Rainbow
Season 1
TV-MA
Set in 1955, the anime follows the story of seven teenagers locked in a reformatory, waiting for a ray of light in a daily hell of suffering and humiliation, focusing especially on how they faced the life once regained freedom.
Where to Watch Season 1
26 Episodes
- After the Rain
E1After the RainSix young criminals under 18 years old goes to prison and they encounter there a mysterious prison mate. They fight with the mysterious prison mate. They are beaten by him. Then prison guard comes and beats the mysterious guy named Sakuragi. After he was beaten by prison guard the others feels upset about beating and They properly meet with him. They realize that they are at the bottom of cauldron Hell. - Distrust
E3DistrustTwo weeks later failed escape attempt of joe. Uncovered isolates himself from other 6 cellmates. Guard realizes that approaches him to use him. Guard says that Sakuragi is in prison because he killed his parents. Then Uncovered declares it in front of everyone. And the others starts to question Sakuragi whether he should be trusted or not. - Someday...
E5Someday...After leaving the hospital, Sakuragi reunites with his cellmates. A new guard, Kumagai, has replaced Ishihara who is on house arrest related to the fire. While doing community service outside one day, the boys each relate their dreams. Before returning to the school, the boys carve their dreams into a large tree and promise to meet back at the spot after they get out of the school. Ishihara returns and conspires to with Dr. Sasaki to deal with Sakuragi, who will be released in a month. They remove Sakuragi from cell 2-6 and place him in another cell with several large, strong boys. They beat him nightly, yet Sakuragi continues to bear the pain and smile, frustrating them. Mario, learning of the beatings, begs to take Sakuragi place in exchange for them sparing him. They beat Mario and shatter his right hand with a large stone. That night, the bullies taunt Sakuragi with what they did to Mario. After hearing they shattered Mario's hand, Sakuragi pulverizes the ringleader's face with a single punch. The other bullies stare in shock as Sakuragi's tells them that he was willing to put up with their abuse, but that they crossed the line when they attacked his friend. - Truth
E6TruthThe other bullies attack Sakuragi, while Ishihara listens from outside the cell. Ishihara leaves content that Sakuragi will be bludgeoned to death by morning. In the morning, Ishihara opens the cell, but is horrified to see all the bullies beaten and bloody on the floor. Cowed by the beating they suffered, none of the bullies are willing to admit it was Sakuragi's fault, causing Ishihara to leave in a rage. Unable to intimidate Sakuragi, Dr. Sasaki suggests Ishihara make Sakuragi break the rules by hurting his friends. Realizing Ishihara's goal, the boys bear the abuse to protect Sakuragi. Sakuragi, no longer able to watch, grabs Ishihara and is in turn placed in solitary confinement. Ishihara plans to starve Sakuragi to death saying that he and Sasaki can't let him out because of what he knows. One year earlier, Sakuragi had a roommate named Ei'ichi who was sexually molested by Dr. Sasaki. Unable to live with the constant abuse, Ei'ichi committed suicide. Guard Kumagai reveals Ishihara's plans to the boys in 2-6. Turtle manages to sneak food to Sakuragi's cell, restoring his will to survive. - Freedom
E8FreedomUncovered devises a plan to free Sakuragi and shares it with the others. Needing to get a key from Dr. Sasaki, Joe volunteers to go to the doctor's office, despite knowing Sasaki's perverted lusts. Joe fakes a stomach ache and is taken to Sasaki's office, where he 'flirts' with Sasaki. Joe convinces Sasaki to strip naked, and when his back is turned Joe strangles him with a cloth rope and ties him up. He returns to the cell and releases the other boys. Reaching Sakuragi's cell, Mario knock Ishihara unconscious and they carry Sakuragi away. A guard finds Dr. Sasaki tied up and sounds the alarm. Uncovered 'sacrifices' himself to draw the guards attention and manages to cut the electricity to the compound and search lights. At the front gate, Cabbage and Soldier stay behind to block the guards. Outside the compound, Ishihara ambushes the others and tries to stab Sakuragi with a knife, but Mario pummels Ishihara unconscious again. After eluding capture, Mario becomes depressed about losing the others, but Joe and Turtle state that it was Mario's determination which allowed them to save Sakuragi's life. - Lament
