An animated introductory movie of the short science fiction story “Odd Romance.” The movie starts with a view of a city where a tower in red and white can be seen.

“I don’t have any gender. But watching you and Tsubasa, I realized that maybe even I could love someone.”

In a flashback scene, Kei is making Spicy, an AI program in the form of a teddy bear.

“Love is simply lust in more poetic terms, as a great novelist once said.”

Kei and Yuki, his wife, are having a conversation, facing each other across a dining table. Spicy is sitting in between, looking at the two.

“But I disagree. There must be a purely emotional love, with no connection to sex.”

“What brought this on all of a sudden?”

“Yuki, I mean to fall in love with someone else.”

“Why?”

“Spicy, I'm talking with Yuki.”

“Oh, sorry.”

Kei is out on a date with Tsubasa at a virtual restaurant. Spicy sits by the side, observing the two. Kei and Tsubasa take off their face masks and put on special masks supplied by the restaurant. There is only a candle on the table. Low-molecular-weight compounds are released from nanocartridges in the masks.

“Our love, which involves no physical contact, just like this cuisine of fragrance alone, you might call it an ‘odoromance.’”

“An odoromance?”

“I’m not interested in sex with humans or joining a human family. I’ve proudly guided my body to a genderless form. But I like movies. I like books. I like the romances they depict. I wanted to try one for myself.”

Countless scent particles envelop the two.

“As they inhaled the perfume of unknown flowers, stirring it with sighs, data began to flow into me from six odorometers.”

There is a response in Spicy’s eyes. Kei and Tsubasa look at each other. Low-molecular-weight compounds released from their masks get mixed together.

“A kind of invisible, inaudible exchange between lovers that was clearly present among the data.”

The silhouettes of Kei and Tsubasa looking at each other are reflected in Spicy’s eyes.
Title: “Odd Romance”

“An odoromance begins.”