(CR) 3-gatsu no Lion Season 2

[Marcus H.]

You know that feeling Rei. That feel when you've been protecting this girl in front of you and she shows that bright wide smile.

That's LOVE, mah boi.

[BWTraveller]

Originally Posted by grecefar

just wait and see if they animated the cuckoo bastard.

great chapters, I fell in love with this serie again.

I'm guessing math-wise they'll get to 89. Kind of hope they manage to extend two more chapters to 91 though. And then seriously give us a third season!

[MeoTwister5]

I'd like volume 10 to be animated for obvious reasons, but that's a discussion for the other thread.

[Stark700]

I actually like the poster for promoting Souya/Rei's match


ED card this week for the latest episode:

[Kanon]

Is the ED card by Tetsuo Hara? I imagine that's supposed to be Akari, but it looks nothing like her

[Wandering Soul]

Originally Posted by Kanon

Is the ED card by Tetsuo Hara? I imagine that's supposed to be Akari, but it looks nothing like her

Yeah, the CR subs say the illustration is by him.

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by Kanon

Is the ED card by Tetsuo Hara? I imagine that's supposed to be Akari, but it looks nothing like her

Yeah, a super muscled guy saying "You're already mated" would have looked more like Souya than that thing does Akari.

[SeijiSensei]

One of the best single episodes of anime I've watched in weeks. All my fears about Rei-kun having to deal with the public relations side of competitive Shougi were realized. Luckily for him Souya is such a doofus, or perhaps a demon, that it relieved Rei of any further social obligations. I love Hina, and I suffered with her every step of the way over the past few weeks, but I'm glad we're back to Shougi.

I don't think Rei was well-treated at all by the Shougi Association and the older players. They made no effort to prep him for the ordeal ahead, to tell him what will happen, and what they expect of him. No one discussed with him the range of possible questions he would be asked and what kinds of answers he might want to give. I know Japan gives kids lots of responsibilities and expects much of them, but the Association's treatment of Rei made a difficult event even more embarrassing for him.

Apparently the Shougi Association does not have the talents of one of the many attractive, well-dressed female publicists we see all the time in anime. She could have taken Rei under her wing and worked on his public self. I also missed seeing Rei discuss the matches with the Kawamotos, particularly Akari. I wished at one point that she had accompanied him to the matches. He would have benefited from her presence, but it might have been out of place.

I don't believe Rei will win. Anyone else, other than those of you who already know the answer of course, want to guess?

[nojay]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

I don't believe Rei will win. Anyone else, other than those of you who've already know the answer, want to guess?

Souya is a monster, he's going to win. The question is, how he wins and what happens afterwards.

The anime and manga series "Hikaru no Go" (recommended!) had the two young genius Go players Akira and Hikaru play ranking matches with their teachers, old and experienced 9-dan Go professionals... and they got trashed. They couldn't handle the pressure, basically and despite the way he's protrayed Souya is middle-aged if not older, he's a multiple title holder and he's won more games than Rei's had hot dinners at Akari's place.

For me Souya is the main character in this series, he's the most enigmatic and most interesting of them all. I'm sure there's yaoi slash doujins of Rei and Souya out there...

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by nojay

despite the way he's protrayed Souya is middle-aged if not older,

He's the same age as Shimada or Hayashida - 34 at the beginning of the series. 35 now?

[SeijiSensei]

Originally Posted by nojay

The anime and manga series "Hikaru no Go" (recommended!) had the two young genius Go players Akira and Hikaru play ranking matches with their teachers, old and experienced 9-dan Go professionals... and they got trashed. They couldn't handle the pressure

I remember those matches. One of my favorite examples of watching an older, more experienced player defeat an over-confident youngster comes in Chihayafuru. In the first season Chihaya plays a nice middle-aged lady who chimes out "Lucky!" all the time when she wins a card. In reality she is one shrewd customer. Chihaya is surprised to lose to such a seemingly innocuous opponent.

[Kanon]

I loved the Hina arc so much that I wasn't sure I was ready for the series to go back to focusing on Shogi. I feel so silly now. The show's writing is consistently stellar. I enjoyed this episode as much as the ones from the previous weeks. It did a great job portraying Rei's anxiousness, who I agree should have been prepared by somebody. Shimada even talked to the pres about how Rei and Souya don't like being in the spotlight, yet nothing was done to ease Rei in. It fits the pres' easy-going personality, I suppose.

Good job with Souya too. There's something very off about him, and I don't think that's only because he's a shogi monster. He didn't react at all when he knocked down the glasses, and his answers to the questions were totally off afterward, as if he were just reciting them. Waiting to see more of him, but I think we all already have an idea why he acted like that.

[BWTraveller]

"So you said that to Hinata?"
"... yes"
"And her response?"
"... she bit me..."

But yeah, something's up with Souya. He's literally out of it; it seems like he somehow entered a "state" where he doesn't really register the things he senses properly. He may feel and hear things, but he doesn't process them at all. I've heard of some forms of savant having issues with that in times of stress or high concentration... maybe he doesn't actually handle the attention as well as people think.

[grecefar]

souya a monster? a demon?, nah he's just god who descended to earth just because he wanted to play shogi.

[nojay]

Originally Posted by grecefar

souya a monster? a demon?, nah he's just god who descended to earth just because he wanted to play shogi.

He's not of this world. He's fey, as my mother would have said, touched by a different spirit. He's got a set of limited learned reactions to handle limited social situations, he knows the words to mouth and the way to smile but he can come off the rails so easily as he did when the wine was spilled on him at the pre-match affair.

Autistic, Asperger's, something like that perhaps? A savant at shogi, possibly he could have made his way in the world in other fields that require insane levels of concentration and logic but it is on a shogi board he lives and thus he lives for shogi.

