Where Now Are the Dreams of Youth?

Friends Tetsuo Horino, Taichirô Saiki, Kumada and Shimazaki are college students. Saiki is somewhat the outlier in that he comes from a poor background, and while all four are doing poorly in their studies, Saiki at least places some effort into them in realizing that he is the hope of his mother for a life other than poverty. They are only able to get passing grades by helping each other cheat on exams. The four like to hang out at the bakery across the street from the college largely because of Shigeko, who works there, she who they consider the unofficial fifth in their group. While each is romantically interested in her, they have an unspoken pact not to go there with her in sharing her equally as a friend. One of the banes of Tetsuo's existence is his paternal uncle, Kanzô Horino, always trying to play matchmaker, the women he choosing for Tetsuo in who he has no interest as seeing many of them as gold-diggers, with his father, Kanzô's brother Kenzô Horino, helping Tetsuo come up with creative ways to dissuade these women. After Kenzô unexpectedly and suddenly passes away, Tetsuo is forced to leave college as he is installed as the president of the family's lucrative company, Horino Trading. With the company still doing well one year later, Tetsuo reconnects with his three just graduated friends from college, they who come looking for jobs. As some things don't change between them, some may under this circumstance as they are all one year older and embarking on their adult lives, as the balance of power has shifted with Tetsuo as boss and Saiki, Kumada and Shimazaki as his employees, and as Shige also reenters Tetsuo's life in a slightly different vein.