Title: Rainbows After Storms Vol. 3
Author: Luka Kobachi
Publisher: Viz Media
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 163
Genre: Slice-of-Life, Romance, Yuri
Publication Date: April 15, 2025
The Story
We open up with Chidori and Nanoha beginning their life as a couple; however, they are secretly keeping it from everyone. The first thing that they want to do is go out on a little secret rendezvous, so they head to the aquarium. As they are enjoying their time there, they grow rather nervous thinking that someone might spot them. They decide to get brave and hold hands; however, their worst fears come true! Turns out, Nanoha’s little sister Kaede is also on a date! Even though they play it off as just friends, clever little Kaede suspects something else is going on, but becomes a good little sister and keeps quiet about it.
After that, we get a couple of short one-off chapters dealing with Chidori not wanting to put in her contacts because her eyes were irritated, leading to everyone encouraging her to use her glasses so that they can see what she looks like with them, as well as a chapter dedicated to Chidori’s birthday! After that, we get a chapter focusing on Nanoha doing well on an exam (for once) and wishes that she got a bit more recognition for her hard work (even though passing exams should be the norm!)
This brings us to summer break. The school year has come to an end, so they decide to hold a sleepover at Nanoha’s house. Once everyone is gathered, we go through some hijinks as Chidori and Nanoha do their best to keep their relationship a secret from everyone. Things get a bit nerve-wracking when Kaede appears and sticks her nose into their business. When they realize that Chidori and Kaede had met before, they fumble through explaining how they met without revealing the fact that it was during a date.
Our volume ends with a phone call from a mysterious girl. Apparently, this girl knows Chidori and she’s coming to visit her old school in where Chidori is currently attending!
Characters
Hmm… I’m thinking pretty hard to see if I can point out anything that could be considered considerable character development, but I can’t. I mean, yes, Chidori and Nanoha are dating, but this volume carried on the theme of them just hiding their relationship from everyone else. Sure, there were some tender and cute moments between them which show how close they are, but they are all accompanied by embarrassment, or fear of being discovered, so they just end up doing couple things when they are sure that nobody is looking (minus the aquarium). Despite that, the “couple things” I’m referring to are holding hands. That seems to be the only thing that they do that they get embarrassed about.
While dating is quite new for them, it seems as if the relationship is stuck in first gear, so aside from being placed in different scenarios, their relationship hasn’t even advanced at all. Then again, I wouldn’t expect it to, since everything is still brand-new to them, but it didn’t make for much in the way of character development.
At least Chidori looked cute in glasses and felt more compelled to wear them over contacts (which only lasted for a chapter).
Final Thoughts
I had no idea that Chidori and Nanoha were dating and keeping it a secret from everyone. If only they had placed a note at the beginning of every chapter for three straight volumes, I would have known this.
Okay, snark aside, it was quite annoying to see that after three volumes, every chapter is still reminding us about their secret relationship. When you’re reading through the book and going from plot to plot, I take those little boxes as narrative that could be relevant to what I’m reading, but then I discover it’s just retelling the same thing over and over again. I’m not sure what the release cadence of this series is in Japan, but when you’re reading this in a tankoban format, it gets quite insulting to have to be reminded of the same thing for thirty-six chapters straight. Maybe in the future, an English editorial department can omit that and put something else there. I mean, I know humans are dumb by nature, but we’re not THAT dumb (are we?)
That little grip aside, it was another fun volume filled with cute hijinks as Chidori and Nanoha continue to explore their relationship. I especially liked the chapter where Chidori didn’t want to wear her glasses, especially her facial expression, because it reminded me of another series I was reading that got an anime adaptation from GoHands. Although Chidori didn’t forget her glasses, it still gave me that certain vibe. The sleepover was also pretty fun, especially when Kaede showed up. I thought she was going to spill the beans, and maybe she should have… then we wouldn’t have that little narration box at the beginning of every chapter anymore!
Another cute volume for a pretty chill yuri series. Looking forward to the next!
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This item was provided for review by Viz Media
