Nope nope nope. This was gross and weird. And it had virtually no plot.

Manga (and anime) really need to throw out the concept of sexualizing literal children and romanticizing totally inappropriate relationships.

I'm generally not a fan of age-gap romances, but some people recommended I give After the Rain Volume 1 a chance. I still found myself not really liking this story, but I appreciate Jun Mayuzuki's ability to tell an intriguing story.

After the Rain is in the grey zone for better or worse. Some will like it and others will find it creepy for sure. I do like how bold it is though. Akira Tachibana is 17 and in love with her boss at work. Aside from school, she works part time at a family restaurant, where the manager is 45 years old divorced man with a kid. The setting is surely juicy, since Tachibana is so serious with her feelings and I like it's her having the feelings and they feel genuine. The boss, Masami Kondo, starts to respond to her feelings already in these first two books and this feels slimy. I wish he would've just not responded on any level and tried to make her see how this thing doesn't and won't ever work. That would've been refreshing!

The art looks really nice and beautiful. The rhythm is great and the atmosphere is nice, thank god. Still, I hope this won't go where this seems to be going. Otherwise it's just your basic "old dude and sexy young girl" setting we've seen too many times already.

I was drawn in by the beautiful art style on the cover. The premise of a 17-year-old high school student falling in love with her 45-year-old manager initially made me uncomfortable, yet I really appreciated the art style. The conflicting feelings I had while reading this manga made me want to continue the series.

The slow-building slice-of-life story explores the theme of standing still in life, and I enjoyed seeing it portrayed in various ways through the different characters. The mood of the book is powerful, and I was moved by the characters' thoughts and emotions, even in scenes with no dialogue.

Overall, I found the story to be emotional, exploring themes such as self-love, fears, and bravery. While the pacing may be slow at times, it adds to the realism of the story.

”After the Rain, Vol 1” by Jun Mayuzuki is a lovely, slow-building slice-of-life about living in the now, but also about moving forward.

Tachibana is 17 years old and has a crush on her 45- year old manager at her workplace. There is nothing about this guy that screams a hunk or admirable or anything. He's a middle-aged man who has a shitty job, he's a divorcee, and at that point in life where everything is moving in slow-motion - in particular himself. He's most likely dealing with a midlife crisis. What she sees in him is unknown, but we know that Tachibana is going through a life crisis herself too.

We have other characters that support the theme of standing still in life. I love when a story explores a theme in multiple ways. It makes you feel closer to the characters and their world.

I would say that this is a book full of mood. There were whole pages where you had no text to support you, yet the feelings and thoughts of the characters were clear and moving.

I have no idea where the story will go from here, but I look forward to seeing the characters find a bit of happiness.

If you like this story, you will like ”BL Metamorphosis” by Kaori Tsurutani too.

I very much enjoyed this. It made me feel like it could have been a movie from the late 90s early 2000s staring Kirsten Dunst. Which is a great compliment from me, I lived off those movies.

The premise of the book is a young girl is infatuated with her boss. There appears to be lots of boys her age trying to get her attention but she only has eyes for her boss. Vol 1 kind of ends in a cliff hanger of sorters, definitely making the reader want to know what happens next.

To be honest, this book made me uncomfortable. Don't get me wrong, I still found some positives: I liked the style of the drawings, the writing was quite concise and precise. On the other hand, I had a lot of trouble enjoying the story or getting into it. The romantic relationship between the two protagonists is a big part of it. I can't understand how in the 21st century we can still write about relationships between adults and minors. Even if in this volume we don't know yet in which direction their relationship is going to go, and that the 45 year old man is still reluctant to date the 17 year old girl, I still find it disturbing.

After the Rain follows the story of a 17-year-old high school girl who doesn't relate to her classmates and has a crush on her 45-year old boss, the manager of a local restaurant. I like the art style and feel that it fits the slice of life vibes this story was going for, but I did have problems with the setup that this first volume establishes that ultimately made this a 2.5 star star-read.

I enjoy reading age gaps as a trope in romance, but I felt that this one was too big from the get-go. I knew the gap going in, but I was hoping there would be a buildup to the attraction from both sides. Instead, right at the start, we learn that the FMC, Tachibana has had a crush on Kondou, her boss, and over the book, we follow her as she goes to school, interacts with classmates, and also goes to work. She reminisces what she likes as her "type" to fellow classmates and interacts with her co-workers, where type is also brought up there. Even if FMC is seemingly more mature than her classmates, we never really get to see what made MMC special to her specifically that it kind of dampened the experience for me, as I really wanted to know more about her thoughts too. I did appreciate the history that we get of her with running, etc. and interactions with friends though.

