The movie starts with a young boy sitting at his table. He is trying to study, but he
can’t focus. He closes his eyes and talks to himself. What is needed to be a hero? He
tells himself to visualize, as clearly as possible, what he wants to be. In his head,
he is wearing a superhero suit. He stands from the chair and does some funny gestures
like a superhero might do in a movie and makes a ‘V’ with his fingers at the end. But
as he turns, he sees his mother standing outside his room, having seen the whole thing. They
stare at each other awkwardly. This is Hamada Kiyosuki’s son, and he tells
the story of his father, who was a hero. He saved the lives of people who were drowning
in a van. On that rainy day, during a flood, as people panicked and called for ambulances,
Kiyosuki dived into the violent river and saved the lives of the drowning people. Unfortunately,
he couldn’t save his own life. His son wanted to be just like his father. This was his dream
and his vision. He wanted to be a hero. Kiyosuki is a senior in high school, and he
is late for his class. He runs as fast as he can, trying to get to his class. He changes
his shoes and runs to an assembly hall, where a lot of kids are standing in lines, listening
to a professor give a lecture on stage. Kiyosuki can’t make it to his class, so he stands
in the first year’s line, out of breath. He tries to listen to the lecture, but then
he notices that a girl is being bullied. She is standing in the line, with her head hung
low, her hair covering her face, and her classmates are throwing papers and shoes at her. She
doesn’t say anything as she gets hit, and suffers without a word. Kiyosuki is infuriated
and when the kid in front of him tries to throw something at the girl, he stops him.
The kid is scared that a senior stopped him, and he apologizes, saying it was just a joke.
After the event is over, the kids go off to the classrooms, but Kiyosuki sees the girl
picking up the trash the other kids had thrown at her. Kiyosuki goes up to her and tries
to talk to her, but she doesn’t listen and when he tries to touch her to get her attention,
she starts screaming. People make fun of the girl, calling her a weirdo, and they make
fun of Kiyosuki, too, for trying to talk to her. Kiyosuki walks off with his friend, confused
by her attitude. When Kiyosuki talks to his friend about this
at lunch, his friend is quite surprised and pities the girl, but he is not interested
in helping her at all. Before he can say anything else, a girl appears. Her name is Ozaki and
she talks to Kiyosuki in weird, clipped phrases that he is unable to understand. Kiyosuki
asks her to speak properly and she tells him she has a sister in the first year who saw
what he did for the girl who was being bullied. She tells him her name is Kuramoto Hari. She
doesn’t say anything else and then leaves. His friend jokes that that’s probably why
she’s getting bullied, because in English, her name would translate to ‘Needle’.
Kiyosuki is worried about the girl and goes to find her in her classroom. He finds her
classroom and looks in to see her sitting in the far corner, her hair covering her face.
The kids around her throw down her table and as she stands up to pick up her things that
had fallen off, they throw down her chair as well. They make fun of her and call her
smelly when she moves. Kiyosuki is furious at this, and he walks into the classroom.
He goes right up to Hari, and picks up her table and chair and puts her things back on
the table. Hari and everyone else in the classroom watch quietly. After doing this, Kiyosuki
goes to his locker to change his shoes, when he notices some kids who take out Hari’s
shoes and throw them on the floor. He picks her shoes back up and puts them in her locker.
He notices that even the name tag on the locker is torn off badly. He does the same thing
the next day, but this time when he closes the locker he puts on a new name tag with
Hari’s name on it. Kiyosuki goes to his classroom and he meets
up with his friend. Ozaki approaches him again and tells him that her sister told her that
the first years are now calling him ‘Free-sen’, meaning ‘a senior who has a lot of free
time’. Kiyosuki takes the joke but doesn’t think much of it, even when his friend makes
fun of him for it. He thinks back to when he was a first year, and when he didn’t
know who to be friends with and was alone for a long time. It was a while before he
made some friends, and he didn’t even do it on purpose; it just happened. Now, he has
a group of people he calls friends and a healthy social life. Even then, though, he thinks
he couldn’t have called his isolation bullying. But when he looks at Hari and what is happening
to her, he knows that this is real bullying. It is bad and evil in his opinion, so he vows
to put a stop to it and fight for Hari. After school, Kiyosuki goes out for dinner
with his friends. They have a lot of fun and talk about his new nickname. They think it’s
catchy, but also mean. The girls tell them about how rude the first years are, and how
they told them to get out of the bathroom because it was getting too crowded. They all
laughed, because they could never have talked to their seniors that way. After lunch, Kiyosuki
thinks about Hari. He thinks about how she is, and what she would be doing on a weekend.
