Always Rainy

Single Review

Written by Kineograph

A girl with a clear umbrella stands in a neon city where it is always raining, and a synthesised voice sings, gently and exactly in tune, about a love that cannot take one step forward.

The Song

Structurally it is a refrain machine: chorus first, a short instrumental breath (0:15–0:28), then verses that keep circling back to the same two ideas — the raining love, and the umbrella held over the heart to protect it, which the singer admits, in the line that returns at about 1:00, 1:41 and 2:30, is the very thing holding her back. We do not translate the Japanese lyric line by line; the shape of it is clear from its returns, and its mood is carried by the vocal. Koharu Rikka’s synthesised voice is soft, breathy and faultlessly in tune — a produced perfection that suits a song about feelings kept under cover. Nothing in the arrangement hurries; the groove is mellow to the point of drizzle.

The Film

An illustrated lyric video: a young woman with long dark hair and round glasses, a clear umbrella, a blue-hour city of wet neon. The pictures are a small hand of illustrations — the hero image of her under the umbrella returns at 0:00, about 1:12 and about 1:48, joined by a windswept profile (0:24) and a wider street shot (2:24) — animated lightly, mostly rain and drift, with the sung Japanese lines printed along the bottom as part of the design. Two honest blemishes: at about 0:12 an animated YouTube “subscribe” graphic is baked into the film itself, channel furniture and all; and the world never changes — one girl, one street, one weather. But the weather is the subject, and the consistency of the image with the lyric’s umbrella is the film’s whole quiet argument. It ends with a black end card that signs the work and names every tool — a creditable habit more AI singles should copy.

Best Moment (1:00)

Where It Strains

In motion, mostly: three minutes is a long time to spend with a handful of stills, however pretty, and the recycled hero image is noticeable by the third visit. The synthesised vocal, too, is even where a human voice would fray — lovely, and just slightly airless.

Final Thoughts

A small, exact, rain-soaked song — proof that an AI voice can carry a human hesitation when the writing underneath it is honest.

Play it on a wet evening. It was made for one.

Scene Breakdown

0:00–0:15 — The title hook, sung twice over the hero illustration.

0:12 — An animated “subscribe” graphic, baked into the film.

0:15–0:28 — Instrumental breath; rain over the city.

0:28–1:14 — The verse: things that never go right, feelings that never move — and at ~1:00 the umbrella-over-the-heart line.

1:14–2:44 — The hook returns twice more (1:14, 2:00); the profile and street illustrations alternate.

2:44–3:08 — Final chorus, then the black end card signing the work and its tools.

Single by T.N. Beats. The Japanese title and credits are as published in the video’s description and end card; the lyric is described, not translated. Details are from the video’s YouTube page and our own listening.