GEN Productions

Following the atomic bombing, black rain fell on Hiroshima, heavily contaminated with radiation. The enduring consequences of this radioactive fallout have persisted, affecting later generations and continuing to shadow the survivors' lives.

In the summer of 1945 in Hiroshima, a young girl named Nobuko rescues a hungry kitten from a flock of crows. Though her parents are initially reluctant, Nobuko persuades them to let her keep the cat. Together with her brother Makoto, she names the kitten Kuro. Kuro quickly brings happiness and laughter into the family's home. As the hardships of World War II bear down on Japan, caring for Kuro becomes more difficult for Nobuko and her family. One morning in August, Kuro begins to act oddly...

It has been three years since the atomic bomb fell on Hiroshima, and Gen is now in the fourth grade. The city remains in ruins, forcing Gen to collect scrap metal to earn enough to feed himself and what remains of his family, though some commerce has finally returned. As his mother slowly weakens from radiation sickness, Gen and Ryuta encounter a band of orphans led by a tough, older child, including a girl whose face still carries the painful burn scars from the day of the explosion. An elderly man battling depression also joins their circle, and together they support one another, forming a surrogate family. Yet life remains brutal—many orphans still perish alone, and the haunting reminders of the tragedy are never far away.