Shinobu spent a year falling in love with Britain, came home, and thought that part of her life was over. Then Alice shows up at her school and the homesickness stops being something she has to manage alone. The show knows the specific ache of missing a person more than a place, and it mines comedy from the collision of two girls who speak the same language but think in completely different countries. By the end you're not watching a fish-out-of-water story. You're watching two people rebuild something that mattered, one stupid joke at a time.

Shinobu Oomiya is a 15-year-old who looks like a traditional Japanese girl, but years ago she spent a homestay with a host family in England, and she still longs for her time abroad. There she grew close to Alice Cartelet, the family's daughter, and the two parted sadly despite not sharing a language. Now a first-year in high school, Shinobu gets an airmail letter from Alice announcing that she is coming to Japan, where she will attend Shinobu's school and live with her. Joined by their friends Youko Inokuma, Aya Komichi and Karen Kujou, the girls go to class together and learn what each other's cultures have to offer in this gentle comedy about everyday life.