

GREAT

90%

of 4 scoutsrecommend

Review Summary

Watch for Hina's profound emotional arc battling school bullying, supported by Rei, as the series explores its intensifying, heavier themes.

Animation & Style

Character Writing & Lore

Pacing

World Building & Setting

👀 SPOILER-FREE SUMMARY

A masterclass in character-driven drama that pits youth against experience across the shogi board. Rei Kiriyama sits opposite Shouichi Matsunaga, a 65-year-old veteran whose decades in professional shogi weigh heavily on every move. The episode leans into themes of legacy, aging, and the quiet desperation of a career's twilight, delivering some of the most emotionally resonant material this season. Shaft's direction matches the introspective tone with deliberate pacing, giving both players room to breathe as their internal worlds unfold alongside the match. This is less about who wins and more about what the game costs — and what it means to each man sitting at that board. Expect tension that simmers rather than explodes, and a melancholic beauty that rewards patience. A two-chapter episode that earns every quiet moment.

🔥 KEY MOMENTS

⚠️ Spoiler Alert!

Matsunaga's Shrine Prayer

Before the match, Rei catches the 65-year-old Matsunaga praying at a shrine — a quiet, vulnerable moment that exposes the anxiety of a veteran who knows his remaining chances are dwindling.

Chaos on the Board

Matsunaga plays with a style that feels erratic and borderline reckless, throwing Rei completely off his rhythm. The psychological warfare is unintentional but devastating — decades of idiosyncratic play hardened into something genuinely unreadable.

Dinner with the Old Guard

After the game, Matsunaga drags Rei out for dinner and drinks, dropping his competitor's mask entirely. He opens up about his family, his fear of becoming irrelevant, and what it means to have given forty years of your life to a single pursuit.

The Refusal to Retire

Matsunaga confesses his deep reluctance to step away from professional shogi, even as age closes in. It's not pride — it's that the game has become inseparable from his identity, and walking away feels like a kind of death.

Reflection by the River

The episode closes with Rei and Matsunaga standing by the river, each silently processing what the other represents — youth staring down the long road ahead, experience looking back at it. It's a mirror scene that reframes both of their arcs.

📍 ARC CONTEXT

Coming off the intensity of the Newcomer Tournament final against Yamazaki, episode 9 shifts Rei into a more contemplative space as he faces a very different kind of opponent — one defined not by rivalry but by the weight of an entire career. Sitting near the midpoint of the 22-episode season, this episode deepens the show's exploration of what professional shogi demands from people at every stage of life, broadening Rei's perspective beyond his own struggles. It sets a foundation for the continued emotional complexity ahead as Rei's growth is increasingly shaped by the people he encounters across the board.

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