Shinpei Ajiro

**Shinpei Ajiro** (網代 慎平, *Ajiro Shinpei*), a 17-year-old young man, recently returned to his native town of Hitogashima after two years, marking his homecoming with the somber occasion of attending the funeral of Ushio Kofune, his childhood friend. Orphaned at a young age, Shinpei was brought up in the Kofune household, fostering a deep bond with Ushio and Mio, who became like family to him. A distinctive trait of his personality is his tendency to detach himself from his circumstances, striving to observe and analyze his situation from an objective standpoint.

## Appearance

Ajiro is a teenage boy with medium-length black hair, usually tied back, and heterochromic blue eyes. He typically wears a white shirt and blue shorts.

## Personality

Shinpei Ajiro's personality is marked by his objectivity and introspection. Having faced the loss of his parents at a young age and growing up in a different household, he has developed a tendency to view his own circumstances from a detached, analytical perspective. This trait suggests a level of maturity and thoughtfulness beyond his years. Despite these challenges, his upbringing with the Kofune family has fostered a sense of closeness and familial affection towards Ushio and Mio, indicating a capacity for deep emotional bonds and loyalty. His return to his hometown for Ushio's funeral further underscores his sense of responsibility and attachment to his past.

## Plot

### 1st Loop

After two years away, Shinpei returns to Hitogashima to attend the funeral of his childhood friend Ushio. On the boat, he dreams of her asking him to find her and protect Mio. Stepping on the island, Mio welcomes him, and they head towards the funeral while chatting about various subjects. At the funeral, his friend Sou explains that Ushio saved a kid, Shiori Kobayakawa, from drowning but drowned herself. That evening, Sou calls Shinpei and explains that the rumour about his father performing an autopsy on Ushio isn't real, but they did find strangler marks on Ushio's neck. However, as there was no one around suspicious of her death, they labeled it as an incident.

The next day, Shinpei helps out at Kofune's dinner. A drunk man, Nakamura, asks him if he found the woman with glasses he was looking for, but Shinpei thinks he confused him for someone else. The police officer, Tetsu, comes and explains that the whole Kobayakawa family has vanished. Hearing that, Mio runs away, and Shinpei follows her. After catching up to her, Mio explains that Shiori said she saw a girl looking like her about a week before the incident. An old hunter, Ginjiro Nezu, tells them that it's a shadow, and those afflicted by shadow sickness see their shadow and then get killed by it. The shadow then acts as the killed person and kills the remaining family. It used to be quite a common sickness before the war, and those afflicted went to the Hito shrine for cleansing. Mio then states she saw Ushio's shadow along with Ushio three days before Ushio died. Shinpei then decides to go to the shrine to learn more about the shadows. However, the shrine is closed at the moment, and Mio sees Shiori in the forest, and they run after her. They are unable to find Shiori but hear a gunshot. Following the sound, they see the woman with glasses bleeding from a gunshot. Mio heads to get help, and the woman tries to tell Shinpei something but gets shot in the head. Shinpei then sees Mio holding a gun and holding the Mio that was with him as hostage. The other Mio then shoots Mio and Shinpei. Shinpei then reawakens at the boat, where he meets the woman with the glasses at the very beginning of the story.

### 2nd Loop

Shinpei realizes his day is repeating and notices Mio's bike has a cut brake wire. That night, after preparing dinner, he goes out for fresh air, thinking if someone tried to kill Mio. He ends up seeing Tetsu, who sees Mio standing in front of the house. Mio then kills him with a kitchen knife and creates a shadow that transforms into Tetsu, making Shinpei realize she is a Shadow, too. She takes Tetsu's gun and explains she hasn't been able to kill Mio yet. However, Sou calls Shinpei, which reveals him, and Mio kills him. She starts to explain why she can't make a copy of him, but Shinpei dies before he can hear the rest. Shinpei then finds himself traveling somehow and awakening on July 22nd as he steps on Hitogashima.

### 3rd Loop

This time, Shinpei tries to stop Mio from falling into the water but ends up falling himself, and Mio jumps in to help him out. After reliving the same day that evening, he calls Tetsu, reporting a fake fight in order to keep him away from Shadow Mio. He sets up his phone outside the house and has it recording. In the morning, he shows the footage to Mio, explaining that on the video, she can see a Shadow that is there to kill Mio. Shinpei reveals he knows that Ushio saw her Shadow, too, and Mio then guesses that the Shadow may have killed Ushio. Mio states that Shiori saw her shadow, too, and Shinpei decides to go alone to Kobayakawa's place. As the Koba Mart is closed, he meets Shiomi, who decides to check on the Kobayakawa family. They enter their house to find the TV running and the table full of untouched food. While Shiomi searches for the family, Shinpei notices black strains and realizes they're the marks left by the Shadow. He goes to the second floor to look for Shiori, but he notices a flash. Shiori appears behind him, producing another shadow, he figures that she is a Shadow and that he had been afflicted by shadow sickness at the funeral. However, Shiomi comes, and Shiori decides to run. Shinpei then goes to look for the woman with glasses but is unable to find her.

