In Japan, where calligraphy is mainly a girls' pastime, a group of students at an all-boys school belongs to a calligraphy club. Classmates call them nerds, and have labeled them "gloomy characters". To turn things around, their leader comes up with an idea: Become the first all-male team to enter a competition for "performance calligraphy", a mix of brush writing, dance and pop music. We follow the boys' quest to break out of their shells and take on a new challenge.

In the years before and after World War II, some 400,000 people emigrated from Okinawa Prefecture in southern Japan, including a man who moved to Bolivia. His descendants include a 13-year-old grandson named Makoto, who struggles with feeling like an outsider in the country where he was born. Then, granddad and grandson get a chance to visit Okinawa together. The trip not only deepens their bonds, but also helps Makoto discover his family's roots - and another place he can call "home".