It’s rare that a manga inspires me to write a review, and it’s even rarer that I actually do, but Hana ni Arashi is one of these few that's manga worth it

(spoilers in the latter half of the review)

#Intro
Among the sea of generic slice of life esque romances that plague the manga sphere, specially the yuri category, it’s easy to forget what the appeal of the whole high school setting and slice of life aspects/elements of a story are. Is it to create a mundane comfort dish without much meaning? To allow the reader to reminisce on times passed? To cause the reader to relate to the story? Frankly, I myself have lost sight of this (and care), but Hana ni Arashi stands atop as a floatie in this sea of shit as a stark reminder of the power and reason of existing of this genre and as a genuinely good story that I found myself immersed in far more than I should’ve.

#Context
Hana ni Arashi, English name Rainbows After Storms (also referred to occasionally as Nanoha to Chidori), is a yuri manga by author Ruka Kobachi that ran from the years 2017 to 2023, compiling in a total of 13 volumes. And it’s as original as it gets, a high school yuri, wooooow (sarcasm), but don’t let this fool you into believing that, like many of its peers, It’s mid (it aint), cause frankly there’s a lot more to this story.

#What’s this shit even about dawg
The story centers around the already dating Nanoha and Chidori, two girls in their second year of high school, with the twist being that their relationship is the secret from the rest of the girls. While the original premise doesn’t evoke much feeling nor seem all that unique, it’s the execution that brings life to this premise. Through it’s mostly episodic yet continuous and interconnected chapters, it develops this premise, the relationship, and the manga as a whole, into an almost one-of-a-kind, personal experience. With each passing chapter smaller aspects of the characters are explored and you get to see how they handle themselves, and each other, in various different situations. While this mundanity leads to a frankly slow start, the dynamic and small plot threads and mysteries in those first few volumes keep you coming back for more. You wish to know what’s the mystery with those valentine’s chocolates or how they started dating, you wish to know when they will go public with their relationship, and most importantly you also wish to see this relationship grow. Being that this series starts with the two mc’s already in a relationship, it also allows it to explore aspects that most romance manga don’t get to do while never abusing its gimmick. On top of that it’s a pretty addictive and sweet read, with it having the perfect mixture between light hearted goofy fun with easily digestible chapters and a genuine story progression and time passage. This alongside the mostly believable relationship of Nanoha and Chidori and the fun dynamic with the friends, creates a very solid start, but this manga’s shine only comes through later. (spoiler warning from now onward)

#Somehow, I ended up with a summary
Whilst you entertained yourself with the mundane fun chapters with (big surprise) genuine development in Nanoha’s and Chidori’s relationship (not sarcasm), something starts to brew. With each passing moment, each slight touch, and eventually their first kiss, this originally not fully believable relationship gains weight. The slight touches, small facial changes, and the way in which the characters continuously think about each other along with the continued exploration of them and their relationship through the episodic chapters, makes you slowly care. Slowly and surely. Those middle chapters of the manga, those from like 50ish to 100, do wonders for the story as they take that slight care you might hold of the characters from those beginning chapters and add another layer. More aspects of the characters start to get explored, slight drama, things from the past, and most importantly, things from the future, with their development never stopping. It doesn’t rely on bullshit misunderstandings to keep you intrigued, but on the ever growing and glowing relationship that makes up the core of this manga, Nanoha and Chidori. It starts to become believable, and not only that, but you also start to care.

Unlike most manga, the passage of time in Hana ni Arashi is ever present and ever looming. While at the start you’re just excited to see them do their cultural festival or enjoy their first Christmas with friends (and some surprises), it reaches a point when the characters face the same dilemma you and me faced, or will face, “shit, high school is almost over”. This is a presence that even from around chapter 80 can be felt, but after their first Christmas and soon venture into their third year, becomes ever more present. And this absolutely elevates the series. While it maintains it’s light hearted demeanour and goofy attitude, there are plenty times where things get a little more serious, putting their relationship through the proper tests needed to fully explore it and believe it, and it does so in wonderfully. Ruka Kobachi sensei (the author in case you forgot) is intelligent enough to handle these matters with a realism and genuine intent that many people in this stage of their life would have. It battles with differing universities, differing locations, and even the possibility of a long-distance relationship, this compiled with Nanoha’s complete lack of idea on what she’ll do, compiles. The story never really takes a break, but that’s good. While it has plenty more mellow chapters that occasionally allow it to take a step back, it never allows time to stop or flow at the story’s convenience, and this allows for these very powerful situations to feel weighted. By this point in the story you’ve probably grown to care for these characters and believe Nanoha’s and Chidori’s relationship, so to see it be at times put to the test can feel genuinely tense. Ultimately, you’re rooting for them. These characters have started to feel alive for you, with small things like how their slight touches and kisses increase naturally as more time goes by (in a very natural and real feeling development), or their attitude’s change from lust to a more profound care, you feel these characters start to mean something, both to you and each other, so when Nanoha finally finds her career (which is done in a very natural and well executed manner), you cheer for her, but when the advent of long distance becomes an ever more likely possibility, you yourself feel the tension and worry. And it doesn’t sugarcoat it or gloss over it, the characters deal with it, both in good and bad. You continue to see the characters develop and change mindsets, not from bullshit, but from maturing and making each other a better person, in what, after being tested, stands as a genuinely healthy and believable relationship. Due to the sheer relatability of this situation, of having to find colleges, of being near the end of high school, you feel the characters. Their worries become yours, their happiness yours, their tension yours, and so does their sadness and effort, which is why you can’t help but share the moments with the characters, with their emotions swaying yours. When they truly had to surrender themselves to the idea of a long-distance relationship, I felt their same bittersweet hope. Naturally, a myriad more things happen after that and in between that, but this aint a fucking story summary. Ultimately, things work out, Chidori’s efforts to get into university are handled with realism and maturity from Nanoha (with it never pretending that it’s all rainbows), Nanoha finds a campus of the same uni she wanted in Tokyo, same city where Chidori will also study, and a myriad more things, and by the end you can’t help but be constantly swayed by these character’s emotions, feeling genuinely attached to them and almost feel like you’re there. And it also perfectly knows how to cut the bullshit, cut the fat, and only leave in what’s needed. That last year of high school is like 50 chapters, cause more weren’t needed. Why place priority in filler when there’s no need to? And this leads me perfectly to what I like about the story.