Shinpei then returns to Kofune's Diner, where Tetsu comes. Still, as he acts differently, Shinpei realizes he isn't the shadow Tetsu. Tetsu then gives him Ushio's phone, who tells him to give it to Shinpei if something were to happen to her the day she died. Sou then comes, and Shinpei decides to tell him everything. They decide to go to the Hiruko shrine tomorrow, during the Summer Festival, as being crowded would be safer. They go the next day, but before they go meet the priest, Shinpei sees Ushio and runs after her. He ends up following her to the beach, where he sees her standing in the water. Initially, he believes she is a shadow, but as she can't remember her death, her way of talking and behavior make him feel she may indeed returned from death. Ushio then heads to the festival, where Shinpei makes her hide since everyone believes she is dead. He explains she can't meet with her friends and tells her to stay there as he heads to join them. However, on his way to the shrine, Shadow Mio appears in front of him. She knows he filmed her and wonders how he knew she would be there. As she captures him, a shadow Shinpei comes, who makes a flash, making Shinpei realize they will get his most current memories. Shadow Shinpei explains that Shinpei is able to loop but can't do it willingly, so he tells Shadow Mio to not kill him. Shadow Shinpei heads to join Shinpei's friends, and while Shinpei tries to stop him, Mio breaks his arm, stating that it is pointless to struggle as soon as Mother wakes up. Hizuru then appears and blows Mio's head with a shotgun and then shoots her shadow and kills her.

Hizuru introduces herself as Ryuunosuke Nagumo and explains she is there to save Shinpei. Seeing a shadow coming, Hizuru pulls Shinpei to the side, and they see Ushio running and heading uphill. Hizuru explains that shadows true forms as the flat shadows on the ground, who don't like to be stepped on. The shadows eat human data, but to get the taste, they have to consume the human. As they notice a flash uphill, Shinpei wants to go save Mio and asks Hizuru for help. Heading up, Shinpei finds a massacre where the shadows have killed numerous humans. He sees Tokiko being killed by a shadow and shadow Sou killing Sou, who tried protecting Mio. A large shadow grabs Shinpei and recognizes his right eye as the eye their Mother lost long ago, which allows him to control time. The shadow explains that just like in video games, the hero can restart from a save point, but for the Demon King to win, he must cut out the electrical power. It then tells Shinpei to observe him as he cuts the power. Shinpei tries to get to Mio, but the shadow consumes her, along with the other humans, offering them as meals to their Mother, who then appears in the sky. Hizuru apologizes, saying she should have believed the message sooner. Still, Shinpei states it's not too late and asks her to shoot him in the head as he will return on July 22nd. The shadow tries to consume them, but Ushio punches it. Hizuru then shoots Shinpei, who starts floating and sees the island being consumed by shadow and Mother noticing him. As he starts returning in time, this time, he clearly hears Ushio, who tells him that his power has a limit and that everyone dies at the festival.

### 4th Loop

Shinpei awakens on the 22nd, already on the island, and after he meets Mio, she pulls him out of the water. Later, he thinks of what he can do and realizes that each time, his returning points move ahead. Because of this, he realizes he can't keep failing. Eventually, he will reach a point where Mio and the rest start dying, and he will never be able to save them. Shinpei decides to do everything the same and goes to the funeral, where he has the same conversations. He tells Shiori that she met a Shadow, and if he does again, she needs to run. A bit later, Shiori's mother, Asako, asks him what he meant by shadow. Still, Shinpei notices they are shadows already and explains it's something Mio's grandmother had told them when they were young. Shinpei recalls that when Shadow Mio killed him, she had white panties, but today, Mio is wearing blue and white striped panties. He asks her if she was wearing white panties yesterday, and even though she finds it strange, she confirms, making him realize she was copied yesterday. Proceeding with the funeral and after the crematorium, Shinpei asks people if they know about shadow sickness and if they know who Hizuru is. Alain tells him that Hizuru is an old friend and gives him a note she gave him as contact info. Seeing the note, Shinpei realizes it's the code from Ryunosuke's Adrift novel.

Solving it, he calls the phone, but Ginjiro picks up and asks him to head to the funeral hall. There, he tells him to stand still and shoots at Shinpei's shadow on the ground to see if he is human or a shadow. Confirming he is a human, Ginjiro calls him to the fourth battery. There, Ginjiro explains that to solve the code, you must know that Hizuru and Ryunosuke are the same person, but that is only what he knows or if a shadow had copied Hizuru; however, it's interesting how a human would know it. Hizuru shows up, and to reveal his name as she told him, Shinpei asks for an autograph, saying he is Shinpei Ajiro. After giving him the autograph, Hizuru tells him to correct her if what she says is false. Hizuru then notes that he didn't know who she was in the boat, and the only way he could know her real name was if she told him. Hizuru notes that this is the second time he experienced July 22nd and repeated it multiple times. This would mean he is a time traveler. Shinpei starts crying and confirms.

