Shirou Emiya finds himself an unwilling participant in a deadly competition where seven Mages summon heroic spirits as servants to duel each other to the death. They compete for the chance to make a wish from the Holy Grail, which has the power to grant any wish. Shirou is unskilled as a mage and knows nothing of the Holy Grail War, but he and his servant, Saber, enter into a temporary partnership with another Mage, Rin Tohsaka. However, problems arise between Shirou and Rin's servant, Archer, who seems to seriously despise him.

Set in a solitary island school where only students who have caused problems are gathered, and communication from the world is cut off. Homura Itsuki comes to the school as a transfer student. At the school, there is a study group for the 19th-century French cruel drama "Grand Guignol", and Itsuki ends up joining that study group. In addition to the members of the study group, the teachers who manage them, the head chef, the mysterious new teacher, and other people who gather at the school are somewhat suspicious. And finally, a serial murder case like "Grand Guignol" occurs. On an isolated island with no way to escape, Itsuki and his friends are caught up in the vortex of fear of death and love and hate between men.

Sawa, a home helper for a middle class family with an elderly infirm grandfather, is forced to stretch her morals to keep her job. As a result, she finds herself broke and out on the street. She survives her first night by striking up an ambiguous friendship with a kindly old man, gaining access to a portion of the immense wealth held by Japan's aging population. She continues with similar encounters, and while these begin as scams or revenge on rampant sexism, they ultimately become vulnerable intergenerational exchanges.

Inagaki Goro plays a freelance writer married to his editor wife (Nakamura Yuri), who he discovers is having an affair with the popular novelist she is responsible for at work. Although troubled, he can’t bring himself to confront his wife. He later meets a high school novelist at a literary award ceremony, and–drawn to the award-winning book–he inquires about the model it’s based on, thinking he’d like to meet that person…