Summary
Introduction: Satoru Fujinuma, a young man working as a manga assistant, possesses the ability called "Revival," which allows him to relive short periods of time to prevent accidents; his life changes when his mother is murdered by an unknown assailant. Catalyst incident: After his mother's death, a wider "Revival" transports Satoru back to the late 1980s, to the days when a series of child abductions and murders occurred in his hometown. Child arc: Trapped in his past self, Satoru relives his childhood and begins working to protect schoolmates, especially a girl who was a victim of family neglect; he faces school bullying, adult apathy, and the difficulty of gaining trust. Investigation in the past: Satoru gathers evidence in the school environment and the neighborhood — notes, movements, patterns of adult behavior, and routines of local institutions — seeking to connect the abductions and identify the perpetrator. Connection to the present: By uncovering clues from the past, Satoru links the crimes to the present and realizes the existence of a criminal acting under the façade of social respectability; his actions in the past begin to alter the timeline. Confrontation and repercussions: With the gathered evidence, the truth about the perpetrator of the crimes is revealed, leading to their identification and the intervention of authorities in the present; changes in the past result in an altered present, with the fates of the victims and personal relationships deeply modified.