Shinpei reveals his notes about the upcoming events with the shadows. Hizuru believes him and explains fourteen years ago, her family was killed by a shadow. Ginjiro states that shadows are going after all family members, making Shinpei realize why they came after him and Mio, but then starts to worry about Alain; however, Hizuru states she has already killed Alain's shadow. Ginjiro explains that once the shadow that copies a person is killed, that person gains immunity and can never copy the person again, which is also the case for him. Shinpei asks for help to deal with shadow Mio, but Hizuru wants to do something first. Shinpei guesses it's the Kobayakawas but explains she saw Shiori at the festival, so she must have escaped Hizuru and requested to join them to help. They head out to the Kobayakawas, where Hizuru tells Ginjiro and Shinpei to wait outside. Seeing her listen to a recording, Shinpei wonders what is going on, and Ginjiro explains that Ryunosuke doesn't have Hizuru's memories. Shinpei guesses that Hizuru has a dual personality, and Ginjiro confirms it's something like that. He explains that fourteen years ago, she found her dead brother with bite marks, but they were only a distraction from the strangle marks on his neck. But no one believed her it was a murder. Ryunosuke texts them that he killed Asako and Tetsuo, but Shiori went to the third floor. Since Shinpei may be correct, they are moving to Plan B. Soon, Ryunosuke texts them that Shiori will escape from the window, and as she does, Ginjiro starts shooting at her with a nail gun, but she manages to escape past him. Waiting at the corner, Shinpei jumps and tackles her. She attempts to escape and bites him, but Ginjiro pierces her three times and tells Shinpei to let her go, as once a shadow is pierced three times, it can't move. Shinpei asks her if she killed Ushio. After she was asked again by Ryunosuke, Shiori confirmed. Shinpei gets angry and asks what their goal is. Shiori reveals that the end is coming, and she is trying to escape with her family. She states she is reborn and is the real Shiori now, and she wants Shinpei to become a shadow and join her as her big brother. Ryunosuke then kills Shiori, stating that if you talk to a shadow too long, you will get misled. Ryunosuke then introduces himself as Hizuru's younger brother and explains that he appears when Hizuru is forced to do things she dislikes, like interviews. After it is revealed that Shinpei is a fan of Hizuru's novels, Ryuunosuke states that wasn't in Hizuru's notes, but he then punches himself, and Hizuru takes over, stating they went off-topic. They exchange phones, and Hizuru tells Shinpei to continue doing what he would normally do and be their observer while shadow Mio appears. They go to the Kofune's house, and as Shinpei enters, he sees Mio with a bloody knife; however, it turns out that Mio was trying to cook and had cut herself while cutting onions. He confirms that she isn't a shadow by stepping on her shadow and telling her to go wash her face while he makes curry. He then hears a stomach growling and guesses that Mio is quite hungry, but as he turns, he sees Ushio, who confirms she is hungry.

Shinpei is shocked to see Ushio there as she should have appeared at the festival. Ushio explains that Shadow-like monsters appeared at the festival and killed everyone, making Shinpei realize she looped with him, too. He proceeds as normal, and while Mio and Alain are away, he sends Ushio to his room, where he later brings her curry. There, he is prepared to kill her but first asks her how she got here. Ushio explains she awakened at Omoto beach but made sure no one saw her as she was being seen as a "monster." Shinpei touches her shadow, making Ushio startled at it tickling her. Shinpei recalls how she decided to leave for Tokyo as he loved Ushio and couldn't continue being her step-brother. On his last day at the island, Ushio wanted him to make her curry, but he told her next time. Shadow Ushio comments that is glad she had the chance to eat his curry again, causing Shinpei to decide to not kill her. He tells her about Mio's shadow but explains she has yet to enter the house. Soon, Mio came to pick up the dishes, and Ushio hid under the blankets. Mio leaves but returns a few seconds later, surprising Shinpei as she almost sees Ushio. However, Shinpei notices that Mio is in her school uniform. Shadow Mio attempts to kill him, but Ushio protects him with her body. Mio stabs Ushio's shadow, wounding her. Knowing they don't stand a chance, Shinpei opens the curtains and challenges Mio, but she asks Ushio why she protected Shinpei. Ushio explains it because she loves him.

Mio starts saying that she is dead and attacks Shinpei, but Ginjiro blows her head through the window, and Shinpei then stabs her shadow. As she dies, she tells Shinpei that she also loves him. Hizuru arrives and wants to kill Ushio, but Shinpei stops her and instead asks her to save her as she saved him twice. Hearing her voice, Hizuru realizes it's the same as the message she got. Outside, he helps her with her wound and shows her the message, where Ushio asks Hizuru for help and that only Shinpei Ajiro can save them, but Ushio has no memories of it. As Mio knows they killed Shiori, they wonder how they knew it. However, Hizuru decides to leave, explaining that if he insists on sticking with Ushio, it would be too dangerous as they don't know when she may turn against them. Before leaving, Shinpei tells Hizuru that Mio killed her at 3AM the next day near the shrine and to be careful as they may send a replacement.

