Non Non Biyori

In the countryside village of Asahigaoka, a fifth grade elementary school girl named Hotaru Ichijou moves in from the city and transfers into the village’s branch school, which consists of only four other students; a first grader named Renge Miyauchi and three middle school siblings, Natsumi, Komari and Suguru Koshigaya, along with their teacher, Renge’s older sister Kazuho. After school, Renge invites Hotaru and the others to her house, where she shows off her pet tanuki. The next day, the girls take Hotaru to a blooming cherry blossom tree to eat their sakuramochi, though they end up missing the bus home on the way back.

Ichijou Hotaru is enjoying life with her classmates at her new school. In particular, she has come to think of the diminutive Koshigaya Komari, at less than 140cm, as her “cute Senpai.” This feeling soon grows into absolute adoration. Then, one day, Komari calls Hotaru and invites her to hang out together…

The class goes on a school trip to help out in a rice field, where Natsumi and Komari end up getting stuck in the mud. Later that night, Komari gets frightened after seeing a scary movie, which is not helped by Natsumi. After getting into a fight with her mother, Natsumi runs away from home with Komari in tow and goes to her secret hideout. They eventually spot a cat that had put Natsumi in trouble in the first place, but leave her alone when they see she is feeding her family and eventually head home.

As summer vacation begins, Renge’s older sister Hikage comes home from her school in Tokyo, hoping to impress the others with her know-how about city life only for Hotaru to outshine her. Later, Renge meets another girl her age named Honoka Ishikawa, who she quickly become friends with. After spending several days playing with Honoka, Renge is saddened when she learns Honoka had to suddenly leave due to her father’s work. However, she cheers up a week later after receiving a letter from Honoka saying she’ll come back next summer.

Hotaru and Renge are invited to the Koshigaya’s house for breakfast. Afterwards, the girls, accompanied by Kazuha, go to the beach, where Komari’s height leads her to be mistaken for a lost child. On their way home, the girls stop at a railside noodle restaurant, where a prank by Natsumi on Komari backfires due to Renge’s innocence. They manage to catch the last train home on time, but accidentally leave Kazuha behind.

Natsumi gets chewed out by her mother over her poor school grades whilst also trying to hide her poor test results from her. Afterwards, the girls visit Hotaru, who attempts to hide the vast number of handmade Komari plushies in her room. This ultimately fails, but she manages to pass them off as part of a school project. Later that night, the gang have a test of courage at the shrine, which proves a bit too much for Komari.

Renge, who is about to start first grade, goes with the others to check out the school before the entrance ceremony, before seeing Hikage off as she goes to Tokyo. The next day, as Renge and the others enjoy the entrance ceremony and begin their first lessons, Hotaru starts moving in.

A few days after transferring in, Hotaru and the others play a game in which they try to knock each other’s rulers off a table. Later, Hotaru gets lost while walking her dog Pechi, but manages to get pointed back towards home thanks to Pechi’s scent. Afterwards, Hotaru goes with Komari to watch the stars together, but run into trouble when their flashlight runs out of battery before they head back. Thanks to a wayward bottle cap Komari dropped, they soon manage to make their way back home.

It’s the day before Golden Week, and the students of Asahigaoka Branch School listen to the voice of their unmotivated teacher, Kazuho, as they take tests. Natsumi struggles the most with the tests, so the others help her study during the break. Then, during Golden Week, the students agree to do their holiday homework together, so Renge decides to do something about their lazy teacher before the others arrive…

When Renge receives a bike from her grandma, she’s eager to practice so she can ride everywhere with her friends. But the rainy season is in full swing, so she sets about making a teru-teru bouzu in hopes that the rain will stop. Meanwhile, Renge is on duty to take care of the tadpole shrimp she caught while playing in a field, and she grows very fond of them.

One morning, Natsumi uses a toy fortune dispenser to read Komari’s fortune, and tells it her, “bad luck: beware of water.” Komari says she won’t be near any water that day anyway, but when they get to school, they’re told that they’ll be cleaning the school pool… The next day, the Koshigaya sisters are bored at home on a day off from school, so Natsumi reads Komari’s fortune again and draws yet another “bad luck”…

As everyone is cleaning up the school on the last day of the semester, Natsumi and Hotaru end up weeding and watering the garden together. Natsumi realizes she’s never been alone with Hotaru before and tries to come up with things to talk about… Then summer vacation begins and the kids start to work on their summer homework, but quickly grow bored. Hotaru then tells everyone her parents are going to buy some fireworks…

It’s another idyllic day in the countryside, but things are anything but ordinary when Renge meets Akane, a flutist who has trouble playing in front of other people.

Sometimes it’s hard to believe Hotaru is still in elementary school! But even Hotaru needs to act like a kid now and then… or at least that’s what Konomi thinks.

After breaking a bonsai planter with a Surefire Kill Shot, Natsumi and Hikage practice the art of apology… sort of. Turns out neither one of them is very good at it.

Ren pays Candy Store a visit to spend her New Year’s allowance, but her purchase puts Candy Store in an awkward position — one Natsumi finds absolutely HILARIOUS.

Beep boop! Koma-plushie is live, boop beep! But Hotaru isn’t a master of robotics just yet, and her pet project still has a long way to go before it’s ready to fly.

It’s time to go camping! Ren’s heart and mind are prepared, but a nighttime stroll through the woods will put her willpower to the test.