Title: Rainbows After Storms Vol. 9
Author: Luka Kobachi
Publisher: Viz Media
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 165
Genre: Slice-of-Life, Romance, Yuri
Publication Date: April 21, 2026
The Story
We have arrived at Christmas. Nanoha has a gathering at her house where they bake a cake, play some parody of the board game Life, and have a grand old time. All the while, Chidori has a present tucked away in her pocket, but as things come to a close, she remembers that she needs to give it to Nanoha, so she goes back, but it’s as if Nanoha anticipated her return and was outside waiting for her. She brings Chidori to a special place where they enjoy a sentimental moment together.
Before we know it, we move on to New Year’s. Chidori is away on a family trip while Nanoha has her family visiting. They try to line something up after the new year is over, but their schedules just don’t line up. So, once the new semester starts, they finally reunite. They made a couple of resolutions to themselves, but before they can enact them, they are interrupted by their friends. At this point, they begin to wonder about entrance exams, which makes Nanoha recall the college tour from the previous volume.
Things move forward, and Chidori invites Nanoha over to her house… for the first time? I could have sworn she had been by before, but alas, this was Nanoha’s first-ever visit… and with her… is MAI!? Holy heck.. she’s alive! Mai needs help making cookies for the basketball team, so since Nanoha has a knack for making sweets, they enlist her help. Once everything is said and done, Mai pulls Chidori aside for a private conversation… one that could shape Mai’s future!
Characters
To be honest, there wasn’t much in the way of development with Nanoha and Chidori’s relationship. Yes, they did make a vow to be a bit bolder with one another, but as soon as they tried, they got derailed almost immediately. After that, it was back to them just being cute around one another. Nanoha still has entrance exams on her mind, which means the seeds are still being planted for their future. This was hinted at several times throughout the volume.
The first was during Christmas when they were playing the Life knockoff. Chidori kept drawing cards, such as you have a baby… You have a second baby… etc, and it caused Nanoha to wonder what life would be like should they get married one day. Then, when she recalls the entrance exams, she admits she doesn’t know what life would look like one year or even ten years from now. Of course, this is just building off her previous feelings from the last volume, so it’s not really much for development as she’s still trying to figure things out for herself.
As for shockers… after disappearing for an entire volume, Mai suddenly re-enters the picture! Even though she came to Nanoha for help in making cookies for her basketball team, there was an ulterior motive behind making them. She wanted to get Chidori alone to ask her something… something that she didn’t feel right talking to Nanoha about. If you know her past, you might be able to put the pieces of the puzzle together here, but this new development shows that she’s trying something, but she’s still conflicted on whether or not she’s making the right decision. We’ll see how this pans out, and hopefully, I hope we find out before the final volume!
Final Thoughts
To be honest, until Mai showed back up, this volume felt as if it were just floating around rather than moving forward. Sure, there was the actual passage of time as we went through the major holidays, and we have Valentine’s Day coming up, which I’m sure will be a highlight in Volume 10, but outside of that, things just kind of felt at a standstill.
I thought that with their New Year’s Resolutions, Nanoha and Chidori would have moved past the shy stage of their relationship, and while I commend them for putting forth the old college effort, getting interrupted in the middle of what could have been a turning point served no purpose at all. We are four volumes away from the end, so if there was ever a time for them to get bolder with one another, now was that time. This would have been the catalyst for them to decide to let the cat out of the bag, so they wouldn’t have to walk on eggshells around everyone, but instead, it’s like Kobachi-sensei couldn’t pull the trigger.
Now, it makes me wonder if the secret will ever get out. Will everyone find out, or will they just keep it inside themselves until the eventual time skip and epilogue, where they snicker at how they were able to keep it from everyone (except Mai, of course). That would be a bit boring. I think these characters need the secret out there so that they can get a bit of closure. Plus, that would give them the biggest shot in the arm for the development ever. We were so close, but the reins were pulled back when they had no reason to, and that bothered me.
Granted, that was the only thing that bothered me in this volume. The rest was quite cute and heartwarming. Holidays always make for a good time in romance stories (well, most of the time, anyway… I’m looking at you, Rainbow Days!), so it was nice that everything worked out for them. We’ll see where this goes, but we have another chance with Valentine’s Day coming up for them to possibly let the secret out. Can they do it? Stay tuned, friends.
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This item was provided for review by Viz Media
