The premise is a gimmick, but the show refuses to stay one. Arata's disguise collapses in episode one, and what follows is a character study about two people learning to trust each other across impossible circumstances, all while the world literally splits in half. The dual-world switching could be visual spectacle; instead it becomes the perfect metaphor for how far apart two people can drift even when they're connected by the same thread. Trust gets shattered here, then rebuilt piece by piece, and the show is patient enough to let that actually matter.

Arata, a 15-year-old boy from a noble family in Amawakuni, is made to pose as a girl. The Hime clan picks a new princess to serve the Hayagami every 30 years, and records list no girl born to the family in that span apart from Arata, who is really male. Disguised as the candidate until a proper one turns up, he attends the festival and sees the current princess attacked by her own guard, the 12 Shinsho, who turn on him as well. Kannagi, one of the twelve, blames Arata for the crime, and he flees to the Kando forest with the Imperial Court after him. Meanwhile, in modern-day Japan, Arata Hinohara, bullied by his classmates, follows a voice calling his name and trades worlds with the other Arata. Awakened as a Sho, a fighter who wields god-powered weapons called Hayagami, Hinohara sets off with companions he meets on the road to bring order back to the realm, in an adventure fantasy that spans both worlds.