Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: After the Rain
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Ryutai
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Usagi Drop is such kind of garbage, in my honest opinion. But this doesn't mean I think it shouldn't be published. Of course, it has been published in Italy. I believe the development of the relationship didn't make any sense. In Koi Ame case, I adore the romance between Kondo and Akira. The development has been so sweet, heartwarming, and coherent. My wish for them being separated at the end has nothing to do with me finding "creepy" their feelings for each other, it's simply related to the fact that this ending fits this kind of story. Plus, I have a soft spot for bittersweet endings. Honestly, Koi Ame is already one of my favorite love stories in manga ever. |
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#Verso.Sciolto
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While in school Midori wrote. Published in their literary club journal. Does she still write? Did she still write when she was married to Masami Kondo?
Did Midori Kondo take a break from working on her own manuscript and decide to bring him a cup of tea as well, perhaps? Maybe he was the only member of the household with literary aspirations by the time in their relationship when we get to see her deliver the drink, on a tray, and place it on his writing desk? In flashback. In the present, the family restaurant manager retrieves a box, from over his head, two photos of their son fall out when he drops it. The pan of the animator's camera cuts the shot before we can clearly see the face of the woman in the image he created. The other photo is itself framed to cut her off at the waist. The boy at the entrance ceremony the focus. 勇斗の母親で、近藤の元妻。That's how she is introduced in the Japanese wikipedia article for the series. Not mentioned by name. "みどり (Midori), writer in her school's literature club" is not a sentence found in her brief introduction. Incidentally, in English she is not among the entries for characters in the series, not in any capacity. Japan and its society is the frame of reference. In this Talkback thread, it has been among the suggestions that those critical of 恋は雨上がりのように are informed by "Western" ideas about relationships depicted. What shaped Kazumi Ogasawara’s perceptions about such topics? Was it Italian anime reviews, perhaps? In a Q&A with her alma mater it says that she fondly remembers a lecture, by Jun Etō, about Soseki. In-universe, does Akira Tachibana have any female teachers? Sorekara. Last edited by #Verso.Sciolto on Mon Mar 19, 2018 7:38 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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Panino Manino
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At least Usagi Drop anime exists and it's excellent. And the only country I can't believe I'll ever see KoiAme being published is... my own. Publishers here seems to hate "shoujo", and everything that looks like shoujo. Last Women's Day was embarrassing with their social media promoting shounen because of the lack of shoujos in their catalogues. |
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Ryutai
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The animators had better taste than the mangaka. How you know, in the manga the male lead had raised a little child as if she was his daughter, and when she became a young woman, his fatherly affection turned into "romantic love". This is really creepy, in my opinion. And I get a similar disturbing vibe from Daddy Long Legs, despite the situation is rather different. |
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#Verso.Sciolto
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From Alumni Q&A. Keio University (The house Yukichi built).
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Coup d'État
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What are y'all talking about? Amazon has been listing the manga from Vertical for ages: https://www.amazon.com/After-Rain-1-Various/dp/1947194348/ref=sr_1_1? I pre-ordered it in early February. Back then, it was still listed as "Summer Rains", not sure when amazon changed that. At least that's the case on amazon.de, I never really checked amazon.com before, obviously. |
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Blood-
 Bargain Hunter Posts: 23770 |
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Well, there you go. I knew it hadn't been released yet because there was no mention of English volumes on the ANN Encyclopedia's entry for the manga, but I didn't realize it was gong to be made available shortly.
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Coup d'État
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Well, there is nothing better than doing something nice for a fellow fan, so I'm glad I could point that out.
I was starting to get confused, as I thought this was commonly known. |
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Ryutai
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"Summer rains"? It's a proper title. I just read (by using Google Translator, of course
 ) a comment by Jun Mayuzuki on her blog, about the ending of the manga. She said that, originally, she wanted the title for this series was "August's swallow", but at the end it has been chosen "Love is like after the rain". About the ending of the manga, she said spoiler[she wrote a happy ending for both the protagonists, since both of them satisfied their loves: running for Akira, and writing for Kondo. Basically it's like I always said: they used each other for healing, but the "love after the rain" in the title isn't about their feelings for each other, it's about their love for their main interests in life. While I liked deeply also the slightly romantic dynamics between the two main characters, because I adore strongly platonic relationships, my honest impression has always been this. I am totally satisfied with the ending of this manga. I always thought they shouldn't end up together, not because of the age gap, but because what they really wanted was related to their personal dreams, not to romantic love.
Honestly, people who were reading this manga like it was a true romance, were blind.] |
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter Posts: 23770 |
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Oh, it probably is. I'm just not particularly plugged into the manga world so no shock it was news to me. |
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#Verso.Sciolto
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Chrysostomus
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I love how Kondo's friend is an admirer of the old writers who sacrificed everything to put out books of great, lasting beauty. A good chunk of literature is basically the author's personal fantasies (look at shitty romance novels or isekai LNs) and it was true even in the past.