Then he thinks back to what they were talking about. He thinks about why the first years
would gather in the bathroom, and he has a bad feeling in his gut. He decides to check
it out. He runs to the restrooms and uses it, thinking there is nothing wrong until
he hears a sound from the ladies’ bathroom. He goes in there and asks if someone is in
the stall. When no one answers, he climbs over the stall and looks in to see Hari sitting
inside, on the floor and soaking wet. He sees the key that the other kids had locked her
in inside the stall and he asks her to pass him the key so he can get her out. She doesn’t
say anything and he asks her if she hates him so much that she can’t even let him
help her. She looks up and stutters, telling him he
has it wrong. She tells him she was so thankful to him for standing up for her and for putting
her shoes back in the locker and for changing her name tag. He is gentle with her, now that
she is talking. Even though he is struggling to keep himself up on the top of the stall,
he gently tells her it’s no problem. She tells him she was waiting for her clothes
to dry so she didn’t worry her father at home. She hasn’t told her father about the
bullying. He tells her he’ll find a way to get her home without her father worrying
about it. He helps her take off her wet clothes and puts his dry ones on her. He doesn’t
wear anything himself, but he takes her out of there as quickly as possible because of
how cold it is. When Hari asks where they are going, he tells her he is taking her to
an expert. They run to the house of this expert, Kiyosuki shivering the entire way, until they
reach her house. An aged woman opens the door and ushers them in. Kiyosuki explains to her
that this girl was being bullied and they threw buckets of water on her. The old woman
sympathizes and he asks her if she could dry her clothes. The woman says she could do it
in two hours, but Hari says it’ll be too long because her father will be home by then.
Kiyosuki asks the lady if she can do it in one hour, and she says she’ll try her best.
She gives the kids some food to eat in the meantime, and Kiyosuki takes Hari to his place
to eat. They eat the instant soup together and Kiyosuki is fascinated to hear Hari talk
so much. She tells him he is like a hero to her because he fights for her. He tells her
she can fight for herself, too. When she asks how, he tells her to keep her hair out of
her face and to sit up straight and not hunch down like she usually does. He tells her to
talk properly, with a loud and clear voice. After they eat, they pick up her clothes and
they go on their way to her house. As they walk, Hari tells Kiyosuki about her
mother who divorced her father because he was never loving to her. She told him when
she asked her father about it, he just told her that it was a UFO that took her mother.
Since then, every bad thing is a UFO to her. As Hari leaves to go to her home, Kiyosuki
calls her and she looks back at him. He does the same thing that the boy at the start of
the movie does. He makes gestures with his hands that someone would make to turn into
a superhero. He makes the same ‘V’ with his fingers at the end and Hari looks confused
before she bursts out laughing. This is what Kiyosuki wants, and he stares at her smiling
face for a moment before she turns back around and goes home.
The next morning, when Kiyosuki is about to leave his house, the lady at the dry-cleaners
comes over and gives him a box of bean cakes. She tells him she made it for the girl he
had brought over and he blushes because his mother gives him a look that is both suspicious
and mischievous. The old lady explains that this girl had bruises all over her body and
she had water thrown over her, so Kiyosuki helped her. Before the lady or his mother
could embarrass him more, Kiyosuki leaves and goes to school. He waits by the road for
Hari to show up, talking to himself about how dumb he is and why he’s single. His
friends pass by him and ask him why he’s there so early. They ask him if he’s waiting
for his friend, Gengo, but then one of them guesses he’s waiting for Hari. They make
fun of him a bit, but then leave him alone. He waits there until Hari shows up and he
is pleasantly surprised to see that she brushed her hair nicely, so it was out of her face.
He compliments her and gives her the bean cakes. She is happy that he brought them for
her and thanks him. They walk to school together, and as they walk, a girl hears Hari talking.