E9LamentAfter hearing about the escape, Nurse Setsuko encounters Turtle and gives him directions to an unused farmhouse, where they can hide and treat Sakuragi. Setsuko brings medicine, food and clothing, committed to keeping a promise she made to Mario. At the school, Uncovered, Soldier, and Cabbage are put in solitary and Ishihara subjects them to the same water torture he used on Sakuragi. Sakuragi regains consciousness and asks them to return to the school. Later, Dr. Sasaki and Ishihara are shocked when Joe returns, and they attempt to intimidate him. They're confidence quickly turns to horror when Joe reveals that he knows about their involvement in Ei'ichi's suicide. He also reveals that Sakuragi has Ei'ichi's suicide note, which could send Sasaki and Ishihara to prison. Using this information as leverage, Joe gets Cabbage, Soldier, and Uncovered released from solitary and they are no longer beaten or abused. Sakuragi continues to heal while Mario practices boxing. In the market one day, Mario and Turtle meet a woman who is promoting boxing matches at a nearby American army base. Mario enters a boxing match with an American boxer and is completely overwhelmed by the man's size and power. After the match, the promoter woman, Lilly, gives Turtle and Mario money and tells Mario to get stronger. Shamed, Mario resolves to pay Lilly back ten times over. - Showdown
E11ShowdownTurtle tells Sakuragi about Ishihara. Sakuragi leaves determined to finish his battle with Ishihara once and for all. Soldier leaves the school with the other boys cheering him on. Sakuragi confronts Ishihara who vents his hatred at Sakuragi and draws a gun. When Ishihara manically promises to kill Setsuko and other boys, Sakuragi disarms him and turns the gun on the terrified Ishihara. Mario continues his match against the American boxer and promises Lilly he'll win. Mario tricks his opponent into letting his guard down and knocks his opponent down, but the boxer gets up before being counted out. Tired of being chased and threatened, Sakuragi gives the shocked Ishihara Ei'ichi's suicide note and leaves. Ishihara, unable to understand, chases him and succeeds in stabbing Sakuragi in the abdomen with a knife. Staring Ishihara down, Sakuragi walks away leading Ishihara to believes he'll never be able to kill Sakuragi. Lilly wants to stop the match, but Mario resolves to continue fighting. Sakuragi pulls the knife from his body and tries to return to the boxing match despite the extreme blood lose. On his way, he is confronted by Dr. Sasaki and the police. - Promise
E12PromiseMario finally succeeds in knocking out his opponent. Outside the police order Sakuragi to put down the knife, but Sakuragi's only thought is of returning the boxing match. Several Army MPs arrive, and in the confusion Sakuragi is gunned down, his final thoughts being of his friends and their dreams. Mario returns home and reveals Sakuragi's fate to Setsuko. Later at the morgue, Setsuko collapses in grief causing Mario to wonder where he and the others will go now that Sakuragi is gone. Time passes, and the six surviving friends finally meet at the tree like they promised. Mario relays Sakuragi's final wish that they all strive to fulfill their dreams. Mario and the others then promise to make Sasaki and Ishihara pay for killing Sakuragi. Later, they discover that Sasaki is now running for mayor. While Mario departs to track down Ishihara, the others begin a campaign of intimidation against Sasaki. Mario locates Ishihara, now a mentally-broken speed addict. Ishihara mistakes Mario for Sakuragi and ask to be killed. Mario, angered that Sakuragi lost his life because of such a pathetic man, prepares to kill Ishihara. - Revenge
E14RevengeSasaki, unnerved by his encounter with the boys, locks himself in his office. His thoughts are interrupted by a phone call, and leaves to rendezvous with a 'lover' at a local motel. After arriving, Sasaki is horrified when Joe appears and draws a gun. Joe takes Sasaki to a beach where the other boys have dug a large hole near the water. Despite his attempts to bribe them, the boys bury Sasaki up to his neck as the tide begins to come in. Sasaki screams for mercy as the boys leave saying he'll confess everything. Just when it seems he's about to die, Sasaki wakes up in the motel, unable to discern if what happened was real or a nightmare. Setsuko finds Mario waiting for her and takes him to her apartment. Mario reveals that he spared Ishihara, saying he wasn't worth killing. The next day, Sasaki prepares to give a campaign address but becomes flustered when he sees Joe and Cabbage in the audience. In the sound booth, Turtle, Soldier and Uncovered play a recording of Sasaki confessing to all his crimes, including his part in Ei'ichi and Sakuragi's deaths. Exposed, Sasaki drops out of the mayoral race and loses his hospital. Setsuko prays at Sakuragi's grave saying that she and boys can finally move on. At the tree, Mario gives each of his friends a bullet taken from Sakuragi's body. Their revenge satisfied, they leave to begin pursuing their dreams. Mario looks back at the tree and sees an image of Sakuragi smiling back at him. - Annoyance
