This horror story has become so harrowing that the publisher is releasing chapter 31 in multiple parts, each one slightly more intense than the last!
Covers of The Summer Hikaru Died Chapter 31.1, 31.2, and 31.3
The Summer Hikaru Died, Chapter 31 (so far) by Mokumokuren published by Yen Press 2024
I don’t know how many parts there will be to this chapter. Is releasing them in parts supposed to ease the shock?Do doctors not recommend that we read all three at once? I don’t know what to think…
But: yikes yikes yikes yikes yikes. The Houka Festival is creepy. The effigies are creepy.
The line, “So, what did they use before dolls?” is met with a creepy, too-long silence.
The idea that everyone traditionally knew there were holes in the fabric of reality and that it was up to children to go through to the other side to patch them is creeeeeeeeepyyyyyyy….
The Summer Hikaru Died by Mokumokuren published by Yen Press (ongoing, this is about Chapters 27 – 30) 2024 – present
My favorite horror series about body-part-collecting-beings from ‘the other side’ continues! The story is well-paced, and builds upon earlier revelations. As noted earlier, do not read these out of order! And don’t read further if you haven’t started the series.
Chapter 27: Yoshiki and new Hikaru hear a novel explanation of what’s happening in their town from the stranger in sunglasses, who asks new Hikaru to try to fix the rift between worlds. Yoshiki wrestles with his feelings for new Hikaru. The sky has weird lines in it. Also: there is a very attractive drawing of pancakes.
Chapter 28: Kurebayashi rejoins the boys. This chapter contains the creepiest social media post EVAH, posted by a kid who is OVER IT. (I respect his impatience with ghosts!)
Chapter 29: New Hikaru shows off some of his cleansing powers at a classmate’s house in Ashidori, a village where they may have something to fix. That classmate’s occult-obsessed brother recommends an upcoming festival.
Chapter 30: The Houku Festival is cheerful, aside from the creepy little dolls people make as an offering. Asako feels like she isn’t helping to protect the village, so she goes off on her own (!) to a forlorn, abandoned house (!!) that has sounds coming out of it (!!!). (GIRL – nooo!)
There is something that moves the story forward in every chapter – this tight pacing is fantastic. (You’ve read me complaining about the many manhwa stories that veer off onto tangents about agriculture… This has the most agricultural setting of any story I’ve read, yet Mokumokuren STAYS. ON. THEME.) The way Yoshiki wrestles with his attachment to new Hikaru feels authentic. The increasing creepiness and limited timeline for preventing something awful from happening build tension well. I continue to love this series!
The Summer Hikaru Died by Mokumokuren published by Yen Press (ongoing, this is about Chapters 22-26) 2024 – present
I learned yesterday that the TSHD Volume 5tankōbon won’t come out until March 2025. But the chapters published in Japan and translated into English already go up to Chapter 30! I am not willing to wait, so I’m buying the available digital chapters individually (from the Apple Books app). I’ll reread the entire series once it is complete.
This horror series is one continuous story (NOT an episodic collection of standalone adventures!). You should start with Chapter 1. I highly recommend this series – it is an impressive, creepy, humid, summer night story of things that go bump in the forest above a cursed village with a debt to repay.
I’m trying not to post spoilers, but rather a map of the series, so I can find parts I want to emphasize to others when I talk them into reading this. :). But you should skip this review if you haven’t started reading.
Chapter 22 begins seconds after Chapter 21’s last slash. Yoshiki tries to save his dearest friend, and then… wakes in the hospital, with his worried mother telling him that the events at the house were all hushed up. Kurebayashi visits and assures Yoshiki of his friend’s… durability. The out of town ‘scholar’ (who resembles Hikaru) reveals to a local that his centuries-old employer has an interest in specific <beings> from the other side of the rift, but won’t disclose his personal agenda.
Chapter 23 continues in the hospital with an astute observation by concerned Kurebayashi. A classmate tells the boys local mines supplied abortifacients to get the village through times of scarcity, which led to the worship of the local mountain god, which also led a decrease in local epidemics?
There is a pencil sketch of Hikaru destabilizing in Chapter 23 that is SUPERB.