Because yes, ultimately the MMC IS likeable in the sense that he has a kind personality, and even though he's very self-detrimental, and others can see him as pathetic, I really appreciated his POV because he immediately realizes that it's awkward too, yet wants to not hurt Tachibana, while also we see that he's a bit self-conscious whenever she looks at him because he misunderstands her expressions and thinks that she looks at him in disgust when in fact it's the opposite.

That could absolutely be a fun dynamic, but things got a bit stunted here because on TOP of this, the other major thing that I didn't like about this setup is that FMC had TWO other guys interested in her immediately: Yoshizawa, a fellow classmate who's got a puppy personality and tries his best to get to know FMC, and Kase, another co-worker who didn't really do much until the second half when he realizes FMC's crush on Kondou, to which he (major spoilers, CW)(view spoiler). It matched the kind of trope that Kase represents, but it felt out of place especially when it's the only scene painted in color.

So overall, while the art and slice of life vibes was nice, and that it did set up the main characters, I didn't like the pacing and didn't like that all three of her love interests were introduced right away on top of her also confessing her crush to her boss.

I generally thought there would much more romance and pining between these two main characters that this would feel a little naughty. However it just didn't read that way and was just weird. Not even creepy which I thought it might have turned out that way. I also found that the narrative would jump and sections wouldn't make sense to me.

After the Rain is a beautiful and very thoughtful story of a highschooler who has a crush on her boss. It’s such an easy read and a simple story that I cannot not recommend it. The art is on another level; it’s beautiful.

The main characters, Tashibana (the high schooler) and Kondo (the boss) both kind of use each other to grow and understand the world better. I guess this relationship needs to exist for both of them, but they also need to “wake up” from this dream and realize what’s happening around them.

I honestly think it is a sweet story and hope to read more!

Book Review
Title: After the Rain Vol 1 by Jun Mayuzuki
Genre: Manga, Romance, Contemporary
Rating: 4.25 Stars
The only thing I can compare this manga to is Comi Can’t Communicate since it has a similar premise with the main character, Akira Tachibana being too shy to confess her feelings to her manager at work, Masami Kondo. The only difference is that instead of being a high school romance, Kondo is 45 and has a young son while Tachibana is only 17 and I do love me a good age gap romance.
This was very slice of life so there isn’t much to really discuss about the volume but it was nice to see some diversity in the romance manga coming out recently. Tachibana has been aware of her feelings for her boss for some time but unable to communicate them while Kondo is completely clueless as he doesn’t believe that someone young and beautiful like Tachibana could possibly be interesting in a middle-aged divorced man.
Over the course of the manga we get to see Tachibana confess and go on her first date with Kondo as well as making a connection with his son. It was full of humour and light-hearted moments which is exactly what I needed after Chainsaw Man and I can’t wait to see where this series goes in the future.

Thank you NetGalley and Kodansha Comics, Vertical Comics for giving me the opportunity to read this.
I took one look at the art style on the front cover of this and instantly wanted to read it. I have never watched the anime. I wasn't even aware it was popular. I have never heard of this manga series before, either. I have to say, the premise is quite problematic, and the sexualization of Akria, the main character, is uncomfortable. That being said, nothing inappropriate happens in this manga. For that, I am grateful. This manga has me feeling intense inner conflict. The art style is absolutely gorgeous. Honestly, there are moments of humor that break up the uncomfortable parts. Also, I know girls sometimes crush on adult men. The Boss doesn't act on any feelings about Akira, and he sees her as manifestation of youth and innocence. I think I will continue this series. Until it becomes inappropriate, (maybe it never will. I'm not sure) I will read it. The art style and conflicting feelings will drive me to keep reading. As for an audience beyond myself, I think most of my teenage girl students would find this manga concept odd or icky. Most wouldn't read it, and a lot of the teenage boys don't engage with slice of life manga. So, I'm not 100% sure who the target audience is for this manga. 🤔

After the Rain Vol. 1 by Jun Mayuzuki
⭐⭐⭐/5

Akira Tachibana is a 17 year old student with a part-time job as a waitress at a family restaurant. She has a secret though, she's in love with her 45 year old manager. When she confesses her feelings for him, he tries to do what he can to discourage her to no avail. Instead, all his efforts lead her to like him even more. Will she win his affection in the end?

