March Comes in like a Lion

Season 1 finished a few days ago and season 2 is announced for October but i figured it would be best to talk about this now cause i don't want to wait.

March comes in like a lion focuses on a young professional shogi player, Kiriyama, as he deals with the stresses of life and battle with depression (and possibly PTSD)

It deals with the pressures of children who are extremely talented at something and how that can completely wreck their self esteem.
It deals with loss of immediate family members and the challenges of living with a family you weren't born into.
It deals with the concept of family as a whole being the people you surround yourself with who make you feel at home....
and most importantly...
It deals with the inner monologue of cats.... and i am sure it is 100% accurate.

The show is stunning, full of wonderful visual metaphors that make you ache from the core as you watch this kid struggle.

The music is also really good (and i mean any show that has a bump of chicken intro and ending can't be bad in my books) and evokes a feeling of continuing to fight even when it feels like the water is rising up around you.

Finally i want to talk about the creator Umino Chica. I have been a fan of their stories for years.
Even if i'm not the biggest fan of how Honey and Clover ends the journey is one that has stuck with me more then more.
Even if i still haven't see the second eden of the east movie the concept was still handled in a way that was incredibly interesting.
With March comes in like a lion the biggest pitfall would be that it takes half the series to even try and explain the rules of shogi.... but in the end that doesn't matter... it's a show about the characters above all else and had it finished last year it would have been in my top ten anime of the year (maybe number 4? last year was amazing for anime)
The point being I don't think i've seen one of their properties i didn't enjoy immensely... and i knew going into this show i was going to have a good time.
Does that mean i was a little biased? probably BUT I really would love if others watched this show. The journey is worth it.
Plus... the cats... they are the cutest... ok yeah i'm a bit biased.

I look forward to seeing more in October, hopefully it's another 2 cour show because i think the additional episodes allows for the perfect pace.

However the winter season is coming to a close and even though i haven't been watching much... i should have 3-4 more of these before i rush out my first impressions of spring anime (because i'll be going on trip shortly after the season begins and i want to get it out before that)