When four young orphans—Hikari, Ikuko, Ishi, and Takemura—first meet, their parents’ bodies are being turned into dust, like fine Parmesan atop a plate of spaghetti Bolognese, and yet none of them can shed a tear. They are like zombies; devoid of all emotion. With no family, no future, no dreams, and no way to move forward, the young teens decide that the first level of this new existence involves salvaging a gaming console, an old electric...

When the Teramoto family received their new domestic servant, Sara, they were provided specific instructions: do not feed her meat (it may turn feral) and use the enclosed pistol to "dispatch" it, if there is a threat of bodily harm. The fearful neighbors treat the disfigured servant as a monster, even as the family comes to trust and accept her.