After The Rain Launches Bizarre "Date Spot" Campaign

Want to check out the date spots chosen by a fictional 17-year-old girl who is in love with her 45-year-old manager? If you're anywhere near Yokohama, Kanagawa from March 1st to March 30th, you can do just that. The producers of After the Rain are partnering with the city to create the "Akira's Yokohama Date Spot Tour Campaign."

The campaign directs visitors to nine locations that the young protagonist of the anime might choose for a date with her beloved. Local shops are giving away bonus items to anyone who presents the campaign map, and the Sakuragicho Station Tourist Information Center has a commemorative clear file for the first 500 fans who present photographs of at least three of the locations. Those who cosplay Akira at the Kishamichi Promenade (one of the show's primary settings) and post photos on Twitter can enter a drawing to win a poster signed by the show's creator.

Remember, Akira is a teenage girl with a huge crush on a middle aged man. Considering the actual series' sensitive handling of a hot-button issue, this event seems tonally dissonant, completely glossing over the anime's more troubling themes. Despite that, it will still probably be fun for those who participate. After all, who doesn't love a good clear file?