The next day, Shinpei proceeds as normal and goes to work at the restaurant. After getting Ushio's phone from Tetsu, he leaves with Sou, who tries to tell him something about Ushio's death, but Ushio reveals herself and guesses it is the strangle marks. Sou is shocked, and they explain everything to him. Shinpei then gives Ushio her phone, who sees the password was changed, but her fingerprint unlocked it. She then finds a video from the morning of the day she died. Watching the video, they see Ushio and her Shadow Ushio on it. Ushio tells him that Shadow Ushio is on their side and continues to explain how she met her Shadow and formed a plan to save Shiori. When the video ends, Shadow Ushio regains her memories and abilities and decides to replay them to the memory of how Ushio died. She transports Shinpei and Sou to the private beach on the 21st. They witness how Shiori is being dragged underwater by her Shadow and Ushio and her Shadow trying to save her. They manage to take Shiori from her Shadow, but Shadow Shiori then strangles Ushio and captures Shadow Ushio. She attempted to fix the faulty Shadow, but Mio and Sou came, and she pretended to be the real Shiori while erasing the real one. While Mio carried Shiori, she grabbed Shinpei's arm, surprising him, thinking that it was just a memory and they couldn't interact. Shiori then turns to Heine, who states she found him and won't be letting him go. Shadow Ushio ends the replay, and Shinpei sees a mark on his hand where Heine grabbed him. Shinpei decides they need to investigate the old clinic.

They go to the old clinic, and while looking around, they find an old wood Hiruko statue. Shinpei notices a crack in the wall and asks Ushio to go, who then sees the wall as a secret door, but it needs a key. Shinpei figures the Hiruko statue looks pregnant, and Ushio scans it and copies the key from inside. As they open the secret door, Ushio tells them she feels a shadow down below and has a bad feeling. As they go down, they see it's an old tunnel dug during the war. Shinpei asks Ushio to prioritize protecting herself and Sou to protect her as well. He explains that if he dies, he will loop, but if Ushio dies first, she may not loop back with him. Heading towards the shadow, they see a baby-like shadow, who appears to be deaf and blind but manages to smell them. The shadow jumps on Sou, but Shinpei manages to pin it with his nail gun, and Ushio kills it. Ushio explains that the first shadow she felt was still down the tunnel, and they continued. They hear a gunshot and end up in a natural cave, where they are surrounded by baby-like shadows. As they fight them back and try to escape, Shinpei notices that the shadows are only attacking Ushio. Once they manage to escape, he sees that Ushio isn't well and her wounds from Mio haven't disappeared. Ushio then explains that she needs to copy the original to restore the lost data, but as the original Ushio is now ashes, she can't heal the wound.

Tokiko then appears, thanking them for bringing the defective product, Ushio. Shinpei shoots at her shadow to pin her, but Tokiko laughs and reveals she is human. Having no choice, Shinpei decides to surrender, figuring that they won't hurt Ushio right away; he wonders if she will take them to her father. As they follow her, she takes them to Hiruko, whom Shinpei recognizes as Heine. Tokiko explains that Hiruko likes to be called Heine and to look like Heine, the first person she copied. She reveals that lately, Heine had issues with walking and needed a body replacement. Heine then transforms into Shiori, making Shinpei realize Heine and Shiori are the same shadow and it's Heine who killed Ushio. Tokiko explains that around four people die per year on the island, and they feed the dead to Heine, which is something her family has been doing for generations. The nurse Negoro brings two coffins, one of which is Ushio's body, and Tokiko explains how they burned a fake body and that she didn't know Ushio would die, but it was her fault for going against the shadows.

As Heine eats the first body and turns to eat Ushio, Shinpei asks Shadow Ushio to print him a nail gun. As she does, Shinpei shoots and frees Ushio, who goes and retrieves Ushio's body. Heine sends Negoro after them, but Ushio kills her. Shinpei gets close to killing Heine, but the shadow parent appears behind him and cuts Shinpei's fingers along with the nail gun. The shadow has Mio as a hostage. Tokiko states they didn't agree for them to touch Mio, but the shadow states they will all die tomorrow anyway, so it shoots Sou and Tokiko. Heine rips out Shinpei's right eye and starts to corrode Ushio to reprogram her; however, Shinpei's eye returns to him. The shadow states that Shinpei's right eye overlooks the flow of time from a higher dimension and observes multiple parallel worlds. He grabs Shinpei and tells him he has the power to make the world he observes into reality, and right now he is rendering this world. However, he hasn't mastered that power, and he is only able to access it when he loses sense of himself in death. So they have to keep him alive until the very end. The shadow then crushes Mio's skull, killing her. The shadow intends to keep Shinpei there until tomorrow ends. Shinpei realizes he won't be able to loop and fails his promise.

Tetsu and Hizuru show up, and Hizuru shoots the shadow in the head, freeing Shinpei. She then tries to kill Shinpei, but the shadow shields him and kills Hizuru. However, Shinpei takes out a toxic substance from the old clinic and drinks it. As he slowly dies, he promises to do this as many times as necessary until he beats them and loops back with Ushio. He wakes in front of Hizuru the moment she guesses he is a time traveler, and as Ushio appears next to him, he confirms and states they just returned from the future.

### 5th Loop

Shinpei tells Hizuru everything and believes their mistake was that they all acted separately. Hizuru agrees to work together this time. Shinpei normally wants to go directly for Heine, but they need to stand a chance against the four-armed shadow. Ushio suggests they go after Shiori as she believes she can erase her. While gathering at the Kobayakawa's and Hizuru entering to kill them, Ushio reveals that she can keep her scanned data from previous loops and prints a new nail gun for Shinpei. To their surprise, Hizuru is thrown out of the window. She tells them to run, but the four-armed shadow kills her. Heine, as Shiori, comes and states that ever since she touched Shinpei and left him that mark on his hand, she can easily find him. She also reveals she can also loop and has been going after him since their eyes met at the summer festival. After the shadow kills Ginjiro and is about to capture Shinpei, Ushio beheads Shinpei and scans one of the arms of the four-armed shadow.

