The Story of How My Wife’s Mood Changes the Weather Manga Review
妻の機嫌で天候が変わる話
Tsuma no Kigen de Tenkou ga Kawaru Hanashi

KURITA Aguri-sensei is another artist that I found via Twitter (X). In addition to The Story of How My Wife’s Mood Changes the Weather, she also writes/draws the My Wife is a Little Intimidating manga, which is her bread-and-butter series. As such, there was a great appeal in the artwork. And while a story of a supernatural being marrying a human isn’t that uncommon out of Japan, the time setting was. Since the manga just ended, I thought I’d review it.

The Story, in Brief

In 1930s Japan, a man named AMAMIYA Akiyuki is married to a raijin named Raika. He met her as a child, when she revived him. At the time, he had no clue that she wasn’t human. However, he fell in love with Raika. Over the years, the child grew into a young man and his love never failed. As such, Raika agreed to be his wife. Unfortunately, as Akiyuki grew older, it began to appear that they were father and child, rather than husband and wife.

Raika becomes self-conscious about their appearance, and what folks say. As such, her mood can drastically change the weather. Raika’s sister shows up to help guide her. Akiyuki decides to buy a home in a more rural area so that Raika doesn’t have to deal with the chatter. To do this, Akiyuki gives up smoking and cuts luxuries to save money.

Eventually, Akiyuki’s older brother discovers Akiyuki married a raijin. As such, he kidnaps her to force her to help his shipping business, allowing him to get richer. However, Akiyuki comes for his wife, and stops her from destroying his brother’s business. Afterward, Raika decides to introduce her human husband to her family, where her father decides to have a bit of fun with him. Afterward, the married couple get an official wedding ceremony.

Short, Slice of Life, Seinen Romance

As I mentioned earlier, the element that really caught my eye in The Story of How My Wife’s Mood Changes the Weather was the time setting. There was something appealing about a series set in 1930s Japan. The closest I’ve seen is in Natsu no Arashi, where they will time travel back to World War II Japan. But this is pre-war Japan, where on one hand, you have the influx of then modern technologies. On the other hand, you still have classic Japan, where folks still accept things like raijin.

While I’ve read or seen other titles where a human marries a supernatural, non-human, I don’t recall a series where it takes a serious look at such a relationship. After all, Raika will probably still look like a teen girl when Akiyuki is an elderly man. She’s already insecure because when her horns aren’t showing, she looks like Akiyuki’s daughter, not his wife.

For his part, Akiyuki wants to do everything he can for Raika. So he too becomes insecure at times. As such, this sort of grounding in a fantasy tale makes things more interesting to me.

Sadly, the manga only went two volumes. Kurita-sensei had THREE active manga titles going when she ended The Story of How My Wife’s Mood Changes the Weather. As such, there was no way she could devote the time and effort needed to really take this manga to the next level. Plus, I suspect she had a great idea, but didn’t really know where to take it. That’s a shame as I would have loved to continue reading about Akiyuki and Raika. Raika commenting on how Japan is changing would have been interesting as well.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

In the end, The Story of How My Wife’s Mood Changes the Weather is an interesting tale of a love between a human male and a raijin, set in 1930s Japan. Alas, the manga isn’t licensed. Kurita-sensei’s ongoing My Wife is a Little Intimidating has a digital-only release. There’s a weak chance the same might happen for The Story of How My Wife’s Mood Changes the Weather. If this gets a PRINTED version, AND the adaptation is accurate but readable, to include Japanese honorifics, then I would surely buy it.