The world often feels much smaller than it is, especially when it brings people together in the most surprising ways.

In the Japanese BL Stay By My Side After the Rain, fate intervenes with the softest touch, reuniting two childhood friends in a quiet, nostalgic café on a rainy day in Tokyo. What starts as a simple catch-up over coffee becomes something far more tender when memories resurface and long-buried feelings slip out into the open.

Adapted from the web manga Ameagari no Bokura ni Tsuite by Rakuta Shoko, the series stars Ikeda Masashi as Kanade Shinichiro, a quiet office worker who’s tucked his sexuality, and his past, away in a box he’s no longer willing to open. That is, until he runs into Mashiro Kosuke (Hori Natsuki), the best friend he’s been trying not to remember.

The first two episodes gently sketch out the edges of who these two men have become, while quietly hinting at the boys they once were. There’s a lot unsaid between them. But there’s also something immediate and familiar in how they fall into conversation again.

After a soft reunion that leaves Kanade both hopeful and cautious, he leaves with no intention of letting Mashiro back into his life out of a fear of falling in love again. But Mashiro doesn’t give up. After a string of unanswered texts and missed calls, Mashiro shows up again, and it leads to an emotional moment that neither of them planned for: confessions, mutual realizations, and the beginning of something brand new rooted in something old.

What Stay By My Side After the Rain does best, at least in these opening episodes, is balance. It’s sweet without being sugary, quiet without losing weight, and nostalgic without leaning too hard into the past. The chemistry between Ikeda and Hori is easy and believable, filled with subtle glances and that gentle awkwardness that feels earned when a friendship crosses into something more.

The pacing is slow, but purposeful. Every interaction carries meaning. And while there’s not a lot of plot just yet, episode two ends on a note that hints at emotional hurdles ahead, whether from the past they haven’t fully faced or the future they’re just starting to imagine.

If you’re looking for a series that feels soft around the edges but isn’t afraid to press on emotional bruises, Stay By My Side After the Rain might just be your kind of story.

Catch it now on GagaOOLala, and keep your umbrella close. This one starts in the rain but might just lead somewhere warmer.

Rating- 4.5 out of 5