Chihiro and Kondo are gigantic literature nerds so they probably hold the view that "real" literature demands the total suffering and dedication of the author in order to produce a true masterwork. The kind of writing that kills the author when they finish it. This type of literature is raw and painful for both the writer and the reader, so it's more like poison than something that will just make them feel good (crappy wish fulfillment shit). Honestly it's one of the best depictions of what it's like to want to be a literary artisan than you usually find in animu or much writing at all. |
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Panino Manino
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Episode #11
There's nothing we can do about it, just accept what they can to do finish this story in the next episode. But is undeniable that the story and development overall suffer a lot from this necessity to rush things. You may get the impression that Akira and Kondo will return to what they love because Haruka and Chihiro pushed them. |
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#Verso.Sciolto
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How about Haruka? 喜屋武 はるか (Kyan Haruka), does she have any female teachers? Does she study at all? Is she depicted as studying in the animated series? Learning in the broader sense. Who are her role models in this universe as depicted in the anime? From whom does Haruka learn most, about herself, about her peers and about the society they are shown to inhabit - as depicted in the anime? We can't help but wonder, going over the list of characters in our minds and assigning names, where possible. How does Nakane Kyoko feature in all that? Where did she acquire her knowledge of the literary arts? What kind of education did she receive to prepare for the marriage? Fiction. 橘あきらの母 Akria’s mother pays a visit to the family restaurant. She heard from a neighbour that her teenage daughter was out on the town with the cook and later returned with the manager. Mom decides to have a word with the two adult men before asking her teenage daughter about their roles in her life. Her daughter is the quiet variety you see. Wonders about unexplained differences between film flyers. She is the diligent type though. Dutifully goes to work in a typhoon even though mom says there is no need for such dedication. Risky decisions she is depicted as ultimately leaving to her daughter. Mother to the cook: I heard you were with my daughter outside work…. Cook: … well actually, I blackmailed your daughter into going on a “date” with me because I have these fantasies about her you see… Your daughter also dates the manager but that guy is completely safe. No one would suspect him of doing anything “annoying”. Most people don’t consider him capable of much of anything at all, let alone something inappropriate …. Manager: hehehe Akira’s mom: ahahahaha Mrs Tachibana now knows her daughter is in good hands. She takes a Higuchi Ichiyo from her purse, places the bill on the table, bows and silently goes home to attempt another conversation with her daughter. So much to learn from these two men that she advises Akira to drop out of high school altogether and apply for a permanent position at The Garden. Would such observations be in line with those made by Kazumi Ogasawara about minors in Japan and those with whom these minors interact? Would Ogasawara describe the behaviour of either of the two men involved with the daughter as “annoying” if she read, or watched, Koi wa Ameagari no you ni? Significantly different experience. Sorekara. |
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Coup d'État
Posts: 179 |
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@#Verso.Sciolto:
I agree that the side characters in AFT are not written with much 'flesh' to them. They don't appear to be whole people with backgrounds and motivations unrelated to the two protagonists. They're all like that to a degree, but it's especially obvious with Haruka. A while ago some commenter made the same observation about The Ancient Magus' Bride, and to be honest, that criticism annoyed me. Because, sure, it's true, but how is that relevant to the show? But then I remembered Hunter x Hunter, a story in which every (most?) side characters have their own, personal life and motivations that have nothing to do with the protagonist at all. They just happen to be alive in the same world. And when these people interact, there is conflict (or interaction, it's not always negative) that naturally stems from having different motivations. I think the problem is worse in TAMB, because it takes away from the otherwise spectacular world building. In that world with it's millennial deep lore, every side character revolves around that one girl. meh. It's a bit different with AFT, as it's a way more personal story. The story's scale is small and focuses on those two people. Both of them seem rather self-centered, but Akira much more so. She is so preoccupied with her own issues that she forgets other people's feelings. What we see of Haruka may be distorted by that lens on purpose. Or it's bad writing. Or it's due to the show rushing things. I don't know, I'm yet to read the Manga. Kondo sure is a step ahead in that regard, calling his old friend on his own and such. He was also so very happy about the attention his hamster brought him. On a totally unrelated note, I'm confused as to Kondo's back-story's time line. It feels like Kondo was written to be 10 years younger, but made older for ... shock value? To drive home the point that he's too old for her? Idk. Kondo is 45. His son is 10. In a flashback, we see that Kondo was still writing with passion after his son was born. Son also didn't look like a baby, but to be around 5, more or less. So, Kondo had been writing up until he was 40ish. Meaning he spent 2 decades on it, yet not only never became successful, he also never published anything in those 20+- years. The show, however, lingered a lot on those mysterious boxes from the 1990's, driving home the fact that Kondo used to write, long ago, but does no more, and hasn't for ages. We're also supposed to believe that Kondo was really good at it. His critically acclaimed writer friend thinks so, so it must be true. When Kondo said he hadn't had contact with writer friend in 10 years, I assumed it was out of shame for giving up his dream. But that doesn't add up, he was still writing at that point, still prioritizing it as his #1 love. So, why *did* he fall out of contact? It seemed deliberate on Kondo's side. A more reasonable time line would be: Kondo + wife get together in college. They marry. Kondo writes for a few years, but not enough yet to become a successful author. They have a kid in their mid 20's. (The mean age for having her 1st child in Japan is 30.7, so it's realistic either way, I guess*) Around this time, he falls out of contact with writer friend, not enough time. Instead of being a partner to his wife, he keeps writing as his main focus. Their relationship suffers, divorce. Kondo's life is crumbling around him, he feels like a failure, he stops writing. Another 5ish years pass (a good chunk out of his adult life, 5 years out of 15). Kondo is now in his mid-30's. Makes sense to me. But instead, he had 10 more years to write unsuccessfully and only stopped comparably recently. * http://stats-japan.com/t/kiji/14299 |
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