01x18 - Meeting

[bunniefuu]

HIZURU: In the year 1732,

thousands starved to death

on Hitogashima

during the Great Kyoho Famine.

Just as the island was dying off,

a whale washed up on Omotohama Beach.

The islanders were overjoyed

with this gift from god,

and gathered to devour it.

During this time,

a fisherman's daughter came,

and the whale's body suddenly flashed.

In a blink of an eye,

it took the form of that girl,

and then consumed her.

Fearing to be cursed by her,

people started to worship it,

as the living goddess Hiruko.

This is Hiruko's Lore,

a Hitogashima legend.

(theme music)

SUMMER TIME RENDERING

MEETING

Sense any shadows, Ushioh?

USHIOH: No.

Ms. Nagumo was right.

Sure enough, Karikiri isn't one.

All right, just don't let your guard down.

USHIOH: Got it.

Man, it's been so hot lately.

SHINPEI: It has.

So is Tokyo hot? Hotter than Wakayama?

No, it's more or less the same.

-MASAHITO: Have some cold barley tea.

-SHINPEI: Oh, thank you.

But you you came

to Tokyo last year, right?

Huh?

Yesterday, weren't you telling me

that you went to a game event in Tokyo?

Ah! That's right. It was near the ocean,

in Makuhari.

MASAHITO: Makuhari is in Chiba,

but, yeah, Tokyo really was hot!

There were so many people, too.

You really like games, huh?

What type do you play?

Oh, I used to love RPGs,

but now it's like FPS or

like simulation games.

Are you going to go again this year?

I'm not, I probably

won't make it this year.

Although, when I heard

about the FF7 remake, I was so excited.

Is FF7 really any good?

I hear a lot about it.

What? So you've never played it before?

I mean, it did come out

before I was even born.

MASAHITO: Well, its worldview is unique,

maybe because it came out

at the end of the century.

Both its art and music

have a mood of decadence.

The whole thing makes you think

about the end of life.

Wow, life, really?

I guess your passion for video games

is similar to mine for novels.

Do you know the novel Swamp Man

by Ryunosuke Nagumo?

I really like it,

it feels a lot like it was about me,

as if it was written about my own life.

Art imitating life, I guess.

MASAHITO: I don't know that story,

I've never heard of that book,

but I do know about the Swamp Man theory.

Is that what it's about?

SHINPEI: Yeah, one day,

a copy of the protagonist shows up

and starts living in his place.

No one at home or at school notices

that he's actually a copy.

It perfectly copied

all the memories, personality,

and DNA of the original person.

But if that really happened,

do you think that it would be

the same person as the original?

I would. Yes, I would think he is.

Human cells are replaced every day,

because of our metabolism.

Our cells continuously divide

and copy themselves.

Whether it was done in a flash

or slowly, doesn't make a difference.

SHINPEI: So you believe a copy

is the same as the original?

MASAHITO: Yes, I guess I do.

Is this always what you think about?

It was the shadow sickness yesterday.

SHINPEI: I also looked into Hiruko's Lore.

At first, I was going to ask you,

however, Hizuru told me all about it.

About 300 years ago, in the Edo period,

a god appeared on this island,

that god was Hiruko.

SHINPEI: In the distant past,

it arrived from outside this realm,

or we can just call it "space."

It was an organism that lived out there,

and copied nearby objects,

transformed, and consumed the copied data.

But it had a limited choice of objects

to transform into, out in space.

So it most likely came down to Earth

in the form of a meteorite,

fell into the ocean,

and probably copied a lot of things.

(ominous music)

This part is just Hizuru's theory,

but the rest of the story is

in the written records of Hiruko's Lore.

SHINPEI: Three hundred years ago,

it transformed into a whale,

and for some reason,

washed up on this island.

It copied a fisherman's daughter

who came to see the whale washed ashore.

That was the beginning

of the shadow sickness.

Well, that's what they say

in Hiruko's Lore.

Are you saying that it's true?

Yeah. Shadows do exist.

They're the ones responsible

for k*lling Ushio,

as well as k*lling my parents,

and they'll do the same to everyone

who shows up tomorrow for the festival.

MASAHITO (laughs): Oh, sorry. I'm sorry.

You've read way too many stories.

I know you're upset about Ushio's death.

You should get some rest.

SHINPEI: I already know everything.

Karikiri, you know it's true.

After all, you watched it all unfold.

Wow.

What in the world is it?

I think it's a whale.

-(indistinct chatter)

-(whimpers)

(tense music)

I didn't notice it at first,

but Dr. Hishigata pointed you out to me.

Do you see the man on your right?

He is Dr. Hishigata's grandfather.

What are you doing in a photo

from 70 years ago,

Masahito Karikiri,

or should I say, Shidehiko Hishigata?

