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Title:  Amefurashi: The Rain Goddess Vol 1

Author: Atsushi Suzumi

Publisher: Del Rey

ISBN:  9780345512482

May Contain Spoilers

Gimmy lives with his young siblings in the middle of the desert.  The town they live in relies on the nimbus tree to provide water to them, and in turn, the townsfolk have to appease the goddess of the tree.  When Gimmy is given the task of creating an offering for the goddess so that she’ll make it rain, he gets in over his head.  Mel and Mil, his brother and sister, decide to help him out by stowing away in a toy box and pretending to be the new dolls that the goddess requested.  When Gimmy discovers what they’ve done, he has to figure out a way to get them back.   Too bad that Sora, the tree goddess, doesn’t want to return them.  What is a frazzled teen to do to get his family back?

Like the art, Amefurashi offers up a choppy comedy adventure.  Gimmy is an inventor wanna be, and he is always tinkering around, creating spiffy new creations.  Most of them are for questionable purposes, benefiting nobody but Gimmy.  When the village elder assigns the task of crafting new dolls for the Amefurashi, he is proud and a little intimidated at the same time.  He only has an evening to complete his important job, and if he fails, the tree goddess will withhold rain, causing hardship for the village.  Talk about a little bit of pressure!  Too bad Gimmy isn’t very skilled at time management.  Before he knows it, dawn is breaking, and his gift to the goddess is overdue.

Mel and Mil, his younger siblings, decide to buy some time for their brother.  They gather up their toy box, drag it to the offering site, and hide inside.  When Sora, the tree goddess, drops in to check out her present, she is delighted to find them.  She scoops them up and quickly takes them to her home, so they can all reside at the top of the nimbus tree.  When Gimmy realizes what has happened, he is absolutely frantic.  They are the only family he has left, and he wants them back.

Amefurashi zips along like a kid on a sugar high, giddy and frantic and silly.  Gimmy and Sora don’t get off on the right foot, and unfortunately, Gimmy has a way of rubbing the goddess the wrong way.  She thinks he’s a thief who can’t keep his word, and since he insists on taking back her present, she’s going to take back the rain.  Gimmy is suddenly faced with the prospect of not only losing Mel and Mil, but also being the cause of the destruction of the town.  Maybe the town elder will think twice before sending a boy to do a man’s job?

In short order, Gimmy is forced to join forces with Sora when desert nomads, followed by a rival goddess, try to make her life miserable.  Even though Gimmy doesn’t have a lot of patience for the hyper and annoying goddess, he and his neighbors are dependant on her tree. That puts a lot of pressure on him to step up and be her protector.  Though Gimmy really is more comfortable playing with his inventions, he isn’t one to back down when friends and family are in danger.  He’s also a dork and none of Sora’s enemies takes him seriously.  He’s smart, and he uses his noggin to get out of trouble, which is more fun than if he had fought his way clear of his battles. 

It doesn’t take long for the action to get rolling, and though Amefurashi is a quick and entertaining read, it isn’t very memorable.  It held my attention for the span of time I spent reading it, but like Sora’s rain, memories of the plot quickly evaporated.  The illustrations aren’t very elegant, and I didn’t care for the character designs.  The action scenes, in particular, are stiff and awkward, and don’t flow with excitement. 

Amefurashi offers up some fleeting fun, but this first volume didn’t have the personality to stand out on a crowded bookstore shelf, and  I would recommend giving this a rent from the library over a purchase.

Grade: C+

Review copy provided by Del Rey