Rainy Dog is a 1997 Japanese film directed by Takashi Miike and starring Sho Aikawa as Yuuji, a Japanese hitman who is stranded in a foreign country and struggling to make ends meet. When he runs out of money and options, he is forced to take work from a local Taiwanese crime boss named Mr. Chen, played by Jack Kao.
As Yuuji carries out dangerous and violent jobs for Mr. Chen, his days become monotonous and his prospects bleak. He spends most of his time holed up in a small apartment with a now-adolescent prostitute named Lily (played by Xianmei Chen) and a dog he has taken in out of loneliness and boredom.
However, Yuuji's life takes a surprising turn when a woman from his past named Chin (played by Shih-Lien Wang) suddenly shows up and delivers a son to him, revealing that she had kept him a secret for years. Yuuji begrudgingly takes in the child, who he names Shuji, but struggles to balance his burgeoning paternal responsibilities with his dangerous criminal activities.
As Yuuji and Shuji begin to bond, their relationship becomes complicated by the constant threat of violence and the danger of their surroundings. Rainy Dog is a poignant exploration of identity and the transformative power of parenthood, set against the gritty backdrop of the criminal underworld.