Rei thinks he's good at shogi, he studies, he practices, he learns, he wins. The monster will eat him up and spit him out because he is a monster. I'm rather looking forward to the storm.

[Marcus H.]

Stellar depiction as the thing, not the person.
Seeing Souya described like this makes it really convincing that he's not from this world.
It doesn't matter if he's actually human or not. Rei has to prepare a shitton of willpower for this one.

[BWTraveller]

Originally Posted by nojay

Autistic, Asperger's, something like that perhaps? A savant at shogi, possibly he could have made his way in the world in other fields that require insane levels of concentration and logic but it is on a shogi board he lives and thus he lives for shogi.

Exactly what I was thinking, and a way that I sincerely believe he and Rei are somewhat the same. Rei clearly doesn't have as severe of an autism as Souya, but I'd say both have Asperger. Souya demonstrated the disconnect that sometimes happens here, and Rei's shown more demonstrations of Aspie behavior than I can count. Might be part of why I enjoy this show so much. Frankly, this is one of the best portrayals of the condition I've ever seen, whereas most end up making it look like practically a form of mental retardation.

[nojay]

Originally Posted by BWTraveller

Exactly what I was thinking, and a way that I sincerely believe he and Rei are somewhat the same. Rei clearly doesn't have as severe of an autism as Souya, but I'd say both have Asperger.

I'm not sure of a diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome in Rei's case. His mental set is generally anti-social and he finds it hard to fit in but he doesn't seem to have too much trouble decoding Humans, it's the appropriate responses required[1] that he can't cope with. He does tend to overthink things and possibly his unhealthy respect for the truth in human interactions doesn't help. He's coming out of his shell a lot though thanks to the Three Sisters and Annoying Fat Boy and some of the pros at the Association which isn't what happens with real Aspergers' cases.

[1] as an actual Aspie I've read said "the weird SYN/ACK protocols that people use aren't documented ANYWHERE!"

[BWTraveller]

Originally Posted by nojay

I'm not sure of a diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome in Rei's case. His mental set is generally anti-social and he finds it hard to fit in but he doesn't seem to have too much trouble decoding Humans, it's the appropriate responses required[1] that he can't cope with. He does tend to overthink things and possibly his unhealthy respect for the truth in human interactions doesn't help. He's coming out of his shell a lot though thanks to the Three Sisters and Annoying Fat Boy and some of the pros at the Association which isn't what happens with real Aspergers' cases.

[1] as an actual Aspie I've read said "the weird SYN/ACK protocols that people use aren't documented ANYWHERE!"

Actually, I'm one as well and that's part of where I got the idea that he's one. And yes, growth like this IS possible. I've seen it happen. If the person wants to change and works hard at it, change is indeed possible to an extent. And I'd have to differ with that statement about him not having trouble decoding humans. He's had all kinds of troubles in this field. For instance, when Hina had worked her butt off to prepare the best bento she could for her crush, then couldn't work up the courage to charge in and give it to him, Rei stood there in front of her completely baffled as to why she'd be crying so hard over a bento that had made her so happy a couple hours earlier. People have on several occasions made comments to him about his not really noticing things that he should notice. He has several times lamented about how he doesn't see or keeps losing sight of things that he realizes should be obvious. Even in this episode he notices for the first time the stress that Nikaido had picked up on from watching Shimada.

Not to mention that the people around him aren't the kind that would be hard to "decode" or easy to drive away. He has a loudmouth "rival" who shoves his feelings down Rei's throat, a couple of girls who are so kind and welcoming and forceful in their concern that he basically either figures out what they're telling him or has them make it clear as day, a teacher who's determined to help him with his unique situation, and a bunch of peers who treat him as much like a respected colleague as a friend. All of them are too kind to be bothered by his nature, like him too much, or happen to themselves be incredibly quirky and a little bit outcast, thus improving their connection.

For that matter, other aspects also fit well. There's his general weakness at displaying emotions, leading to kids calling him a robot when he was little, and sometimes leading to those emotions building up until they burst out like crazy, like when Nikaido shouted at him during a game commentary. There's his extreme fixation on a single subject, one that was kind of fortunate for him since it involves a minor degree of psychology/sociology that he can play without but benefits him to know, thus allowing him a source for practice and motivation. There's his ability to focus so hard on one thing that everything disappears, though this isn't shown to a terribly heavy degree. And then there's the fact that the little we know about his biological father indicates a nervous tic frequently indicative of autism, making it hereditary.

[nojay]

Psychologically analysing an anime character is maybe a waste of time but it can be entertaining...

Originally Posted by BWTraveller

For instance, when Hina had worked her butt off to prepare the best bento she could for her crush, then couldn't work up the courage to charge in and give it to him, Rei stood there in front of her completely baffled as to why she'd be crying so hard over a bento that had made her so happy a couple hours earlier.

He knew in that case that making the bento had made her happy but he lacked the social skills to comprehend why she was crying later. Symptomatic Aspergers sufferers wouldn't recognise that state of happiness in others in the first place as the connection isn't there, the translation breaks down. See Souya for a really clear case of disconnection from the human world. As he is written in the anime he has no friends at all, no-one close to him. Even in the bad old days, after his family were killed Rei had his adoptive father to connect to and since then he's acquired relationships with other people he can interact with socially outside his focus areas.

Focus and ability within a very narrow field has become a fiction hallmark of Asperger's and even autism (the savant in Rain Man) but the social disability that goes along with it, rarely shown clearly in such works of fiction has been co-opted to label people who have deep focus and are socially inept[1] rather than being truly unable to comprehend human behaviours and respond to them flexibly and appropriately with the syndrome.

[1] I have a Black Belt in the martial art of Faux Pas.