While they are looping, Ushio reveals that the shadow has no data and is empty, but it kinda smells like Heine. Shinpei and Ushio then end up in front of their house, but as it's raining, Shinpei finds it strange. He then sees Hizuru, who is younger. As he enters the Kofune restaurant, he realizes this is Hizuru's memory from fourteen years ago. He hears that Hizuru has made a new friend and is then taken to the Hashigata old clinic in the mountain, where Hizuru meets up with her new friend, Heine. Shinpei and Ushio observe Hizuru and Heine, who spend time together. They learn that the four-armed shadow is greed incarnate and is called Shide. One day, Heine loses control due to her hunger and ends up killing Ryunosuke. As Hizuru finds them, Heine regains control and states she didn't do it, causing her to burst and blow out her eye and send Ryunosuke's data to Hizuru. Heine runs, and two stray shadows appear, but Ginjiro protects them. The other shadow copies Ginjiro, but Ryunosuke takes over Hizuru and kills the shadows. Later, Hizuru leaves the island, and Heine promises to kill her when they meet again.

### 6th Loop

Shinpei loops back while they are heading toward the Kobayakawas but stops Hizuru and calls off the mission. They go to the elementary school, where they call Sou, Tokiko, Mio, and Tetsu. Ushio plays her memory of the past loops to them. Hizuru believes that the shadows will be coming after Shinpei, and since Heine knows where he is, they can prepare and plan where they want to fight them.

Shinpei speaks in front of their group. He reveals that his life has been a mistake after mistake, and he regrets many things. However, Shinpei decided that if he felt he would regret something, he would try to avoid it, even if it meant running away. He wants to inherit Ushio's will to fight the shadows and not let the summer festival repeat itself. He can't guarantee them that they will win, but he can't tell them to run if they are afraid. He doesn't want to feel he forced them to fight with him but asks them to fight alongside him. One by one, they all accept; however, Ginjiro, who had been scouting from a distance, had been killed, and Shide had taken his rifle. Shide then snipes and kills Shinpei from Ginjiro's site.

### 7th Loop

Shinpei awakens at his house a few hours earlier and realizes he must have died. Ushio and Mio come and explain that he was killed by a sniper rifle, making Shinpei realize they got Ginjiro. He explains to Ushio and Mio first, and then to everyone, that he can only loop one more time as the time limit moves faster with each of his deaths. Soon, there won't be a place he can return to.

Shinpei waits outside for Heine and Shide, but as they come and attack him, Ushio takes Shinpei and runs. While others fight them, Ushio and Shinpei manage to lure Heine and Shide to the gymnasium. There, Ushio releases multiple copies of gasoline, and Shinpei ignites it. Heine jumps to the ceiling, but Shinpei injures her. Ushio then attempts to erase Shiori since Heine is taking her form but gets distracted, and Shide grabs her and pulls her into the fire. At the same time, Shide shoots Shinpei multiple times, avoiding vital organs but ensuring his death in a couple of minutes so that he has time to kill Ushio. However, the captured Ushio is a dummy, and the real one appears behind Shide, punches him, and starts erasing him. Heine then scans and erases the air in the gymnasium, putting out the fire and bursting the windows from the vacuum, allowing them to escape with Shide. Shinpei reveals that he is not mortally injured as he has made a makeshift bulletproof vest. They had previously captured a shadow version of Mio and had Ushio convert her to their side.

After converting Shadow Mio to their side, Shinpei learns that shadows can only produce one offspring, and these offspring cannot create more shadows. If the original human is not erased within a week, the shadow turns to mud. Shinpei, suspecting Seido Hishigata knows more about Heine's plan, decides to visit him. Before leaving, he entrusts Shadow Mio with Mio's protection. Despite her fears and reservations, Mio agrees, as Shadow Mio hasn't harmed anyone in this timeline. In the scene, Shadow Mio subtly hints at Mio's feelings towards Shinpei. She questions why Mio never refers to Shinpei as "big brother," a line of inquiry that seems to suggest unspoken romantic feelings Mio might have for him. The conversation, however, is cut short when the rest of the group arrives, and Mio quickly prompts Shinpei to continue with their plans, leaving the topic unresolved.

Upon reaching the Hishigata Clinic, they find it emptied by a shadow's erasure. Ushio, sensing a shadow presence, leads them to the morgue, where they discover Ushio's body is missing. Following a trail to Hiruko Cave, they encounter Seido being strangled by Chitose, whom Ushio hacks and stops. Although they save Seido, he initially resists cooperation, hoping to regain Heine's trust by attacking them. Shadow Mio tries to copy Seido but finds him immune. They observe Negoro with Ushio's body, but Shinpei advises against pursuit. Seido, realizing his plan is futile, discloses a list of individuals fed to Heine, including Shinpei's parents. He reveals that Shidehiko Hishigata, Heine's guardian and the Hishigata Clinic's founder, is Shide.

