This was a sweet and gentle "slice of life" manga, that while it didn't have any overarching dramatic storyline, it flowed gently like a calm brook in a green forest, with light rain pattering all around from a light grey sky.

Very relaxing and cute set of vignettes where a woman and a rescued off the street "dog" (really a magical tanuki, I want one now, SO CUTE!) live a quiet, gentle, happy life, going out, visiting with family and neighbors, casual and calm, no real stress or conflict.

This was a great palette cleanse for me after a really rough book about WWII.

I would recommend this if you need to relax and don't want any stress, just something sweet and simple that won't take forever to read. The artwork is beautiful and calming as well.

3.5 rounded up to 4, calm and soothing, stars.

My thanks to NetGalley and Kodansha for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.

THe manga was cute but kind of boring. She finds an animal in a box that claims to be a dog but looks like a weird racoon like thing and just goes with it. She brings it into her life with no questions asked. She notices all the super intelligent behavior and just brushes it off as a smart creature. It makes no sense. There were no hints or anything given to show that the plot/story will progress at all in further volumes.

4/5⭐
🦝
This manga is utterly adorable. Tanukis are just plain adorable and this one is a bit of a smartass too. This is a wholesome fluffy manga that's so enjoyable.

This is one the most heartwarming manga I have read in a long time. Plus, the artwork is absolutely gorgeous! I highly recommend this series to everyone!

This is such a cute book. No Nikaido made it possible to read, learn, be entertained and awed by this flawless book. The tanuki was not only cute and adorable, but also showed that you can be anything you want to be. He said he was a dog, so he became a dog. A cat? No problem! I’m not sure if that was supposed to be a lesson within the book, but it really stood out to me. That if you just put yourself on the line and give it your all, anything you say you are, you can be. The illustration was phenomenal! The details were beautiful and full of life. I loved the little side notes to pictures that let you know small information that was within them. Now time to wait for volume two!

It was a refreshing, total comfy story about a girl and a... well her new pet friend. I liked for the lightness and the tranquility and the humor

With You and the Rain, Volume 1
by Ko Nikaido

With You and The Rain is a charming, wholesome slice of life vibes type of a manga that is simply the story of a young woman who comes across a tanuki on her way home and brings it home. Tanuki–actual animals perhaps better known as Japanese racoon dogs are popular creatures in Japanese folklore and even animation, they are known for their mischievous natures and troublesome interactions with people. The tanuki which is passed off as a pet, a dog settles into his new home hilariously and is well loved by most.

This manga is a shorter, slower paced fun read that should be appropriate for all ages. The artwork is gorgeous, reminding me of polished shojo manga and I loved getting to know all the different characters in the neighborhood, from the little girl next door, the protagonist’s parents and the local vet who is not convinced he’s an actual tanuki.

All and all, this manga may not be for everyone: especially those who are looking for a heavier, more layered read with a story with more life and death stakes. And that’s fine. There’s plenty on the manga shelves for them. This is a simply low-stakes, fun and pretty wholesome read that brings just enough to the table for those looking for something lighthearted, which may be the escapism, distraction and fun you may be looking for. I’m hoping that the second volume is released soon, so this first volume doesn’t get buried in the many manga releases we readers get month to month–⅘ stars!

With You and the Rain is ADORABLE! I would love to have this book in our collection, but it is not available in print or through cloudLibrary. I'm so disappointed that I won't be able to put this book in the hands of readers. :( When I started reading it, I had no clue that it was digital only through Amazon. Such a disappointment.

This was so cute and adorable!! I was able to read it in one sitting. Some chapters were so adorable, they made me smile as well. I really want to know whether he is a dog or something else. Highly recommend it if you are looking for something slice of life and cute. Looking forward to reading more of this manga!

This was a really pleasant read! The art is beautiful and the overall vibe is gentle, domestic, and humorous. I really love seeing how all the characters interact with this strange "dog" -- my favorites are the vet and the main character's dad! I also love the way the tanuki reacts to situations (the expressions are so funny). This manga is soft, surreal, and a very enjoyable glimpse in the day to day life of a woman and her pet tanuki. I like the quiet moments that they spend together, as well as their outings to the beach or store. I also like that the main character is living on her own without any obvious love interests and enjoying her solitary yet fulfilling life. I'm looking forward to reading more!

This is a cute slice of life manga about a woman who adopts a tanuki . . . er . . . dog. There's not too much at stake here. The tanuki is smarter than average and the whole manga has a gentle, heartwarming feel to it. It's a nice idea for a short manga series.