Chapter 24 continues that the destabilizing theme, and Yoshiki realizes that he isn’t purely human anymore… A visit to the Indou family shrine reveals what the village’s dire offerings to the mountain god were, and how they have been memorialized by Hikaru’s family. New Hikaru feels pangs of guilt about how original Hikaru’s friends miss him.
Chapter 25 introduces Yoshiki’s father, who was dear friends with Hikaru’s father. He tells Yoshiki exactly how the Indous brought calamity to their village and the curse upon themselves. New Hikaru goes to Kurebayashi while trying to figure out how to save his friend – from himself. And Yoshiki finds a sketch of the thing new Hikaru really is – from Europe in 1519. (Aren’t art books great?!)
Chapter 26 is summer vacation. No, really. The boys get to go to the beach! I love this cover – there is a nice panorama in the issue. It ends with a revelation or trick, it’s too early to say which.
A lovely, non-spooky cover!
I continue to love love love this series. So creepy. Action-packed, but with steady progress as the boys uncover so much dark local history. Their friendship and love for each other – indifferent to the fact that one of them isn’t human – is deep and sweet. The village landscapes, the details in the houses, the chirping of cicadas – it is all so atmospheric. This is a compelling, well executed story!
The Summer Hikaru Died, Volume 4 (Japanese title: Hikaru ga Shinda Natsu) by Mokumokuren published by Yen Press 2024
The story of rural schoolboy Yoshiki and the eerie, replacement version of his dear friend, Hikaru, resumes with a sink full of bloody clothes, plus a newfound determination to figure out what Hikaru is.
The boys’ research uncovers darkness. A name written by original Hiraku triggers a rant from Hikaru’s unfocused grandfather about a man asking <a being> for something inappropriate in the distant past, which created the current misfortunes… Hikaru uncovers creepy place names of surrounding towns… A local back to bury her mother shares that her sister went up the mountain and never came back…
The only positive-seeming news is that Kurebayashi-san, the ordinary-looking lady whose dead husband’s unworkable-but-wanted return informs her views with deepempathy, intervenes when the boys are in danger. She has an ability to push <things> back to where they belong, and a theory about why there are so many <things> in the village now.
Her theory involves Hikaru.
This volume ends in violentsuspense at the end of chapter 21. (Chapter 29 will be released this week in digital format, so my impatience while awaiting the tankōbon to be printed is catching up with me!)
This is my first real horror manga, and it is SUPERB. I am eager for more.
The village where dear friends Yoshiki and Hikaru live has a traditional festival to the god of the mountain. A mountain where Yoshiki’s father warned him never to explore. A mountain where, the boys don’t realize, Hikaru’s family used to keep <things> in their rightful places…
There are people in the village who can hear <things> from the Other Side. Others can see <things>. But engaging with <the things>, talking to them, or in any way acknowledging them can make the people who respond more attractive to the restless spirits, and that is a problem. A problem Yoshiki’s closeness with Hikaru, including their physical closeness, may soon reveal. Not just in the cold, unhealed bruise on Yoshiki’s arm…
Classmate Asako is sensitive to these <things>, and has seen a <thing> save the friend she loves most, so her questions for Hikaru are well-meaning – alarming, but innocent. Her innocence doesn’t mean she is safe, however.
Volume 3 is the smooth continuation of the spooky story of Yoshiki and the being occupying his beloved friend Hikaru’s body. The tension is superb. The body horror is impressive. The traumas are real. And the ethics and attitudes of <things> are highly uncomfortable…
This horror story of a loving friendship between two boys, one of whom is no longer human, is SO GOOD. And SO CREEPY.
Yoshiki was already warned that it is dangerous for him to stay close to his not-quite-the-same friend, Hikaru. That being near <things like him> attracts <other things>. The woman who told him knows from experience. But that doesn’t prepare Yoshiki or his sister for <the thing> that turns up in the bathroom. Hikaru thinks he can handle it, but… can he?
Hikaru is determined to stay near and protect Yoshiki, and did so once before, but can he really protect him? Or is his affection just putting Yoshiki deeper into danger?
In this volume, we see original Hikaru’s dying wish, and know how much he cared for his best friend.