#What I like
It’s rare for me to encounter a series that takes a grip on my empathy in such a way. Sure, I recognize that I’m not a tough audience to make emotional, like Tarantino said, make good shit and I’ll get invested easily in it, but this stood out as different than many of the other stories I’ve read throughout my life. Most stories that make me emotional probably come from an admiration of beauty, care for the characters, empathy, and a few other things, but this could very well be one of the only series that captures me off relatability alone. Now, let’s be clear, I aint a lesbian, not even a girl, shiiit, I aint even had partner during my whole high school career, but that’s not why it’s relatable, this goes far beyond that. As I’ve repeated throughout this (mostly improvised) review, you start to feel for these characters, and this not only comes as a result of spending so many chapters with them, but also from the situations they find themselves in, specially those during that last year. I myself had to worry about exams and which uni to go to. I myself saw friends go to other cities for uni. And I myself had go a certain period of time without seeing some of the bros as they were studying they ass off. Sure, it wasn’t the six month long studying grind Chidori went through, but I certainly did see many of my friends, specially those going to medicine, spend almost the same amount of time preparing for the medicine exam. It’s these experiences that truly allowed me to visualize the characters as real, as I was reminded of how I and those close to me went through these similar experiences, facing the same reactions, uncomfortable situations, and dilemmas that these characters faced, occasionally even in similar ways. I asked myself some of the same questions these characters did with the same attitude as they did, and so did many of my friends and peers. So when I saw that Chidori passed the Waseda entrance exam (or whatever her university was called) I felt that, much in the way I felt the triumph of Nanoha finally finding out her vocation and going for it. Even in the dumbass moments I found myself getting emotional, like when Chidori realized that the once so dead literature club was now brimming with life (her friends), with her saddening at the thought that the club will come to an end when she graduates. When this moment happened her tears and worries became mine, cause same fucking thing done happened to me during my last year of high school with my club. So when she found out that Mai was gonna continue the club, I felt it to the core as I’ve been in similar situations. This might as well answer the question I posed at the start of the review as it perfectly show’s the appeal of this kind of story. While calm nothing burger slice of life’s certainly have their place (and I enjoy them), this answers to a whole other category of slice of life and high school-based stories, with it being a stark, real, and stand out reminder of why and how these types of stories can evoke great feeling through the exploration of this time period and smoothly develop their characters through its slice of life mundane elements.

Thanks to the fact that the story keeps it real, I was able to, and found myself, quickly and deeply relating to these characters alongside the care I already had for them thanks to those earlier chapters. It’s in general just masterfully constructed.

It's also imperative that I state that the story itself is quite good. It’s very intelligently handled with patience and knowledge of its strengths, needs, and weaknesses. The characters and their dynamics are fun, and while I would’ve loved to see a few stand-alone chapters of the friends, sometimes you can’t get everything you want. The story is also properly mature, not dealing with unrealistic misunderstanding and bullshit. It also holds a near perfect degree of nuance and depth required for this type of story, with it never lacking yet not delving into the things that a story like this really doesn’t need to. And that’s not a critique. It does an incredible job in cutting down the fat too, saying a whole fuck you to filler and capitalizing of what it needs, taking perfect advantage of every chapter, with it never dragging or rushing. It knows what it wants and needs to be, and it perfectly accomplishes plenty of these things.

#Conclusion
To say the least, it’s just a very fun and enticing read, with a great balance between depth and goofy, and episodic and continuous. It’s light hearted yet knows when it doesn’t need to be. It knows the core audience without it never abusing of its gimmick or the fact that it’s a yuri. It’s sweet, fun, and an ultimately completely compelling read that perhaps struck me far more than it should’ve. Do I recommend it? Hell yeah, why not. Among the see of generic yuri, it stands atop as an incredibly solid and successful at what it does series, with it being wholly comparable to the romance genre as a whole without having to limit itself to yuri. It’s fun, it’s goofy, and most surprising of all, it’s damn real. It shakes up the formula and delivers a captivating story and characters that will serve as a nice and welcome surprise to both seasoned and new anime/manga fans, be them yuri fan’s or not. Wholeheartedly endorse, really. This is for sure one I won’t forget.

(the title is an exageration relax)
(I had orginally given it an 8.4, but bumped it down to an 8.2. Tho it really is most likely an 8.3, 8.28 idk)