I think I heard that this turned into a movie which peeked my interest. The idea of someone controlling the weather also sounded pretty cool so I decided to check this book out. So Hodaka runs away to the city of Tokyo when he meets the very girl who controls the weather and from then on this book turns out to to be a very good start. I thought this book was a nice introductory and enough makes me what to learn more about these characters and what's in store for the following books.

'Weathering With You, Vol. 1' by Makoto Shinkai with art by Wataru Kubota us a manga about a young man who runs away to Tokyo and the odd characters he meets along the way.

Hodaka runs away for his own reasons to the big city of Tokyo. Along the way, he meets a man who helps him out, but seems suspiciously shady. He is helped out by a young woman named Hina who feeds him. He discovers in Hina a strange gift she has to dry up the rain and make the sun come out. How their relationship develops is the main plot of this volume.

I liked the story, and didn't realize there was a movie. I felt like the story meandered a bit and introduced things that aren't that important to the main plot, at least not so far. I liked the art also. Hina is definitely a more interesting character than Hodaka at this point.

I received a review copy of this manga from Kodansha USA and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this manga.

A great manga companion to the "Weathering With You movie"! I absolutely loved the film! The manga differs slightly, but the essence of the story is preserved. I'm also happy to enjoy more of Makoto Shinkai's artwork, which is gorgeous.

ARC was provided by NetGalley and Vertical Comics in exchange for an honest review.

This review is being published after the release date (September 22nd, 2020)

Content/Trigger Warnings: Homelessness, physical assault, gun violence, mentions loss of loved ones


Did I request this manga because I loved Your Name? Yes. Did I completely fall down a rabbit hole reading this manga and therefore need to know what’s going to happen next? Also, yes! I really loved Your Name. It was a very emotional, whimsical series and movie. So naturally my interest was at an all high when I saw this was available for request. And this book didn’t disappoint! It fully captured my heart and I think many manga readers are going to fall in love with this series, if they haven’t already!

We follow a boy named Hodaka, who’s run away from the island he grew up on, fleeing to the Kabukichō neighborhood of Tokyo to start a new beginning. However, Hodaka finds himself struggling to adjust to the new city and all the gloomy weather. Until he comes across a girl named Hina, who has a the special ability to bring out the sun, also known as a sunshine girl. Together they’ll turn Hina’s ability into a means of helping Hina gather funds to support herself and younger sibling, but Hodaka is keeping secrets and Hina is keeping her own.

“All this time, I think… I was chasing the light that you bring, Miss Hina.”

I loved these characters so much. They’re not your typical main characters who are fierce warriors or magical beings. They’re just two kids who come from rough backgrounds, trying to survive in the big world. I love when characters are just like everyone else, but we get to see their hardships, they’re struggles. It makes those characters feel more realistic and easier to connect to. And of course, the story line that pulls these two characters together is so beautifully woven. I loved seeing the small pieces of Japanese myths and legends tie in to the events happening and the characters.

Just like Your Name, Weathering with You has underlying themes to it. Looking at Hina’s character in this book, he character is designed to show the weight that women often carry. Women are often expected to provide warmth, comfort, and happiness, more time than most being the caregiver of the household. Now, I don’t want to spoil too much (especially for the anime), but the author does a brilliant job of showing this and how if affects women, how much energy the deplete from themselves, and the toll it begins to take on their bodies. I thought it was so beautifully done and I think this book shows the beginning of that process really well.

And of course, I have to talk about how stunning the art style is because it is gorgeous! The beginning of this arc we have one to two pages of colored art and it is everything. That alone had me gasping for breath. It so beautiful and I wish more manga had more little glimpses into colored panels. Even the black and white panels just really had an extra emphasis on the events happening throughout the book. The illustrator of this book is truly talented and I can’t wait to see what they’ll do next!

Overall, I really enjoyed this manga with my whole heart. I think the story line does a fantastic job hooking the attention of the reader, pricking the curiosity of those who want to know more. It truly is a beautiful story and I can’t recommend this graphic novel enough. I hope my fellow manga readers will be picking this series up and if you haven’t checked out this series yet, please do. It truly is wonderful!


The quotes above were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.

I'll be honest. I haven't seen the movie yet but from volume 1 of the manga I can tell I'll love it. Makoto Shinkai weaves a wonderful story and creates likable characters to move the story along. I will be buying this when it comes out.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Kodansha Comics!

I think I really do have to thank Netgalley and Kondasha Comics for this copy, as I would never have picked this up otherwise. I think I did see the anime around, and I was mildly aware that it's by the same guy who wrote Your Name (which I love), but I wasn't as enthralled. Upon reading this first volume however, I've become intrigued.

