School is holding a school-wide rowing class match, but second-year student Etsuko Murakami wears a detached expression, having long ago concluded that effort is pointless. Into her class comes transfer student Riina Takahashi, who is captivated by the sight of the rowing races and resolves to revive the nearly defunct girls’ rowing club. Riina drags Etsuko and her childhood friend Hime Saeki into the effort, and they are soon joined by Taeko Hyoudou and Mayumi Imoto, two girls from rival fishing families who join mainly to one-up each other. The five of them form a makeshift crew with no real experience, and a boy from the existing boys’ rowing club, whose name is Nomiya, helps teach them the basics.

Aware that the club exists on paper only, the five girls reluctantly enter their first tournament. The result is a crushing defeat that nearly makes them give up, but at the moment when everyone is about to stop rowing, Etsuko grabs her oar again and says, “I want to get better.” That spark of sincerity unites the team. They begin serious training under the guidance of Nomiya and eventually enter the prefectural qualifying tournament, where they manage a third-place finish. However, the intense training has aggravated a back injury Etsuko has been hiding. As the pain worsens and small misunderstandings pile up, Etsuko starts blaming herself and withdraws from the club, deepening her isolation. Nomiya visits her and offers the rowing creed “一艇ありて一人なし” (one boat, no one alone), encouraging her to return. The team slowly rebuilds trust and communication, and the story arc closes with the crew preparing for the next season, with Etsuko finally believing in the value of striving together. The manga follows the same storyline as the 2024 anime film, covering the formation of the club, the initial failure, the growth through training camp, and the personal struggles of the main characters, all set in the coastal city of Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture.