The Netflix horror anime "The Summer Hikaru Died" centers on the mysterious disappearance of Hikaru Indou, Yoshiki Tsujinaka's dear friend. In January 2020, Hikaru vanished into the Nisyama Mountains for a whole week, but the strange thing is that he had no memory of that memory. Six months have passed since his disappearance, and the question that still haunts Yoshiki is what really happened to his friend. Why has Hikaru started acting so strangely after his return from the mountains, where a supernatural creature was believed to reside? As the first episode began, Yoshiki worked up the courage to ask the person sitting next to him, "Aren't you the real Hikaru?" The creatures came out of Hikaru's body to tell his friend that he wasn't the real Hikaru, but he begged Yoshiki to protect his secret, as this was his first time living as a human. Yoshiki was stunned for a moment. He knew the person sitting in front of him was an imposter, but what happened to the real Hikaru? Was he dead?
At first, I thought the non-human entity, Nonuki-sama (Nounuki), who took over Hikaru's body was also the one who killed him. But the truth was, Hikaru was already breathing his last when the creature attacked him. Well, if you look more closely at the scene in the forest, you can see Hikaru lying on rough terrain. I mean, you could say he fell from a height into a well or something, or that he was seriously injured while walking in the mountains. You can also see a red stain near Hikaru's eyes, which I assume was blood oozing from his head, probably from an open wound. It's implied that Hikaru had sustained a serious injury from which he never recovered and died. Well, whatever the cause of Hikaru's death, it wasn't Nonuki-sama who killed him.
Creator: Mokumokuren
Stars: Chiaki Kobayashi, Shûichirô Umeda
In the episode, Nonuki-sama, as Hikaru, told Yoshiki that he had been wandering the mountains for quite some time. He had never sensed anything before. He didn't know who he was or where he came from. He called himself a machine on autopilot the whole time, searching the mountains for something, and the moment he came across Hikaru, it took over his body. He didn't remember the details, but it seemed that Nonuki-sama was some sort of supernatural parasite or alien being that had lived in the Nisyama Mountains far longer than the people of Kubitachi Village.
He had the ability to access a person's memories and replicate their personalities, though he didn't succeed in doing so for Yoshiki, who knew Hikaru inside out. Additionally, while eating at a restaurant, the duo encountered a cat named Mince, who jumped in fear the moment he came near Hikaru. Cats are said to be able to see or sense spirits or supernatural creatures, which was a nice touch. That said, I think we'll learn more about his origin in the upcoming episodes of The Summer Hikaru Died.
I think the first episode made it very clear that Yoshiki felt more for Hikaru than just a friend. This was one of the reasons he wasn't sure how to react to the news of his death. When Nonuki-sama told Yoshiki the truth about Hikaru, Yoshiki simply thought his friend was gone and never coming back, and so he wanted his copy to stay to fill the void in his heart. Well, you can see that Yoshiki didn't want to accept it. His friend had been dead for a while. He'd been running away from the truth because he didn't want to grieve for the only boy he ever had feelings for.
Yoshiki wanted the creature to stay because it looked like Hikaru, but deep down, he knew it wasn't Hikaru, and sooner or later he'd be forced to face reality. However, a much bigger question is: does the fake Hikaru feel the same way about Yoshiki? I'm not sure, because the creature couldn't feel anything, but from their conversation, it seemed that before he died, Hikaru also felt the same way about Yoshiki; unfortunately, they never had the chance to confess. So it's possible that Yoshiki, not wanting Hikaru to leave him again, started a secret relationship with him and kept him close as much as possible, protecting his secret from the outside world. What an E.T. story.
And right after, we saw a creature similar to Nonuki-sama enter Matsuura's house, standing silently in the dark hallway. The series didn't reveal exactly how Matsuura died, but the scene constantly alternates between Yoshiki, in a nightmare, and Matsuura's screams, thus hinting at the possibility that it was all happening inside Yoshiki's head, as he had taken too many pills to quiet the voices in his head. I mean, I haven't read the book, according to which Matsuura died an unnatural death. She put her hand to her throat, which ultimately took her life, but I'm not sure if it was Nonuki-sama who killed her.
At the end of episode 1, the police arrived at Matsuura's house, where her daughter confirmed her death. Her tragic passing left many people terrified, especially Takeda and his friends, Mikasa and Matsushima, who tried to get rid of the legendary creature through a ritual, but failed. And now they needed to find a way to confront the threat if they wanted to survive the vengeful creature chasing them.
The first episode also introduced a strange man named Tanaka, who looked like some kind of exorcist. I mean, if you look closely, you can see a pen in the center of his shirt pocket, which gives the impression of a "cross." Also, Takeda mentioned a ritual performed by someone named Kouhei Indou, which I think led them to believe they were dealing with a supernatural spirit and therefore called in an exorcist, right? Something tells me Tanaka isn't human either. He seems to be as old as Nonuki-sama himself, which is why he knows about the creature lurking in the Nisyama Mountains.
He wasn't your average spirit or creature hunter, either. The episode implied that he had a soft spot for these supernatural spirits and would sometimes break company rules to do what he thought was right. When Takeda called him, Tanaka hesitated to visit the gloomy village, but then he thought the villagers wouldn't be able to handle the threat alone, so he would have to intervene, and thus, he decided to visit. We don't know much about Tanaka or the "company" he works for, but I guess we'll have to wait patiently for the next episodes to find out more.
Comments
Post a Comment