Cicada is the story of Jumpei, a man who loses sight of his progeny when he discovers that he is infertile, but then receives the gift of clairvoyance and begins to glimpse the future. These flashes lead him to a series of cicada shells, which are defined in a symbol of his desire to disappear from his former self. Although his lineage ends with himself, Jumpei begins anew as a father figure to his sister's young son.