The story is Outstanding (10). This anime is one of the biggest surprises for me in the winter season. I usually avoid romance stories as they are most of the time predictable and difficult for me to relate to as most of the stories are set in a high school setting with a ton of high school characters. But here comes a seinen romance that caught my heart as soon as I watched the first episode. The setting was great and the use of rain in the story feels right at home. The love that builds up with the 45-year-old Kondo and the high school student Tachibana is simply beautiful and innocent. Someone who had a lot of experience and someone who is dead sure of her feelings hits a sweet spot in my heart.
Art is Great (9). I would say that the art would be dependent on the viewer's taste. Well, it's not experimental, but I feel that some people would not like the art and would prefer a mainstream look of modern anime. However, I love how the characters were modeled to look as slender as possible. Moreover, they put a lot of attention on the rain scenes since this is mainly in the title of the story. It is not Kotonoha no niwa (Garden of words) quality but it is enough to trigger those emotions from the viewer which is enough.
Sound is Outstanding (10). From the opening them up until the ending theme and everything in between, the music of Love after the rain is light, fun, bubbly, and somewhat nostalgic from when it rains during summertime. "Nostalgic Rainfall (ノスタルジックレインフォール)" by CHiCO with HoneyWorks is one of those songs that I have on a loop majority of the winter season, and I listen to "Ref:rain" by Aimer from time to time as it triggers the nostalgic sadness in my heart whenever I hear its tune. Moreover, the themes and effects during the Kondo-Tachibana and the solo scenes themes of Kondo, Tachibana, and Haruka really set the mood and help to make you feel on their characters more.
Characters are Outstanding (10). The main character's motivation as well as their personality are well written and designed that you will feel they could have been based on real people which is great. You can easily relate to the like on the struggling writer inside Manager Kondo, the conflicting feelings of going back to running in Tachibana, and the loneliness of her friend Haruka. The same goes for the supporting characters that support the main characters while bringing out their own wonderful quirks in the story.
As of the writing of this review, the manga had already ended and this is a great thing since the anime staff would have complete material to adapt once they continue with a second and third season to wrap their stories up.
I am really looking forward to this story, and you will also be looking forward to it once you have watched this rain-formed love story.
9 milk cuplets out of 10.