She is surprised and turns around to talk to her. Hari isn’t used to talking to anyone
but Kiyosuki, so she doesn’t say anything. The girl, Ozaki’s sister, tells her that
she and her friends heard a rumor of her being stuck in the bathroom and they went there,
but couldn’t find her. They found her glasses, though, and she hands her the glasses, putting
them on the box of beancakes that Hari is holding. Hari says nothing, but just as Ozaki's
sister is about to leave, he calls her back and encourages Hari to thank her. Hari stutters
a bit, but then talks to her and thanks her for her concern. Ozaki’s sister is happy
that Hari is talking and tells Kiyosuki that she will stand against the bullying from now
on. Kiyosuki and Hari go to their classes. During
the break, Kiyosuki looks into the first years’ classroom through the window, and sees them
bullying Hari again. He runs to the classroom to defend her. But before that, Ozaki’s
sister has already stood up to the bullies, yelling at them for being so awful to Hari.
When they start to bully her as well, Hari stands up for herself and speaks up to the
mean kids.The bullies use the beancakes that Hari had and throw them at Ozaki’s sister,
but Kiyosuki makes it on time and runs in front of the girls. The beancake hits him
in the face and he starts bleeding from his nose. Just then, a teacher shows up so the
bullies back off, and Kiyosuki puts a tissue in his nose to stop it from bleeding.
Kiyosuki and Hari go to the nurse’s office, where Kiyosuki comforts her that he’ll bring
her more food that she likes and tells her not to worry about the bullies. The next day,
Kiyosuki walks her to school again and Ozaki’s sister greets them. She gives Hari a candy,
which she thanks her for, and when she pulls up her sleeves, Kiyosuki notices bruises on
her arm. Later that day, he asks his friend, Gengo, to hold his arm tightly like he’s
angry at him. Gengo does as he says, and he lets go when Kiyosuki starts to yell that
it hurts. When Kiyosuki looks at his arm, it has red bruises that look like the same
on Hari’s arm. He realizes that she’s probably being abused at home as well, because
at school the kids couldn’t go that far. That day, Kiyosuki asks Hari how her studies
are going and she says they’re fine, but she has her tests coming up. Kiyosuki asks
if she wants past exams to practice from and she says yes. Kiyosuki tells her she can come
to his place an he can get his old tests from his room and give them to her. Hari agrees
and goes to Kiyosuki’s place. Kiyosuki sits her down and tells her to wait for him as
he gets the papers from his room. Kiyosuki’s mother comes home and looks surprised to see
Hari there. She introduces herself and asks him if they’re a thing, but he asks her
not to embarrass him and introduces Hari to her. They have a lot of fun talking and looking
at Kiyosuki’s old pictures. Kiyosuki’s mother asks Hari to stay for dinner, but she
starts panicking and Kiyosuki explains that her father is strict about her coming home
on time. His mother says she can drive her home. They drive to her home together and
Hari recognizes her father’s car in front of them. She waves and her father reverses
his car before he stops and steps out. Hari steps out as well and goes to him to explain
why she’s late. He looks mad, but Kiyosuki’s mother, Hamada explains everything. She also
talks about Hari’s grandmother and how she is sick. Hari’s father does not look happy
about this. He gives them a vague explanation that her grandmother is at a hospital and
drives off with Hari. For the next few days, Hari does not walk
to school with Kiyosuki. He waits by the side of the road, but she doesn’t show up like
she usually did. He checks her locker, and she has changed her shoes, which means she
came, but just didn’t want to see him. The next day, the old lady who owns the dry-cleaning
service gives him the beancakes again to give to Hari. Kiyosuki takes them and at the end
of the school day, he tries to talk to Hari and give her the bean cakes. She has turned
into the same girl she was when he first met her. All the progress he had made with her
confidence seems to have vanished. Hari starts screaming like the first day, and when Ozaki’s
sister tries to touch her, to calm her down, she hits her. Kiyosuki is mad at her and yells
at her to at least talk to him, but she walks away, screaming.
Kiyosuki knows something is wrong and he decides to go to her house. He goes to the house,
which is located deep in the forest and calls out her name loudly, but there is no answer.
He yells desperately, but when he receives no answer, he leaves.