Shinpei, after resting for the night, strategizes with his group. They split into two teams, aiming to track down shadows spotted by Hizuru at the funeral. Leaving Mio, Shadow Mio, and Sou at the Kofune restaurant, Shinpei, and Ushio visit Hitoguchis, only to find ominous black stains. They recall Kaoru Hitoguchi (Bucchi), a beloved local teacher. The duo then ventures into the mountains, where they encounter and eliminate the shadows of two children and Bucchi. Regrouping at the restaurant, they learn Hizuru's team found no shadows, suggesting the shadows are wary of Ushio's abilities. Preparing for the festival, Shinpei resolves to confront Masahito Karikiri at the Hiruko shrine.

In the Hiruko shrine, Shinpei and Masahito Karikiri engage in casual conversation about Tokyo's climate and video games. Shinpei draws a parallel between video games for Masahito and novels for himself as mediums that provoke thoughts about life's end. He then steers the conversation toward the novel "Swapman," discussing the indistinguishability between originals and copies. Shinpei confronts Masahito about his awareness of Shadows, evidenced by photos showing Masahito's unchanged presence over decades. Accusing Masahito of being Shidehiko Hishigata, Shinpei points a gun at him, confirming he's neither shadow nor entirely human but a hybrid, based on a photo from Seido Hishigata's father.

In their conversation, Masahito challenges Shinpei with a reference to the Great Kyoho Famine. Shinpei recounts the Hiruko God legend, which Masahito dismisses as false, revealing that he and Haine turned many islanders into shadows to avoid the need for food. When Ushio questions him about the murder of Shinpei's parents, Masahito justifies it, saying they planned to expose Hiruko Cave. He provocatively suggests turning them into shadows instead. Shinpei, controlling his anger, inquires why Masahito protects Haine. Masahito asserts he must fulfill his mother's wishes.

Shinpei hesitates to shoot Masahito, suspecting something amiss. Ushio urges him to seize this chance against Shide. Masahito, noting Shinpei's doubt, points out a discrepancy in his burn scar. Frustrated, Ushio decapitates Masahito. As she communicates their victory, Masahito, now bandaged, stabs Ushio's shadow, revealing himself as Shide. In a rage, Shinpei fires his remaining bullets, but Shide, using shadow armor, blocks them and counterattacks, impaling Shinpei. The gunshot alerts their allies, but they arrive too late; Shinpei is fatally wounded and dies.

### 8th Loop

Shinpei loops back to when he saved the kids from Bucchi's Shadow. With Ushio nowhere to be seen, Shinpei cries and growls in agony. Haine appears in the form of a crow and realizes that Ushio has died. She summons strays, but as Shinpei unconsciously grabs something in his pocket, she stops and runs away. Shinpei then saw he was holding Ushio's shell necklace. Shinpei wants to tell everyone about the new situation, but he needs a signal. He runs to Kofune's restaurant, where Alain tells him that Sou and Mio went out to meet him 30 minutes ago. He attempts to call them, but their phones are off. He then realizes there is a shadow of him but wonders how the phone works since it is a copy. He hears noises from his room and finds shadow Mio, who was pinned by Mio in fear her hack could have been undone after Ushio's death. Shinpei receives a call from Hizuru's phone by Haine in Shinpei's form. She tells him that Hizuru is at Torajima, but Mio is at Alain's garden, and he can save only one.

Shinpei and shadow Mio arrive at Alain's garden. Still, they are only able to find Masahito, who informs them that Mio and Sou have been sending for Haine to eat. Masahito suggests that Mio kills Shinpei, and he restarts the loop, but Mio kills Masahito. She then feels how Haine eats Mio and informs Shinpei that Mio is dead. Shinpei asks her to scan Masahito, but after doing so, she states he doesn't have any memories. Mio then feels something, and they find badly injured Tokiko, who, before dying, tells Shinpei to protect Ryunosuke and Hizuru. Shinpei then forms a new plan and decides to restart the loop.

### 9th Loop

Shinpei wakes up after he descends the mountain with the kids and goes right away to save Shadow Mio. With her being able to move faster, he rides on her, and they are able to catch up to Mio and Sou and explain the situation. Shinpei then sends Mio and Sou to Kofune and proceeds towards Torajima. Having seen Tokiko's memories, he knows he will arrive just when Hizuru gives a signal to Tokiko to attack. However, as he comes, he sees one of the stray shadows easily killed by Shide and Hizuru lying on the ground and stabbed by Shide, who explains it was thanks to his loop that he got to fight Hizuru again and knowing what she would do, make the fight easy.

Ginjiro believes they don't have a chance and wishes to leave, but Shinpei refuses. Feeling Ushio in his pocket, Haine decides to retreat with Shide. Shinpei wishes to restart the loop, but Hizuru and Mio stop him, telling him his power is at its limit and he can't save everyone. Hizuru then explains to Shinpei that Haine's original personality is just a lonely kid. Nevertheless, Shide's goal is different, and he is controlling her. She asks Shinpei to save Haine, and he accepts. Hizuru then transfers Ryunosuke to Shinpei, entrusting her brother with him.

