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As a crimson moon illuminates the sky, a teenaged girl amorously attempts to force herself on a teenaged boy, proclaiming her feelings for him. As her eyes begin to glow red, the boy breaks free and tries to run, but the girl follows, explaining that she thought it was love at first sight, but can't take it anymore. Before she can go any further, bells chime and a scythe looms over them. The girl flees with the boy as numerous shadowy figures with glowing red eyes chase her. A female voice coldly mocks the girl for believing her feelings were genuine, and a white-haired woman wearing a wolf mask and kimono appears, and attacks with a massive scythe.
Cue opening theme.
A car drives down a winding highway. Inside are the boy - Hiroshi Kuzumi, his little sister Mana Kuzumi, and their novelist father, Masaki Kuzumi. They're moving to a remote city in the mountains of Japan called Jōga, famous for its hassaku oranges, as elucidated by a radio jingle. As the family reaches their new apartment, Hiroshi wakes up Mana and helps her into her wheelchair. As Masaki wheels the temperamental Mana into the building, Hiroshi notices a short-haired girl in boyish clothes, who immediately launches herself at him in a hug. With her face buried in his chest, the girl introduces herself as Isuzu Tsumuhana, running off before he can do much more than tell her his name.
The next morning, Masaki informs Hiroshi about some of Jōga's folklore: a legend revolving around divine wolves, which he's using as the basis for his next book. Hiroshi cuts his father's speech short, saying they need to get ready for school, and Mana pokes fun at Hiroshi's budding relationship with Isuzu. While Hiroshi does the dishes and Masaki stammers over the possibility of his son finally getting a girlfriend, Mana heads out to school and nearly injures herself trying to descend some stairs. Hiroshi catches her, but she gives him the cold shoulder. Isuzu glomps Hiroshi and tells him to address her by her first name with no honorifics, embarrassing him. When he tries to extricate himself by saying he needs to drop Mana off, Mana snaps that she can take care of herself. In the end, Isuzu accompanies them before dragging Hiroshi back to high school.
Hiroshi finds himself the centre of attention in class, with everyone excitedly greeting him. When one of the boys, Ogasawara, gets too touchy with him, Isuzu stakes her claim on Hiroshi despite his awkward protests. The only person not excited by Hiroshi's presence is the class president, Nemuru Kushinada, At lunch, Isuzu's friend Kaname Asagiri introduces herself to Hiroshi, remarking on his popularity with the other students. Isuzu decides to take Hiroshi on a tour of the town and show him all the best sweet shops. After school Isuzu and Kaname leave to work on club activities, and Hiroshi is approached by several students who ask Hiroshi to join their clubs. As the students become increasingly intent on getting Hiroshi alone and Ogasawara attempts to drag him away by force, Nemuru intervenes. Hiroshi tries to thank her, but Nemuru coldly tells him that his very existence is an annoyance to her.
Isuzu returns and she and Kaname ask Hiroshi if he and Nemuru were talking, but as they leave the school they come across Ogasawara, who runs away in a panic. Kaname reveals that she's also a newcomer to Jōga, and Hiroshi mentions one of the students talked about a new ice cream parlor that opened. Their conversation is cut shirt when Hiroshi notices the hassaku oranges and asks about them. Isuzu explains that Jōga is well known for them, singing a line from the radio jingle, and Kaname remarks that the commercial plays frequently and that there was a bad harvest this year. Isuzu laments that, since the Hassaku Festival is coming up, explaining that it's a Shinto festival where the town offers prayers to the wolf gods for a bountiful harvest.
Hiroshi notices that across the river the buildings are constructed with traditional Japanese architecture, a sharp contrast to the modern buildings of downtown Jōga. Isuzu explains that that area is Old Jōga, dismissing it as boring when Hiroshi expresses a desire to explore, implying that she had lived there herself. Isuzu explains that the people living in Old Jōga are the original inhabitants of the area, who opposed the influx of settlers that enabled New Jōga to develop. With that explanation over, Isuzu shanghais her two friends into a confectionary tour of Jōga's shopping district, expressing dismay over their slow eating speed: nights begin early and most places are closed by 7:00.
That night, the crimson moon shines down on Jōga as cloaked figures in wolf masks with glowing red eyes race through the alleys. At their head is a young woman with white hair, wielding a large scythe. Their quarry is none other than Ogasawara, his own eyes glowing red. Cornered by them, Ogasawara lapses into a feral rage, but is cut down by the girl with the scythe. Elsewhere, a young man sits in furious contemplation.
The next morning, Hiroshi notices Ogasawara's desk is gone, and is informed by Nemuru that Ogasawara moved away.
Cue end credits.
Tropes presented in this episode include:
- Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: Nemuru Kushinada, who is the Class Representative in Hiroshi's and Isuzu's class. She's ice-cold towards Hiroshi and makes no bones about how much she dislikes him.
- Ambiguously Gay: The teacher cheerfully scolds Isuzu for trying to keep Hiroshi to herself when he belongs to all of them, a comment Hiroshi inwardly remarks is creepy, and volunteers to join in with the "skinship". Ogasawara, one of his male classmates, is also very touchy with Hiroshi, which gets him killed. Several of the other male students make suggestive comments as well.
- Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Mana, Hiroshi's little sister, is stuck in a wheelchair. She is very much a tsundere who hates being thought of as weak, and scorns her big brother's attempts to help her.
- Faux Affably Evil: Ogasawara seems nice enough, if a little grabby, but when he tries to drag Hiroshi to his clubroom and is asked to let go, he growls at Hiroshi to shut up and come with him.
- Foreshadowing: Joga's fixation on wolves foreshadows much of the revelations in subsequent episodes.
- The Glomp: Isuzu's first reaction to Hiroshi is to tackle-hug him.
- Genki Girl: Isuzu, full stop. She's constantly cheerful and excited.
- Good Old Ways: While New Joga is a modern Japanese metropolitan area, Old Joga - across the river - is a town with traditional Japanese wood and stone architecture. The people who live their are quite old-fashioned as well.
- Hunter of Monsters: A young woman wearing a wolf mask and white kimono patrols Jōga's streets at night, executing those who have fallen with her massive scythe.
- Jingle: The hassaku orange advertisement is a catchy jingle.
- Love at First Sight: Isuzu is taken with Hiroshi as soon as she lays eyes on him.
- New Transfer Student: Hiroshi is new in town, and becomes the centre of attention at his class.
- The Nicknamer: Kaname gives Hiroshi the nickname Hakase, based on an alternate reading of the kanji that make up his name.
- Non-Action Guy: Hiroshi is skinny as a stick and a little socially awkward.
- Occult Detective: Isuzu's best friend, Kaname, is the head of the occult club and fancies herself one.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: The girl with the scythe and her acolytes have glowing red eyes, as did Isuzu in the opening and Ogasawara at the end.
- Pun: In the original Japanese, Isuzu remarks that the festival is dedicated to the okami (gods), which is a homophone for okami (wolf). Fitting, since Joga worships wolf deities.
- Sanity Slippage: When he's cornered, Ogasawara breaks out a slasher smile with phlegmings and begins snarling and hissing. When he's cut down, he lets out a distinctly lupine howl, and his dying breaths are distorted and echoic.
- Town with a Dark Secret: Jōga has its fair share of dark and deadly secrets, as the opening and ending attest.
- Weird Moon: Jōga's moon is massive, seemingly eternally-full, and blood-red.
