After the Rain Episode 3 Review: Raining Tears

After the Rain (Koi wa Ameagari no You ni) already surprised us with a love confession at the end of last week’s episode, and those who missed it are made sure to watch it again since we start with the same scene. In this episode, we see how brave Akira really is and what her heart desires.

Japanese title: 雨雫 (Ame Shizuku)

Episode 03 – Raining Tears

After Akira braved her feelings and Tencho came to check up on her, she ends up confessing her love to him. He, on the other hand, sees himself as some unworthy, old, stinky man and thinks she simply told he she likes him as a human being, accepting her feelings. That leaves Akira contemplating about where her first love confession went wrong. Should she have used different words? While she thinks about this, she meets her old club colleagues, who are warming up. They bring her to their practice, which doesn’t particularly help to lift Akira’s mood. When rain starts falling, she walks around without an umbrella and ends up at the family restaurant, where she boldly confesses again, which makes even Tencho realize, that she actually likes him. He invites her to go on a drive, so they can have a serious talk…

Highlights

Akira’s inner feelings

I already said it last week, but Akira’s feelings are described so beautifully. She doesn’t talk much and so she doesn’t even get inner monologues that would explain to the viewer what is going on. It is simply the animation, which shows us what is going on within Akira, as well as her awkward reactions and the few things she does say.

For one, there is Akira’s bravery for confessing not once but twice! Have you ever confessed your feelings? It is hard enough to find the courage to say it once. Having the other person misunderstand or not listen properly is frustrating and might lead others to give up. But our Akira would be a Gryffindor if she were a student at Hogwarts, so she goes again to confess in the pouring rain, wearing a white shirt turning see-through after getting soaked, which is another kind of bravery. She also faces her friends at school, and her hobby, which she can’t do now. Instead of telling them what she is going through, she tries to be nice and keeps it all in. She doesn’t want to tell them that she can’t run anymore, or at least that it seems as if she won’t ever be able to run again. This kind of bravery is often heard of, but sticking to it is hard and not necessary. However, I still love that she is doing, because that’s how she is and it will give us a chance at more character development.

Tencho is a stinky, old man

I do NOT think that way, but seriously, he has some issues. He is 45 years old, as he mentioned multiple times, and he just can’t imagine that anybody would like him in this world. At the same time, he is dreaming of finding someone to make his heart beat a bit faster and give him some warmth. He even thinks how it would be if he were a high school boy and the same age as Akira, instead of a 45-year-old man. When he is so cute and considerate, I can’t help but really like him and understand why Akira does too. And then he goes and drinks out of his coffee-can-ashtray. So disgusting, but nevertheless a highlight. I laughed so much.

Culture lesson

Strange girls in class

The friends of Akira, to whom she wanted to ask a question about love, are talking really, really strange! Now, I do not have a lot of contact with Japanese high school girls, so I do not know what their issue is and why they are talking that way, but it sounded an awful lot like baby language!

Instead of saying ‘desu’ they kept repeating ‘dechu’… So yeah, that is that. I don’t know anybody who likes it when their friends talk that way, but anyway, they do and it might be for comic relief. Or just to show us why exactly Akira is not close to them…

Comments

My respect for Akira grew in this episode and my respect for Tencho might have gone down a tiny bit. While I think he is indeed cute, his reaction to her confession was not the best. And I mean the later one, where he gives her hope and thinks loud instead of just telling her off. This is not an issue of ‘But I am such a boring, 45-year-old, stinky man!’ but an issue of ‘Girl, you are 17! Come back when you’re legal!’. So, while I know it is helping us have a story in general and that he is a decent guy from what we have seen so far, giving Akira hope like that just is not right. But isn’t her face super cute, when she hears him say the tiny little word ‘date’? I can forgive him and will forgive him everything, as long as he puts a smile on Akira’s face. Just…don’t cross the line! This is a warning, Tencho!

Expectations for the next episode

Oh dear Akira, will you fight for a date? Will you make him go out with you? Where would they go? They probably can’t go like a regular couple. And what would they want to achieve with a date, anyway? Just spend time with each other? The next episode is a big mystery to me, so I can just assume we will see Akira pester the Tencho about the date he mentioned. I want for Yoshizawa to come back into action! Oh, and can we see some more of Haruka and her running friends? I really wonder how her problems will be resolved…