What happens when the water turns murky, when they sky clouds over and night begins to fall? The bonus chapter in The Summer Hikaru Died volume 4 posits that you should try to make it through the “Sure-fall hall” and accidentally put your foot through a wall. In all seriousness though, as Mokumokuren states in their afterword it’s an indication of changing tides. Yoshiki no longer has the time to coach and coax “Hikaru” through life, and “Hikaru” can’t play make-believe with Yoshiki all the time. These moments convey a pivot towards the uncovering of the truth while fighting for their survival.
Because of that, the thread of homo-eroticism between Yoshiki and “Hikaru” thins out a bit, but it still exists. Considering the lengths the pair went to previously, resulting in an attempted murder, it’s fair to argue that The Summer Hikaru Died volume 4 doesn’t necessarily need as strong a relationship with that side of things. I don’t particularly mind personally, but I do think that the tonal difference between this volume and the previous is surprisingly noticeable in that regard. However, it’s replaced with a different dynamic- Yoshiki taking over the role of the monster, and “Hikaru” becoming more human.
It’s an interesting idea, and feels like a reasonable continuation from Yoshiki’s actions in the prior volume. Despite his hatred for “Hikaru” (which is thinly-veiled disgust with himself), his despair and spiraling spins him towards darkness, a desire arising to protect the only thing he has left. He can’t give Hikaru a proper death, burial, or memory, and he can’t kill “Hikaru”- even if he wanted to. The result is that Yoshiki forces himself into the corner of “keeping ‘Hikaru’ alive”, and you can really feel that desperation fight against his inner conscience with how he affects the people around Yoshiki.
“Hikaru” on the other hand, realizes how troubled and terrified Yoshiki is through The Summer Hikaru Died volume 4. Because of that, he pivots to isolation and protection, forcefully attempting to remove himself after seeing what he’s done to Yoshiki. To that end, his chat with Kurebayashi in this volume went really well. The woman knows of their sin and accepts it, but leaves “Hikaru” with the reminder that he can only spell doom for Yoshiki. So in a sense, rather than the “forbidden love” as it was conveyed previously, their relationship drifts into “fated for doom”- leaving me with a great deal of hope. Operating alongside the horror that saturates the mountains, the potential for an incredible tragedy grows with every second, and feels like a great avenue for the series to pursue.
After all, The Summer Hikaru Died volume 4 does quite a bit to spell out impending doom for a few characters- thanks to some heavy exposition. First we find out that miss Matsuura is one of the only girls to enter the mountain, and next that the group of old men from the prior volume are associated with that. Seeing old man Takeda croak in this volume further drives that point home. Could it be “Hikaru”? Possibly, but we don’t know and neither does it. More and more often its memory produces only haze- a likely side effect of attempting to integrated with a world they were never meant to. It’s that classic style of things becoming less clear as you learn more. Admittedly, it’s a very effective way to create a compelling horror story that can one-up itself consistently. Things like a “hunting dog” arriving for “Hikaru”, or having the horrors creep further and further into the lives of every character. There’s plenty of potential, and Mokumokuren continues to make the most of it.
To that end, there’s not much to add with The Summer Hikaru Died volume 4. The horror remains impeccable, and just like its story, it begins to pivot and intensify- but that doesn’t mean it lacks subtlety. In quite a few cases, Mokumokuren’s horror carries a great deal of nuance and focuses on the idea of an unsettling nature through secondary visual aspects. Things like sound effects dying out, painting large and stretched shadows across a field stained yellow by the sun, or continuing their use of top-down angles. There is an intentionally casual and explicit sense conveyed through all these moments that feel like they can slip through your fingers. You know what’s coming, but until you refocus your eyes you can’t quite say why.
The one area that lacks that level of care and obfuscation, I feel, is with our very odd folklorist. While I enjoyed their content in the previous volume, their appearances in The Summer Hikaru Died volume 4 feel a bit too pointed and directed. Where they previously served as a way to stir the pot with what is now the primary focus of the story, they now feel like a driving force behind it instead. It’s not necessarily their involvement, but how involved they are and how much they offer as dialogue. Mentioning things like “the company’s interest”, the state of Yoshiki, and other pieces via monologues makes it feel like they’re an insert meant to push things along, instead of being a consequence of the state of the town.
While complaints like the above exist with The Summer Hikaru Died volume 4, it does remain a well put together volume- just one that doesn’t quite reach the prior heights of the series in the truest sense. There’s plenty of great development, mystery, and horror abound that builds on odds and ends hinted at before, and there’s still quite a few strong character moments throughout. It’s just that… when looking at how cohesive a lot of it is, it feels lacking compared to where it’s been so far. That doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s clunky, but more like this volume is something of a goose step. There’s this brief section of hesitation as we transition, but it quickly recovers and moves on ahead. Because of that, I do have confidence in Mokumokuren making waves once more with volume 5.
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