Growth Factor

Spring marks the start of another new school year at a junior high school in Kamakura. A new transfer student, Ryoichi Kyogoku joins the 8th grade. Kyogoku has a very special proficiency in telepathy and has been ordered by his father to use this ability to scan other people's minds and take over the school. He instantly gains popularity at school from his good looks and charisma and he sets about taking control of the school. As people begin to fall under Kyogoku's spell, he covertly manipulates his followers and pushes aside anyone who gets in his way. With the school almost completely under the control of Kyogoku, only one boy seems unaffected—Seki. Does Seki have what it takes to save everyone from the clutches of mind control?

In Fujisawa, where the skies are bright and the seas glisten, Sakuta Azusagawa is in his second year of high school. His blissful days with his girlfriend and upperclassman, Mai Sakurajima, are interrupted with the appearance of his first crush, Shouko Makinohara. For reasons unknown, he encounters two Shouko's: one in middle school and another who has become an adult. As Sakuta finds himself helplessly living with the Shouko's, the adult Shouko leads him around by the nose, causing a huge rift in his relationship with Mai. In the midst of all of this, he discovers that the middle school Shouko is suffering from a grave illness and his scar begins to throb...

Some people revel and play in the rain; others dread it and hide at the first drop. For high school student Takao, a summer shower is a source of artistic inspiration… but when he skips school in order to sketch in a rainy garden, Takao finds an even greater muse in Yukino, an older woman who seems adrift in the world. Despite the difference in their ages and lives, they strike up a comfortable relationship that slowly evolves as they randomly meet in the same garden whenever it rains. But with the rainy season coming to a close, Takao wonders if there's enough time left to put his feelings into actions and words.

Sajou is an honor student with perfect scores in every subject on his high school entrance exam. Kusakabe plays guitar in his band that performs at live events and is popular among the girls. These boys would have never crossed paths. But one day Kusakabe offers to help Sajou prepare for their upcoming chorus festival and the two begin to talk. As the two meet after school, they bond through songs and begin to harmonize as their hearts beat together. It starts out slowly but soon their feelings for one another grow and suddenly they both realize that they are in love. Kusakabe's emotions are frivolous, pure and direct causing Sajou to hesitate at first, but he gradually opens his heart. The boys learn about each other, as well as themselves, as they support one another during this difficult time in their youth. As the time to start thinking about their futures approaches, what do these young men find as they try to move forward...