Studio Shaft to Animate '3-gatsu no Lion'

by Stark700
Jan 4, 2016 11:20 PM | 251 Comments

It has been revealed in the second issue of this year's Young Animal magazine that the TV anime adaptation of 3-gatsu no Lion (March Comes in Like a Lion) will be animated by studio Shaft. In addition, Akiyuki Shinobu is directing the upcoming series, and it will air on NHK in Fall 2016.

Synopsis
The protagonist is Rei, a 17-year-old shogi player. He lives by himself, does not have a family, does not go to school, and has scarcely any friends. Among his acquaintances is a family, which consists of a young woman, Akari, and two young girls, Momo and Hinata, and who also keep a numerous number of cats. (Source: Wikipedia, edited)

3-gatsu no Lion is drawn by Chika Umino and began publishing in 2007 with 11 volumes in print. The series was nominated for the 2nd Manga Taisho Award in 2009. In 2011, it won the 4th Manga Taisho Award and the 35th Kodansha Manga Award in the general category (shared with Uchuu Kyoudai). In 2014, it also won the Grand Award of the 18th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize.

Official site: http://3lion-anime.com/

Source: Otakomu

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20 of 251 Comments Recent Comments

I love this thread hahahahaha
despite lots of forgettable shows SHAFT has that avant garde direction i love
it is not style over substance because the visual themes are used properly on "monogatari"
but then 3gatsu turns out to be one of the best anime ever
still hating on SHAFT lol
its true when they say salt has no bounds

Jul 31, 2019 7:13 AM by Sears2424

yea, I love this thread.

Apr 7, 2018 10:07 AM by Ysad_Ziwezhan

Is this still relevant?
Everyone be like :
>Wow 3gatsu will be animated
>Shaft will animate it, gonna be a shit show
>Turns out to be a really good show, but still hating shaft

Apr 7, 2018 3:18 AM by itsDespera

D-ohnuts said:

Kreion said:
Well...that's just not true?...

But the monogatari anime is exactly THE example of where style has a purpose and is used for a specific reason - the lack of other people is because they are not relevant to the narrator, bits are exaggerated which would be in their mind and brushed over when they are not so relevant. I really just don't get how you think you can argue that a series ENTIERLY focused on deconstructing a series of characters and what makes them who they are is lacking in substance - you may as well argue that Cowboy Bebop is shallow because all that does is follow some characters around as stuff happens...it's just a non-sensical argument and trust me there are pleanty of things you can complain about if talking about the monogatari series. Lack of substance is just not one of them, if you want to criticize something then I would suggest that you actually consider what it is you dislike about the series rather than waving it off with 'lack of substance'; a complaint so generic I could apply it to almost every book, film and anime not a 1000 page discussion on what the meaning of life is if I so chose to.

I mean, now you're just including your own bias that you don't like it when a different style is prominent - and in return I am showing my bias that I prefer it when a different style is prominent - the point still stands though that style is used to make the visual imagery stronger and at no point runs counter to what is happening.

To be clear - I don't care that you don't like the monogatari series or Madoka, I'm not a massive fan of the latter either - but your complaints are so...empty that I felt the need to respond.

Jan 28, 2016 5:15 AM by Kreion

Kreion said:
Well...that's just not true? Shaft uses style as a way to compliment the substance, as it should be done, as most big animation studios do. Sayonara Zetsubou sensei is weird and slightly creepy because it is supposed to be, Bakemonogatari is OTT and changes according to who is narrating because it is supposed to be, Arakawa under the bridge is...do you get the picture? Now, I won't say that Shaft don't fail at this sometimes because they certainly do, Sasami-san@ is a case of style over substance imo, MCC has poor pacing and seems to be a mess all around Nisekoi looks good (as does the manga imo) but the story is naturally generic af.

Still I don't think you can argue that they use style OVER substance.

I have to admit I was rather surprised when I heard Shaft were doing this since it doesn't seem like their type of thing...maybe this will be a chance for them to change their style up a bit? To try something more realistic...also why have so many people been suggesting Production I.G? They don't really do all that much that has the same tone or themes as this as far as I know...

It's fine in the other shows, but I don't care for the Monogatari anime for that reason. Even though I think the light novels are okay, they don't have much substance, or at least any moreso than your typical anime, and in that case, I think the visuals detract from the show, not because of the fact that they use them, but because they dwell on them for far too long. The whole show would probably would have been half as long or three-quarters as long if they had done otherwise. And then the style would be equal to the substance.

Same thing with Madoka Magica; I didn't feel like there was much substance to begin with, considering all that happens is bad things happening to the girls, and not much else. I say this even as someone who read Goethe's Faust in its entirety.

Still, I didn't say that they used style over substance in all of their shows, and whether someone likes the animation is subjective anyway.

IMO, Shaft is no better or worse than any other animation studio. They've made good shows, and they've made bad shows. That's why I'll hold my judgement until I actually see the show.

Jan 23, 2016 8:00 AM by D-ohnuts

64SuperNintendo said:
The comments in this thread give me cancer.

As for me, the most common criticism I have regarding Shaft is that it uses style over substance a lot in its shows to the detriment of every other aspect even if I liked the source material, especially in the last few years, but it has made some shows that I liked and didn't have this flaw.

There's really not any way of knowing if the show will use style over substance, or if it will be good and not have this problem, so I'll just watch it and hope for the best.

Well...that's just not true? Shaft uses style as a way to compliment the substance, as it should be done, as most big animation studios do. Sayonara Zetsubou sensei is weird and slightly creepy because it is supposed to be, Bakemonogatari is OTT and changes according to who is narrating because it is supposed to be, Arakawa under the bridge is...do you get the picture? Now, I won't say that Shaft don't fail at this sometimes because they certainly do, Sasami-san@ is a case of style over substance imo, MCC has poor pacing and seems to be a mess all around Nisekoi looks good (as does the manga imo) but the story is naturally generic af.

Still I don't think you can argue that they use style OVER substance.

I have to admit I was rather surprised when I heard Shaft were doing this since it doesn't seem like their type of thing...maybe this will be a chance for them to change their style up a bit? To try something more realistic...also why have so many people been suggesting Production I.G? They don't really do all that much that has the same tone or themes as this as far as I know...

Jan 23, 2016 6:09 AM by Kreion

I wasn't expecting SHAFT at all to pick this up but regardless, i'm even more hype for this now.

Jan 19, 2016 3:13 PM by KashKetchum

HarukaYume said:
I think fans of the manga are just disappointed because it wasn't something we expected at all. My best hope would have been adding depth to the themes of depression and loneliness that may not be very popular for an anime adaptation but work fine for the manga. Shaft doing it on the other hand promises no depth at all, the best they can do is adapt faithfully and it will make it out to be their most 'boring' story to date, or add their gimmicks which will make it appealing but still be criticised for its 'lack of story'. I'm personally expecting either of those criticism to start surfacing once the anime comes out...

That's got nothing to do with Shaft themselves (i'm not a hater) nor the manga, it just that they don't mesh together. See it the other way around, if Madoka Magica was taken up by J.C staff and given crayon pastel colours and made out to be a Honey and Clover but with magical girls nihilism. It would have been silly, not the weird, creative story that is forgiven for being bad at storytelling.

Ping Pong is a perfect example here, a story with so much depth into the lives and personalities of the players that it is forgiven for its unappealing experimental animation. I had hoped that of San-gatsu

I don't understand at all the Ping pong point... i'm a matsumoto taiyou's fan and i have been read that manga ages ago and i think that the animation was quite fair since they have like $0 budget... it would be awesome if they could do a super stunning job but although Ping pong is one of the most 'popular' matsumoto works, still not popular enough to get tones of money for an animation.
Well, returning to the point , i don't know why people are just thinking in Monogataris and stuff. This manga has a lot of traditional japan environments so they have to respect it, like in Soredemo machi wa mawatteiru, or better. I don't think they do the 'minimalistic futuristic' aesthetic since it has nothing to do with this manga, and i know they can do other things too.
And is true that Umino choose the studio? since shaft is not a bad studio and i think that they have more good works than bad (because of course they have bad works) is that i'm kinda excited for the anime, it's all so unexpected and i hope it goes well

Jan 15, 2016 12:09 AM by rorcual

I'm so happy that another manga series by chica umino is getting an anime that I stopped caring which studio is animating it.

Jan 14, 2016 5:03 AM by Erin96

Seeing this title I can't help but think of the England national football team. '_'

I take it the anime's not about football teams crashing out in penalty shoot-outs? :3

Seriously though, that comment above mine sounds promising alright.

