| Shimako | |
|---|---|
 Shimako as she appears in Field of Cosmos. | |
| Basic Info | |
| Role | Recurring NPC, Swaps hats with or gives books to player in Reflecting Electron Zone |
| Collectibles | None None |
| Events | Shimako's Deluge |
| Location |
Adabana Gardens |
| Other | |
| Size | Standard |
| Killable? | Yes, Temporary |
Shimako is a recurring NPC in qxy's work, particularly in the route starting from Home Within Nowhere.
Interaction
Shimako makes appearances in several of qxy's worlds, starting from Adabana Gardens, with her final appearance being in Rainy Apartments. She appears to be linked to the Telephone effect, as she will react to it in several instances.
Home Within Nowhere
Even though Shimako doesn't appear herself within the area, it is highly implied in the narrative of the route that the Home Within Nowhere is where Shimako had lived, as indicated by the bedroom of the area housing several of belongings of Shimako that are seen equipped by her later - a red schoolbag that is seen with her in Adabana Gardens and the striped shirts that she is wearing in most instances.
Adabana Gardens
Shimako is first seen briefly in an unreachable area of Adabana Gardens as a child, carrying the red schoolbag as she slowly walks off-screen. If the player had encountered her here, she may be found again in the next area.
Field of Cosmos
Shimako is more elusive here, but can be found near the two small temples in Field of Cosmos if she had been seen in Adabana Gardens. When present, she will not look at Urotsuki, and will only briefly look at her if the Telephone effect is used. She will vanish upon being touched.
Wooded Lakeside
In Wooded Lakeside A, a striped picnic blanket can be found here beside a lavender picnic blanket bearing Urotsuki's shirt pattern, implying a connection between the two characters.
Shimako makes a more explicit appearance in Wooded Lakeside B when entering the Boiler Room, and triggers the Shimako's Deluge event. Walking across the water will show Shimako standing near a Sierpinski triangle and some lilypads--she will look around fearfully if the Telephone effect is used. Walking just in front of the Sierpinski Triangle will cause Urotsuki to fall into the water. After drowning or waking up, Urotsuki will re-appear in front of the bathroom of Home Within Nowhere.
Marshmallow Shallows
Shimako can be found sitting unaccompanied and slouched over in one of the small cone-shaped structures, as Kamakurako is seen doing the same in an igloo of Snow World in the original Yume Nikki. If the player is wearing a hat, it may be given to Shimako, however doing so will cause her to vanish.
Glitched Butterfly Sector
Shimako makes a brief appearance just over the Sierpinski Maze connection in this area when it fades to blue, appearing nude and looking around. If the player had entered Red Sewers from Guts World, Shimako will not be present in this area.
Reflecting Electron Zone
In Reflecting Electron Zone, Shimako is initially invisible until the player uses the Crossing effect, doing so revealing her physical appearance. She is seen with a stack of red, green, and blue books balanced on her head, which the player may take from her. If the player has taken a hat from Home Within Nowhere or any other prior area, they may swap it for her books. Her being invisible except for her gadgets is similar to that of Mafurako of the original Yume Nikki.
Rainy Apartments
Shimako makes her final appearance in the balcony of Rainy Apartments as a transculent figure, seemingly brushing her teeth. Once the elevator doors have opened, she may be found in the bed, and reacts to the Telephone effect by stirring slightly, if the player had not chainsawed her. If the player takes the stairs outside and descends 8 times, her corpse may be found on the ground; the top level has a stool or chair, implying that Shimako had jumped to her death. Using the Telephone effect will cause the body to writhe faintly.
Pure White Lands
Shimako can be seen blowing bubbles in Pure White Lands.
Appearance
Shimako is an average-looking girl with long, dark hair, black eyes, and a fair complexion. She is usually seen wearing a black & white striped top, dark red shoes, and a black skirt with red detailing.
In Rainy Apartments, Shimako loses her original chibi art style and is seen with much more realistic proportions.
Theories
The route starting from Home Within Nowhere could be seen as Shimako's narrative, starting from her childhood home, progressing through reimagined fragment of her childhood memories, and traversing through her more abstract spatial reinterpretations of her teenage years in subsequent worlds. The route starts off bright and cheerfully as seen in the initial areas of Home Within Nowhere, Pure White Lands, Lamplit Stones, Adabana Gardens and Field of Cosmos. However, subsequent worlds start to get darker, especially the ones that got interposed between Bubble World and Glitched Butterfly Sector after the update that initially added the route, Blood Factory serving as a turning point. Accompanied with daunting screeches and sparsely distributed gory visuals (a deformed figure shaped like uterus and the faucet that grinds you into blood when entered), Marhmallow Shallows is an obvious example. Shimako crouching in a narrow conical structure of Marshmallow Shallows, may hint isolation, a theme that is rather common in Yume Nikki games. Shimako's Deluge, where she seemingly drowns the approacher in the water reservoir of Wooded Lakeside may hint her disapproval or hostility towards external approach or help. Combined with the knowledge that Oblique Hell's orientation resembles an uncannily distorted human body, her sitting alone, naked, in an alien environment of the next world Glitched Butterfly Sector, could be viewed as symbolizing anxiety or trauma, possibly related to body image. She is later seen in Reflecting Electron Zone, seen stacking mutiple thick books on her head, could indicate her reaching college age and in advanced education despite all this. The narrative ends as matured Shimako is seen in the veranda of Rainy Apartments, a sentimental area that evokes emotions of gloom and melancholy simultaneuously via the area's overall color and chord choices and rainy setting. Her unexpected suicide in the area concludes her narrative. As she was seen continuing her ordinary life just moments ago brushing her teeth, the choice would be interpreted as impulsive, but themes of depression hinted from the posterior worlds would have foreshadowed this outcome, like the original Yume Nikki did with Madotsuki's dreams before the ending.
Spoilers end here.
Directions
Nexus → Marijuana Goddess World → Color Cubes World → Home Within Nowhere → Pure White Lands → Lamplit Stones → Adabana Gardens
Nexus → Marijuana Goddess World → Color Cubes World → Home Within Nowhere → Pure White Lands → Lamplit Stones → Adabana Gardens/Field of Cosmos → Bubble World → Red Sewers → Wooded Lakeside → Oblique Hell → Glitched Butterfly Sector → Sierpinski Maze → Virtual City → Reflecting Electron Zone
Nexus → Marijuana Goddess World → Color Cubes World → Home Within Nowhere → Pure White Lands → Lamplit Stones → Adabana Gardens/Field of Cosmos → Bubble World → Red Sewers → Wooded Lakeside → Oblique Hell → Glitched Butterfly Sector → Sierpinski Maze → Virtual City → Rainy Apartments
Trivia
- There exists a full-bodied version of the graphic of Shimako seated in the chair in the balcony of Rainy Apartments. In-game, this graphic is semi-transparent and hard to see.
Gallery
A young Shimako in Adabana Gardens.
Shimako in the Field of Cosmos.
Shimako hidden away in one of the conical structures in Marshmallow Shallows.
Shimako's appearance in Glitched Butterfly Sector.
Shimako made visible in Reflecting Electron Zone.
Shimako as an adult, sitting on the chair of the balcony in Rainy Apartments.
Shimako in Pure White Lands.
Shimako hugging Urotsuki in Wallpaper #597.
Shimako as seen in Wallpaper #608.
Shimako as seen in Wallpaper #649.
