Kumoridake Ashita (Arioka Daiki) works at a DVD rental shop. One day, a regular, Senjuu Taira, comes to return a DVD and asks Ashita for another recommendation. Ashita recommends "Crazy Pizza Camp 3". When Senjuu asks about 1 and 2 Ashita explains that it doesn't matter what order you watch them in. He gives a short summary of 1, but for some reason can't remember anything about 2. Senjuu follows Ashita on his social media so they can talk more about movies.
Later that night, Ashita is cleaning his room when he finds a piece of paper that appears to be some sort of riddle. At first he wonders if a friend is playing a prank on him, but then he remembers... he doesn't have any friends. Upon closer inspection, it looks like his own handwriting, but he has no memory of writing it. He mentions that recently he feels like there's something missing within him; like there's a hole in his heart. He normally keeps a diary, but there's a two year period that he can't find a diary for. He wonders if this riddle has anything to do with these things, but he can't solve it on his own, so decides to post it on his social media and ask his followers to help him. He then leaves the room and the first "Thinking Time" starts.
During Thinking Time the audience takes out their phones and use a special app to solve riddles. Keke, Ashita's cat, and a mysterious man buy time and give the audience hints. Here, you must recall Ashita and Senjuu's conversation, search for Ashita's username, and follow him on social media to see the post with the riddle. The answer to the first riddle is "park bench". You DM Ashita the answer.
The next day after work Ashita goes to the park and examines the bench. Eventually he finds a loose board beneath which a USB drive with the words おまえさえ消えれば "If only you'd disappear" are written. He plugs the USB into his computer at home. The only file is a photo of a string of numbers. He DMs you and asks for your help again.
The numbers turn out to be a date and timestamp. If you take the text from Ashita's corresponding tweet and remove the characters of his name 洋画のコーナー "Western movies corner" remains.
The next day, Ashita searches the Western movies corner at work and finds the next riddle inside one of the DVD cases which leads him to dig beneath the park bench. There he finds a metal box with a photo inside. The photo is of him and someone who appears to be his significant other, but he has no memory of them. He starts to freak out when Senjuu happens to pass by. He helps Ashita calm down and Ashita explains what's been happening to him recently. Senjuu believes that there must be a reason why Ashita forgot about the person in the photo; that they must have been a bad person. He's afraid that Ashita could get hurt if he tries to find out who they are. Ashita agrees to let Senjuu hold onto the photo for the time being.
Later at home, Ashita notices there's another clue on the inside of the metal box's lid. It leads him to a loose board in the ceiling where he finds his missing diary. It has a number lock on it and the word "birthday" written on the cover. He tries his birthday to no avail, so he assumes it must be the birthday of the person in the photo which he obviously cannot remember. Since you've come all this way together, he DMs you the new info although he knows that this time you have no way of knowing the answer either.
As he's about to exit the social media app, he comes across a promoted post. It's a service called "Memory Whitening" that will let you forget specific memories. He calls the company and it turns out that, depending on the course you choose, it's possible for you to forget that you even had the procedure done, but you can log in to the company's website to see your procedure history. However, Ashita can't remember his log in info and gives up.
Next, you visit the company's website on your own phone and reset Ashita's password. His security question is his favorite movie which you must infer is "Crazy Pizza Camp 2", the movie he mysteriously had no memory of. Upon logging in to his account you discover your name within his procedure history, referred to as his significant other. (This reveal low key gave me goosebumps. The Nazodoki app had you enter your name upon setup, but I just assumed it was to prevent ticket scalping or something like that.) You DM him your own birthday.
Ashita unlocks the diary and finally discovers the truth. (Although he has no way of connecting the person in his diary with the person he's been DMing.) You were his significant other, but you had a terminal illness. You suggested that the two of you get Memory Whitening so that even when you passed away Ashita wouldn't have to grieve and could find happiness with someone else. Ashita was initially against the idea and only agreed on the condition that the two of you set up these riddles and if he solved them he would be allowed to remember you.
Ashita goes to the Memory Whitening company and asks to have his memories restored. It turns out that Senjuu was actually an employee of the company whose job it was to temporarily monitor patients' wellbeing after their procedure. He apologizes for the unkind things he said about you and for trying to convince Ashita to stop solving the riddles. The scene of Ashita regaining his memories is hands down my favorite. The lighting and music are extremely well done. He doesn't use his voice at all, but Ashita slowly begins to break down the more his memories are restored and by the time the music reaches its climax he's shaking with long, racking sobs. Daichan's silent acting here brought me to tears. The memory restoration procedure ends and Ashita slowly looks up. You can hear the pain in his voice as he says, "It may seem weird to say this, but I'm happy that I was able to grieve for you properly."
Fast forward an unspecified amount of time. Ashita is at work. Senjuu is still frequenting the shop as a normal customer/Ashita's friend. He asks how Ashita's doing since regaining his memories. Ashita admits that there are still nights when the grief becomes too much and he breaks down into tears, but he feels like the hole in his heart has been filled and he's glad that he was able to remember you. He wishes he could thank the person who helped him solve the riddles, but their account has mysteriously disappeared.
In the final scene, Keke reveals that the mysterious man is a shinigami (akin to the Grim Reaper). He mentions that once people move on to the next world they forget their previous lives and also something about miracles, but honestly it just leaves a massive plot hole of how the heck did you help Ashita if you were dead the whole time?
The End
P.S. Ashita's boss was also a character and he was actually really funny, but he served basically zero plot purpose so I didn't mention him. Lmao
P.P.S. They never showed the photo of Ashita and his significant other and I also noticed that the characters always used gender neutral terms whenever speaking of them. Idk if it was their intent, but it made me wonder if they were trying to be inclusive?
Easter Eggs:
There's a DVD version of Chinen's play Teru-kun Kamitteru in the store.
Ashita begins to quote Yamada's detective character Kindaichi before being cut off by the opening sequence.
Ashita reads some of the graffiti on the bench which includes references to HSJ members such as "Yamada LOVE" and someone badmouthing Daichan.
I saw the play in Osaka so there were a couple ad libs.
Ashita drew a 551 scented bath. 551 is a famous nikuman shop in the Kansai area.
He and his boss were going to play some sort of word game and Ashita chose the theme of "famous food from Osaka".
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