Tokyo, 1987. Fuki Okita is an androgynous 11-year-old whose
father, Keiji, is battling cancer. Her mother, Utako, is constantly
stressed out from caring for Keiji and working full time. Left
psychologically detached, quirky and sensitive Fuki has a rich
imagination.
Over the summer, each of the Okitas soul-searches and thirsts
for human connections. Fuki admires a pretty, affluent girl in her
English class but her family isn’t as perfect as it seems. Fuki also
becomes fascinated with a telephone dating service and ends up
in a near-miss situation with a pedophile. Meanwhile, Keiji devours
information on new medicines but as his condition worsens, he
puts hope in increasingly desperate treatments. Utako engages in
an affair with her anger management class leader, but his wife finds
out and reveals a shocking truth.
While Keiji eventually succumbs to his illness, mother and daughter
develop a deeper bond. At the ocean, Fuki goes on a solo journey
to discover a new vision of herself.