In Edo-period Japan, where the rigid social hierarchy of the samurai class prizes honor and appearances above all else, fifteen-year-old Udagawa Gosuke is a low-ranking samurai struggling to find his place. After his father and older brother are forced to commit seppuku due to a senseless misunderstanding, Gosuke inherits his family’s dojo and must navigate a world where a man’s worth is measured by status rather than skill. He trains daily at a nearby dojo to improve his swordsmanship, but he soon realizes that his hard work is exploited by higher-ranking samurai who use him as a stepping stone for their own advancement. Disillusioned and trapped, Gosuke finds a glimmer of hope in his arranged marriage to Shino, a gentle but eccentric young woman who spends her time making rabbit masks and dreaming of the moon. Inspired by Shino’s free-spirited nature and her disregard for societal expectations, Gosuke decides to abandon the suffocating pursuit of samurai glory. Instead, he resolves to create his own path: a new kind of swordsmanship dojo where people can train for the pure joy of it, free from the burdens of status and formality. He calls it Rabbit-style fencing, symbolized by the rabbit mask that becomes his trademark. Along the way, Gosuke gathers a motley crew of students and allies, including a farming family with their own unorthodox fighting style and a young boy named Maro who becomes his most promising disciple. The story follows Gosuke and Shino as they build their dojo from the ground up, facing challenges from rival schools, corrupt officials, and a group of exiled criminals known as the Exiles, who despise the samurai class and seek to destroy the shogunate’s authority. The narrative balances lighthearted comedy with genuine drama, as Gosuke’s simple dream of a happy life with his wife collides with the violent realities of the world. A major arc involves the Exiles, led by a man named Suzume, who manipulate events to force a final confrontation between Gosuke’s dojo and the government-sponsored Kobukan school, aiming to publicly humiliate the samurai establishment. The series culminates in a chaotic battle where Gosuke and his students must defend everything they have built, ultimately challenging the very foundations of samurai society. Through it all, the central thread remains the bond between Gosuke and Shino, whose love gives him the courage to reject the hollow trappings of honor and live freely.