Game designer Hideo Kojima told Vogue that the image of Rainy in Death Stranding 2: On the Beach started out in a very different place. In early stages she was meant to be noticeably younger — approx. the same age as Tomorrow (Elle Fanning), so more like a teen y/o figure.
Some footage and ideas survived that first concept: Kojima mentions scenes, including episodes with "innocent dances in the rain," that carried over. Back then Rainy felt lighter, seen through something closer to a teenage lens.
Everything shifted after Kojima met actress Siôri Kutsuna. He picked up on her "emotional maturity" and decided to reshape the role to fit that tone. Honestly, that struck me — an actor’s presence can reroute an entire character arc.
The result is a Rainy who reads older and more layered, a kind of "older sister" to Tomorrow. Kojima says he often adapts characters to the performers, aiming for a livelier, more believable image; with Rainy this meant emphasizing the in-between state — caught between youth and adulthood — and folding that into her storyline.