E15AnnoyanceMario invites Setsuko to theater to watch a movie. They begin to like each other but Setsuko's family forces her to marry another rich man. This situtation upsets Mario and he involves in a fight where he works. And he is arrested for assault charges but his other five friends makes a plan to save him. - Unbreakable
E18UnbreakableThe gang settles in in Tokyo. Joe flashbacks to his beginnings as a singer, and his wish to be reunited with his sister by becomming famous. Turlte runs into Joe on the street, but Joe tells him to stay away from him. The rest of the gang gets togethre to celebrate New Year's. Joe learns he'll be performing at a festival, and his sister is revealed to be working as a hostess at a cabaret. - Reunion
E19ReunionJoe and his new manager are held captive, while Meg eagerly awaits to find out if her brother is the Joe she is at the festival to see. Mario, Turtle, and Cabbage race to rescue him. After, the gang rushes to get Joe to the festival. They don't make it in time. As Joe loses hope in achieving his dream, he finally reunites with his sister. - Vocation
E20VocationCabbage contemplates getting a job. Turtle and Uncovered try and talk him out of joining the yakuza. He does anyway, and they are attacked. Mario, Turtle, and Uncovered desperately search for Cabbage, who went missing after the attack. They later find him, doing his new job...as a professional wrestler! - Blinded
E21BlindedUncovered invites Turtle over for dinner. Uncovered tells Turtle of his plans to study law after he graduates. Turtle gives him money to buy textbooks. Uncovered is actualy spending all his money on Eri, a prostitute he has fallen in love with. Turtle confronts him, after his brothers tell him about how he's been stealing money from the family to feed his habits. After he borrows money from Soldier and lies again, Soldier tries to literally beat some sense into him. - Emergence
E22EmergenceMario bandaged Uncovered's wounds from the beating he received from Solider. Uncovered goes to the shrin to meet with Eri, as they'd planned. Instead, she meets up with someone else, leaving him waiting in the rain. Turtle meets with him later, while he's still desperately waiting for Eri. The gang cares for him, as he fell ill while waiting for her in the rain for hours. Uncovered reads in the newspaper that Eri and the other man committed suicide. He later finds out that Eri had lied to him about everything, further adding to his pain. - Desperate
E24DesperateLily and Mario find Turtle collapse from sickness. They take him to the doctor, who diagnoses it as just a simple cold with fever. Mario believe it to be more serious, but can't afford to take him to a larger hospital. Turtle begs the old man to lend him 300,000 yet so he can help Lily start her dream. Mario boxes the American GI again, to get Turtle an appointment with an American doctor. The old man tells Turtle that he'll lend the money, if he can get repayment on a loan from someone dangerous. - Independence
E25IndependenceTurtle goes to collect the debt for the old man. Mario and Lily search for Turtle to tell him about the doctor. Turtle returns, with the deliquent loanee. Mario and Lily take him to the American doctor for his check-up. Mario realizes that Turtle and Lily both unknowingly considered each other as family. After dropping him off, Lily leaves to take care of some things. Lily asks the old man not to lend Turtle the money, knowing that he wanted it to grant her dream. Lily offers herself to him instead, trying to get him to rescind the deal with Turtle. A week later, Turtle continues to worry about Lily, who has yet to return. He instead offers to have her be his housekeeper, rather than having her further degrade herself. - Over the Rainbow
E26Over the RainbowMario receives a visit from Jeffrey, the American boxer, who asks him to visit the Army Camp. Mario obliges and is observed by a professional boxing trainer who comments that Mario's broken right hand will make it impossible to box. He directs Mario to a doctor who may be able to heal his hand. The doctor explains that the surgery will restore his right hand with at 30% success rate but advises if the surgery fails, he will lose the use of his hand. Mario takes the deal remembering Sakuragi's words about taking chances, and the surgery is a success. When his hand heals, Mario visits Sakuragi's mother to pay his respects and is given Sakuragi's boxing boots before heading to his match. Mario, with his restored hand, defeats his opponent in his boxing match. He is later seen at the tree where he and his friends carved their life's dreams into and speaks to the late Sakuragi. After a spontanous rainstorm, an image of Sakuragi asks Mario what his dream is, to which he replies helping his friends achieve their dreams.
