Soma Santoki

Tasuku is a high school senior taking care of his single mother Misaki, who has ALS. Though they have a helper who visits during the day, Tasuku still has to take care of cooking and housework, as well as helping his mother use the toilet. Because of this, he's had to quit the basketball team. Tasuku hasn't been focusing on his future plans, since he feels like it wouldn't matter in the first place. But when his mother gets approved for more caregivers, he suddenly has the chance to pursue his dream college. But can he really leave his increasingly infirm mother behind?

While the Second World War rages, the teenage Mahito, haunted by his mother's tragic death, is relocated from Tokyo to the serene rural home of his new stepmother Natsuko, a woman who bears a striking resemblance to the boy's mother. As he tries to adjust, this strange new world grows even stranger following the appearance of a persistent gray heron, who perplexes and bedevils Mahito, dubbing him the "long-awaited one."