The concept of the Sunshine Girl and mysterious weather phenomenon is interesting. It has a supernatural feel, yet at the same time, there's a grittiness to the Tokyo setting that makes it feel more realistic in contrast.

But so far, the first volume (and probably the beginning of the movie too) is slow - intriguing, but slow.

⨳3.5⨳
I need to know what happens next asap! I’ve already added the movie to my weekend playlist~

I basically requested it because I love “Your Name” and that cover art is so beautiful!
The first volume does what it should- pulls you in, keeps you close, and leaves you wanting more.

The story is pretty simple. 16-year-old Hodaka runs away from his home on an island and comes to Tokyo. life gets brutal and just then he meets a mysterious girl Hina, a ”Sunshine Girl” who has powers to change the weather and make the world bathe in the clear light. But her powers come with a cost.

There’s enough catch and captivity in the story that keeps you reading along with the interesting side characters which add to it.

I also loved the landscape arts here of Tokyo and the serene island. As an occasional landscape sketcher, they caught my eyes and I do want to replicate some of the scenes.

If I had to review for the whole series, I feel it would definitely be 4.5 star rating but since it’s the first one without much of revelation, I’ll go with 3.5.

Thanks to NetGalley and Kodansha Comics for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

A manga with an odd but appealing premise of nearly-constant rain, possibly-real enormous creatures related to an unnatural level of rain, and a "sunshine girl." Good though not extraordinary art and writing. If we had a better budget this year I might buy this, but it's quirky in a way that won't have high appeal for most of our readers.

I got this ARC from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange of my honest review.

In the same mood of "Your Name", this manga starts really slow and the mystery remains around the main characters all along this first volume. We have Hodaka a boy who runs away from his island to Tokyo where he struggles to adjust to this new city with its bad weather, he meets Hina a girl that has some special powers: she is able to bring sunshine. The story gots intersting from this point, the reader is eager to know what's going to happen with these kids, what is the story of Hodaka and what will be the price to pay for Hina to have such powers.

It is so intriguing, you just have to know what's going to happen next and it's impossible to stop at the first volume.
I really liked it as much as I liked "You Name" and "5 Centimeters per Second" by the same author. His books are so captivating and beautiful in their own style. I got hooked to Makoto Shinkai's work with "5 centimenters per Second" which is my fovorite of all his books. It was enjoyable even with the long slow pace of the story developement.

<i>arc provided by the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review</i>

This was beautiful but in an almost sad way. I think it felt like that to me because I have a guess for something that’s going to happen in the next volume or two that I think will drastically change the story and our main character.

The whole weather aspect was interesting to me especially The Sunshine Girl. I hope we get to see more of how all of that works and how it came to be or if it has always been like that for the world in this series.

I liked our main character but he didn’t really stand out to me. I felt myself more drawn to the mythology of it all over caring about what he was up to or feeling.

Overall, this was an alright start to the series and I am interested in continuing!

3/5 ⭐️

Weathering with you, is one of my favorite Makotoa Shinkai films. I've loved his work since Voices from a distant star. This manga expands on the universe he created with the movie is a way fans will feel embraced by something familiar while still getting some new insight.

It's simply just beautiful, and a bright ray if sunshine as cliched as that may be.

Thank you to NetGalley, Kodansha USA, Makoto Shinkai (author), and Wataru Kubota (illustrator) for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Having read the light novel and seen the film, what I can say about Weathering With You as a story is that it's not as awe-inspiring as Your Name, but it is definitely a beautiful work from Makoto Shinkai.

Weathering With You is about a boy who runs away from his island life to Tokyo, seeking work. He ends up meeting a Sunshine Girl, a girl who can pray and the sun comes out (this version of Tokyo gets an abnormal amount of rain). When Hodaka starts to really care about Hina, he learns something a bit devastating about the fate of a Sunshine Girl.

The manga version has beautiful artwork and the translation and order of events are presented in a slightly different way than that of the film or the light novel. The changes are appreciated, and having experienced this story in three different mediums has been quite a joyous experience. The movie and manga are far superior to the light novel, but both movie and manga are equal in their storytelling and absolute beauty. The amount of detail drawn in each panel to really create awe with the weather and backgrounds is stunning. This was a great manga and feels like it will be a two-volume set. I would highly recommend this novel for any Shinkai fan, someone who has or has not seen the film, or anyone looking for a story about young love and sacrifice with a mythical twist.

This is a solid story that I will pursue in visual media when it becomes available that way. Unfortunately I’m not sure this resonated well for me in a manga format given the pacing constraints of the medium. Trying to convey so much without the additional movement or sound means you can lose a lot of context. I liked the premise, and the chapters in neat bundles were nice by themselves. I just did not care for the connections or breaks in connection that seemed to occur with every chapter transition.

Review to come somewhere in October (my schedule is just filled up) on blog/Goodreads.

