"The Gay Horror Manga You Should Be Reading" Transcript

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(This transcript was created from the original script uploaded as closed captioning. Differences where James skipped overdiverged from the script are highlighted.)

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On a scorching day in rural Japan, we find ourselves in the midst of a chilling tale, where two boys, Yoshiki and Hikaru, seek solace from the relentless heat by indulging in frozen treats from a quaint local store. Outdoors, amidst their laughter, a sudden unease grips Yoshiki, prompting him to utter these haunting words to his friend: "You ain't the real Hikaru, are you?"

Hikaru, initially taken aback, undergoes a startling transformation as his human facade fades away, revealing the demonic spiritual entity lurking within. However, instead of unleashing his malevolence upon Yoshiki, Hikaru surprises us all by embracing his friend, pleading with him not to reveal his true nature.

You see, this is the first time this new Hikaru has experienced life as a human, even if he's borrowing the old Hikaru's form – his feelings for Yoshiki are undeniably genuine. The real Hikaru may be lost, but Yoshiki, consumed by grief and fear, accepts this new Hikaru into his life, for he cannot bear to be without his friend.

Thus begins the spine-tingling horror manga "The Summer Hikaru Died" by the mangaka MokuMokuren. It debuted in August of 2021, and has enjoyed resounding commercial success, despite the unease it provokes among commentators within the medium who have a hard time categorising it. Is it a BL manga? Is it horror? Can it possibly be both?

The difficulty in classifying the genre of this story itself puts us at an interesting juncture. With ‘gay boys’ being a genre all to their own, perhaps this has set a precedent for gay characters being unable to appear in other genres. Does the inclusion of a gay character automatically facilitate a gay story? It seems that among publishers and critics, this may very well be the case. Meaning that when a horror story about one or possibly more gay characters becomes a sensation, there’s a reluctance to discuss it because it’s unclear whether it ought to be judged on its merits as horror… or as BL. This speaks to a common complaint among nonbinary people and some trans people as well. Why does the inability to sort this thing into one of two categories generate so much confusion? Is it gay or straight? Are they a man or woman? In either case, many people won’t neatly fit into either of those groups, and it’s just as incorrect to force people into these categories as it is to omit people altogether because they can’t pass.

Similarly, it’s also wrong to look at The Summer Hikaru Died in the same way. Genre classification limits the scope of what a story can be, and is often biased to what the hegemonistic majority considers ‘normal.’ I wouldn’t take it as a good sign either if it were classified as a ‘cross-genre’ for the same reason that we don’t consider ‘straight-horror’ to be a genre. ‘Boys kissing’ and ‘scary’ do not need to be two different genres. Because when you’re a gay boy living in a rural village, kissing another boy is VERY scary. And it also seems that The Summer Hikaru Died explores many of these same horrors.

Even though whatever has replaced his friend speaks with that voice and projects those emotions, Yoshiki is left in mourning regardless. Caught between ‘everything is different’ and ‘nothing has changed.’ Yoshiki grapples with the fact that Hikaru still acts ‘normal’ while he feels that he has lost something that he will never get back. This new Hikaru… though he smiles, laughs,and cries just like his predecessor, is not the same. The-thing-that-replaced-Hikaru has adopted all of Hikaru’s memories and feelings. Pragmatically — this Hikaru ought to be no different than the previous one. Yoshiki is unsure if he can go on with his life without a clear answer, though.

No matter how much Yoshiki wishes this thing were still Hikaru, some things are just... off, especially at first. He exhibits an unnatural enthusiasm for mundane experiences, and even kind-hearted animals cower in his presence. But The-thing-that-replaced-Hikaru is just so thankful for his friend’s acceptance — for Yoshiki to show kindness to ‘someone like him.’ However, Yoshiki grapples internally. He questions his own sanity for embracing this being, this entity that once was his friend. His disquiet only intensifies when some townsfolk react to Hikaru as if he were the very monster that had taken residence within him.

It’s important to note that this new Hikaru never harmed the real one. While some may be hesitant to trust a monster, this is confirmed in a flashback. The original Hikaru, dying alone in the forest, had pleaded for someone to protect Yoshiki, and that's when this enigmatic spirit inhabited his body. Now it carries the warmth and love Hikaru felt for Yoshiki, vowing to safeguard him by any means necessary.

The-thing-that-replaced-Hikaru lacks the social awareness of being a born-and-raised human, and declares the feelings that the previous Hikaru had kept hidden from Yoshiki: that “he’s crazy for him” Which ought to betray any doubt that Hikaru is gay or gay-questioning. While it is not a specific classification on his part, the phrasing and context of this line says all that it needs to. Subtly shouldn’t need to be specific to be apparent.

