Shizue Hikari

During the tumultuous end of the Tokugawa shogunate, the Tengu Party rose in rebellion in Mito. Friends from their hometown, Tanaka Genzo and Fujita Koshiro, each walked different paths. Koshiro, who upheld the philosophy of "Revere the Emperor, Expel the Barbarians," became a leader of the Tengu Party, taking refuge in the mountains. Genzo, however, did not have any particular ideological stance.

A story about a high school sophomore, Uzumi Keiko (Kyoko Kami), in a coastal Japanese city, Keiko’s coming-of-age story centers on her strained relationship with her mother and her entanglement in social misunderstandings at school. Her journey reflects postwar Japan’s evolving attitudes toward youth, gender, and family honor, as personal choices become public matters.