Shanghai is a foreign transfer student, strongly implied to be from China by her name and language. She possesses long blonde hair, brown eyes, and stands roughly 145 cm tall, ranking her among the shortest students. She communicates exclusively in Shanghainese, a Wu Chinese dialect. Shanghai maintains a close association with Ace, possibly as his girlfriend, and consistently aligns herself with the "cool group" of students. Her interactions with Nagara, Mizuho, and Nozomi are distant and abrasive, particularly when they approach Ace for items like the "Monkey Getter" flashlight.

Early in the drifting incident, she joins Asakaze and another student in a coup attempt against the student council, believing Cap lacked authority to impose penalties. Despite this belief, she receives a penalty and is forced to perform sit-ups as punishment, revealing both her willingness to challenge authority and her vulnerability within the group's power structure.

Her ability, "Electric Shock," grants control over electromagnetic fields. Activating it charges her hair with static electricity, causing it to stand out wildly. She manifests this power by generating electric arcs during confrontations and summoning lightning bolts, notably during the class's encounter with Nagara, with specific instances occurring in Episode 1 and Episode 5.

After the class becomes stranded in an island dimension, she resides with Ace and other students in a colorful forest house. A "No Cats Allowed" sign near her sitting position hints at a possible aversion to Mizuho or her cats. Following a baseball game where Ace's victory over Nagara is overshadowed by attention on Nagara, Shanghai approaches Ace and embraces him. In this moment, reflecting on their displacement, she remarks "this isn't where we're supposed to be," exposing emotional vulnerability and discontent.