Episode 18

**Meeting** (対面, *Taimen*) is the 18th episode of the Summer Time Rendering anime.

## Synopsis

Shinpei arrives at Nitto Shrine and visits Masahito, the chief priest. Shinpei shows Masahito a photo from 70 years ago, in which Masahito looks exactly the same as he does today. Shinpei questions him about the fact that he is the first director of the Hishigata Clinic, Hishigata Shidehiko, or "Shide". Shinpei eventually learns that he is also the one who killed his parents, and tries to defeat Shide. However, as he hesitates to kill Masahito, who is a human being and not a "shadow," he begins to feel a certain discomfort with Masahito's appearance.

## Summary

Hizuru tells the legend of Hiruko. In 1732, during the Kyoho famine, many of the Hitogashima islanders died from starvation. A huge whale drifted ashore onto Omoto beach, and the islanders gathered to eat it, believing to be a blessing from God. As a girl approached the whale, its body glowed with a dazzling bright light and took the appearance of the girl, and then proceeds to devour the girl. Fearing divine punishment, the islanders started to worship the girl as Hiruko, a goddess.

While waiting for Masahito to bring drinks, Shinpei confirms with Ushio that there are no shadows nearby and Masahito isn't a shadow. Masahito comes and wonders if its hotter in Tokyo and Shinpei states its the same, however, he mentions that Masahito told him he visited Tokyo last year for a game event. Masahito then recalls he did and they talk about what games Masahito likes. Shinpei guesses that games are like the novels for Shinpei and tells him about Swamp Man by Nagumo Ryunosuke, where the main character gets copied and switched and no one realizes it. Since the copy is a perfect reproduction of the original, Masahito agrees with Shinpei that the copy and original would be the same, and explains how normally cells are always growing and replacing older cells.

Shinpei reveals he also learned the legend of Hiruko. He planned to asks Masahito, but Hizuru told him about it. Shinpei states you can look at Hiruko as a being from space and while it was adrift it probably copied and transformed into other things nearby. It likely arrived on Earth as a meteorite and fell into the ocean. It started copying things from the ocean and eventually transformed into a whale 300 years ago and somehow washed ashore on this island. As the villagers gathered, a girl approached the whale and it copied the girl, starting the shadow sickness. Masahito wonders if he is trying to say the shadows are real and Shinpei confirms, stating they killed Ushio and his family, and will kill everyone at the festival tomorrow. Masahito laughs, but Shinpei tells him, he knows this is the truth as he witnessed it and tosses photos at Masahito. Shinpei wonders what is Masahito doing on a 70-years-old picture and should he call him Shidehiko Hishigata. Shinpei then points his gun at Masahito and states he is Shide.

Masahito recalls how the shadow copied Haine and then ate her at the beach. He asks what else had Doctor Hishigata told Shinpei, but Shinpei states he is the one asking the questions and tells him to look at the other picture, which Doctor Hishigata's father took 40 years ago. On the picture, its Haine with Masahito and a baby. Shinpei states that Masahito ain't a shadow, but is no mere human.

During the fourth loop, when Shinpei found the Hiruko statue at the old Hishigata clinic, he started to suspect there is a connection between the Hishigata Clinic and the Hito Shrine. During the fifth loop, Hizuru guessed that Masahito could be the four-armed shadow, and believes Shinpei and Ushio are already suspecting it. They confirm, with Ushio explaining that if Haine is the Shadows Mother, then the dedicated shrine to her is suspicious. Hizuru wonders why the four-armed shadow would hide its face, unless its a human and can't copy. Shinpei saw him only printing and Hizuru guesses that it may be a human wearing the black mud that creates shadows like armor. Ginjiro states that if he is hidings his face, it means its someone they know and doesn't want to be recognized. During the sixth loop, after cancelling the attack on Kobayakawa's family, Hizuru is sure that the four-armed is Masahito as it irritates her the same way as Masahito. Since Ginjiro couldn't pin him, it means he is likely indeed human. Hizuru thinks they can easily kill him by going to the shrine, but Shinpei wants more concrete proofs and states they can negotiate with him if they corner him. During the seventh loop, Shide received a burn on its left arm. Seido shows the 40 year old picture to Shinpei and reveals that Shidehiko's father started acting as a doctor, and originally Hishigata and Karikiri's were originally one family. Eventually Shidehiko produced a child with Haine, which wasn't a shadow, but birthed from Haine's flesh and blood body. Shidehiko started calling himself husband of a god and took Haine's surname, Karikiri. The Karikiris became servants of God, while the Hishigata a family of doctors. The child grew to be splitting image of Shidehiko, Haine's natural birth was a clone of its father. Seeing that Shidehiko made Haine copy his personality and memories, and transfer them into the child, thus restoring his youth. Shidehiko then continued being reborn over and over by Haine, allowing him to live for 300 years.

Shinpei calls Masahito a human-shadow hybrid. Masahito notes its unfair he can loop and had reached this point for just a day. Masahito recalls 1732 and the famine. However, he explains that the part where they fed her humans and Haine blessed them with bounties of fish is untrue. In reality, hundreds of islanders were turned into shadows and as the shadows didn't need to eat, that managed to save the remaining fishermen. Ushio gets angry and asks him why he killed Shinpei's parents. Masahito reveals they found Hiruko's cave and wanted to go public, but now he wonders if they would have been happier if he made them into shadows. Shinpei is angry, but hold himself from killing Masahito. He asks him why is he serving Haine as he can't go to her home with her, however Masahito states its his duty to see his mother's wish fulfilled. Ushio tells Shinpei to kill him, but Shinpei feels something isn't right. Masahito shows his left arm and states he is probably wondering why he isn't injured. Ushio, unable to stand it anymore, comes out and slashes and kills Masahito. Ushio explains she did it as Shinpei couldn't, since he was seeing him as a human. Ushio then calls the rest, informing them that she killed Shide, in that moment, another Masahito appears and stabs Ushio's shadow and slashes her with a spear. Shinpei loses it and shoots at Masahito three times. As black mud surrounds Masahito turning him to Shide, he tells Shinpei he needed to be a bit more objective. Shide then throws the spear at Shinpei and hits him in the chest. As Shinpei dies, he recalls how he wanted to go alone and hear from Shide himself why he killed his parents and that he doesn't mind dying one more time. Eventually they agree with Ushio accompanying him. They also agree on a signal for help, which would be a gunshot, but at first he will shoot two times at Masahito's shadow to confirm he isn't a shadow. Hearing the gunshot, everyone rushes in, but Shinpei flies out of the shrine and gets pinned to a tree. Shide then notes that with Ushio's death, he can loop only with despair and regret now.

Shinpei then awakens after he and Ushio saved the kids from Bucchi. In that moment, the kids start to wonder where Ushio went. Knowing she died, Shinpei starts to cry.

## Characters

* Hizuru Minakata
* Shinpei Ajiro
* Ushio Kofune
* Masahito Karikiri
* Ginjiro Nezu
* Tokiko Hishigata
* Seido Hishigata
* Sou Hishigata
* Shide