《独自生活的小学生》讲述了这样一个故事：时值1980年代，江之岛的小学四年级的女生铃音凛（鈴音リン）父母双亡，她独自经营着食堂生活下去。

Rin Suzune is a nine-year-old girl who, due to her parents' deaths, lives alone and runs her family's restaurant by herself. Since she is a child, she lacks the proper knowledge to cook good food and manage a business, so her attempts to make money are unsuccessful. To make matters worse, she is bullied in school for being poor! But through it all, Rin remains resilient. Although her restaurant's food is not the greatest, local residents are drawn to the establishment, hoping to lend Rin a hand because of her sincere nature.

Anni '80: sull'isola di Enoshima, nella prefettura di Kanagawa, esiste una locanda gestita da una bambina di nove anni che vive da sola, Rin. Nosostante la solitudine e le difficoltà economiche, la bambina affronta ogni giorno con allegria ed energia.