I know you are Shide.

Heine!

(static)

(indistinct chatter)

Come back here, Heine!

(gasps)

WOMAN: Where did it go?

What happened to the whale?

(foreboding music)

Heine? Heine. Come here.

Ah, Mr. Shide.

(Shadow growls)

SUMMER TIME RENDERING

-Shinpei.

-(g*nshots)

Don't move. Move, and I'll k*ll you.

What has Dr. Hishigata told you exactly?

I'm the one asking questions here.

Not you. Look at the other photo.

That picture was taken 40 years ago.

Dr. Hishigata's father took that picture.

You aren't a shadow,

but you're definitely not human, either.

HIZURU: Swamp Man.

Hiruko? What the heck is it doing here?

I don't know. It's just a guess.

If so, the Hishigata Clinic

and Hito Shrine must be connected somehow.

Four-arms could be Masahito Karikiri.

Uh, huh? Are you sure? The Karikiri boy?

Don't you think so, too, Ushioh?

-Yeah.

-Heine.

It sounds pretty suspicious

for the shrine to worship her

if she's the mother of all shadows.

Since Karikiri is the priest there.

Yeah, maybe. But isn't Karikiri human?

HIZURU: Why would Four-arms hide its face?

If it were a shadow, it could just

transform itself into anything.

What if it's human and just isn't able

to copy anything at all?

I've never seen it scan anything,

but it did print.

Well, if Four-arms is actually human

but he is wearing all that sludge

of shadows as some sort of armor.

He's hiding his face,

because he knows if he didn't,

we would easily recognize him.

SIXTH LOOP JULY 22

AFTER CANCELING ENTRY TO KOBA MAR

Ah!

Ugh! How could it do that to Ryunosuke?

Four-arms must be Masahito Karikiri.

After seeing it in your memories,

I'm sure.

But how can you tell?

I never liked that priest.

HIZURU: Four-arms disgusts me

the same way.

NEZU: What do you mean?

He can hide his face,

but not what's inside.

And the fact that Nezu's shots didn't work

makes sense if it's human.

If I remember correctly,

Karikiri was at the funeral.

SHINPEI: Maybe he sent a shadow

in his place.

I think we can easily assassinate him

if there really is a human inside.

It would be easy if he is human.

I'll just casually visit the shrine,

and sh**t him while we chat.

What? That's m*rder!

We still need more evidence, Ms. Nagumo.

And besides, if he's human,

we might be able to negotiate

a truce with him.

Shide burned his left hand.

It will help us know for sure.

SEVENTH LOOP JULY 22

HISHIGATA CLINIC BASEMEN

DR. HISHIGATA: Look at this.

Shide is Heine's guardian,

and the first child Heine bore.

Its original form is Shidehiko Hishigata,

founder of the Hishigata Clinic.

(gasps)

What? What is this picture?

DR. HISHIGATA: The Hishigata family

was in charge

of religious ceremonies on the island,

until Shidehiko's father

began playing doctor in the Edo period.

But that can't be. Hishigata?

The Karikiris have the shrine.

The Karikiris

and the Hishigatas are related.

They branched off from the Hishigatas.

(both gasp)

Do you know Hiruko's Lore?

The day Hiruko drifted here,

Hiruko became Heine,

and then Heine became a god

to the islanders.

DR. HISHIGATA: That's right.

In time, Shidehiko had a child

with this god.

(both gasp)

The child wasn't born

from a scanned shadow.

He got Heine's body pregnant,

and she gave birth to a child.

(both gasp)

DR. HISHIGATA:

He called himself a god's husband,

and took Heine's surname, Karikiri.

Shidehiko had a brother.

After Heine gave birth,

the Hishigata family split,

the Karikiris became priests,

and the Hishigatas became doctors.

TOKIKO: In other words,

we're related to Shide?

I can't believe it.

So who did Heine give birth to?

DR. HISHIGATA: When the child grew up,

it was the spitting image of Shidehiko.

That must be the nature of shadows.

A child from Heine's pregnancy

is the father's clone.

(both gasp)

Shidehiko noticed this,

and it kindled a certain desire.

It can't be.

He made Heine copy

and implant his personality

and memory in the clone.

DR. HISHIGATA: That way, he was reborn.

(gasps)

That's sick. No wonder I hated him.

My father helped to deliver the baby,

and he took that photograph.

DR. HISHIGATA:

His current body was born that day.

Shide repeated this technique,

and made Heine give birth

to his new body over and over,

and that's how he's lived for 300 years.

You're a hybrid of human and shadow.

Well, well, Shinpei.

You don't play fair. You loop.

You can't possibly know so much

in just one day.

Well, take a seat and have some tea.

It's not poisoned.

So you admit it.

