Gyokou no Nikuko-chan

Everyone in the small northern port town knows loud, cheerful Nikuko, who now lives on a houseboat with her daughter after years of drifting through failed relationships and different cities. Her daughter, also named Kikuko, is quiet and observant and often wishes her mother were a little less embarrassing. School friendships, small mysteries, and feelings the girl rarely says aloud slowly change the way she sees their life together. Beneath Nikuko's oversized laughter and impulsive behavior is a woman who has endured far more than she shows without losing her capacity to love. Kikuko's own coming of age begins with learning to understand the mother she thought she already knew.