Benio Hanamura is a 17-year-old schoolgirl in Tokyo during the Taisho era. Benio lost her mother at a young age and has been raised by her father, a high-ranking official in the Japanese army. As a result, she has grown into a tomboy—contrary to traditional Japanese notions of femininity. She studies kendo, drinks sake, dresses in often outlandish Western fashions, and is more interested in literature than in housewife duties. She also rejects the idea of arranged marriages and believes in a woman's right to a career and to marry for love. Benio's best friends are the beautiful Tamaki, who is much more feminine than Benio but equally passionate about women's rights, and Ranmaru, a young man raised to play female roles in kabuki theater, resulting in very effeminate mannerisms.
