March Comes in Like a Lion (Crunchyroll) serves as a object lesson that you shouldn’t rely too much on first impressions. After the first episode of the first season I was close to dropping it but I decided to persevere for a couple of more episodes. After that it gradually grew on me to the point where I now consider it my favorite series of the Winter 2018 anime season. (Earlier posts.)

This may technically be classified as a sports anime, but it is quite unlike the usual members of that genre. It’s a rich tapestry of many threads, each of which is a character with his or her own story which is gradually revealed. Rei, the awkward Shoji prodigy, is the central character but the genius of this series is to reveal how his life is affected by the numerous other characters and how his actions affect their lives.

If you haven’t seen this series I highly recommend it but with a couple of caveats:

First, you really need to start at the beginning with the first season. This is not the kind of series where you can start in the middle.

Second, you should expect to have trouble with the first couple of episodes. This is a complex story that takes two episodes just to explain the basics of what is going on. Also it begins at a particularly vulnerable point in Rei’s life, when he is just starting to figure out who he is and what he wants to accomplish.

If you can get past that, this is the sort of series that continuously gets better and better. You will get to know some terrific characters, some very flawed but all very human. In their own way they are all well worth knowing.