Daisuke Takahashi

When Aoi and Kiichi, high schoolers in Kurashiki city, come across their friend Beniko trying to calm down her autistic brother Kyosuke, Aoi tries to help and makes the promise to shoot fireworks from Mount Tsurugata in the Bikan Historical Quarter. Upon hearing this, Beniko gets upset herself because she doesn’t believe this promise will be kept but Aoi becomes determined to make it happen. As surrounding adults see these young people put their spirits into this task, they are moved and the fireworks take on a greater meaning.

Popular, outgoing Fujino is celebrated by her classmates for her funny comics in the class newspaper. One day, her teacher asks her to share the space with Kyomoto, a truant recluse whose beautiful artwork sparks a competitive fervor in Fujino. What starts as jealousy transforms when Fujino realizes their shared passion for drawing.

Hakubo tells the story of two young people who live in rural Fukushima: Sachi Koyama, a girl who excels at playing the violin, and Yuusuke Kijinami, a boy who loves to paint. After an awkward, chance encounter, the two meet and begin to fall in love, but Yuusuke is still living in the shadow of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami.