When Can You Find Love? After The Rain
One thing I’m thankful for is the great variety found in anime today. I often see fans lamenting how moe, harems, and fanservice have “killed” anime despite these categories occupying only a tiny handful of the more than 100 new and continuing series in the Winter 2018 season. One of my favorite genres of anime is the Noitamina (animation spelled backwards) block of late-night programming broadcast on Fuji TV, which always goes out of its way to take risks and tell bold and interesting stories that refuse to follow formulas. Some of the best Noitamina shows have included:
- Nodame Cantabile, the love story between an arrogant would-be conductor and a genius-but-messy pianist
- Tokyo Magnitude 8.0, prophetic anime about an earthquake in Tokyo and the journey of Mirai and her brother Yuuki to safety
- AnoHana, an original story about the ghost of a girl who comes back to be with her friends, one of the best shows of the decade
- Moyashimon, an anime about agricultural bacteria
- Your Lie in April, a romantic anime about a genius pianist and the violinist who he inspired
- Genji Monogatari Sennenki, based on the 1000-year-old literary classic, literally Japan’s first harem story
- Erased, an outstanding timeslip drama
- Scum’s Wish, my personal favorite yuri anime
Currently the slot is airing Koi wa Ameagari no You Ni, aka After the Rain, which continues the Noitamina tradition of animating stories that are fresh and unique. It’s the story of Akira Tachibana, a high school girl who had to retire from the school track and field club due to an injury. When she was sitting in a restaurant on a rainy afternoon, she was taken with the charm and kindness of the middle-aged manager of the restaurant and responds by…falling deeply in love with him. Watching a 17-year-old girl pursue a 45-year-old divorced man is odd yet somehow charming, and a great escapist fantasy if you happen to be an older guy like me. As the story progresses, we can’t help hoping they’ll end up together, despite the odds against it working out.
Only two more days to save on awesome visual novels and eroge titles from Japan! Visit the JAST USA site to check out their spring sale. which ends March 21. You can get up to 30% off some of our best games, like Kana Okaeri, Starless, Sonicomi and School Days HQ.
