A wave of gruesome murders is sweeping Tokyo. The only connection is a bloody X carved into the neck of each of the victims. In each case, the murderer is found near the victim and remembers nothing of the crime. Detective Takabe and psychologist Sakuma are called in to figure out the connection, but their investigation goes nowhere…

A pair of truck drivers happen onto a decrepit roadside fast food stop selling ramen noodles. The widowed owner, Tampopo, pleads them to help her turn her establishment into a paragon of the “art of noodle soup making”.