3-gatsu no Lion / First Impressions

「Chapter.11神さまの子供(その①) / Chapter.12神さまの子供(その①)」 (Chapter.11 Kami-sama no Kodomo (Sono (1)) / Chapter 12. Kami-sama no Kodomo (Sono (2)))
“Chapter 11 & 12 Child of God Part 1 & 2”

Boy, this week’s episode was a lot darker than I thought it’d be.

The Power of a Good Teacher and Creative Story Telling

For someone like Rei who’s been shoved into a really tough position at an early point in his life, it’s probably a god send he has someone like Hayashida-sensei to watch over him. Serving as a positive older figure for Rei who can dish out just the right words at just the right time, it was a fun watch to see him become more than just a sensei that would pester Rei during lunchtime. Specifically though, I loved how he became an integral part of how this week’s episode presented the story. Because without his presence toward the end of each major flashback, I don’t know how well all that jumping between the past and present would have been without an anchor to tie it all together. That and how often do we get to see a flabbergasted Rei because it feels like someone else can read his mind? Plus, wasn’t it cute to see Hayashida try to gain some respect with Rei by getting his moves published in a shogi magazine?

Nowhere To Go

Albeit a slightly smaller point, I thought it was pretty interesting how the story depicted Rei’s ambitions and how he’s constantly swimming against the waves to reach his next destination. With the waves representing all the difficult situations and memories he has to deal with and the act of swimming through it all feeling almost futile, you’d think that making it to his next destination would leave us with a feeling of accomplishment but instead we’re left feeling downright depressed! A depressed feeling that was made even worse when Rei revealed he’s been on a losing streak and had the pressure of the entire shogi community weighing down on him! All of which kind of caught me off guard when I half expected this week’s episode to be a rather happy one.

Looking Ahead and Finding a Place for Yourself

With the episode coming to a rather happy close, I can’t wait to see how Hina handles dealing with her crush coming over for dinner. Seeing how she was flustered enough just being within a few feet of him, the prospect of cooking dinner for him is probably going to cause her to explode. Luckily, with Akari and Rei also there to back her up, things will hopefully turn out okay and maybe we’ll get to see Rei take another step out of his dark corner of the world toward a brighter path. See you next week!

 

Preview

15 Comments

  4. The first half of this episode was a bit too SHAFT for my liking. Up until now they’d done a decent job at keeping their shticks to a minimum, and even using their stylist staples to the advantage of some scenes, but the frantic head turning was a bit too much for me.

    Gyabo
    Reply

  5. With appearance like Kishou Arima and with name Souya Touji (Rei said it’s cold sounding, I don’t know the meaning of the name but sound cool enough for me) made me think that “Ah, he must be a Meijin”.
    Meijin always has cool sounding name, like Suou Hisashi from Chihayafuru and Touya Koyo from Hikaru no Go, and I always like them

    KidokuOuyou
    Reply

  6. I agree, even when I covered the Power of God section in the manga, it was a bit hard to understand when was present and past… unless it was still ongoing. Cause I’d expected that things were going well since Akari found him drunk ages ago or whichever, but I guess things won’t be that easy.
    Even when you happen to have “close friends,” for someone like Rei especially you wouldn’t expect (or hope to wish for) them to be your family and anchor.

    Bambi
    Reply

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