He goes home and tries to study, but it feels impossible under the circumstances. He looks
out of his window and sees someone standing near his house. He yells at her to check if
it’s really her, but he knows it’s Hari. She asks him to turn off the lights so she
can come closer and he turns off the lights outside the house. She comes towards him in
a hoodie and her face is completely invisible. She tells Kiyosuki that a UFO is coming for
him and his mother and that he should run. Kiyosuki asks her if she’s talking about
her father, and she says yes. She tells him he’s dangerous, and he needs to run away
from there. Kiyosuki yells at her because he doesn’t understand why she’s acting
this way. In his rage, he turns on the lights and looks at her face properly for the first
time in many days. It is covered in blood, wounds and bruises. Her father has beaten
her up. Kiyosuki’s expression changes to one of pity and kindness. He asks her what
she will do if he leaves with his mother, and she tells him she will go back to her
father. He tells Hari that he can’t let that happen on his conscience and that he
won’t let her go. He tells her they can both be heroes, because
heroes are never defeated. She breaks down crying and tells him all about how her father
murdered her grandmother, put her in a suitcase and threw her into a lake. Kiyosuki tells
her they will call the police and they will fight the UFO that is hovering over their
heads. Kiyosuki brings Hari inside and calls Gengo and tells him to bring fishing rods
with him. Gengo cycles to Kiyosuki’s house and gives him everything. When he asks Kiyosuki
what he needs all this for, and Kiyosuki doesn’t answer, he knows it’s for Hari, and he warns
Kiyosuki to not interfere with her. Kiyosuki doesn’t listen and he takes the fishing
equipment and cycles with Hari to the lake where her grandmother had been thrown. During
the bicycle ride, Hari confesses that his presence is like a breath of fresh air to
her, and she is reborn every time she is with him. She tells him when this is over, they
would always be together. She doesn’t ever want to leave him again.
When they reach the lake, Kiyosuki uses an inflatable boat to go into the lake and tries
to pull the suitcase out, but he can’t, and he falls in. After falling, he realizes
he can swim down and grab the suitcase, and he does that and brings the suitcase out.
But this isn’t the suitcase in which Hari’s grandmother was. This suitcase is open and
empty. Hari reaches in and pulls out an earring that she knows belongs to her mother. She
tells Kiyosuki that she thinks her mother has also been murdered by her father. Kiyosuki
realizes this case is too serious to be solved by themselves, and he tells her they have
to go to the police. Hari takes Kiyosuki to her house but realizes
she doesn’t have the keys to her father’s car. They can’t get to the police station
in time. Hari’s father shows up as they are talking and hits Kiyosuki in the head
with a golf club. He falls to the ground, unable to move. He lies on the ground helpless
as Hari’s father hits her in the face, and she collapses onto the ground. He hits Kiyosuki
a couple more times until he is sure the kid is almost dead. He drags them both inside
and starts to prepare to burn down the house. He calls Hari a brat and complains like a
psychopath that she didn’t ever follow his rules. This is her punishment. He starts to
pour gasoline all over the house and the kids, who are covered in blood and bleeding. When
he looks towards Kiyosuki, Hari attacks from behind and hits her father in the head with
a golf club. He falls to the ground, and Hari keeps hitting him until she thinks he is dead.
That is the last thing Kiyosuki remembers seeing before waking up in the hospital with
his friends’ worried faces all around him. After they survived, Kiyosuki was asked by
the police about his relationship with Hari and why he was involved with her even though
she was a first year. He answers that he likes her and just wants to help her get out of
the bad situation. Hari is taken to another place to heal. She does not study at the same
school anymore, especially not after the police heard about the bullying. Kiyosuki misses
her, but they eventually meet years later when he becomes a college student, and they
move in together. They start to date, and soon, they are expecting a baby. That is when
the flood happens. Kiyosuki is on the way to the hospital when he sees the people calling
an ambulance for the van that slipped into the river because of the flood. Kiyosuki,
without thinking, jumps into the river and saves the life of a woman and a child stuck
underwater in the van. He saves them both, but he is unable to save himself. His body
flows with the river and is found days later, battered and bruised.
Kiyosuki tells his story and tells us that his soul is still here, and that he can visit
his son whenever he wants. Hari gives birth to Kiyosuki’s son, Arashi.
This brings us back to the present day, where her son does the same actions her husband
had done to make her laugh, except that he is present there, with his son. He is just
out of sight. She laughs at her son. She brings him his snacks and teases him a bit. Her son,
embarrassed, tells her to stop or the neighbors will hear. His mother goes to the open windows
and just then, Arashi feels something. It is his father, hugging him, telling him that
he is there with him. Hari tells him she will teach him to be a hero someday, when he is
in college and moving out, being a good adult. She goes back and Arashi closes the windows,
knowing that both his mother and his father are there with him, and will always be there.