(ice clinking)

(gulping)

(sighs)

(grunts)

I was 40 years old then,

long, long time ago.

MASAHITO: It was the summer of 1732,

the year of the Great Kyoho Famine.

Do you know about it?

It's in the textbooks.

We had a terrible harvest that year.

Fishermen died, so we had no fish, either.

And that's when Heine showed up

on the shore.

SHINPEI: The islanders believed that god

was in the things that washed ashore,

so they believed Heine was a god.

And in exchange for eating the people,

Heine blessed the fishing.

No, that's not it at all.

You are sorely mistaken, Shinpei.

She just turned a few hundred people

on the island into shadows,

because shadows can easily catch fish

and save people from starving.

MASAHITO: So Hitogashima still exists,

thanks to me.

USHIOH: Shut up!

Are you actually justifying

yourself right now?

Why did you k*ll Shinpei's parents?

MASAHITO: Same as you, I'm sure.

They got in the way.

They found Hiruko's grotto

and tried to make it public.

They weren't smart for that,

but Mother enjoyed her meal.

USHIOH: Unforgivable.

Oh, I guess you would have

preferred them as shadows, huh?

(grunting)

I'm not I'm nothing like you.

I don't want to k*ll people.

You don't want to die, do you?

Why go so far to protect Heine?

SHINPEI: You're human,

so you can't go with her to her home.

Give up Heine, and then you must end

this bloody m*ssacre.

That is not how it ends.

My mission is to fulfill Mother's wish.

SHINPEI: sh*t. sh*t.

And you never know, you know?

I might have a shadow, too.

SHINPEI: Something's off.

Pull the trigger!

There aren't any shadows here!

SHINPEI: Why? Why is he

sh**t, Shinpei!

Now is our only chance! Hurry up!

I know exactly

what you're thinking right now.

"Why isn't his left hand burned? Strange."

MASAHITO: Right?

By the way, Shinpei. Can I move now?

USHIOH: That's it.

I can't take it anymore!

Ushioh! Hold on!

(foreboding music)

(gasps)

(grunts)

(blood splatters)

(both sigh)

(Shinpei panting)

He's dead. Is that it?

I said I was going to do it.

I didn't want you to have

to do something like this.

(sighs)

I can't let you m*rder someone.

Why not? It was my duty. My revenge.

You're kind, so you would've regretted it.

USHIOH: You see everyone as people,

even me, and even him.

Leave all the dirty work to me, okay?

Ushioh.

Can I?

Did you hear? I k*lled Shide.

(thuds)

(squeaks)

-(blood sloshes)

-Shin

(blade pierces flesh)

Okay. One down.

(suspenseful music)

USHIOH: Shide Why?

No, it can't be. I'm sorry, Shinpei.

I didn't notice

(static)

-(shouting)

-(g*nshots)

-(shouting)

-(g*n clicking)

MASAHITO: Well

That was close, Shinpei.

I guess you didn't step back enough

to look at the situation.

-(blade pierces flesh)

-(groaning)

HIZURU: You're going alone?

NEZU: Persuade him?

(grunts)

NEZU: No, I say we k*ll him

the moment we see him in his skin.

(grunts)

NEZU: I'll k*ll him.

SHINPEI: No, please wait, let me try once.

If I don't know what he's thinking,

then there's no way I can k*ll him.

I want him to tell me

why he k*lled my parents himself.

I'll never accept it if I don't.

-NEZU: But

-SHINPEI: I have to.

SHINPEI: I'll even die once

just so I can hear it.

USHIOH: Fine,

but I'm still going with you.

You won't even stand a chance

if the shrine's full of shadows.

HIZURU: She's right. If you go alone,

they might try to capture you.

NEZU: We'll be on the grounds, too.

SHINPEI: I understand.

NEZU: Can we somehow listen in

on their conversation?

USHIOH: What if we put a phone

in your pocket with a multi-way call?

SHINPEI: But you won't be able

to really hear anything.

NEZU: We just need to hear g*nshots.

SHINPEI: All right.

I'll sh**t twice into his shadow.

If you hear three shots,

come in and check if it's human.

-(g*nsh*t)

-(glass shatters)

I wonder how you're feeling right now.

Like a kid who forgot to save

at the end of the game?

Ushio is dead.

(groaning)

MASAHITO: Brat.

(retches)

MASAHITO: You thought you could mess

with my ending?

USHIOH: Don't worry.

I'm with you, no matter what.

The only loop you're going to get

will be of despair and regret.

(grunting)

MASAHITO: Take care now.

(gasps)

Shinpei really gets led around

by the nose.

Mm-hm! They're like a couple.

Oh?

-Huh?

-Huh? Wait.

Where'd she go?

AKARI: She was just there.

(Shinpei sobbing)

Uh, Shinpei?

(sobbing)

(closing theme music)