Feb 12, 2025
Just a heads up, this is going to have significant spoilers. It’s less a review of the quality and more a collection of my thoughts regarding the direction the story decided to take.
This one was a little unexpected, and I mean that in a positive way. I remember when the anime came out a few years back (Looking at MAL, it was actually almost seven years ago, yikes), and just reading the synopsis was enough to make me internally cringe a bit. Highschool girl crushing on a much older guy in a series with the romance tag? Couldn’t go well, I thought.
Fortunately, "Koi wa
...
Ameagari no You ni" went in a much different direction than expected. While it is technically a romance, it’s more a story about overcoming depression and trauma, as well as recognizing our responsibilities to those in need of a mentor. This last point stuck out to me more than any other, I think, as its a role that isn’t challenged as often in a lot of manga and anime. It's very common, don’t get me wrong, but in my experience, the mentor tends to function as one of two things. They are a powerful, out of reach figure that everyone admires but never really draws close to in an emotional way, or otherwise a close friend who is always there to give a gentle push to the protagonist. "Koi wa Ameagari no You ni" comes close to the latter, but there is a key difference in the way Kondou relates to Tachibana. She has feelings for him, and partway through the series, he begins to secretly reciprocate. However, he is also aware of the dynamic between them and her own past trauma. As a result, we see someone challenged to maintain their role as a mentor or give it up for something more inappropriate.
Meanwhile, we have these same two characters who are both struggling with their own private disappointments and wrestling with how to move on from them. Seeing the way they each propelled each other to move beyond regret and take another chance at their goals was heartwarming, especially as readers get to see one go on to great success. While I would’ve loved to see a happy ending where each of their dreams were granted in regards to writing and running, I appreciate the direction that the author took it in. It’s a nice message of, even if we aren’t successful, we can still find joy and personal satisfaction in doing the things we love. And who knows, if they keep it up, they might still see success in the future.
That said, did the author really have to lean so hard into the rain theme? Even as a reflection of where Tachibana and Kondou were in their own lives, the constant reminder was a little much.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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