Ame Nochi Hare

Jul 8, 2013

Ri-chan

Recommended

Preliminary (24/39 chp)

UPDATED as of 2/23/15 at 24 chapters. Originally posted 7/08/13 at 15 chapters.

When I read manga, I'm often doing it to relax. It's calming; It doesn't take the same concentration a book does, the plots are formulaic and predictable, and they often meander into silly side stories that don't challenge.

I was hoping that Ame Nochi Hare would be one of these stories and I was half right, but it is also much, much more.

The premise is nothing if not bizarre. Four boys, on their first day of school and a prestigious men's academy, are caught in a spring shower. After the rain stops, ... they discover that every time it rains, they turn into girls. Now the mechanism isn't very simple, like it is in other gender-bend series: they don't change immediately after the rain starts, they don't change at the same time, and they don't change after it stops either. They don't even have to touch the rain; they just change like the air changes when it rains. The ridiculous situation is managed quite practically: when it rains, the boys stay in the dorm manager's house on campus. They attend the girls school next door, pretending to be cultural exchange students who are taking supplementary lessons.

This story distinguishes itself from your average gender-bend story in two ways: 1) the fact that they turn into girls isn't played for laughs—it's more like an inconvenience or fresh perspective for the characters, and 2) it does a pretty good job avoiding the formulaic predictability of most shoujo.

There is romance, yes, but it is taking a bizarre path. One character, Hazuki, for example, is in love a female student, whilst her older brother is in love with his female alter ego, Tsukiko. There is a romantic tension between two of the female characters. It walks a line between traditional romance shoujo and shounen/shoujo ai like a balancing wire, which is exhilarating to watch. You want to see where it falls. Though I'm usually able to predict the plots of stories easily, I'm finding this one tough to parse out and I've only been able to foresee 3 plot points that weren't obvious. That makes it more fun for those of us who have read a lot of series and know the common cues. I am in eagerly anticipating the upcoming chapters.

And while all that tension exists, creating intrigue and anticipation—where will the love triangles end up? Will the curse be lifted? Will they find happiness?—the series is, at it's core, wrapped up in the tone of a slice of life story. It's meandering and gentle, like Mushishi or Kimi to Boku., with a pensive, poignant tone. I never feel anxious or angry reading it.

The art is, in a word, gorgeous. The watercolor covers are vibrant and remind me of Yumeka Sumomo (Watashitachi no Shiawase na Jikan, Nanairo Sekai) and the page to page art is stunning. One thing I particularly love is the subtlety with which the boys are turned into girls. Their features soften slightly, their height changes a little, their hair might lengthen a smidgen, and their frame is a little curvier. That's it though: no enormous boobs or crazy changes. It's never hard to tell whose who. Sometimes it's hard to know if they've changed! If you were to do a google search on the series (I can't use links here), you would be able to find the covers, which often feature the male characters and their female forms together. It is quite stunning, especially with the main character.

I'd suggest this series to anyone who likes shoujo, shounen ai, or a (I know it sounds slightly oxymoronic) a girly seinen. It's relaxed, fun, weird, beautiful, and charming.

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Sep 19, 2017

AtroSpecter

Recommended

Ame Nochi Hare is one of those manga where if you're into it, you'll keep having the desire to want more. If you're a gender-bender enthusiast, this is definately a manga you should give a try. Alright, so let me delve deeper.

Story
-
Personally, the story was very well thought out, and it kept me entertained the whole time. Even though the pacing of the romance was not as fast as expected, the slice of life really makes up for it. The slice of life not only includes the male side, but also the female side, which I thought was really entertaining. Sometimes, when the person stays ...

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Feb 28, 2013

bunnychii

Recommended

Preliminary (13/39 chp)

Basically the story is about how these 5 boys who are high school freshmen, one day get stuck at school because of a thunder storm. This storm consequently changes all of them into girls. And ever since that day, they have been constantly changing into girls whenever it rains. This creates a lot of complexities with their lives and as usual they all have to keep it a secret from people, but it's not easy. It also creates some misunderstandings and things like that as you'd expect.

