Episode 1

**Play** is the 1st episode of the Gekidol anime.

## Summary

A young girl named Seria watches an SMT play and becomes inspired to become an actress. Seria's inspiration is admonished by her close friend Makoto who was a failed actress. However, a young woman that uses a can by the name of Kaworu recruits Seria to join her theater called Alice in Theater, which is the same theater her idol Izumi made her start in.

## Plot

A girl named Airi waits at a park with a letter addressed to her, while another girl named Seria watches an awe-inspiring hologram-enhanced play involving two actresses. After the play was over, Seria notes her inspiration to become a stage actress as well and outside of the theater Airi recites a line from the play and Airi attentively watches.

At school, the teacher gives a lecture about the Synchronic Urban Disappearance that occurred 5 years ago, which resulted in the loss of Ikebukuro. Unable to awake during this lecture, Seria bobs in and out of consciousness recalling the play she watched the day before. Abruptly, she recites a line mid class which causes an embarrassing scene. After school, Seria and a group of friends walk the streets of the city and one of her friends Makoto asks her about her SMT experience. SMT standing for Super Material Theater and elatedly Seria details her fascination with the play. When Seria states that her favorite actress was the lead, one of her friends in the group details her name was Izumi Hinasaki. Overhearing their conversation, a young woman using a cane approaches the group and hands Seria a hand made recruitment flyer for the Alice in Theater. Two of Seria's friends state that the poster must be a rip off theater that although it has SMT technology, it's a total rip-off. However, one of the friends realizes that the name of the theater on the flyer belongs to the same theater Izumi once belonged to, which intrigues Seria.

That night at her home, Seria stares at the Alice in Theater flyer until she receives a text from someone named Eloise. It's detailed by her that she won't be able to return home soon because she's still taking care of her ill grandfather. Seria replies back stating she'll be fine and that she found something of interest to pursue, however, she's hesitant to pursue it. She then has a brief conversation with her teddy bear named "Alice" who recites a line from the play she's so enamored with.

The next day, Makoto along with her and Seria's friends wait for a tardy Seria to join them and when Makoto spots Seria, she splits with the group to follow her. Once Makoto catches up to Seria, it's revealed that Seria wants to become an actress. This surprises Makoto who then tries to admonish Seria from pursuing an acting career relating to her previous experience after failing her audition as an EMT actress. Approaching there table, the young woman using a cane from the day before recites half a line from the play that Seria saw and Seria finishes it.

Afterward, Seria and the young woman using a cane leave Makoto at the cafe leaving her notably upset. A flashback shows the young woman using a cane introducing herself as Kaworu Sakakibara the director of the Alice in Theater and invites Seria to watch a rehearsal. Eventually, the two reach a brothel and Seria mistakenly believes that she was lead there as a scam, but it turns out the place is really a sponsor of her theater. A woman by the name of Akira is also introduced, who is also a member of the theater troupe. Akira notes how Seira appears to be like many of the other people Kaworu has recruited as of late.

At the Alice in Theater location, Seria is lead inside and at the stage area, she witnesses Airi and Doll do some rehearsal. Upon seeing Seria and Kaworu, one of the actresses introduces herself as Airi, in turn, Seria introduces herself. Kaworu states that she's the same girl that Airi was informed about the day before. Immediately, Airi suggests Seria get up on stage with her and act out the part that she just witnessed. This draws a great hesitation from Seria who has never acted before, but is convinced after being coaxed by Airi. On the stage, Seria refuses to read the script as she already knows the lines, which shocks Airi a bit. Akira and a young girl named Manami who were watching from behind closed curtains, were also surprised by this as well. Unbelievably, the performance that Seria puts on is amazing and it's noted that she has what's called an imitation ability. However, mid-performance, Seria forgets her lines and when she's handed a script, starts to have an anxiety attack. Airi then praises Seria for her performance, but then Seria collapses due to a flashback from 5 years ago after she looks at Doll. Unbeknownst to the group a director known as Hirokazu Takezaki was watching the performance and was impressed by Seria's acting talent, stating it's wasted at that theater.

Awakening backstage, Seria watches Akira, Manami, and Airi perform a musical song together using SMT technology. Once this is over, Seria formally joins the theater.

## Characters

* Airi Kagami
* Seria Morino
* Izumi Hinasaki
* Makoto Higuchi
* Kaworu Sakakibara
* Akira Asagi
* Doll
* Manami Fujita
* Hirokazu Takezaki