Après la pluie #1

The opening volume of Jun Mayuzuki's *Après la pluie* sets a quietly melancholic tone right from the cover, where a young woman in a school uniform holds a clear umbrella in a soft, rain-washed atmosphere while a middle-aged man in a waistcoat smokes nearby, his back half-turned to her — the emotional distance between them as palpable as the damp air. There's a gentle, wistful tension in their posture that signals a story rooted in unexpected human connection rather than grand gestures. Published by Big Kana in 2017, this French-language edition is a lovely entry point into one of the more thoughtfully drawn romances of that era.