46-year-old Nishi Kotaro is a struggling manga artist. He once made a lot of royalties from hit works, but went into slump after that and has lived in obscurity for the last 10 years. He has also not only nearly used up the royalties but has no work. One day, Nishi is asked by his editor Uchimura Kiyotaka to be the assistant of a popular, pretty young manga artist Gunji Sumire who is more than 20 years his junior. Nishi is less than eager. However, he reluctantly accepts the role for the sake of money. He starts to draw manga for the first time in a long while and is soundly criticised by Sumire for being way behind the times and for his bad illustrations. However, he is forced to admit that Sumire’s ability is impressive. Despite being subject to terrible criticism, Nishi carries out his role as her assistant. As he comes in contact with manga and sees Sumire work hard on them, he begins to regain motivation.