Immediately after the Second World War, sister Kiku and brother Isamu, whose mother was a prostitute and the father was a GI, live with their grandmother in the country. Because their colour, hair is different from Japanese, they'd have a hard time, being bullied or treated like unusual creatures. Unfortunately, racism and some other issues such as being different still exist in Japan but the way Kiku portrayed was quite refreshing as she's so strong and fighting against all those stupidity and cliché.