So let's start with the obvious... This book is a turn-off from the description alone. I don't want to read a romance between a 17 year old and 45 year old. Even in the book, they mention how it's illegal and her manager is freaked out by it. Thankfully, it seems like it's going to be a case of unrequited love. Of course, this is only the first volume, so I don't know exactly how it will unfold, but in this volume at least, he does not seem the least bit interested. I will say that it was a unique manga from what I've read before and I didn't dislike it. With that being said, I don't think I'll pick up the rest of the series.

I liked this first volume, so far. I don't really like age gap romances because I think that it's creepy but I'm willing to see where this goes. If it does actually cross over into them having a relationship though, I'm out.

Thanks NetGalley and Kodansha Comics for access to this arc.

1/5 stars for the ick factoooorrrr

I requested this without thoroughly reading through the description of this, and I have now learned my lesson lmao always read the description to the end before requesting!!!!

I tried to finish this, but I just couldn't get through it with the fact our two main characters are a 17 year old girl and a 45 year old man. I did google the end to see if they end up together and **SPOILERS**theydon't**SPOILERS** so I tried to finish it based on knowing they won't cross that gross line, but I just can't. The art is nice, but I have to DNF this at about 2/3 of the way through.

I am typically not one for age gap romance (as it can become very problematic, very quickly), and it is possible that this will take on those tropes down the line, but there's a charm to After the Rain that's undeniable. The characters are likable and relatable, especially the boss, and the art is absolutely breathtaking. I may not venture much further than volume one, as I'm a bit concerned about where this may go down the road, but as an entry point into this world this is a fine read.

Omg, I absolutely loved this book! It was absolutely wholesome. Even though most of the book was written from Akira's point of view, I loved reading the small snippets from her boss's point of view, Although Akira is not fully able to explain why she is attracted to her boss, their interactions seem very well meaning. I liked that her boss seemed respectful of her and cautious with the age gap. However, I thought the author did a good job portraying their interactions in a positive light.

After the Rain is an age-gap romance. Readers be warned that the age gap is 17 and 45. All that being said, while the manga focused a lot on Akira Tachibana's feelings for her manager, I didn't find this story particularly romantic. I found myself more interested in the character's themselves than in their romance. Akira is a quiet and stoic character who both attracts and intimidates others unintentionally. Meanwhile, her manager is jaded yet compassionate, a goofball, and misses his youth. In fact, I really like the manager as a character. He is very well-written and I appreciate that he isn't glamorized as someone rich and attractive, but as a bit of a loser.

Because the manager is such a well-written character, it is quite disappointing when he falls short of being a responsible and morally good person, when he doesn't reject Akira's feelings outright. As of right now, I don't know how the relationship between these two plays out for the rest of the series, but if the series touches upon the fact that Akira's manager may only be interested in her because he's missing his youth/because he is lacking as an individual and desperately trying to find fulfillment (in one of the worst ways possible, let's be honest), then I think this could be a really good series. I would really love to see an exploration of the psychology of Akira and her manager, and what is pulling them towards each other. For Akira is it just idolization mistaken for romance? A need to fill a void now that she can't participate in her favorite sport? And for her manager, is he trying to fill a void as well? Does he genuinely care about her, or are his feelings just his battered ego looking for consolation?

As of right now, I just don't buy that these two have romantic feelings for each other. We never see Akira and her manager bond over anything, or see any commonality between them. All we really see is Akira's crush, and her manager longing for his youth.

I decided to go into this manga blind since I loved Jun Mayuzuki's other series, Kowloon Generic Romance. The art is fantastic in this series and it's nice to see the mangaka's older art style. I do not like age gap romances, so I could never connect to the plot or find myself really enjoying this manga.

The manga itself is a light-hearted slice of life story that moves at a slower pace. I enjoyed the main character Tachibana and her glare/RBF that confused everyone around her to what she was actually thinking. Everything else from the male lead, plot and romance ended up falling flat and not working for me.

Thank you to Kodansha Comics (Vertical Comics) and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley & Kodansha for letting me read a copy of this manga in exchange for an honest review

First of all, I love the art style. I would love to read more from this manga-ka.
However, I do think the age gap is.....messy. especially with the FMC being a minor. Not even 18.
I will say this is the first volume, and this might take a different turn but so far it's not very promising so I do not think it is for me