3-gatsu no Lion – 16

「Chapter.32 夜を駆ける / Chapter.33 坂の途中」 (Chapter.32 Yoru wo Kakeru / Chapter.33 Saka no Tochuu)
“Chapter.32 Running Through the Night / Chapter.33 Middle of the Slope”

Another great episode.

Hayashida-Sensei is the Best

Instead of letting wonderful side characters be stuck on the sidelines, I’m so happy to see 3-gatsu use everyone it has at its disposal to the utmost of their potential. And yeah, I know I’m talking about Hayashida-sensei again but compared to everything he’s done previously, I think he had the largest impact of any character throughout this whole series during his appearance this week.

And instead of diving into some long winded talk about mentors and what not (we’ve done enough of that), let me just try to express some the emotions flowing through me as the first quarter of the episode played. With an overall somber tone carrying through the past two episodes, I wasn’t sure where things were headed this week. Rei has been obviously stuck in a rut and I’ve been wondering just what was going to kick his butt into gear. That and I honestly thought him being stuck at school was going to just be a way for the story to have time advance quicker without making any big changes to the narrative.

But instead, we had an extremely heartwarming moment between a sensei and his student. A moment that screams mountains about just what kind of teacher Hayashida is and tries to be. That and it takes a true educator to really drop those big “let’s have a talk” moments when it really counts. As I sat there watching Hayashida keep his typical over-the-top way of talking in check and instead calmly expressed his happiness while dropping in a real life lesson, I felt such a strong emotion run through my chest that it felt like I was getting hit by a ton of bricks (in a good way).

Anyways, I loved how things turned out with Rei during the first part of the episode but I think what came after might have been even better.

Making Friends

I think it’s fair to say that Rei doesn’t have many friends. Minus our three favorite sisters, I don’t think you could call anyone else around him a “friend”. Amazingly, I think all of that changed today with Rei joining Shimada’s workshop. I can’t imagine how difficult it must have been for Rei to live a life without equals to shoot the breeze with. I mean, I understand Shogi can be a game about self study and striving to improve yourself, but at a professional level wouldn’t it behoove you to play against other players outside the Shogi Hall to discover things you may have previously seen?

Anyways, I thought it was great to see Rei finally opening up and becoming more of a kid. Seeing him smiling while getting caught up in the moment nearly brought a tear to my eye.

Looking Ahead

It’s been a little while since 3-gatsu has really got me worked up, but with the foundation laid I can’t help but feel like we’re in for some big things in the coming weeks. With Rei on the way to becoming a new person and more Kyouko in the preview, I can’t wait to see what happens. See you then!

 

Preview