With You and the Rain Ep. 1 “Rainy Days” is not your typical anime. At its heart, it’s basically the calm and relaxing story of a lonely lady adopting a stray dog she found while walking home in the rain. The big difference here is that the dog is not what it appears to be, no matter how hard it insists it’s a dog.

With You and the Rain Ep. 1 “Rainy Days”: Details in Brief

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Peculiar-looking “dog” you’ve got there.

With You and the Rain Ep. 1 “Rainy Days” will be the very first episode of this slice of life comedy anime series starring an office lady and her new “dog”. Said anime is the anime adaptation of the seinen manga of the same name by Ko Nikaido.

Lesprit (How Clumsy you are, Miss Ueno, Bikkuri-Men) is the relatively unknown animation studio behind this anime. Crunchyroll is the company licensing it for its global release, save for in SA/SEA region where Medialink is the company doing that. Tomohiro Tsukimisato is the director, with Touko Machida as the writer.

Synopsis

And yet, does it matter if the “dog” is a little peculiar?

Alas, With You and the Rain Ep. 1 “Rainy Days” hasn’t even made its debut yet. That will happen on July 5, 2025 only on Crunchyroll. To tease us on the plot, Crunchyroll has given us their official synopsis for the anime, which you can read below:

“On a rainy day, Fuji meets a cute critter posing as a dog and offering an umbrella and a cue card that says, “Please take me home,” and she can’t resist. With this dog-poster’s quirky charm and mysterious ways, life together becomes a heartwarming adventure of friendship and shared seasons.”

With You and the Rain Ep. 1 “Rainy Days”: The Good

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Alas, we don’t have any stills, so this is the next best thing.

Honestly, the extremely oddball story of With You and the Rain Ep. 1 “Rainy Days” is both its main draw and the best thing about the episode. The entire premise is basically a comedy that relies entirely on the “dog” and how the various characters react to the “dog”. This includes the main character herself: Fuji (voiced by Saori Hayama). At times you question whether she seems to know if her new “dog” isn’t really a dog or not, or even if she suspects it all. Still, that doesn’t seem to matter to her or the story, since it’s not the point. The point here is that her new “dog” solves not only her loneliness, but also ours at the same time, and that’s all that really matters in this show.

Indeed, if you’re the type to enjoy relaxing shows, then this anime will leave you quite calm by the time the first episode is over. The episode even focuses on the sound of the rain, with an entire scene dedicated entirely to listening to the sound of rain hitting various surfaces, complete with very high quality visuals. It’s like this entire anime is all about the ASMR relaxation, which makes this show perfect for winding down the day with.

And did I mention that the animation is high quality? Honestly, Lesprit and their animation team have thoroughly outdone themselves here with that animation. You feel like you’re watching the likes of Frieren and The Apothecary Diaries with that level of animation quality here. This is especially noticeable with the highly detailed eyes, and the ripples across water. Heck, even the food looks surprisingly good despite it not being a food-centric anime. This is precisely the kind of show that you can meditate to after work.

With You and the Rain Ep. 1 “Rainy Days”: The Bad

The friendship between lady and “dog” begins here.

Honestly, the only way you wouldn’t like With You and the Rain Ep. 1 “Rainy Days” is if you’re not fond of slice of life comedy shows. There’s no drama here, and certainly not a trace of action. It’s just the quiet, calm story of a lonely office lady adopting a new “dog”. It doesn’t matter how odd her new “dog” is or how skilled it is in un-dog-like things. It’s still her new dog in the end.

Really, if you want a bloody shonen fighting anime or even just an anime with drama in it, you might have to look elsewhere. May I suggest watching Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Kaiju No. 8, DDDD, DAN DA DAN, Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II, Zenshu, Solo Leveling, Black Butler, and/or even a few episodes of Apocalypse Hotel? These anime series should have enough action, drama, and/or even blood enough for you to enjoy until you too wish for some peace and quiet. Like the ones you can get in With You and the Rain.

What do you all think? Are you too interested in checking out With You and the Rain now? Tell us what you think in the comments section below.