Kohachi Inugami, a detective specializing in the occult, arrives in a remote Japanese village. A hostess at a local inn tasks him with investigating a series of incidents involving rotting and mutilated livestock corpses that have appeared for seemingly no reason. While surveying the area, Inugami notices a peculiar young boy working in the fields. Evaded by his peers and called "Dorotabou" because of his stench, the young farmhand is surprised that anyone would take an interest in him. Piqued with curiosity, Inugami enlists Dorotabou to help with the investigation, despite the scorned looks from the villagers. Unbeknownst to Dorotabou, this investigation will reveal a strange new world to him—one of beast-like entities known as Kemono that exist in tandem with humans—along with breathing new purpose into his previously empty life.