Title: Rainbow Days Vol. 14
Author: Minami Mizuno
Publisher: Viz Media
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 185
Genre: Romance, Comedy
Publication Date: February 4, 2025
The Story
Well then… talk about Tsuyopon not getting any time to himself and we get an entire volume dedicated to him (mostly)! That elusive fourth member of the group gets his time to shine here but before we get to that, we get to see Keiichi a little bit and how he wanted to stop by the nurse’s office to have a casual chat; however, he runs into Nozomi. Everyone that Keiichi usually talks to has either graduated and is not there anymore or out of office so he figures that he can pass the time with Nozomi. They head down to the waterfront where he talks about how summer is his favorite month. He shares a bit of time with her which brings them a little closer.
Once we get Keiichi out of the way, we get the rest of the volume dedicated to Tsuyupon! The big theme is that it’s time to check in with their guidance counselors for their post-high school plans; however, Tsuyupon leaves his sheet blank. He doesn’t know what he wants to do and this is where we take a look at our couples. Anna and Natsuki have decided to go to the same college together while Tsutsui decided to go to an all-girls college leaving Tomoya unable to be by her side after high school. Seeing the polarizing contrasts of post-high school life, he begins to wonder about his decision and what it means for Yukiko.
Meanwhile, his father wants him to go to his Alma Mater and even, at one point, invites his old professor over to talk to Tsuyopon. Lost and confused as to what to do, he seeks out Tsutsui to get some advice from her about going to a separate school and if it’s worth it for her relationship. After gathering some information and thinking about his feelings for Yukiko, he calls her out to tell her his decision!
Characters
Keiichi got some nice development by spending some time with Nozomi. At first, he felt completely lost around school. All of the people he used to hang out with are now gone and it left him feeling quite empty. He even contemplated going home and forgetting about everything. That’s when he ran into Nozomi and had a pretty good time with her by the waterfront. Despite that, he also thinks about the future. While he says that summer is his favorite season (mainly because of summer break), he begins to think about how the other seasons will soon be there and that life will eventually move on. He wonders where he will be seems a bit scared to think about it! If you read between the lines, you know what he’s truly thinking of!
This brings us to Tsuyopon. The biggest focus on his development is his deciding what he wants for the future. By leaving his post-high school plans blank, he’s giving himself some time to mull things over. Does he want to go to the same school as Yukiko? Does he want to go to his father’s Alma Mater? Does he just want to keep lounging around and playing video games all day? What will each of those futures do to him? To Yukiko? What’s fair? What’s not fair? All of that swirls around in his head which is why he sought out advice. In the end, he makes a couple of decisions… both of which will affect his future greatly! Even Yukiko was shocked when she learned the answer!
Speaking of her, we also got to spend some time with her. You can tell just how much she loves Tsuyopon based on how much she’s worried about him and their future together. Through it all, though, she was extremely patient and understanding as she knew that this was something that he had to figure out for himself. You won’t find a girlfriend that pure these days anymore!
Final Thoughts
Well, I guess I have egg on my face! After a few reviews talking about how Keiichi and Tsuyopon should have been on the back of a couple of milk cartons, we get a volume completely dedicated to them! All I have to say is that this was quite refreshing! Because of this, I once called Natsuki the most normal and level-headed one of the group; however, that honor now goes to Tyusopon! His romance with Yukiko is, by far, the purest of the four, and the way he thinks about his future and how it would affect everything and everyone showed a high level of maturity… even if he was confused and scared at times. It showed basic human emotions that anyone would go through given that type of situation and he handled it all perfectly.
As I read the ending to the book, I began to wonder how a full series dedicated to him and Yukiko would fare. After all, their relationship is very unlike the others. It’s not filled with awkward admiration or the whole love/hate component… it’s pure, it’s natural, it’s sweet, and it’s adorable. Their relationship is the type that you would build an entire story around in and of itself and the fact that you can get that feeling after waiting fourteen volumes to even get any time with it shows just how well it was presented.
Back to Keiichi, though… I think we’ll see more of him in these final volumes. It’s quite obvious that he’s going to get together with Nozomi and I think it’s because all of his failsafes are gone and she’s the only one he’s got left. That’s going to naturally bring them together and he will soon be able to answer the question of where he will be once the seasons change. He says that he doesn’t want to think about it now but wait… he soon will be and it will be all about Nozomi! Or… I could be wrong and he just ends up with the nurse. Time will tell.
Two volumes to go! Keiichi seems to be the last story to get settled and then it’s on to the epilogue! We’re almost there!
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This item was provided for review by VIZ Media.
