The anime takes place in a world that long ago featured the existence of magic, but has long since lost that ability. The story begins when the very normal high school student Mangetsu Kohinata meets Shingetsu Ernesta Fukami, who has migrated back to Japan from Germany, on a night with a full moon.

Being just a normal student without a special talent, Makoto Naegi wins a lottery to attend the prestigious Hope’s Peak Academy where only the top prodigies attend. However, instead of this being the beginning of a wonderful high school life, it’s a ticket to despair, because the only way to graduate from Hope’s Peak Academy is to kill one of your fellow students or be one of their victims.