I just finished watching the episode, and... wow. It perfectly lived up to the expectations episode 8 set last week with that final cliffhanger.
As I figured out earlier, it was indeed Ushio herself who changed the phone password but didn't disable the finger print, in order to make the device unlockable only by her shadow self in the future.
The video being a Ushio POV of the days before her death is actually brilliant. It also does give us some new interesting information too; we're now sure that shadow Ushio was abnormal since the start, not realizing she was a shadow, despite not knowing the reason, yet.
I think my favourite scene was the whole "memory re-living" sequence of the day of Ushio's death. This new ability to display memories really is interesting I really appreciate the attention to details, like shadow Ushio not being able to show what exactly happened to Shiori, as Ushio actually didn't see that in the first place.
The final scene, besides being totally unexpected, suggests that Mother has complete control over the shadows, even the ones in those re-played memories. I wonder how her "meeting" with Shinpei will affect this timeline. Maybe she is able to transcend time as well, keeping memories between loops?
From a "technical" point of view, the small animation-quality issues of episode 8 seem to have been solved here, so it's fine, and I gotta say the sound design and OSTs of this show are really on point.
Again, I say this after every episode, but I love the way Summer Time Rendering gets to the point when the viewer expects it, without teasing too much but still maintaining a compelling and never-boring storytelling. I highly hope it will continue this was 'till the end.