I received this manga from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

I so so so need to watch the movie, but it never aired in any big cinemas here, I believe there were a couple tiny ones, but none close by. Hopefully I can one day watch it because I am a big big fan of Makoto Shinkai. I am glad I got the chance to at least read this manga and boy I loved it, hopefully I can also read the other books in the series.

This one is about a world where it, apparently, constantly rains. Wow, I am glad I don't live there, because that would just make me sad.

Meet Hodaka, he decides to run away from his home to the big city of Tokyo. We later do find out a bit more about why he did that. I did love seeing him find his way in the big city. Try to find a job, a place to live. Which isn't easy because he isn't old enough for everything. But he does manage to find something, and along the way he makes friends as well. I loved how he quickly managed to find a safe place. I do hope that one day we will go back to his island and see his family and friends. We did manage to see some of his classmates, before he quickly ran away.

One of the people he meets is Hina. A girl who can make the sun shine through praying. At least it seems that she needs to be praying for it. I found it an amazing power, one that certainly would be loved in a world that is plagued by rain and water monsters. But, I quickly noticed that things weren't easy for her, that this power may do something to her that won't be good in the end. We see her tire, emotions go up and down. I wonder what the power of bringing this sunshine does to her and what the ominous warning was that we see later on when a duo goes to find out more about weather maidens. Knowing Makoto Shinkai... it will probably get very sad and emotional. I will be having tissues present when I read the rest of the series.

I did love the business they made and the looks on the people they help was amazing and had me smiling so much. People could finally have some fun without having to worry about the rain.

The drama near the end had me rolling my eyes though. Come on both of you...

I found it very interesting that it rains so much, and not only that, that there are rain/water beings around that make the weather even worse. I am curious what happened to have this weather change so drastically.

The art is really pretty and I love the style.

I would definitely recommend this book to all.

A girl can somehow control the weather but only by making the sun come out on rainy days. A boy is escaping his village and trying to make it in Tokyo. This took nearly 200 pages to tell? It's a very shaky story that's underdeveloped, too simple, and unsatisfying in its lack of explanation for the girl's powers or what the boy is trying to do and why he's escaping his home. I feel like a lot of this should've been edited down and more built upon, but, like a lot of mangas, they're designed for longevity, so I expect we'll get the full story over 55 books when it should really only take a couple, if that. Disappointing.

I've seen the Weathering With You movie, so I was interested in seeing how this works as a manga. Gladly this works and is quite steady too! High schooler Hodaka used to live on an island, but decided to run away and now is by himself on a boat. There he meets a man, who helps him, and eventually arriving in Tokyo Hodaka ends up working for the man, since he needs the money. Hodaka does odd jobs and also begins to write an article about myths and thus meets Hina, who's a sunshine girl. Her power is sunshine, but the god of weather needs a payment. The manga follows the movie quite nicely although felt slightly out of place. The rhythm isn't the best and the panels feel detached at times. I don't know how long the manga will be, but this first part takes up most of the movie already.

The art looks nice and fits with the movie, so this surely is a tie-in no matter how you look at it. It's not a bad thing, but perhaps I wished more of the weather myth and such, since it's slightly thin compared to the movie. My Japanese friend told me I'm a hare hito, a sun person, since it never rained when we met. Thus this story has a dear place in my heart! Weathering With You is a good manga version still though and if you liked the movie, you'll like this too.

Loved the anime, loved this manga. As expected and so much more from Makoto Shinkai. This heartwarming story of a young boy and a young girl making sunny miracles is a great read.

4.5 stars. Whimsical, yet...not exactly brutal, but darker than I expected. I adored the concept of the Sunshine Girl, but I fear the dark underbelly of this story will likely bring me to tears. A tear through the pages read that has me desperately wanting more.

Definitely recommended.

Hodaka runs away from his island home to Tokyo. He is homeless for a while, and during this time a girl gives him a hamburger. Later, he saves this girl from a guy who is trying to take advantage of her. They get away after Hodaka almost shoots the man in the face. Hodaka then finds out the the girl, Hina, has the power to affect the weather. They make a business out of creating sunshine for special occasions. The volume ends with an ominous feeling as Hina seems to be getting more tired and the authorities are looking for Hodaka.

Weathering With You is, quite obviously, from the creators of Your Name. And not in a bad way.
The story starts off with a boy who ran away from home to live in Tokyo, from there the story progresses (as much it can in just the first volume!) very typically for the genre. It's wholesome, it's raw, it's dancing on the edge of a real-life story. I'm definitely going to be reading the upcoming volumes.
The art style is vey nice and clean, again very obviously similar to Your Name, and I like it a lot.
I'd recommend this manga to anyone who's interested in the premise, as it's starting off quite strong.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Kodansha USA for providing me with an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.*