In the 1920s, Midori, a 12-year-old girl living in poverty, resorts to selling camellias in the slums of Tokyo. Without much success, she meets a man who shows her kindness and offers to help. However, Midori soon discovers that she has been deceived when she seeks help for her sick mother and is brought into Aka Neko Za, a traveling freak show featuring people with deformities. Midori's time in the circus is a nightmare. She must care for her colleagues and clean up after them while enduring constant ridicule and abuse. Uncertainty and suffering plague her, but hope comes in the form of Wonder Masamitsu, a renowned illusionist who takes her under his wing, enamored by her beauty and kindness. Despite their love, Midori and her fellow freaks face a grim future.