Shimada Death

Shimada is relaxed, playful and supremely confident in his own power. He is primarily motivated by finding death to eat and entertaining himself, and his overwhelming abilities sometimes make him reluctant to resolve a dangerous situation too quickly.

His apparent selfishness is complicated by genuine attachment to Sanko and the others. Shimada insists that remaining near Sanko is useful because people constantly die around him, yet he repeatedly acts in ways that go beyond simply protecting a food source.

He enjoys boasting about his strength, knowledge and supposed possession of everything he could want. This lack of desire is precisely why Sanko trusts him: the promise attached to Sanko's bones offers Shimada nothing.

Shimada senses death across great distances and consumes Flesh of Death, the spiritual substance released from corpses. He can perceive it rising from the dead and eats it as nourishment.

Physical contact allows him to kill living beings with frightening ease, including causing targets to explosively disintegrate. He can teleport and survive circumstances that make ordinary combat largely irrelevant against him.

Shimada can also determine a person's age by looking at them. His knowledge of Darkness and the wider universe is extensive, making him a source of information despite his habit of treating serious situations casually.

Shimada meets the younger Sanko and Avakian at Treegun Elementary School while feeding on deaths caused by two Mini-Bucketmen. He intervenes only when necessary and explains that he has no wish worth killing Sanko to obtain.

Years later, he repeatedly crosses paths with Sanko and eventually joins the crew aboard Moja. Alongside Sanko, Avakian and Hajime Damemaru, he becomes one of the four individuals targeted as major threats by the Photosfere.

Later encounters with ancient beings and Darkness begin revealing that Shimada's nature and history extend much further back than Sanko initially understands.

Zaha Sanko considers Shimada a friend from childhood. Shimada initially describes their association in terms of the plentiful death surrounding Sanko but becomes genuinely protective of him.

Avakian distrusts Shimada's careless approach to Sanko's safety, producing frequent friction between them.

Hajime Damemaru fascinates Shimada because even Shimada's death ability cannot permanently kill him.

Moja carries Shimada with the rest of Sanko's group during their travels.