To be honest I was a little shocked because the set up was so strange yet not a lot ...

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May 17, 2018

ikasama-shoujo

Recommended

I actually have mixed feelings about this manga but decided to write one anyway since this manga has been on my mind for years and I guess I just really need to say what I feel about this manga so I can let go. I might say some spoilers but this is really important.

Story: 8/10

The story is actually unique even though it's gender bender. From the summary, you can see it's about 5 boys who turns into girls when it rains. The flow of the story, the characters, the friendship... they're really good, it was very exciying to read, until the last few chapters anyway... ...

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Jul 15, 2021

The_Mad_Pirate

Recommended

This manga is a rare jewel among the Gender Bender genre. It maximixes the ull psychologycal aspect that this genre provides : character development through the MCs getting to actually understand what the opposite sex thinks and feels.

The story goes deep into the psyche and the nature of gender dynamics, though there are some comical situations, most of the story is directed at getting the characters to understand themselves and be honest with their own bottled feelings.

The art is good, although not outstanding, but it gets the job done.

As I said, the main selling point of this manga is the character development ...

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Jun 22, 2016

joelstlsan

Recommended

Preliminary (25/39 chp)

I'l say it now, I only recommend this manga for veteran gender-bender reader. In fact I highly recommend it. This is in part because you will probably appreciate it a lot more coming from other ones.

Character/Story

The unpredictable story plot lines and the fact that every character are complex and developed make for one hell of an intriguing story. I was completely invested in the characters and their relationship (with characters that also have relationship between each other).

This manga is focused on the change of perspective, the confusion and love of the group. It helps them understand each other, but also create confusion and hardship.

Its all ...

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Feb 12, 2016

IotaGamma

Recommended

Preliminary (24/39 chp)

This seems to lack a review for the whole thing, let me just fix that.

The enjoyment for me in this manga lied in the way the characters interact with the world in their abnormal situation. The different ways they act and people around them act, how it changes their perspective.

The plot is quite simple and without getting into spoilers I could explain it in two sentences. Chapters, certainly some of them are quite long so don't let the chapter count fool you.

Characters are varied and distinct, you wont have trouble keeping faces apart, the absolutely beautiful art probably has something to do with that.

The ending ...

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Mar 14, 2019

thefanbastard

Recommended

Preliminary (33/39 chp)

(SPOILERS ALERT)

First review here but this manga...this manga really marked me.

I only happened to read it by chance but I'm extremely happy I got to. This manga is so underrated it hurts.

Story (9/10)
To be honest I thought about giving ten to everyting but when I thought about it I realized I wasn't entirely satisfied with it. The story is unlike anything I ever read and I think it was genius but I still think there were things that could have been better executed. First of all the hints of shojo ai and shonen ai...I was all for it until I realized they wouldn't lead anywhere. ... Then I just felt extremely frustrated. I love shonen ai so of couse when they introduced the pairing of Hazuki (well his counterpart Tsukiko) and the dorm head Houjou Takuma (which is my favorite ship of all btw) and Hazuki and Touma, I was over the moon. I could just see it unfold and it was beautiful. For once the ship wasn't obvious from the start, and maybe we'd see a gay main couple in a shojo manga that isn't labelled shonen ai. But it fell short and my heart got crushed. Other than that, I think the story was amazing. There was a lot I didn't expect (and a lot I did haha) and plenty of moments that made me so happy to read. It was truly fascinating seeing each of their stories unfold. I love how it didn't only focus on one character/pairing but on every characters and how every relationships were multi-layered.

Art (9/10)
The art was beautiful. I don't really know much about it but I'd say it conveyed the right feelings and was simple yet really fitting. I don't grade 9/10 because there were some panels I got confused because the gender wasn't clear. But it was really impressive that they managed to draw 5 characters in their male/female forms that are still recognizable from each other, even if sometimes it wasn't that clear.

