Masami Kondou

**Masami Kondou** (近藤 正己, *Kondō Masami*) is the deuteragonist in *After the Rain*. He is a 45-year-old man who is divorced with a young son named Yuuto Kondou and he works as the manager of a family restaurant, Garden.

## Appearance

Kondou is a tall man with black hair that is often combed back in a neat manner, sharp-black eyes with wrinkles around his brows that makes him appear to be sleepy or bored and sharp cheekbones and gaunt features in middle age.

He is normally seen in his work attire – a white shirt and vest with black pants – and smoking while having a break.

In his younger days, he has a fuller, youthful face with a similar build of a sportsman and short, cropped hair.

## Personality

Kondou is a kind and easygoing guy who gets along amicably with almost everyone, although he strives to be friends with his subordinates at work. However, his soft nature makes him "weak" in the eyes of Kayoko Kubo, the assistant manager, owing to his lack of assertiveness. He puts in an adequate amount of effort at work, with his mind seemingly fixated on his other passion – literature. He appreciates *belles-lettres* or "fine writing" immensely, and is a man of the arts. Easily lost in the book he is reading, he does not notice his surroundings or the people he is with.

He remains cheerful conversing with others, though he faces much negativity due to past events and him being "a 45-year-old man who is timid" and one who is "afraid of getting hurt again". As such, he is easily agitated when Akira Tachibana confesses to him. Her fierce stare also intimidates him greatly.

He is professional and a gentleman who keeps a notebook around at all times, scribbling important work-related points like avoiding sexual harassment and making sure that he does not smell like a middle-age man, which is bluntly stated by Yui Nishida.

## History

Both Kondou and Chihiro Kujou attended Waseda University  where they are close friends back then, along with Kondou's ex-wife, and they engage in literary pursuits of writing together, like writing short passages as a competition during the time it takes for their coffee to brew. After his marriage, the group dissolved and he became distant from Chihiro, only to meet again awkwardly in middle age when Chihiro is a renowned Akutagawa award-winning writer. This creates a deep sense of nostalgia and time past as they recall their college days, yet it is also a source of angst and anxiety for Kondou.

Not much is revealed about Kondou's family and his past romantic relationships. Kondou reveals himself as being on a normal date in high school, and in an effort to impress, he secretly put sugar in his black coffee while his date was away. Akira Tachibana's encounter with his ex-wife on the train shows her to be a helpful and easygoing woman, somewhat similar to Yuuto (Kondou's son) and also a loving wife and mother. The reason behind the divorce can be attributed to Kondou's neglect of his wife and son (and missing his first day at school) owing to his fervent aspirations to become a novelist. Kondo feels guilt and pain about hurting them as a result, and gradually loses interest in the writing which is also tragically the source of his family's split.

While working at the family restaurant, Garden on a rainy day, he observes Akira sitting by the window, apparently lost in thought while waiting for the rain to stop. Out of kindness and understanding her boredom, he offers a free cup of coffee and surprises her with a magic trick to go along with it. He leaves shortly after seeing Akira being surprised and in a better mood. When Akira returns back as a part-timer, he appears to have forgotten about that particular rainy day with her. After work, he sees Takashi Yoshizawa with Akira together, and briefly imagines a younger self of him talking with her, but brushes it off as a fleeting recollection.

When Akira opened up her old injury after chasing a customer who had forgotten his handphone in the restaurant, this causes Kondou anxiety on handling the situation. He prays comically in atonement for what might be deemed as sexual harassment, and wraps his arm around Akira's waist to assist her on her feet. He drives her to the clinic, unaware of Akira being a little glad in the backseat of being with him in the car. He is also oblivious to her embarrassment as a young woman while taking her sock off for the doctor's inspection later on, as he is afraid that Akira might be seriously injured. He also promises to entrust her school uniform to Yoshizawa, her "boyfriend", for her to change afterwards which caused Akira to retort in anger that Yoshizawa is not her boyfriend.

The next day, Kondou brings along a gift with the intention of paying Akira's mother a visit to apologize for Akira's injury at work. Coincidentally, he encounters Akira who is out for a walk in crutches and they proceed to nearby restaurant then. He is shocked after seeing Akira's toenails, but she tells him that the red colour was simply due to her pedicure; a term that he is not familiar with. Akira laughs out loud in amusement and Kondou is surprised by her smiling as she always has a dour expression at work. He then goes to get some drinks and returns to see the familiar sight of Akira sitting by the window. He relates this déjà vu to Akira, and suddenly she confesses her love to him. Kondou is perplexed and he views it in a non-romantic way, as one of his staff appreciating him as a boss instead. Nevertheless, he feels truly joyful about being liked by Akira even under his own misguided interpretation.

Eventually, Akira goes on to confess to him again in the staff room and he is seemingly agitated by her fierce expression and also by the new situation of a high school girl's confession.

## Etymology

* The name **Masami** means "right, proper" (正) (**masa**) and "self, snake, serpent" (己) (**mi**).
* Masami's surname **Kondou** means "near, early, akin, tantamount" (近) (**kon**) and "wisteria" (藤) (**tou**/**dou**).

## Trivia

* Yo Oizumi plays as Kondou in the live action film.

## References

1. ↑ Chapter 69
2. ↑ Chapter 68

Image: https://myanimelist.net/character/136479/Akira\_Tachibana