Small-time crook Yotaro has never forgotten the rakugo tale "Shinigami," which the master Yurakutei Yakumo performed for Yotaro during his time in prison. After his release, he goes to Yakumo''s theater and pleads to be made his apprentice. Yakumo reluctantly accepts, but Yotaro quckly finds the world of rakugo is complex, and grapples with a growing bond with Yakumo''s ward, Konatsu, and reminders from his own inescapable past.