It's raining outside, and Seido calls Shinpei inside. As Shinpei ignores him, Seido explains that Hizuru's body is stored in the morgue, but as she is a famous novelist, the press would soon come. They can't also hide her stab wound. Shinpei states they don't need to hide it as it was a murder, and they know who did it, but requests Seido to give him one more day. Seido heard that there were two Shide and wasn't surprised that Shide kept a spare. Seido doesn't think that Haine gave birth to two Shide, but Shide likely preserved his previous body, Iwao Karikiri, but he has no idea how he can move it. Shinpei then warns Seido to close his ears as lightning hits the ocean, surprising Seido and wondering how he knew.

At the beach, Shinpei wonders what they should do, considering they lost Ushio, Hizuru, a stray shadow, Ginjiro's rifle, and Tetsu's pistol, while the enemy hasn't lost anything. Shadow Mio asks Shinpei what is in his pocket. Shinpei takes out the shell necklace that belonged to Ushio and believes it's a fragment of Ushio. Looking at it, Mio explains she could feel Ushio's anger from it, which made Shide and Haine leave. Mio is sure that Ushio's memories are inside, and she must have transferred them before she disappeared. However, she made it so that other shadows couldn't scan it, and the only one who could read the data was Ushio. Looking at the sea and thinking, Shinpei realizes that Ushio is coming back. Her version with no memories should appear at the beach during the festival. She then can scan the necklace and restore her memories.

Mio then meets Shinpei on the roof and asks if Ushio will really be coming back, and Shinpei believes so. Mio confesses that she loves Shinpei, who feels awkward and thanks her. Mio realizes he knows, and he confirms. Mio explains she wanted to say it as there is a chance they all die tomorrow. Shinpei apologizes and states he can't return her feelings as he loves Ushio, and Mio is his little sister.

Shinpei explains that Shide called his ability to observe parallel worlds. Essentially, each time he dies, his consciousness goes to another parallel world. He met Ushio in the third loop, and she started coming with him. However, as the norm, Ushio still had not appeared, which means there were 2 Ushios at the same time. Ushio fought with Haine to save Shiori and is currently drifting in the sea, trying to heal herself, which she manages to do on the day of the festival. If Ushio was like Shinpei and Haine, his consciousness would have returned to the drifting in the sea Ushio and not stay by Shinpei's side, which confirms that the two Ushio exist at the same time. As Ushio read Shide's mind, she figured out a way to return. Shinpei states that this may all have been wishful thinking. However, he believes it's true, as when he leaves the necklace, it always turns towards the south and starts moving slowly. Shinpei explains that her shell was moving faster earlier at 3AM, making them realize it was during rising tide. They realize around where Ushio's body should be and that it will be closest to them again at 6PM. Shinpei knows that Shide and Haine are aware of Ushio, but they have yet to learn where she is or can track her, and Shinpei's group must not let this chance slip. Shinpei then tells the group they will proceed as planned.

Shinpei is inside of Tokiko's stray and is heading towards Ushio in the sea. Shide and other strays search everywhere and find the stray that ignores them. They get close to Ushio as she starts to awaken. The stray grabs her, and they fly out of the water, where Shide attacks the stray. Ushio and Shinpei start falling, and Shinpei gives her the necklace, which starts to shine. Shide attacks them, but Ushio manages to recover her memories and cuts Shide's attacks. Ushio states she knew he would come for her and then kill all the strays that attacked them. Ushio attempts to attack Shide, but MIo stops her. Shinpei asks Shide if he can guess from where he came, but as Shide has no idea, Shinpei realizes that being in the stray, the handprint doesn't reveal his location. Shinpei then points a gun at his head, and Haine tells Shide to stop him, but using Ryunosuke's powers, Shinpei dodges Shide's gun and shoots himself.

### 10th Loop

Shinpei loops back with Ushio while the group is still in the stray. They go outside, and Haine realizes they are in the Hiruko cave. Shinpei's group then proceeds towards Hiruko's main body while staying in the stray. They reach another shadow, who attacks them, and Tokiko decides to remain with the stray and fight it while the group proceeds. Shinpei's group then reaches a black barrier, which they realize is part of Hiruko. Ushio attempts to hack it, but Shinpei stops her as the wall reverses the hack and cuts two of her fingers. Shinpei then calls Mio and uses the fireworks he made her steal to blow up the barrier. While the wall slowly regenerates, they get in, but Shinpei feels Shide is coming and turns and starts shooting him. Ginjiro then decides to stay to prevent Shide from following them.

Getting closer to Hiruko's main body, Shinpei feels a loud noise that makes his head hurt. Mio explains it's Hiruko's controlling signal, something she can now ignore thanks to Ushio hacking her, but it's not possible for a human to ignore it. Ushio then makes Shinpei focus on her and generates another signal that counters Hiruko's signal and banishes it from the area. Proceeding, they are attacked by Shide from above, but Ushio protects them. Shinpei avoids using Ryunosuke's powers, as Haine will, either way, notify Shide and proceeds to try to lure Haine into a trap. While Haine dodges, she feels Mio and dodges her, but then Sou shoots her shadow. Injured, Haine is unable to warn Shide on how to dodge, and Ushio kills him. A second Shide then appears, but Ushio punches Hiruko's main body, and his armor falls off, and Mio kills him. Shinpei then notices that Ushio has a red eye now, and his eye starts hurting him. Another Shide then appears in front of them.