Volume 2 is another sweet, creepy, wonderful volume.
Hikaru went missing in the mountains. And then… Hikaru came back.
But the Hikaru that came back is not the same lifelong friend that Yoshiki has always had at his side. This Hikaru admits that he is… something else, something that has never been human before. It has Hikaru’s memories, but is feeling everything in Hikaru’s body for the first time. And in a moment of stress, he/it loses some of Hikaru’s form, and Yoshiki can see things he should not be able to see.
But Yoshiki has missed his dear friend so badly, that maybe this other Hikaru is enough. Maybe.
The cicadas chirps fill the air, the summer heat makes the boys sweat on their walks to school, and Yoshiki gets warnings that something dark is taking over the town, from others who have seen the forms the darkness can take…
This is broad-daylight-spooky. I can’t wait to read the next two volumes!
Kingdom by Kim Eun-hee available in the US on Netflix 2019 – present
A nice distraction from a devastating real life plague is… A story about a much gorier and even more devastating FAST ZOMBIE plague with gorgeous sets and costumes, political drama, and a dreamy lead actor!
Set in a mythical, historical version of South Korea, Kingdom follows attempts to take the (alternate history) Joseon throne through political intrigue during a concurrent zombie plague crisis. While medical professionals are initially ignored (so relatable and familiar), and class concerns override action for the public’s well-being (same), all the key characters are soon navigating a dangerous political situation while struggling with a fast-spreading zombie plague that sounds too outrageous to be believed… which means people have to learn about it the hard way.
Fast spreading in this case means the infection spreads within minutes, resulting in fast zombies – the worst kind. Especially if you are trying to flee from large groups of them in a very elaborate period costume!
I enjoy the fast pace of the story, especially Season 2. I also appreciate the handsomeness of the put-upon crown prince character, played by model-turned-actor Ju Ji-Hoon. (There are some great photos of him in lovely clothes on the Internet… *sigh*)
My father got Netflix and asked what to watch, and was immediately addicted to this story, so I’ve been quite pleased with myself for recommending it.
Highlights: Hostile royal families, rivalries, murders, pretty gowns, hilarious hats (historically accurate), sharp swords, horses, spikes, blood, battles, bureaucrats, executions, self-absorbed rich people, GORGEOUS palaces (including the historic palaces that I had a chance to visit in Seoul!), sensible anti-zombie precautions, teamwork, bravery, good intentions, strategic planning, bad odds… It’s all so well done!
This series is highly recommended if you like fast zombies, political scheming, Korean historical buildings and costumes, and a fast narrative pace.
Iczer 1 based on manga by Aran Rei directed by Toshiki Hirano 1985
Admittedly, this is a sci-fi horror story, not merely a dystopia. But… have you watched the news lately?
Overview: Humanoid aliens looking for a new home get mixed up with some creepier aliens, and by the time their ship arrives at earth, these alien “Cthulhu” immediately cause humans to have weird mask faces, become murderous, or explode in gory, bloody ways as they turn into an army of monsters. This approach allows the Cthulhu to take control of earth without having to have a destructive, conventional war (which humans still think they have a chance at!). A blonde alien with enormous hair and an even more enormous giant robot takes the humans’ side of this fight. All she needs is a sympathetic human girl to [take a deep breath here] get naked and use her emotions to power the giant robot, so she can succeed in battle. (I probably had you until that last sentence.). The Cthulhu also have a giant robot or two, and they fight back!
Why I like it:It has everything – alien invasions, secret earth spaceships hidden near Mt. Fuji, light sabers, big hair, energy weapons, giant robots, fights that throw people into walls that they make craters in, parents that burst and turn into monsters, tentacle attacks, and a nearly all-female cast! (This particular version is CLASSY, so the tentacle scenes are brief! ) The timing and use of music is brilliant in several scenes, which I don’t want to spoil for you.
You’ll notice the summaries elsewhere describe the “body horror” elements quite a bit, and I’ll just say: it is definitely in the sci-fi horror genre, and the body horror is much like that of the film Aliens. So, while it isn’t realistic, just the same, the idea of parents exploding and becoming monsters isn’t exactly child-friendly, so don’t share this with little ones.
