Thank you so much for your incredibly detailed thoughts and the generous praise, Pixel (@pixelatedraindrops)! 💖 I'm truly happy that you liked it! (And I also read Kazin(@kazinsblog)’s reblog—I'm really glad you enjoyed it as well! 🥰)
I'm putting the rest under a cut because it's long:
After reading A Heartwarming Reunion, I felt that interpreting Yuma and Makoto as brothers made perfect sense, and I especially loved the part at the end where they start to practice acting like brothers! (I also have a soft spot for found family dynamics! XD)
In my story, they call each other by name—“Yuma” and “Makoto”—and don’t use any sibling-specific terms, but I imagined that perhaps they’re not quite ready for that yet. So I chose their dialogue with that in mind. I’m really relieved to hear that their relationship came across as natural to you!
When it comes to Japanese media, no cold is ever “mild” but I suppose he’d call it that just to get Yuma off his back…
You're absolutely right—when it comes to anime and similar media, a “mild cold” is never actually mild. XD
I imagined that Makoto probably has a decent fever and is at the point where preparing food himself feels too exhausting, so your interpretation that he's downplaying his symptoms to keep Yuma from worrying too much is spot on.
This story starts after some time has passed since Yuma arrived, so I actually doubt Makoto was resting properly before Yuma showed up. lol
But I do think he’s at least learned something from last time and informed someone beforehand that he wasn’t feeling well. (In my mind, maybe Kurumi first noticed Makoto seemed unwell and passed that on to Yuma, and when Yuma asked him directly, Makoto said “It’s just a mild cold, nothing to worry about.” That kind of scenario.)
One thing I found interesting while drawing was how flushed cheeks can be ambiguous—are they from a fever, or from embarrassment?
Makoto acts annoyed with Yuma throughout the whole scene, but his red face makes him look so endearing, no matter how harsh his words might be.
As you wrote, I believe Makoto is secretly happy that Yuma is doting on him, and in my mind, that last panel shows a flush from embarrassment, not just fever. 🤭
What I really love about AHR is how clearly it expresses Makoto’s pride.
That’s something I wanted to reflect here as well—he’s genuinely glad that Yuma came, but his own sense of guilt about causing trouble keeps him from being openly happy about it.
Still, since they’ve already talked things through and acknowledged each other as brothers, I wanted to show that he’s trying his best to express his feelings, in his own way. I’m really grateful you picked up on that!
Including Kurumi was a must for me! I really liked her role and portrayal in AHR—it felt so fitting. She’s not physically present in this story, but I still wanted to express that the three of them remain on good terms.
I think both you and Kazin do a great job keeping your stories exactly the right length!
Even though AHR focuses on Yuma and Makoto, you still managed to include a variety of characters, each playing a meaningful role.
Reading it gave me a new perspective not only on them, but also on post-game Kanai Ward itself.
I truly felt lucky to have discovered such a wonderful work, and I know how much effort must have gone into making it. If this comic serves as even a small token of thanks to you and Kazin, I’m deeply happy! 😊
Though this story is based on your work, I still drew it entirely based on my own preferences, so I’m so glad to know that you both liked it.
There are still many things I’d like to draw about Rain Code, so I hope I can create more someday (though at my very slow pace, it might take a few more months...).
Thank you so much again for reading it! 🫶💕
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