A boy obsessed with grades learns what matters in 6.9 seconds of earthquake. The film doesn't mourn the disaster itself, it watches what rises after, when a neighborhood full of strangers becomes the only thing keeping each other alive. Tsuyoshi's perfectionism dissolves into something real: he finally sees the people around him, because they're the only ground left to stand on.

Tsuyoshi is a sixth grader in eastern Kobe so focused on perfect grades and a place at a prestigious private school that he barely notices the people around him. His classmate Miho wishes he would care about something beyond test scores. Another classmate, Kazu, is sickly, bedridden and lives nearby. On January 17, 1995, a massive earthquake tears through Kobe. Buildings crumble. Thousands die. Hundreds of thousands lose their homes. Tsuyoshi and his family escape their shattered house and take shelter at his school, where communal living, rationing and the example of selfless volunteers begin to change his priorities. He faces the death of one friend while helping another cope with a deeply personal loss, and he is pushed to grow into someone who can no longer ignore the suffering around him.