How complex is this?

Chiribei said:
Yes, there's a lot to take in outside of the shogi, however, there are some cases where shogi is used to symbolise things outside of shogi... it's difficult to explain without spoiling plot points, but I think you'll understand eventually. Make sure you pay attention and read the subtitles closely, because dialogue and symbolism are big parts of how the themes, both the more direct themes and the obscure ones, of Sangatsu are presented.

It has all the usual staples of Shinbou's direction, basically. If you've been able to make sense of his other directorial works, you shouldn't have too much trouble making sense of Sangatsu either.

Chiribei said:

Shaft has nothing to do with the writing, that's not what I was talking about when I mentioned Shaft and Shinbou. Umino and anime screenplay writer Yukito Kizawa are obviously the people yo thank for how good the writing is.

However, while some of it is still owed to Umino's art in the manga, there are also visual elements of symbolism that are unique to the anime because they were brought in from their experience with adding similar elements to other anime.

I separated talking about the writing and Shaft's contribution to the anime between two paragraphs for a reason; because they're intended as separate points, I didn't just separate them because I felt like it. I'm not saying they're the whole reason it's good.

The animation studio doesn't write the anime. Crediting Shaft for the "bad" writing in Monogatari and Madoka is really telling about your knowledge of how the anime industry operates, or more accurately, your lack of it.