Love is Like After the Rain Episode 2: Rain Drops on Green Leaves

I think this is the only time in anime where I’m 100% okay with a confession being misunderstood. With her stern glances and glares and aloof aura around him, Kondo thought that Akira actually hated his guts. So when he heard “I like you”, it was simply confirmation that she in fact does like him, which in his mind might mean tolerate him. Also, there’s an almost 30 year age gap, there’s no way he’d think she meant romantically. You can’t get mad at this guy because it’s totally understandable.

The conflict of this episode this time is that Akira has made her leg injury a little worse when she ran off to catch up with a customer when he accidentally forgot his phone in the restaurant. Her running caused her injury to become inflamed, making Kondo take her to the clinic she frequents. The running scene in particular was beautiful, Yoshizawa telling the others about her time in track and field. It was this scene in that made me realize that the music in this show is there to elevate scenes in the show and not just be in the background. Just…this show is directed so well. Anyway, Kondo takes her to the clinic but then has to return to the restaurant when Akira tells him to. But really, it was because she was self-conscious about her unpainted toe nails. Which I found adorable. It may be pretty silly to some people, but when you really like someone you want to look your best in front of them all the time, and for Akira that also included her toe nails. And that very night, as she happily went over the areas of her body Kondo touched, thinking of the things that makes her heart flutters, and finally getting Kondo’s phone number when he called to check up on her, she painted her nails pink. We even see her reading a girly magazine the next morning about a lot of pink stuff. I like these little touches because it makes the romance seem a lot more genuine and real, and it shows us that Akira is a lot more girly and cute than we thought. Pink daisies, black and white cats, rose-scented hand cream, and sandals with ribbons on them (and of course Kondo) make her heart flutter. It makes me wonder if Akira has always been this aloof and deadpan, or if she was more cheerful before her injury. Though, Yoshizawa not knowing too much about Akira except for her running skills may mean that she’s always been like this.

Speaking of Yoshizawa, I’m not sure how I feel about him working in Garden. Obviously he did this because he wants to be around Akira more, but the only purpose his character is going to play is a distraction. Kondo had thought he was Akira’s boyfriend but she quickly shut that idea down, so hopefully there won’t be more misunderstandings with him. Honestly, he feels a little unnecessary right now. But wow, I wonder how much this restaurant pays in dishes?

I’ve seen people say that there could be two interpretations to Kondo’s reaction to Akira’s very sudden confession. One is the understanding I got of him misunderstanding and thinking Akira meant that he likes him as a nice boss and not as a love interest. We’ve seen Kondo as this lame and dense kind of man. He misinterpreted Akira’s stares, and he literally had no idea what a pedicure was and thought her toes were bleeding. Which made me bust out laughing because that’s literally something a dad would say. It was so funny that it even made Akira laugh. And upon hearing that she liked him, it made Kondo so happy that he wanted to order more food for her, like a doting father. But the second interpretation that people are mentioning is that he really did understand what she meant and played it off as him thinking it as friendly and stood up to order more food as a way to change the conversation and make things less awkward. I’m still pretty sure he misunderstood, but I can also get behind the second interpretation. We don’t really know too much about Kondo really because we’ve only seen the story through Akira’s eyes and have gotten so little of Kondo’s point of view. Considering that there may be more to Kondo than we know, it could be that he understood what she meant. But since we’ve only seen the dense and silly manager Kondo, him misunderstanding is most likely. It would be fantastic if the show would give us some episodes about Kondo and his family life!

I’m enjoying this show so much and I can’t wait to see where the story goes next. If we already got a confession this early on, who knows what we’ll get! To end this review, let’s appreciate the scenic shots in this show because they’re absolutely stunning.