Jan 13, 2016 3:28 AM by Rachmaninow

This manga tugs heartstrings with its character's conflicts and beautiful but slightly melancholic story. Don't care what studio adapts it, will watch it regardless since the source material is great.

Jan 12, 2016 8:12 PM by KazuyaKiyoshi

The comments in this thread give me cancer.

I'm not the biggest fan of Shaft either (heck, according to graph.anime.plus, it's my third least favorite studio based on the weighted scores that I gave its shows), but that doesn't necessarily say anything about whether the show will be any good or not.

Judging the quality of the show based on the animation studio making it is dumb, IMO. Just because the studio has made good shows doesn't mean that everything it makes is going to be good, and just because it has made bad shows doesn't mean that everything it makes is going to be bad.

In other words, saying that it's going to be bad just because it'll be made by Shaft is equally as dumb as saying that it's going to be good just because it'll be made by Shaft. How about actually watching the show before making any assumptions about its quality?

As for me, the most common criticism I have regarding Shaft is that it uses style over substance a lot in its shows to the detriment of every other aspect even if I liked the source material, especially in the last few years, but it has made some shows that I liked and didn't have this flaw.

There's really not any way of knowing if the show will use style over substance, or if it will be good and not have this problem, so I'll just watch it and hope for the best.

Jan 12, 2016 12:35 PM by D-ohnuts

I like shaft so I think this will be interesting. If it will fit the series or not we'll see....
might actually read the manga before watching the series

Jan 11, 2016 9:58 AM by Vanessa-

Heh, I love how people get all salty on this when the mangaka herself is the one who specifically requested this studio and director.

Truth be told, I'm not familiar with this manga (as is usually the case), but at least I won't have any expectations, and it will make the manga readers' tears all the more delicious if they deem the adaptation unworthy. :D

I like the Shaft and Shinbou combination, so I expect good things to come from this.

Jan 11, 2016 9:51 AM by Firelord76

Dab1za9 said:
ah it turns out that the Mangaka was the one that choose Shaft and she even said either Shinbou direct it or don't do the anime adaption.

It would be great if Shinbou actually direct it and not just Chief Director like he usually is.

Hilarious way to shit on MAL's pretensions.

Jan 11, 2016 7:23 AM by JayBlue

Dab1za9 said:

Mayuka said:

source and translation?

Here is oricon article
http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2064944/full/

she says that she loves Shaft and Shinbo work and her dream was to have her work animated by shaft and that she is very happy.

Heh. Dis gun b gud.
The news gets better everytime i come in this thread.

Jan 7, 2016 8:50 PM by DatRandomDude

Ugh. Aniplex. This is getting even worse and worse.
Also, knowing Aniplex, I guess I won't be buying this one! $$$

Did Umino Chika really request Shinbo and SHAFT? I can't say I understand her decision, but if it's her own wishes, I'm not going to argue.

Jan 7, 2016 8:45 PM by Mormegil

Dab1za9 said:

Mayuka said:

source and translation?

Here is oricon article
http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2064944/full/

she says that she loves Shaft and Shinbo work and her dream was to have her work animated by shaft and that she is very happy.

It's pretty interesting that she'd request Shinbou of all directors and the fact that she loves them means that she knows what she's getting herself into. It could be just simple pleasantries, but her comments seem a bit excessive for that.

Apparently Shinbou tends to work closely with the author when working on anime, so maybe that was an incentive for her too. I'm still not confident that Shinbou will actually direct this, but now that he's been specifically asked for I guess there's a slight hope that he'll finally put back on his directing shoes for this one.

Jan 7, 2016 6:22 PM by Koybz

Mayuka said:

Dab1za9 said:
ah it turns out that the Mangaka was the one that choose Shaft and she even said either Shinbou direct it or don't do the anime adaption.

It would be great if Shinbou actually direct it and not just Chief Director like he usually is.

source and translation?

Here is oricon article
http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2064944/full/

she says that she loves Shaft and Shinbo work and her dream was to have her work animated by shaft and that she is very happy.

Jan 7, 2016 3:04 PM by Dab1za9

Dab1za9 said:
ah it turns out that the Mangaka was the one that choose Shaft and she even said either Shinbou direct it or don't do the anime adaption.

It would be great if Shinbou actually direct it and not just Chief Director like he usually is.

source and translation?

Jan 7, 2016 2:45 PM by Mayuka

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