that's a lota Shibata...
"In the spring of my third year of middle school, I found Shibata buried beneath a sakura tree... no one at school seemed to know him... I will discover Shibata and the whole world will turn into Shibata. This is a story of, by, and for Shibata. Now showing in a theater near you."
— Synopsis from Manga Plus
This manga provides examples of:
- Ambiguously Evil: Shibata. Kind of. While the "Shibata" in the present is extremely cruel and malicious, it's shown that the kind, awkward Shibata that Satou knew in middle school wasn't fake either. It isn't exactly known how the Shibatas are connected or if they're the same person.
- Bait-and-Switch: At first it seems like Shibata is some kind of imaginary friend created by Satou. Whatever Shibata is, he's very real.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: During his last conversation with Shibata in middle school, Satou says he wants to make a movie where everyone in the world turns into Shibata, and then Shibata kills everyone at their school. Shibata later decides to take him up on his offer, except that the 'movie' would be a documentary this time around.
- Big Bad: Shibata. Or at least a Shibata.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Watari towards Satou. Despite not knowing for sure if Shibata is even real, she sees him as competition for Satou.
- Dead All Along: The original Shibata died after bullies buried him from the neck-down in front of a cherry blossom tree and no one came by to help him. Considering that this happened 20 years before the story takes place, the Shibata that Satou knew seems to have been a ghost.
- Face–Heel Turn: Shibata. Maybe. It isn't exactly clear if the "Shibata" in the present is the same person Satou knew in middle school.
- Genre Shift: The story starts as a kind of slice of life story about a disillusioned youth and his (possibly) imaginary friend. At the end of the first chapter, however, it suddenly pivots into a surreal Zombie Apocalypse story.
- Humanoid Abomination: It isn't clear what Shibata is, but he clearly isn't human.
- Shout-Out: While murdering all the former students from their middle school, a crowd of Shibatas sings Do-Re-Mi, seemingly to juxtapose the happy tune with the brutal violence being shown.
- Surreal Horror: Yep.
- Two Guys and a Girl: Satou, Shibata, and Watari. Though Watari could not see nor interact with Shibata, at least during middle school.
- Yandere: Watari eventually becomes one.
- Zombie Apocalypse: A variation. People are mysteriously turning into Shibata, and almost all of them aim to kill Satou and Watari.
