i just don’t have anything to say. mostly that i’m bitter from reading lukewarm douban reviews about the show (that site has its merits for sure but i was getting kinda mad). i don’t even know if i can do a fair review of this show anymore because it’s become so personal to me. all i can say is that i love it so much, and so deeply. just from a technical perspective it’s absolutely stunning. the low budget is clear but it does not stop the actors, writers, cinematographers, set piece designers from working to create such an immersive and creative experience.

it’s a show thats hard to recommend. it demands patience. and it demands a viewer who is all right with a less structured show. if you’ve watched films from hou hsiao hsien and edward yang (though i would argue this is more like a combination of the speedy, sharp, yet romantic and genre bending writing of johnnie to with the spiritual themes and dreamy colors of apichatpong weerasethakul) you’re likely prepared for this and i think you’ll enjoy it. if you’re tired of traditional idol dramas and the wearisome and irritating tropes they come with, you’ll find something to enjoy here. if you’re tired of conventionally beautiful actors and actresses, you’ll enjoy this as well. if you’re someone who adheres to a religion outside of the western sphere, you will love the way religion is woven into every fiber of this show (i’m a vietnamese buddhist and found so much of the amis religion very similar). if you just want something new and surprising, this is it.

but if you want a show with a clear path, a show that provides clear answers, a show that has a more conventional storytelling path (none of which are bad things, as some people need something more concrete), this is a show that will try your patience, and the payload might not be worth the time.

inevitably, there are comparisons between this show and someday or one day. both are very different. they share similar themes—reality bending, time moving in a strange and nonlinear manner, an expectation for the audience to suspend their beliefs of what they consider reality—but their ranges are different. someday or one day goes inward. “when does love begin and end?”. while rainless love in a godless land extends outwards. “what can love do?” there are themes that rainless love touches on, but refuses to answer, because there aren’t easy answers to them.

at the center of the show: it;s love. it’s always love. it always has been. the gods are love. every day we wake up it’s for love. love carries us. love is a sacrifice. love is regret. love is everything. love is love is love… i can’t. i can’t take it. i love this show.

for those concerned about the age difference + age play, it’s addressed and fixed somewhat when the show wraps up.

below is my review of the show while it aired in november/december. i’d completed about 7 episodes.

with such a small episode count, rainless love moves fast. the first episode quickly (almost too quickly i think) establishes the premise for us: there are gods (named kawas), and there are people, and there is earth. and the gods are quickly forsaking this world because of human negligence, but some are too attached to it. there's a third player amidst it all too, and everything--the tropes, the actors (zheng yuanchang, fu mengbo, ceng zhiqiao are all actors i at least heard of before starting this drama) --appears familiar while also being shrouded in a thin layer of mystery. an example: our mc tiandi could easily be mistaken for the mary sue-ish, happy-go-lucky female lead from any drama, and yet ceng zhiqiao depicts her so naturally, and so humanly at that.

and i think that is what i love most so far about this drama. it is, essentially, an urban fantasy, but there's minimal computer generated scenes. scenes of the kawas's world, scenes of xie tiandi's dreams are all a combination of real life set pieces, lighting, and only a touch of computer generated effects (but never dealt with a heavy hand). the real world in rainless love blends seamlessly in with the faraway-and-yet-so-near world of the kawas.

there is also a significant degree of respect and admiration for the ami religion and ami people throughout this show. the most important thing to keep in mind when you watch this show is that the gods here aren't science fiction or otherwise fantastical even in the xianxia sense, but are real gods from the indigenous taiwanese ami people's religions, so the exposition does not follow in quite the same way as you would expect from other shows that share a similar but more fictional premise. a part of me did wish that the kawas were portrayed by ethnic taiwanese people rather than famous actors, so obviously the depiction isn't flawless. but the respect for the gods and for the ami culture was otherwise felt throughout so much of the show, and because of this a lot of this show is so unique. there aren't the tropes we are familiar with (or maybe sick of too lol) from the cdrama world, and if there are, they are softened, or otherwise given another dimension, by the subtle realism and careful attention paid to the depiction of the ami religion.

one personal favorite thing about this show for me too is the character design. i am so, absolutely bone tired of the pale, thin, airbrushed, so-much-makeup look that is just inevitable for cdramas. here we see our actors' natural skin colors, their natural beauty, and honestly interesting outfits and styling that feels... down to earth, and super stylish. the cause and effect correction bureau and its gods and employees clad in a modest white; olad in a simple black suit. the goddess of coral, raka, and her bright smile and dark skin and her little taxi.

another addition: the music??? holy shit... i don't often pay attention to the score of a drama (if i remember it, that's often a good sign), and...goodness i am looping the theme song by astro bunny 24/7. the soundtracks throughout the show are playful and modern and wistful all the same too. it's not a cheesy soundtrack, and it's not a forgettable one. i'm really shattered by all of the love that's been put into this production at every turn.

speaking as someone who started watching dramas only after watching chinese new wave cinema, it is truly such a pleasure to watch a drama in this day and age and think: i haven't seen anything like this before. on that merit alone, i think rainless love deserves great praise.