With You and the Rain

Episode 7

There's nothing wrong with ordinary days. It can feel like there is, of course, especially if, like Fuji, you're trying to cudgel your brain into giving you story ideas. Ordinary days don't always make for interesting plots, or at least a good start to a novel. But that's just fine, too, and the entire trajectory of this episode of With You and the Rain is showing that sometimes you need to sit back and revel in the ordinariness, even if it doesn't result in what you were hoping for.

Mind you, there's a real argument to be made that none of Fuji's days are “ordinary,” since she shares them with Kimi. But for all of his unique qualities, he's a very normal companion animal in a lot of ways. After his encounter with his kitty cousin last week, the show delights in demonstrating that Fuji could have told people he was a cat just as easily as a dog, and he engages in some very feline behaviors this week. The most notable are sitting on Fuji's stomach and merrily kneading her, and his ill-fated attempt to jump from the desk to the bed. (My cat Sammy feels for you, Kimi. He's never quite as good at jumping as he thinks he'll be.) The way these mix with more canine behaviors, such as decimating his new toy within seconds of getting it, brings home the reality of what Kimi is: an animal that is neither cat nor dog, but who fulfills the purpose of both as a pet.

We could also say that it shows that we perhaps put too much stock in what an animal is as opposed to how they make us feel or how much we enjoy sharing our lives with them. Artificial lines are frequently drawn between “cat people" and "dog people,” with some people loudly proclaiming that they only like one or the other, and yes, there are differences between cats and dogs. But what's more important is how you interact with any domestic animal. I've had cats who play fetch and dogs who hated water, cats who begged at the table, and dogs who loved playing with a wand toy. Kimi may be the best of both worlds with his mix of behaviors and small magics, but as the story goes on, it's less important that he's a ”dog” (tanuki) than how he enriches Fuji's life.

Also delightful, of course, is her blasé attitude when discussing her pet in public. The trip to the stationery store to buy Kimi some more paper and a pen he can use is a perfect example. At first, it sounds like she's just talking about a small child (although I'm not sure why the clerk is so aghast that a kid might enjoy lying on the floor to write or draw), but when she gets to “hairy,” the other woman short-circuits. She does a good job of hiding her shock and horror, but even just her twitching eye contrasts beautifully with Fuji's calm statement of facts. Fuji's a smart woman; she must know that Kimi's not a dog. Maybe her attitude is a way of teasing others…or maybe she's just the sort of person who can accept anything as long as it works for her – even if that's Kii-chan picturing her in a bunny girl outfit.

Although With You and the Rain is anything but ordinary, it does a beautiful job of presenting itself as utterly normal. There's a real delight to be found in that, and hopefully, Fuji will find a way to translate it into her next book.

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With You and the Rain is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.