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Synopsis

In the rural town of Mifuse, life has halted following an explosion at the local steel mill. The residents find themselves held in an unexplained suspension that severs their ties to the outside world. An influential local interprets the phenomenon as divine retribution, and the community embraces various rituals and beliefs to maintain a fragile order while awaiting a return to normal life. Among those most affected are the town’s adolescents, including middle schooler Masamune Kikuiri, who have stopped aging and have grown emotionally dulled; for them, reintegration into the wider world feels increasingly unattainable. Masamune has settled into a state of resigned insecurity and purposelessness until his classmate Mutsumi Sagami leads him to the steel mill’s fifth furnace. There they encounter a wild, girllike figure with lupine traits. This meeting awakens a shift in Mifuse’s stagnant atmosphere, initiating the first stirrings of change within the town’s frozen existence.