Two boys named after a children's book find themselves on an island where the war never arrived, until Soviet soldiers show up and their mother's favorite story becomes the only language that matters. Junpei and Tanya speak across an impossible divide, each one carrying a country that taught them to fear the other. By the end, you understand why their mothers chose that book for them: some friendships are the only proof that the world doesn't have to stay broken.

Two brothers growing up on a remote Japanese fishing island find their isolated world transformed when Soviet soldiers arrive to occupy their home in the aftermath of World War II. Junpei and Kanta, named after the heroes of Night on the Galactic Railroad, their late mother's favorite book, turn to that story for comfort after Japan's defeat. As Soviet families settle on Shikotan, Junpei meets Tanya, the commander's daughter. Language stands between them and tension on the island keeps rising, yet the children form an unlikely friendship. The drama draws on real events from the period just after the war, and it shows a bond between children of two nations taking shape along a newly drawn border.