In the treacherous frontier city of Samurai Town, a ruthless bank robber is sprung from jail by wealthy warlord The Governor, whose adopted granddaughter Bernice has gone missing. The Governor offers the prisoner his freedom in exchange for retrieving the runaway. Strapped into a leather suit that will self-destruct within five days, the bandit sets off on a journey to find the young woman—and his own path to redemption.

Kenji, the eldest son of Masajiro, a wealthy moneylender, refuses to work in the family business and becomes obsessed with farming, jewelry and religion.

Drafted to shoot a new film, Tadashi Kobayashi, a director with festival marketability, is strong-armed by the studio into hiring two famous actresses as leads. The cast of self-unaware weirdos that constitute the budding players become increasingly overwhelmed and emboldened until they stage their own micro-revolution.

Kyoko, a young Japanese girl training to become a professional mermaid, is saved by her coach's mouth-to-mouth "kiss of life". Desire awakens within her, she finds her mermaid voice and discovers the devastating effects of her singing, which will lead her to face the other side of the world.