Second entry of lesbian interest in the reboot of Nikkatsu's Roman Porno series, “When the Rain Falls” is probably the most grounded to reality entry of the 8 that comprise it, something that does come as a surprise, considering the director, Shusuke Kaneko, has movies in the Gamera, Godzilla and Death Note franchise under his belt.
Hazuki clips her nail every time it rains, in an effort to remember a sapphic relationship she had in her schooldays. At the same time, she admires Shiori, the head of planning in the publishing company she works at, who also functions as a kind of her mentor. The rest of her co-workers mock Shiori for her “extravagant” clothes, high heels, and always lacquered long nails, but Hazuki definitely does not feel that way. Shiori wants to have a child with her elderly husband, Sawada, who is also the director of the company, but he has other things on his mind, cheating her with Hazuki's colleague, Hana. During a rainy night, Hazuki and Shiori stumble on each other on the street, and soon begin an erotic relationship. Expectedly, things become overly complicated.
Kaneko directs a film, which, despite taking some narrative freedoms in order to have almost every protagonist have sex with each other, is quite grounded in reality. The appearance of the actors is the first one will notice, since all of them look like everyday people, in contrast to the usual, siliconized, ultra fit images the protagonists of soft porn usually have. At the same time, the way the relationships unfold point more towards a Japanese indie drama, with the failed marriage, the cheating with co-workers, and the way office politics affect the aforementioned pointing towards this direction. The concept of the young author who wants his own voice but is essentially coerced to speak about his trauma on his literary work also adds to the realism, as does the whole presentation of how publishing houses work today. At the same time, most of the relationships here are also grounded in reality, being driven by sentiments or an effort for professional success, and not just from lust, as is again the case in most erotic movies.
The same approach also applies to the many erotic scenes, and particularly the lesbian ones between the two protagonists, as they are also realistic in their presentation, stripped of the usual “acrobatics”, with Kaneko focusing more on the artistry of them, instead of their titillation. Go Ueno's rather polished, bright and frequently colorful cinematography helps the most in that regard, in an overall quite good work, which finds its apogee in the various depictions of the rain during the night. Chieko Suzaki's editing also goes towards the same, indie drama direction, with the movie unfolding at a leisure pace, although the flashbacks could have been handled a bit better, both in the editing and regarding their visuals.
The main issue here, however, is the way Kaneko chose to implement music in the film, and particularly the continuous use of the score during the erotic scenes, which makes them cheesy, and also becomes annoying after a fashion, particularly during the use of wind instruments. That this choice actually extends to the rest of the movie, emerges as an aspect that truly hampers the overall sense the film leaves at the end.
On the other hand, the acting is quite good, with Kazumi in particular standing out as tormented lady boss Shiori and Kazuha Komiya as Hazuki complementing her nicely, highlighting their evident chemistry. Tomu Miyazaki as Sawada is convincing as the “villain” of the story, while Yurisa as Hana, and the way she transforms is one of the most appealing aspects of the narrative.
As such, the sum of the aforementioned pros and cons result in a film that is a mixed-bag in terms of quality, although the effort at a realistic erotic story definitely elevates it above the average soft film.
