The Science Club

Taketo dropped out of middle school due to struggles with reading and writing, leading him into a life of delinquency. At 20, he begins attending night school but still finds reading difficult after a year. Encouraged by his friend Miura to sell marijuana, Taketo considers quitting school. Meanwhile, a new science teacher, Fujitake, sees Taketo's curiosity and invites him to join an experiment.

Angela attends night school, supported by her husband and daughter. However, she considers quitting, struggling to keep up with the course work. One day, she visits her teacher, Fujitake, in the physics prep room and is surprised to find her classmate, Taketo, conducting a science experiment. Soon after Fujitake encourages her to join the science club, Angela causes trouble at school

Kasumi, a 10th grader at night school, spends most of her school hours in the nurse's office. When the school nurse, Sakuma, shows Kasumi's writing to Fujitake, he realizes how much Kasumi struggles to leave the nurse's office. As he creates an opportunity for her to step out, Sakuma grows increasingly concerned about Kasumi, seeing in her a shadow of a student she once knew.

Taketo, Angela, Kasumi are now waiting for the science club to be official. As they struggle to build an experiment device, Fujitake invites Shozo Nagamine, a student in his 70s, to join and asks him to help the club with his expertise, which he refuses. One day, Nagamine clashes with younger students in class over differing values, making his involvement with the club seem increasingly unlikely.

With Taketo, Angela, Kasumi, and Nagamine, the science club is officially established. Fujitake suggests they attend an academic conference where high school science clubs present their research. However, when they visit one of the presentation events, they get overwhelmed by the high level. Meanwhile, Mai, who works in a hostess club, sees that Taketo is unusually down.

The members of the science club chose the theme "Recreating a Martian Crater" for the academic conference. They realize they need the computer room, with its taller ceiling, for their experiment. Fujitake asks the computer club chief, Kaname, for permission to use the room, but Kaname adamantly refuses. Meanwhile, Taketo finds common ground with Kaname and tries to persuade him.