Acclaimed Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa departs from the horror genre for this mystical story of urban ennui. Friends Mamoru (Tadanobu Asano) and Yuji (Joe Odagiri) are aimless young men stuck in dead-end jobs in a dreary factory in Tokyo. Mamoru, the more antisocial of the two, is obsessed with his pet project of acclimating a poisonous jellyfish to fresh water by gradually changing the water in its tank. One night, he inexplicably murders his boss' family and is sentenced to death. Yuji, left to continue the jellyfish experiment, befriends Mamoru's estranged father, and the two form a bond that helps him overcome his emotional troubles. But his attachment to the jellyfish is even stronger, and problems arise when he accidentally releases the poisonous creature into the canals of Tokyo. ~ Tom Vick, All Movie Guide
Yuji Nimura (Odagiri) and Mamoru Arita (Asano) are two factory workers who are constantly irritated by their boss, Fujiwara (Takashi Sasano). One day Mamoru entrusts his poisonous jellyfish, which he has been acclimating to fresh water, to Nimura. The mentally unbalanced Nimura goes to Fujiwara's house one night with the intent of hurting him, only to find that Mamoru has already done so. Mamoru is convicted of the murder but commits suicide on death row, leaving Nimura a private message to "go ahead."
Mamoru's divorcé father, Shinichiro, takes Nimura in. Nimura helps with Shinichiro's electronics salvage business, but is still a loose cannon. He ultimately realizes he must learn to cope with his place in the world, with his responsibilities and his losses, and with the difference between the bright future he dreamed of and the stark reality he finds himself in.
Mamoru's jellyfish escapes its tank and reproduces in the drains of the city (possibly by binary fission, since there is only one). Nimura takes a job at his sister's office and encounters a gang of youths in Che Guevara T-shirts. He helps the group gain after-hours access to the office, but all except Nimura are caught by the police. Nimura and Shinichiro encounter a huge swarm of jellyfish making their way out to sea, one of which (presumably Mamoru's) stings Shinichiro and renders him unconscious. The gang of youths, now released from police custody, wonder what became of Nimura and walk aimlessly down the street.
