Early Access: Rainless Love in a Godless Land [Taiwan] E1

E1. I was a little thrown by Show's first 15 minutes; not gonna lie.

In those 15 minutes, Show goes heavy on the mysticism in our drama world, and I honestly felt quite adrift. Everything felt so unfamiliar and alien, as Show leans into the mythology, and the magic of gods and Kawas, Kawas being spirits who are put on earth to be blessings to humans.

However, thankfully for me, after the first 15 minutes, our drama world feels a lot more familiar, with us being introduced to our female protagonist, and her daily life as a tour guide. This felt a lot more like what I've become accustomed to, in Taiwanese dramas, and that definitely added to my sense of comfort.

Even the cartoony office antics felt welcome, because those are things which seem to be hallmarks of just about every Taiwanese drama I've watched - not that I've actually seen that many. It's just that in each one that features any kind of office setting, the office stuff consistently vibes OTT and campy, as if it's a taboo to remind Taiwanese drama audiences of what it really feels like, to go to work. 😅

Before I go any further, I think it's helpful to say that I actually ended up liking this episode more than I thought I would. The first 15 minutes threw me so much, that I wondered whether I'd picked the wrong show to watch next. I even paused the episode just to see what other show I could consider, from my list, to take this one's place, if I ended up not taking to this first episode.

Happily, I actually found this episode quite intriguing and enjoyable after all, and at the end of episode 1, I'm genuinely curious to see what else Show serves up, in episode 2. Meaning, if the first stretch of the episode throws you like it did me, do give it a chance, coz it could actually turn around.

Another thing that I think is helpful to know upfront, is that Show is reportedly pretty accurate in its portrayal of Taiwanese indigenous culture. The mysticism that Show delves into, comes from the Amis people, including the concept of Kakarayan as a creator god, and Kawas as spirits who bless.

This is all completely new to me, as I have no prior exposure to the Taiwanese indigenous culture, and that's also part of the reason I was rather thrown at first. Also, when it comes to stuff related to the mysticism in our drama world, Show tends to use what I assume is the Amis indigenous language as well, which does not sound at all like Mandarin or Taiwanese.

In fact, when I started the episode, and the voiceover started in the Amis language, I triple checked my video, to make sure that I didn't somehow end up with the wrong dub. 😅 I did get the hang of it partway through the episode, and it no longer threw me as much, whenever Show switched away from Mandarin, to the indigenous language of the Amis people.

So far, I'm pretty intrigued by our story set-up, where Kakarayan has decided to evacuate all the Kawas from the earth, because humans have treated the earth so carelessly, and therefore, he intends to withdraw his blessings from mankind.

Our male protagonist is Orad, the Rain God, whose role is to be Kakarayan's messenger, to carry out the evacuation of the Kawas. And of course, things get complicated when Kawas are unwilling to leave because of bonds that they've formed with humans.

AND, it also looks like it's going to be complicated by the fact that Orad himself appears to have a personal connection with Tiendi, our female protagonist.

I mean, I didn't finish Goblin, but the set-up does strike me as having echoes of Goblin, with a male supernatural being having an emotional connection with a female human. However, I'm pretty sure the similarity ends there, because Tiendi isn't Orad's bride or anything.

In fact, at the end of the episode, we're told that Orad's been Tiendi's guardian angel of sorts, since she'd been a child.

I find it very poignant, actually, that Orad is the only one between them who actually has memories of their past interactions, because he's obligated to wipe her memories each time they interact.

Also, I find it an interesting idea, that those glitches in our human experience, where we suddenly forget what we were thinking, is explained as instances where a god has wiped our memories.

Of course, it's also playfully ironic, that Tiendi is being positioned as a flaky, superstitious sort of person, by the people around her, who treat her stories of the supernatural with lots of skepticism, when in fact, she really is the one interacting with the gods.

On a side note, I find it kind of cute that Tiendi's name, Hsieh Tiendi, literally means "thank the heavens and the earth."

Because this show comes to us from the makers of Someday Or One Day, part of the fun for me this episode, was to pick out familiar faces from the Someday Or One Day alumni.

I kinda love Alice Ke in this, as our Cloud God; she's so sassy and devil-may-care, as she does her own thing, and goes her own way, never mind what the other gods say. It's also kind of trippy to see Yan Yu Lin as Wisdom God, after seeing him play Creepy Psychiatrist in Someday Or One Day.

And then there's Zheng You Fei, who had played little Yuxuan, who plays little Tiendi here.

It's all pretty fun and rather trippy; I feel like my drama worlds are colliding. On that note, I'm told that Greg Hsu has a small role in this as well, and that it's best not to look up cast lists to find out what that role is. So, fair warning, you guys. 😉

I don't quite fully get the magic that's at work, that puts a drunk Orad and a drunk Tiendi in the same space, in her apartment, but y'know, the promise of an emotional connection between them, really does pique my interest. I kinda love the idea that the stoic Rain God, who's intent on carrying out his mission to evacuate all the gods and Kawas, has a soft spot for a human, in spite of himself.

And, that epilogue, where we see that he'd been the one to heal Tiendi's arm of what would have been a terrible burn, does lean quite precious, because this is where we see Orad actually smile an unguarded, carefree smile, when he's typically impassive and detached.

Color me suitably intrigued; I'm genuinely curious to watch episode 2.

Next episode notes will be out on: Tuesday, 1 Mar 2022!

*This show will be covered on the Early Access (US$5) Tier*