Akira is an aspiring filmmaker who works as a gift wrapper at a local department store while he waits for his debut feature to screen in the city.

After Akira's film screens to dubious acclaim, one spectator informs Hiroko of the inherent struggles in relationships between creative types: one-half of the couple would feel invisible, useless, or unappreciated.

Hiroko relates to these feelings wholeheartedly in the wake of her numerous trials and tribulations in the unfamiliar city of Tokyo and starts questioning her role in the relationship.

Directed by Léos Carax, Merde (French for the swear "shit") is the name given to an unkempt, gibberish-spewing subterranean creature of the Tokyo sewers (Denis Lavant), who rises from the underground lair where he dwells to attack unsuspecting locals in increasingly brazen and terrifying ways.

He steals cash and cigarettes from passers-by, frightens older women, and sexually assaults schoolgirls, resulting in a televised media frenzy that creates mounting hysteria among the Tokyo populace.

After discovering an arsenal of hand grenades in his underground lair, Merde goes on a rampage, hurling the munitions at random citizens, which the media promptly cover.

French magistrate Maître Voland (Jean-François Balmer) arrives in Tokyo to represent Merde's inevitable televised trial, claiming to be one of only three in the world able to speak his client's unintelligible language.

Suddenly, an earthquake strikes Tokyo, prompting the delivery woman to faint in the hikikomori's apartment, causing him to fall hopelessly in love.