Tomoya Okazaki is a delinquent who finds life dull and believes he will never amount to anything. Together with his friend Youhei Sunohara, he skips school and plans to waste his high school years away. One day, while walking to school, Tomoya passes a young girl muttering quietly to herself. Without warning, she exclaims "Anpan!" (a popular Japanese food), which catches Tomoya's attention. He soon discovers that the girl's name is Nagisa Furukawa and that she exclaims things she likes in order to motivate herself. Nagisa claims they are now friends, but Tomoya walks away, dismissing the encounter as nothing. However, Tomoya finds himself noticing Nagisa more and more around school. Eventually, he concedes and befriends her. Tomoya learns that Nagisa has been held back a year due to a severe illness and that her dream is to revive the school's drama club. Claiming he has nothing better to do, he decides to help her achieve this goal, with the assistance of four other girls. As Tomoya spends more time with the girls, he learns more about them and their problems. As he attempts to help each girl overcome her respective obstacle, he begins to realize that life isn't as dull as he once thought.