Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Rainy Dog Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 15, 2017

Note: This film is available as part of Takashi Miike’s Black Society Trilogy.

If you’re not already familiar with Takashi Miike, you could spend several hours getting to “know” him via any of several of his films, many of which have been released on Blu-ray. And what an incredible assortment they are: Audition, Ichi the Killer, The Happiness of the Katakuris (my personal favorite), Sukiyaki Western Django, Crows Zero, Zebraman 2: Attack on Zebra City, 13 Assassins, Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai, Over Your Dead Body and Yakuza Apocalypse will provide more than ample evidence that Miike is both intentionally provocative as well as incredibly protean. Miike has become almost infamous due to some of the depictions and story elements in films like Audition and Ichi the Killer, and that proclivity is certainly on hand in each of the three films contained in this set, though perhaps not in the same context as those two aforementioned entries. Kind of ironically, this so-called Black Society Trilogy (which is also known under some alternative names, including Black Triad Trilogy and—just for good measure—Triad Society Trilogy) really isn’t a trilogy in a standard sense, for each film exists as a standalone entry and can only be linked to the others tangentially in terms of overall plot dynamics featuring criminals and, in some cases, shared casting.

Rainy Dog would seem to be at least a bit more “user friendly” than Shinjuku Triad Society, offering a somewhat familiar feeling tale that might in fact remind some in at least a few ways of Léon: The Professional. A yakuza named Yuuji (Show Aikawa) is experiencing some “career” difficulties, obstacles that become even more convoluted once he becomes supervisor to an adorable little boy who is in fact the son he never knew existed. Making things all the more complex is the fact that Chen (Jianqin He), the little boy, has some disabilities that make caring for him a bit of a challenge.

This effort is much stronger on mood than on any narrative impetus, and in fact once the main characters are introduced, things kind of amble along in a vignette laden strategy that offers Yuuji going about his “work” while his son slowly seems to begin to understand what his father does for a living. Relentless rain adds a dour ambience to the proceedings, and the ending certainly doesn’t approach anything like happily ever after. This has a bit less of some of Miike’s patented mise en scene techniques, but it’s unusually involving due to the totally dsyfunctional relationship between father and son.

Rainy Dog Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Rainy Dog is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Arrow's typically informative insert booklet doesn't shed much light on the provenance of this presentation, stating only that "the high definition masters were made available for this release by Kadokawa Pictures", something that may indicate that any quality control issues were outside of Arrow's purview. This transfer is perhaps marginally more detailed looking than Shinjuku Triad Society, but it suffers from the same pretty gritty looking grain field that is so heavy it can mask fine detail, something that's exacerbated by the relentless rainfall that's part of this film's story. While fairly soft looking quite a bit of the time, when the film ventures outside (which is does frequently), especially if rain isn't falling, detail levels perk up appreciably. While not quite as prevalent as those seen in Shinjuku Triad Society, there are occasional tilts toward green and/or yellow in selected moments that tend to make the palette look a little odd. Interestingly, both this film and Ley Lines have been censored by what almost looks like a blue sharpie drawn over "naughty bits" at a couple of key junctures.

Rainy Dog Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The language spec above is kind of random, as Rainy Dog begins with this text card:

Due to its setting in Taiwan, the dialogue in Rainy Dog is primarily in Taiwanese or Mandarin. Subtitles for Japanese dialogue have been placed in brackets.

The LPCM 2.0 track delivers a fairly subtle soundtrack well enough, though this is probably the least sonically "showy" of the three films in this set, with long, naturalistic sequences delivering the nonstop rain effects with intermittent dialogue. Occasional bursts of energy are delivered in a couple of key moments, but like the film itself, this is often a curiously reserved effort from Miike.

Rainy Dog Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer (1080p; 1:27)


• Commentary features Miike biographer Tom Mes.

Rainy Dog Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Rainy Dog is an unusual Miike film from a number of standpoints, but it's also unusually involving. Slow and deliberative rather than in your face, at least some of the time, this may be the easiest of the Miike films in this set for newcomers to enjoy. Video has some limitations, but audio is fine and the commentary is enjoyable.