The Summer Hikaru Died – Season 1 Episode 2 Recap & Review

The Review Geek

20 hours ago

Suspicion
The Summer Hikaru Died Episode 2 lands us on a country road where police cars zip by Hikaru and Yoshiki on their bikes. On another road, Tanaka is heading toward their town.
At school, the kids are talking about the old woman who died and the amount of spooky stuff going on. One friend asks Yoshiki to walk him home through some scary bit of woods. He declines but Hikaru and some others want to join so now everyone is going. Even though it does look spooky, they arrive without incident.
Elsewhere, Tanaka reaches his destination but he's not taking it seriously enough for the men who are worried about people dying. The old lady who died had been scared of something in the mountains ever since her daughter died. But her worry may have increased its attraction toward her.
On the way back, Yoshiki sees something in the woods coming toward them. Hikaru notices it's following Yoshiki – that's not good.
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The men have moved to a safer spot at a shrine. Tanaka takes out a bag that Hikaru may have taken up the mountain the day he disappeared – they find a wooden head inside, meant to ward off evil spirits. But Tanaka thinks the evil thing has already come from the mountain to hide in the village.
Returning from the woods, the girls run off, scared of something creepy but Yoshiki takes care of Hikaru, who's fallen and gotten a nosebleed. He'd managed to eat the thing trying to latch onto Yoshiki. Hikaru reminds him not to look at creepy things, just keep his eyes on him instead. To himself, Hikaru thinks he doesn't need to take Yoshiki, as he'll follow – and Yoshiki won't let anything steal him away.
Flashback to a story Hikaru's dad told him about an agreement with an Unuki-sama to not attack their family. So, if Hikaru likes someone, he should marry her right away, as Unuki-sama takes people close to them instead.
Back at school, Yoshiki is curious about how Hikaru 'ate' the thing in the woods. Hikaru unbuttons his shirt to show a slit down his chest, inviting Yoshiki to stick his hand inside. As he encourages him to reach further, Hikaru feels Yoshiki's warmth – it's like nothing he's ever felt before. But Yoshiki jumps away when something inside Hikaru pulls him.
Heading home, Yoshiki can't stop thinking about what Hikaru's insides felt like. A woman approaches him, telling him he's getting too close to something dangerous; otherwise, he'll get 'mixed' with it. She'd been feeling a horrible wind coming from the mountain, but now it's gone, so she's been worried about where it landed. She warns Yoshiki against whatever is attaching itself to him and gives him her number if he wants to talk.
That night, Yoshiki struggles to turn off his thoughts.
The Episode Review
Ok, so maybe the new Hikaru isn't so harmless or innocent. His snickering little laugh is a bit creepy, in fact. I wonder if Yoshiki can believe his words. Do we? He seems a lot more confident than in the previous episode, so maybe he's getting comfortable with 'being' Hikaru and confident that he's got Yoshiki where he wants him.
To clarify, Unuki-sama (or Nonuki-sama) is a deity associated with the mountain. In ancient times, people were sacrificed to appease the gods. From the story his father told, it sounds like Hikaru's ancestors looked after the monster, even going so far as to make a deal with it to protect their family.
The suspense of this storyline is spot on, tempting us to where no one wants to go. What do you think? Wishing they conveniently dropped the episodes in more bingeable pairs?
Planning to watch the whole season of The Summer Hikaru Died? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
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Expect A Full Season Write-Up When This Season Concludes
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