Alan Shirahama

A chance encounter brought about by summer arrives unexpectedly. Three female friends, known as the “Seaside Cinderellas,” grew up together by the beach. Meanwhile, a male friend entered a top university in Tokyo to meet his parents’ expectations and pursued his own path while living as an honor student. Men and women from different worlds, who would not normally cross paths, meet fatefully on a midsummer beach. As they confront each other with their complex emotions and true feelings, they grow. Can these men and women overcome the invisible “gap” between them? This is a story that will make your heart burn passionately in a short but sweet and sad summer. With the warmth of human connections and the excitement of love. Under the midsummer sun, there are as many encounters as there are waves and as many love as there are grains of sand. And then, the miracle of the summer story is set in motion.

Set in the 1990's, high school student Ayu lives with her mother and grandmother in Fukuoka. She works as a model, but, to pursue an acting career, she goes to Tokyo with her grandmother. While attending a high school, she picks up acting work, but only minor roles. One day, Ayu meets Masa, who is the executive director of record label A Victory. He decides to make Ayu into a singer. According to Masa, Ayu prepares to make her debut as a singer. Meanwhile, she encounters jealousy from rivals at her record label. Trusting Masa, Ayu endures her problems. She also develops feelings for Masa and Masa also holds feelings for her.

Through the introduction of his friend Danma Ryuji, Onizuka Eikichi, the former legendary bike gang member, visits Meishu Academy to tend to the trees in the garden as a part-time gardener. Learning that Yoshikawa Noboru, a student in teacher Fuyutsuki Azusa’s class is being bullied by Uehara Kyoko and other classmates, Onizuka befriends and saves Yoshikawa. Seeing Onizuka’s unprecedented but visceral, powerful response to problem solving, the school’s president and principal, Sakurai Yoshiko, overrides resistance from her vice principal Uchiyamada Hiroshi and makes Onizuka a teacher. Onizuka goes on to tackle many issues as the teacher in charge of the most problematic class, Class 2-4.