Character (10/10)
The characters really were the ones that made reading the manga so fun. They are all so unique and you can't help but cheer every one of them on. I originally disliked the girls but they grew on me. Even if I still can't accept Hazuki x Asumi, Asumi as a character was ok. The relations between the characters were really fascinating too. Not just their love relationship but the friendships and the different kind of relations they entertained with each other. It was complicated but so is real life. For that it was really realistic. One of the thing I liked too was that even when one character was more antagonistic (ahem Sakurako ahem) not everyone hated her or was against her. They also all got character developpment and if ones were introduced negativaly they always got better and grew on me.

Enjoyment (9/10)
I can't write down 10/10 for sole reasons my ship didn't come through and it felt as if the author forced the straight relationships. They dared adventure themselves in territories outside of the norm but failed to really exploit it to the end. I think I already expressed that in the story section. Ah there was one thing that also really bugged me. Madoka's relationship with his 'fiancée'...I feel like I was the only one upset about the fact she was still in elementary school when he was in highschool. Like I know 3-4 years is not a big deal but I couldn't help but be disgusted a little. Worse is when he says he only saw her as a little sister but that was clearly not the case. It was the only part of the manga I was really uncomfortable about. Also I don't know if I'll ever be able to read it a second time.

Overall (10/10 math what is math)
I think it was an outstanding manga. Even if it had its flaws, I don't think one manga out there doesn't have any. So for me, it deserves a 10.

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Jun 19, 2019

lemozine

Recommended

This was an enjoyable manga to read. Each of the five main characters had their own unique twist on struggles with love, and each of their stories were interesting to follow. It was a fun plot device, where they turn into girls when it rains. Despite the story revolving around it, this story doesn't have a terrible amount of deeply insightful things to say changing genders. However, there were a few things that I liked, eg: some same sex crushes; which I always love to see. Other then that, this was just a fun, light, read. The time I spent reading it was enjoyable, and ...

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Jul 27, 2021

nephilimK

Recommended

Deleted my old MAL account Kaushik17

One does not often associate mature character dramas with Gender Bender series. Often known for their fanservice or comedy, well written characters are the last thing one would expect from this genre. Clear up after rain or Ame nochi hare is such a series.

Clear up after rain is a story set in high school about a group of boys who turn into girls due to unexplained reasons. Shocked at this predicament, the boys must learn to deal with accepting the fact that they have transformed and carry on with their day to day lives, without arousing suspicion from their peers ... and teachers. From the get go, I had a feeling that the story would be very character interaction heavy and I was glad to find it to be the case.

The characters being teenagers, come with their own baggage, as often is the case with that age group. They are here to live their perfect high school lives, only to be thrown into this unexplained situation. The characters are fleshed out well enough to prove believable and is all the more impressive, given the short length of the manga. The highlight of the series though, is the web of interactions, which is at the same time layered and yet straightforward, showcasing the different dimensions of personalities in these interactions. Hazuki is at the centre of this web, in both forms and is a fun protagonist to follow. Kudos to the mangaka handling the dynamics with aplomb.

The art is great, with both the male and female characters looking great. The backgrounds, considering the seasons over which this series takes places is a pleasant on the eyes and is great to watch. Also, both genders are given their time to shine and are treated with dignity. As mentioned before, this isn’t your usual gender bender series with the usual fanservice tropes, only serving to highlight the strength of the series. It was also a good thing that the series did not opt for solving the reason behind why they transformed in the first place. Doing so would have introduced an unnecessary element into the story, taking away from the character dynamics, the series strongest point.

With all these positives, we do need to look at potential weaknesses of the series. Given the short duration, some of the character resolutions feel a bit rushed or written to finish the series (Touma's arc kind of gave that vibes to me). And while this doesn’t take away from the work, it might disappoint the reader, given the sense of attachment they might have developed with the characters, over the course of the series. Furthermore, the fact that the series is set is in a high school environment, most of the plot events are readily available to further the story. That being said, the series does a great job in using aforementioned events to add a new dimension to the relationship, introducing depth to the series, which one might not expect.

To sum up, I was really glad to be recommended this series by my friend and recommend it to anyone who wishes to enjoy a good character drama in a genre not known for that. Enjoyment: 9 and Final Score: 7

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Ame Nochi Hare
Clear Up After Rain
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