**ARC provided by NetGalley for honest review**

After the Rain 1 by Jun Mayuzuki is just as pure and sweet as I remember from the anime. At its core, this story follows an ex-track team runner who has a crush on the boss at her work and it progresses from there. There is also themes of age comparison, community, sports, health, and depression at times, so it feels very real and raw. This is also a shorter series coming in at 10 volumes completed, so it wouldn't take too long to finish the story in its entirety. The artwork is truly lovely in this series as well, and the characters are as moving, complex, and varied as in real life. Would recommend checking this one out if you have a chance.

Quickly, you get through this first volume of a series which seems pretty interesting to me. I am kind of looking forward how the story between Masami and Akira unfolds over the series.

2.5 stars.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an ARC of this manga.

This wasn't as bad as I was expecting, but I still didn't like it a lot... I already don't really like age gaps to begin with, but this one is so big it's a bit difficult to ignore. So yeah, don't know if I'm going to continue this series because I'm scared it's gonna go in a bad direction. Glad I read it tho!

First off I am a huge fan of Jun Mayuzuki's manga, but this one doesn’t really hook me. The art is stunning 🤩 but the story…. The relationship feels inappropriate, and I just don’t get what Akira really see in her boss. I really didn’t care for the story.
Rating 1 ⭐️⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this manga to review!

I will start by saying I am a huge fan of Jun Mayuzuki's manga, Kowloon Romance, and own all of the volumes available in the USA. I have known about After the Rain for a long time, however it was often out of stock at my local bookstores and not available at any local libraries, so it was a title that I never really looked into. I was very excited for the chance to review this title when I saw it pop up here on NetGalley. Just like Kowloon Romance, I was blown away by the art, story, and characters in After the Rain. The subject matter may not be for everyone, but I am interested in seeing how the story will progress. Age gap romances, especially when it is a large age gap, can be complex, yet bring about stories with the best character development. I liked this first volume so much that I ended up buying the whole series so I could continue reading. I definitely recommend this title!

Sometimes I pick up books solely because it's something a teenage Sam would have sought out and read. So being that there was a time when I consumed EVERY "May/December" Romance Manga I could get my hands on when I came across one that didn't look too terrible, I acquiesced and read some of it.

Characters: Akira...feels one-dimensional in many ways... Nothing much more then than what we see in the synopsis... A girl (literally) who is in love with her Boss...
We could make a leap and say Akira is in the throws of Grief and Depression due to her crippling injury, which took away her passion for running. So she instead turned her fervor on the next thing that shone even the slightest bit of light into her life, Boss/Kondo.
To make it worse, Boss doesn't have much personality, either. Nothing that makes you as a reader go, OH, this is why she is interested in him.

Even if Akira were ten years older, it would feel like this relationship was inappropriate.

The one thing I enjoyed about this manga was the scene where they both stand under a tree and suddenly Kondo feels young again, like he could be young and in love again. It would have been charming in any other Manga; it just couldn't hit the same in this manga.

Would I recommend it?
No. There ends up being nothing super appealing about it.

Ein wirklich schöner Manga.
Mich hat die Geschichte zwischen den beiden sehr berührt.
Wirklich toll gemacht.
Diesen Manga kann ich aufjeden fall weiter empfehlen.

I need more of this now ! Firslty I was talk about the art style !
Its so gorgeous, Ive went and ordered the first couple of volumes just so I can flick through and look at them.
This was a fabulous first volume ! I cant wait to read more.

I enjoyed this manga story with all of the characters within. The main character was Akira Tachibana.

Akira Tachibana is a 17 year old girl that has a crush on the manager at her work. She works at a family restaurant.The manager is name is Masami Kondo he is divorce and has a kid. During a rain storm she tells the manager that she like him.

This was fun to read. It had action and drama throughout. It had a few giggles within. The illustrations follow that story where good. This is the first book in the series.

I received a complimentary copy via Netgalley. This is my honest unbiased opinions.

I'm not completely sure how I feel about this. On the one hand I like Akira and the Boss and Yoshikawa. I have a feeling where the story is going, but I can't be sure. I'm just hoping that Boss and Akira don't actually end up together because of the huge age-gap. The art is nice, and I like the humor. Absolutely hate Kase (which I believe is the point). Anyways. I'm curious to see where it's all going.

4.5/5 stars, the drawing was soooo good and well illustrated. As for the story, I am not the type to like romance between middle aged men and teenagers but am intrigued I love the storyline and how slow it is. I love the black cat (the girl) and the half golden retriever and black cat energy (the men), loved the backstories of both. I am sooooo excited for part two I can’t wait to see what will happen. Ps the long hair chef I kinda want to murder him 😅. Also, finished this book in less than an hour. Can’t wait for part two again 🤎

Sorry am bad with names

I received this arc in exchange for an honest review.
I loved this slow burn romance manga. It was a quick read and I can't wait to pick up the next volume.

:( I found the plot appealing, but I would have liked if the main character's personality wasn't based too much and almost all the time on her crush for her boss. I mean, it's not even explained why she likes him, well, maybe the attempt is given by not showing her father... so maybe that's why? Anyway, it still reads very fast and the writing is agile.

Thank you to Netgalley and Kodansha for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was a cute short read. I like the slow burn relationship in this. Its not overly romantic or cringey, its more of two people trying to form a connection with each other. Its sweet and melancholic at the same time.

An interesting story that keeps you engrossed till the end.Akira is an interesting character who had to quit her favourite sport due to injury that not only affected her body but her mind too.What follows is a gripping journey towards light accompanied by well carved characters

Akira Tachibana is a 17 year old high school student, an ex runner, who also works as a waitress at a diner. The basic plot is that she is in love with her boss, a 45 year old dude, divorced, with a little kid. I’ve read quite a few age-gap romances in my time and usually the age-gap doesn’t bother me. Usually. Apparently it bothers me quite a lot when one of the characters is a minor. And I remember I watched the anime when it was coming out and it worked better then the manga. The anime had such a beautiful atmosphere that it captured my attention completely. The manga though… it felt bland. Especially the guy character, it didn’t feel like he had much of a personality, I also didn’t like it that he didn’t refuse her right away, he is older so he should know better. Side characters were meh, especially that dude from the diner that was dreaming of raping Tachibana, like what the hell. The art was pretty though, I’ll give it that, but I won’t be continuing with the series.
Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I want to thank Kodansha and Netgalley for an eARC of this volume in exchange for an honest review.

This is a 2 in 1 volume. I've watched the anime and this volume is not past the anime, so basically I knew what was going to happen in this. Still, I did find it to be a good story. There are a few times where I'm dubious at the projected outcome of this story. This has the potential to be a great story or a horrible one. I like the relationship that Tachibana has with the boss, the idea behind the story, but I would NOT like it if this actually became romantic. This first volume is good, and I just hope that the story continues in the vein for the rest of the story.

After the Rain centers on a relationship between a teenage girl, Akira Tachibana, and her older divorced boss, Masami Kondo. The manga is quite purposeful in placing this relationship as not quite romantic but not quite as friendly as Kondo insists it is. This can be an understandable barrier for readers who are uncomfortable with that sort of push-and-pull between a child and an adult. Admittedly I also put this one off for similar reasons though seeing the volume up on Netgalley ahead of Jun Mayuzuki's TCAF appearance pushed me to finally take the plunge. Since then, I've ended up reading the entire series and found it a pretty masterful human drama in which we follow two people who manage to change each other's lives for the better.

This is worth a read for fans of Mayuzuki's currently serialized series, Kowloon Generic Romance, just to see how much her art and writing has improved. I'd imagine it also has some crossover with fans of another Vertical series, My Boy by Hitomi Takano, which centers on an older woman who befriends a young boy and how their relationship changes each other's lives.

Are you a lover of age gaps? Well. This manga is for you!

Akira Tachibana is a 17-year-old high school student who works part-time at her family's restaurant as a resource. During his shifts, he gets to know Masami Kondo, a 45-year-old manager, divorced and father of a child, with whom he suddenly falls in love. Akira cannot understand why she is so attracted to him, yet she believes no concrete reason is needed to truly love someone.

So, on a rainy day, he decides to confess to the manager what she feels for him... How will Masami react to the confession?

Personally, unless it's fantasy with fae, I don't like age gaps but in After the rain it didn't bother me that much. The illustrations are beautiful and the characters, both main and secondary, are well characterized. The personal growth and the story of Akira, our young protagonist, kidnapped me right away.

Unfortunately, I couldn't appreciate Masami. What man, mature and vaccinated, would not be flattered to receive attention from a young and pretty girl like Akira? I don't know... It may be because they are against relationships (of whatever kind) between minors and adults (only if the age difference between the two exceeds about 6 years. Don't attack me, that's a personal opinion!)? Probable. Anyway, his person did not convince me much.

It was still a very engaging and fluent read. I will definitely recover the subsequent volumes. I'm too curious to find out how the story will continue.

I thank NetGalley, the publisher and Jun Mayuzuki for sending me the ARC copy of this manga in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

After the Rain: I thought I would give this title a shot just from the cover illustration alone. When I got to the story, I was so ready to be angry about it. I read this to the end, and honestly I can't really get mad at the two lead characters. Let they who never had a cringey crush as a teenager cast the first stone. Meanwhile the manager is doing his best to be a decent adult (at least in volume 1). I'm almost afraid to see how this would end, but I finished reading this wanting to know how things will work out.