When a rain comes, it brings with it many things: memories from the past, encounters that wouldn’t occur outside a storm, and a clean chance at a new future. The rain and nostalgia motif plays strongly in Koi wa Ameagari no You ni, a series that’s taking the prize this year for most controversial material in a seriously good show. It features Akira Tachibana, a beautiful high school girl who falls for Masami Kondo, the middle-aged manager at her place of work.
The setup for this series is intentionally troublesome, but maybe one that an anime-loving audience will readily accept—it depends, I think, on how the blossoming relationship is presented. At least that matters to me. Will the series just tell a story, or will it romanticize this troubling relationship? All signs from episode one point to the latter, though there’s not telling how things will end. In the meantime, the quality of the series will carry it through. This is one of the most beautiful first episodes I’ve seen—there were so many beautiful moments (captured here, along with some funny ones and some that are, well, creepy), accompanied by sharp writing that feels fresh, and a beautiful OP and ED. The little flourishes are nice as well, like little moments that predict Tachibana’s injury, and the signs all around (ex. “Live Your Life Freely”). I’m mesmerized by the series—let’s hope it takes us somewhere worth going, rather than using a problematic twist to take us down the same old trail.