"Okaeri Mone" is the thirteenth asadora I've watched. I had this one downloaded on my computer for a while, but I wanted to watch some older ones before watching the [currently] latest completely subbed asadora. An interesting note: "Okaeri Mone" is 120 episodes which, yeah is long, but feels short since asadoras used to be 150-156 episodes. I feel like this asadora would've benefited from being maybe two weeks longer (10 episodes). I have some issues with the pacing and making it slightly longer might've helped.

Let's start with the things I liked. 1) Mone (played by Kiyohara Kaya) is a great heroine. I love her. She's breaks the typical mold of an asadora heroine since she has more of a moody air to her. Her character development is slow, but ultimately very satisfying. 2) The way 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami was shown through flashbacks was a brilliant move on the writer's part. It doesn't dwell on the horror of the event, but instead focuses on the way everyone was affected afterwards. 3) Mone's love interest Suganami Sensei (Sakaguchi Kentaro) was *chef's kiss.* They are very much a slow burn romance. I love how they are not depended on each other and are even just content to support each other from afar. Mone says to him "To us, distance and time doesn't matter." Awwww. 4) The supporting cast as per usual with asadora was great. My personal favorite being Imada Mio as Riko-chan.

Now on to my very few problems with this asadora. I really (regrettably) disliked Mone's sister Michi (Makita Aju). It's not the actress's fault. The blame lies squarely with the writing. She acts out in very small ways, but honestly I thought she was just being a brat lol. The reasoning behind her character is not revealed to the very last week of episodes. And really, the third act is the weakest and is completely dominated by Michi's character. I would've preferred the reveal be more towards the middle of asadora. That way, I could've been more invested in Michi and her romance with Ryo (Nagase Ren). But because I already disliked her, I couldn't give a care for the couple. Besides Michi, the third act is also unsuccessful with Mone. She never does quite find her new place in her hometown as a weather forecaster and it's kind of just shrugged off.

Despite the lackluster pacing of the third act, I would still recommend "Okaeri Mone." The first two acts in Tome and Tokyo are amazing. I loved learning about forestry and weather forecasting. The earthquake storyline is handled with care and grace. The finale is satisfying as Mone realizes that she has "come back" as a stronger person. Her friends then say "Welcome back, Mone" (Okaeri Mone) and she answers "I'm back.' Cue tears. Honestly, this whole asadora is bit a tear-jerker lol. "Okaeri Mone" was well worth watching even if it's not my favorite asadora.