Amefuri Kozou

"Rain Boy" (original japanese name: "Amefuri Kuzou") is an OAV adaptation of the short manga story with the same name made by legendary "manga" artist, Osamu Tezuka (published back in September 1975 in the comic magazine Monthly Shounen Jump)

General synopsis: Mota, a young boy who lives in a village within a mountain, is always bullied by the city boys of the main school he goes to (at the same time he's also in the branch school of the village where his father, a professor, teaches) due to him being a "mountain boy". One day, he meets (under the bridge) Rain Boy, a little umbrella ghost ... that has the ability to bring the rain. The ghost himself repares on Mota's rain boots and begs him to have them, telling him he'll grant three wishes in exchange. From then on, a friendship is estabilished. However, things would take a long turn before we'd come to the suprising ending

Certainly one of the most underrated animated works by Osamu Tezuka. The animation might have its continuity errors and the sound was very good but not excellent, but the best of it is the meaningful story about friendship and the theme of "promises", well centered in the two main characters: Mota and Rain Boy, which makes it enjoyable and worthwile

All in all, a interesting and thoughtfull OAV anime by one of the most influential "manga" artists in the history of the japanese "manga" industry

Short Review:

I really did not expect to enjoy this as much as I did. In comparison to the first story in "The Lion Books" series, this one blows the other out of the water. Rain boy was very emotional and almost moved me to tears. It was extremely straightforward, and had nothing to really consider or feel like you needed to know in advance. I now have this feeling that I've fully appreciated this story without having the need to fill in some unnecessary plot holes. All was great up until the ending, where it seemed a bit off to me, but nonetheless, I enjoyed ... this a lot overall. From It's simple animation (expected from that time) to great characters, this was all uphill from the previous first story, the green cat.

In brief, this is a sweet and simple story, finely executed. I'd recommend Amefuri Kuzou "Rain Boy" to any anime fan. It's definitely worth the watch, and is something both adults and kids would enjoy. Will definitely be showing this to my kids one day, and I really hope all the other stories in the series will be as good as this one.