With You and the Rain – Episode 1

What’s it about? On a rainy walk home, Fuji encounters a dog(?) abandoned on the side of the road. She’s unsure if she can take in a pet, but the dog(?) sweetens the deal by offering her an umbrella too. But is this really a dog? Most dogs don’t communicate with their owners using cue cards. Everyone around them seems to know something’s up, but, hey, are you really going to argue with such a talented little dog?

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In an era where vibes are the prevailing factor in establishing any piece of work, With You and the Rain nails it with the chill bossa nova vibes and laid back but intentional art direction. It’s the kind of show you go in expecting something calm and soothing, like watching the rain from your window on a quiet weekend afternoon, but it accomplishes more while delivering just that.

I’d speak to the past professional accomplishments of Director Tomohiro Tsukimisato and Art Director Nakamura Norifumi that has culminated in this show to create just the right mood in With You, but perhaps more surreal than the deuteragonist racoon dog itself, the two’s oeuvre do not necessarily speak to a particularly strong aesthetic (although they are still accomplished in their own rights). 

Tsukimisato is known to have directed several animal based anime such as Kapibarasan and Tanuki to Kitsune and other children’s anime, while Nakamura is a veteran in art direction, working on hit works such as Kandagawa Jet Girls, the original Fullmetal Alchemist, and Soul Eater. Certainly good works, but nothing that quite fits the mood With you is going for.

Yet the show hits well. The absurd setting of a smarter-than-your-average-dog tanuki frantically telling everyone around it they are, indeed, just a “dog” is funny enough, but the show has solid deadpan pacing for its jokes as well, like when Fuji calls home and accidentally has her father pick up the phone. It’s a blink and you miss it moment, but nevertheless a great moment that builds Fuji’s character beyond the “mysterious cool girl” she is portrayed as.

Moreover, the show generally remains respectful with its camera work. Fuji spends a lot of time walking in the rain and getting wet, but the show maintains a respectful framing. Perhaps I’m just tired of shows taking every opportunity of portraying their characters naked by having them take a bath, but I honestly felt a sense of relief and pleasant surprise to see Fuji generally clothed while giving her new pet a bath.

Of course, she gets naked a few minutes later to take her own bath, but the show continues to keep it clean. It all carries on the aforementioned chill vibes as a woman lounges in the bath pondering her new mysterious pet.

This all gives me some high hopes for this show. While anime with chill vibes and light-hearted comedy often inspires binge-worthy background noise, With You instead engages with you. It reminds you of the rainy tsuyu days and how it isolates you from the rest of the world. It helps focus in on Fuji and her new pet and invites viewers to, not only take in the setting, but also contemplate who these curious characters really are. It’s smart writing that will likely keep me coming back for the time being.

That said, I did want to mention one note of advice regarding whatever you might be inspired to feel and think after watching With You and the Rain: you do not want to keep a tanuki as a pet. They are illegal in the United States anyway, but moreover, if you find one in Japan, I’d like to remind you that they are wild animals, even if they are canids. It would be like befriending a possum, and I say this as someone with experience on the subject matter.

The safest thing to do is indulge in the concept of everyone’s favorite trash panda dog, rather than the reality. Luckily, we can perhaps hope that With You and the Rain will deliver on just that idyllic setting.