The Summer Hikaru Died

Horror & Teenage Queer Love

It is not uncommon to find geniality at the intersection of horror and queer love, and ‘The Summer Hikaru died’ is no exception.

The story follows Yoshiki, a teenager living in a rural village in Japan. After a rainy storm, his best friend, Hikaru, disappears in the mountains. The village bands together to search for the teenager, and despite being told to stay home, it is Yoshiki who finds him dead in a forest. He runs away when he hears adults nearby, shocked by the scene. He is later told that his best friend survived and is in the hospital. Yoshiki knows that Hikaru couldn’t have survived, and wonders who exactly smiles at him when he sees Hikaru.

We see Yoshiki struggling to decide if he should face, that althogh his friend looks like his friend, it is something else interly, or if he should be selfish and let his heart relish in the company of the closest thing he will ever have to his best friend. Will he ever let go? And if he does, does it really mean to let go of this new entity? What consequences will he find if he forges a new love and friendship with this being?

I have only watched up to episode 4, but couldn’t shake the need to write about these two… or three?

For the purpose of clarity, I will be calling Hikaru after death the ‘entity’.

Yoshiki is closer to the entity, physically, than he ever was to Hikaru. Although the entity has all the memories of Hikaru, it does not obligue to human societal rules. The entity knows, it can feel, that Hikaru loved Yoshiki very much, but unlike Hikaru, the entity does not feel compelled to keep the feelings hidden; it simply does not know to feel shame or the need to repress what it feels. The sincerity, and may I add the devotion of loving so deeply that it transcends souls, even death itself, propels Yoshiki to face his own feelings.

The entity serves as an allegory to what queer love can feel like under oppressive societal rules. It buries deep into a soul; you can hide it, but it will never leave you. There is a specific scene, I believe, in episode 3, that is incredibly intimate. I won’t give it away, when you watch it you will know. The scene brilliantly showcases a coming-of-age, teenage queer love, packed into a couple of minutes. It is odd and awkward, just like everyone’s first kiss. But unlike a first kiss, it has a heavier sense of intimacy. I, as the viewer, felt almost like I shouldn’t be watching this. As if that moment should belong only to them. But alas, that’s not how shows work and the scene is vital to understand both Yoshiki and the entity’s view of their relationship. At the end of the scene, the entity says, “Don’t wipe it away, Yoshiki”, which reflects on the entity’s innocence in comparison to what is societally allowed. He loves loudly and expressively, and in comparison, Yoshiki, who tied down by the expectations of those around him, cannot bring himself to admit his feelings.

I cannot wait to see where the show takes us! I have not read the manga, so I have no idea. Fingers crossed it’s a happy ending!