Omg this manga was SO CUTE. I love how the tanuki can write, and also how the girl is oblivious to how he’s a tanuki because she thinks he’s a dog. I love the little shenanigans the tanuki gets into and he always has such cute and funny comments on his notepad. This story made me laugh and smile and I felt really happy reading this. I’m totally like the girl’s dad and just want to cuddle the tanuki to pieces. The scenes with the vet were hilarious. This manga has some random stories about the tanuki’s adventures that aren’t connected to the main characters of the story, but they are fun to read. Overall, this is a cute story to read when you just need a little laugh and I will definitely be reading the next volume.

4.5/5 Stars

This is a very relaxed read about a woman who takes in a tanuki as a pet. While the tanuki is intelligent and communicates through writing, it also has pet-like behaviors. There is no solidifying plot to the story. It simply goes through basic day-to-day events with the tanuki as her pet. I'm sure anyone would be charmed by watching a tanuki be cute, but it's not nearly enough to hook a reader to a series. Overall, the manga is kind of dull. As far as translation of this work, some text is a bit too close to the edges of the word balloons in spots and I did catch a typo on page 59 of the pdf. The line is "Doesn't seem to bright" when it should be "too bright".

The manga is very cute, but nothing happens. It was a nice read to pass the time because the artwork is beautiful, but not a manga I'm likely to re-read.

With You and the Rain is adorably drawn and written. It captures the sweet friendship of a woman and a raccoon she adopts on the street and mistakes for a dog. He's a smart and sweet little force in her life and this volume follows them getting to know each other and learning to live together. The drawings are so sweet and fun and I can't wait to read the next volume.

A girl is walking home in the rain and comes across an animal in a box looking for a new home. Weirdly it greets her by writing on a notepad. She asks if it's a dog and it says yes. She says she can't take him home but does anyway. The rest of the title is a slice of life narration of her life with her new pet. Her young neighbor befriends him, her dad comes over and is obsessed, they eat together, etc. It's cute but not much character development or story.

With You and the Rain is a very cute story about a girl who finds a tanuki in a box while walking out in the rain and brings it home.

She keeps him as a pet, and everyone decides to believe he's a dog (although he's clearly not a dog) that can write. The cuteness and comedy abound. Great little story about the magic that can happen if you just decide to believe in something and go with it.

Ok, this is probably the cutest manga I've read in a very long time. It's utter perfection--my only issue is that it seems there are only digital copies of the English translation, rather than hard copies? I NEED a physical copy of this as soon as possible! I cannot wait to read further volumes!!

Thank you for the ARC!!! Omg Tanuki was so adorable and I kept smiling throughout the whole volume! This manga was so wholesome and will make sure you will smile until the very end! I absolutely loved how the whole village was curious on what the tanuki was and kept assuming it was a dog or some other animal. Overall, I absolutely loved it to the point I read this in one sitting and re read it!

Once in awhile, the brain will require a read that’s both calming and cute to look at. These manga — sometimes in the iyashikei genre — will soothe those dealing with stressful work days or those in need of a break from the anxieties of the world. Ko Nikaido’s With You and the Rain is one such series that’s written to keep readers at ease, while at the same time deliver unexpected laughs from its fuzzy costar.

The story follows a nameless woman who stumbles upon a box on her way home. In the box is a tanuki looking for a place to live. After the strange animal gifts her an umbrella, the woman has no choice but to bring the raccoon dog to her house, where she finds that he’s a lot more clever than he looks. Together, the two bond over the mundane things in life, with the tanuki letting his new owner know his feelings with pen & paper handy.

How the tanuki wins the hearts of his owner and her circle is what With You and the Rain focuses on the most. From skeptical parents to the neighbors, the tanuki finds some fun and interesting ways to convince them that he’s nothing more than a dog. Despite a veterinarian’s warning or a mother’s dissatisfaction, the tanuki somehow manages to live life with his owner without any sort of fear. This of course leads to many cute moments that the animal brings to the pages, all of which will make anyone wish that these wild creatures were domesticated.

Trips to the beach, a summer festival, and even a walk around the city are presented with much sweetness and care. How the tanuki acts around baths, spiders, and even a doting father are showcased with the right mixture of cuteness and comedy. One moment you’re feeling fuzzy after seeing the tanuki write out its gratitude; the next, you’ll be laughing at how it rejects a matching shirt by a dejected dad. All of it is drawn with much care by Nikaido, who captures the owner’s beauty in the same way it brings forth the adorableness of the tanuki.

With You and the Rain is one of those manga that’ll easily relax your mind and fill your heart with warmth. It’s a slow burn, but one that’s greatly needed when the time comes to settle down after dealing with daily stresses. It may be another cute pet manga, but With You and the Rain goes to show that you can never have too many of these sorts of stories.