A mystery writer and master of-the-trick-ending turns active interviewer in search of answers to a series of mysteries taking place in the realm between the virtual world and reality in an isolated town. Suffering from writer’s block, the author teams with his editor to solve a gothic murder that leads them down a labyrinthine path in this edgy mystery with dark comedy streaks.

Widower Takumi lives a quiet life with his six-year-old son Yuji after the loss of wife and mother Mio. Yuji unfailingly remembers her promise to him: “I’ll be with you again in a year’s time, when the rains come.” On the first anniversary of her passing, Takumi and Yuji are taking a walk in the woods when they come across a woman sheltering from a monsoon downpour. She bears an uncanny resemblance to Mio, but has no recollection of who she is or what she is doing there. Family life resumes from where they left off, while Takumi and Mio’s memories of their first encounter in high school come flooding back. However, their new life together is interrupted by the discovery of Mio’s old diary, which reveals the secrets of her past and how they must say goodbye once more in six weeks time…

At a coffee shop for aficionados called “Manhattan,” the owner’s passion for coffee is almost a sickness and all he wants is for his customers to enjoy their coffee. He is a man of few words. If he has to say something, he gets his waiter to speak on his behalf. The owner’s real name is unknown, and he would prefer to be addressed as the shops’ “Master” rather than its owner - not that anyone is aware of this. He gives his all to coffee. Despite his wishes, his regular customers don’t really come to taste the coffee. They are there because of love. They use his shop as a place for dates, marriage proposals and break-ups. He doesn’t show it, but it saddens him that his customers are so preoccupied with affairs of the heart and not the coffee. One customer in particular never seems to be able to enjoy her coffee as she either leaves it untouched having been stood up or uses it to express her frustration with the person she is with. The master watches developments in Nobuko’s love life with great interest. He wants her to enjoy a good coffee so he decides to help her with her love life. But no sooner has he decided to do this that other love-related troubles begin to emerge.