Shide is revealed to be still alive; however, as Hiruko loses both their eyes and shrinks, Shide states he no longer uses her. He sees that Ushio has taken Hiruko's eye and realizes his wish can still be granted if he steals it. He can't let Hiruko die, as he will lose his armor. He opens a portal to Hiruko's world and jumps in with it, inviting Shinpei and Ushio to come and fight him. Shinpei wants to go with Ushio. She asks Ryunosuke to stop him, but he wants to fulfil his sister's wish and save Haine. Shinpei then reveals he loves Ushio and wants to be with her, and they go through the portal.

Shinpei wakes up in Tokoyo, Hiruko's world. He quickly realizes that time doesn't flow there, and if he dies, he won't be able to loop. He goes looking for Ushio and eventually finds her, but Haine comes out of her. Ushio explains that when Haine ate Ryunosuke, her personality split between Haine, the young girl, and Hiruko, and this is the girl who was friends with Hizuru. Haine explains that in this world, time doesn't flow, and they realize that Ryunosuke isn't shifted ahead of time. She reveals that Shide wants to take Ushio's eye, and then he can go to a higher dimension, where he will have control over time and space. Ushio then recalls reading his mind and that he intends to just "turn off" and destroy the world. To escape this world, they need to kill Hiruko, and Tokoyo will disappear.

As the world is connected to Hiruko's memories, Shide uses her memories of the WWII air raid and starts bombing Tokoyo, but Ushio protects them. As Haine also has memories of it, she manages to stop the raid, and Ushio attacks Shide but realizes he is empty inside. Shide then reflects on her hacking and seemingly defeats her. Still, Ushio eats a fragment of the original Ushio and restores herself to a younger Ushio version. She then reveals to Shinpei that Shide's real body is in the real world. Ushio gets injured and cannot proceed to fight. They form a plan that she will turn herself into the shotgun shells, and they will erase Shide with it. However, she needs two minutes to print the shells, and Shinpei and Ryunosuke need to survive in the meantime. Ryunosuke controls Shinpei, but Shide is too strong and cuts Shinpei's left arm and severely injures him. Eventually, Shinpei asks Ryunosuke to take control of Shide so that he can shoot Ushio's shotgun with him. Ryunosuke does that, but as that's something Hizuru had done before in one of the loops, Shide is able to separate Ryunosuke from the mud and remove him from his body. Ushio finally manages to print the shells, and with the help from Haine, Shinpei is able to reach the shotgun and shoot Shide, erasing him, while the one in the real world cannot move or see without the armor.

Ushio attempts to erase Hiruko, who then teleports them 300 years back. Initially, Ryunosuke thinks Hiruko plans to transfer memories to the whale Hiruko. However, Ushio figures what Hiruko wants; erase the whale to prevent a repeat of events. As she does, Hiruko, Haine, and Ryunosuke vanish, making the past Haine live. Shinpei wishes to join Ushio, fearing death in his body, but she insists on returning him safely. They reflect on their recent happiness. Ushio then uses her time power to visit Shinpei in the first loop, granting him the "blue eye" and recording a message for Hizuru, ensuring the timeline's continuity and their adventure's impact. Shinpei then awakens, arriving anew at Hitogashima.

### 11th loop

In this conclusive loop, Hiruko doesn't appear, and Shadows do not exist. Shinpei's parents are alive, and he didn't live with the Kofunes. Shinpei wakes up on the boat to Hitogashima and recognizes Hizuru as Nagumo Ryunosuke. Stepping on the island, he feels a deja vu of being recently here. He had received a message from Ushio, who asked him to visit her during the festival. He also had a dream that someone told him the island would disappear, and he decided to visit it to see for himself.

After going around the town, he goes to Hito Shrine, where he meets the priest Iwao Karikiri and his son Yamato, who tells him that Ushio lost her pendant at the beach and has been searching for it for the last two days. He then goes to the beach and sees Ushio and apologizes for leaving like that for Tokyo. Ushio explains she had a dream that he disappeared and didn't want their last meeting to be like that, and that's why she called him. Shinpei then sees her pendant at the beach. Ushio is happy that she got it back.

On July 24th, Shinpei spoke with Hizuru, who signed him a copy of her book. He explains he knows her from his dream and that Ushio also had a similar dream. Hizuru guesses it's a memory from a parallel world and wants to hear more. Later at the festival, Hizuru wrote her new novel "Summer Time Rendering" in excitement, stating that Shinpei gave her quite an inspiration.

In the concluding scene, Shinpei and Ushio are at the beach festival. As they discuss the takoyaki Shinpei brought, they simultaneously recall their journey through the shadow door at the old clinic. This shared memory of their entire adventure resurfaces just as the fireworks start, symbolizing a moment of culmination and reunion. Ushio then welcomes Shinpei back, marking the end of their extraordinary journey and the beginning of a new chapter in their lives.

## Etymology

* The name **Shinpei** means "prudent, careful" (慎) (**shin**) and "flat, broad, level, even, peaceful" (平) (**hei**/**pei**).
* Shinpei's surname **Ajiro** means "network/net" (網) (**a**) and "generation" (代) (**shiro**/**jiro**).