What isn’t subtle is that there is something much darker and more ominous lurking in this quaint little town than our sweet Hikaru. The forest covered mountain itself is alive, teeming with spirits, some far less benign than the one residing within this boy. When a group of their school friends takes a shortcut through the forest one day, they feel uneasy, especially Yoshiki. There's an ominous presence watching them, drawing nearer. It lunges at Yoshiki, attempting to possess him, but Hikaru steps in, absorbing the spirit, battling it to shield his friend. The fight even makes his nose bleed. Hikaru warns Yoshiki about spirits… that they're lonely and latch onto anyone who gazes upon them. He advises Yoshiki to avoid looking at any spirits, except for him.

Yet, Hikaru is not as adept at concealing his secrets as he believes. One of their friends, a girl named Asako, senses something amiss. She can't quite put her finger on it, but she knows that Hikaru's nosebleed was no random occurrence.

Curiosity gnawing at him, Yoshiki longs to understand how Hikaru took the spirit inside him. Unable to convey it verbally, Hikaru decides to demonstrate it physically. When they are alone, he exposes a dark slit in his chest, inviting Yoshiki to plunge his hand inside. The spirit beyond the form of Hikaru is tumultuous, chaotic, and cold. A sensation Yoshiki compares towards raw chicken in marinade. Hikaru finds great pleasure in the feeling of a warm body — a sensation he cannot even recall having as a spirit. Unexpectedly, he draws the arm deeper inside of him, sending Yoshiki into a panic. Reeling away, Hikaru laughs and tries to assure Yoshiki that he was never in any harm. Just horsing around.

This is a pivotal scene for framing the whole of the series, and cementing this story as not only containing gay characters, but presenting gay experiences. Without being explicit, this scene portrays a representation of sexual experimentation. While Hikaru’s enjoyment is apparent, Yoshiki is confused as to whether he likes the sensation or not. Hikaru, while abiding by consent, does push boundaries — a bit too fast for Yoshiki. Moving at different speeds is also a hallmark of developing queer identity. To Yoshiki, there is an element of danger with this. And this danger articulates an ongoing theme in the series about the-thing-that replaced-Hikaru: should we be afraid of it or not? Because an act of Hikaru’s ‘just playing around’ is a horror to Yoshiki.

Regardless that Hikaru himself is aware of the difference between ‘play’ and ‘harm,’ Yoshiki does not know the limitations and abilities of this spirit. Being harmless and meaning no harm are two different things. A question that persistently looms over the head of the-thing-that-replaced-Hikaru. These anxieties compound within Yoshiki. In addition to his questions of whether he can think of the-thing-that-replaced-Hikaru as Hikaru, he now has questions about his own feelings for himself.

In the fever of this internal struggle, he has a chance encounter with a woman from town. She does not recognize him… but she recognizes something about him. She reveals that she used to sense an ominous presence emanating from the mountainous forest… the very mountains where Hikaru met his end. However, she remarks that the malevolence that once resided far away has now crossed into the village. And she spies that this malevolence has touched Yoshiki. Expressing concern for him, she explains that as humans draw closer to the spirits and the realm of spirits, they become ‘mixed.’ She warns that Yoshiki is doomed if he continues his entanglement with the-thing-that-replaced-Hikaru. The first of a series of warnings against ‘mixing’ with others who should remain separate.

This revelation deepens Yoshiki's disquiet around Hikaru, though guilt gnaws at him whenever they are together, for Hikaru is unfailingly kind, professing that just being near Yoshiki brings him joy. But that’s not a mutual feeling for Yoshiki. The way Hikaru looks, sounds, talks, it’s all Hikaru… but he’s not Hikaru. But the spirit can’t let Yoshiki go because he feels everything Hikaru felt. He liked him too much. His feelings for Yoshiki were so strong that even after death they remained, and they bind the spirit to him.

Terrified, Yoshiki demands that Hikaru leave him be, claiming he no longer needs him. This sends Hikaru spiralling into despair, questioning why he isn't enough. What’s really so different about him? He’s the same person, more or less, only one thing has changed, and it’s not even something most people can see. He just doesn’t want Yoshiki to hate him.

The next day Yoshiki apologises. In tears, Hikaru tells Yoshiki he just wants to be near him, that’s all. That’s all that he needs. To please just not hate him. Instead of forsaking his friend, Yoshiki opts to stand by Hikaru's side, heedless of the ominous warnings he has received. The once-fearful animals gradually warm up to Hikaru, and he joins Yoshiki and his younger sister at a summer festival, just like any ordinary kid. But has to turn back when he comes up against a Torii gate, blocking this spirit from entering the Shinto shrine. So Yoshiki gets some shaved ice for both of them and they eat it outside the gate.

There, Yoshiki reveals something to Hikaru that his friend didn’t know. That he’d actually seen Hikaru’s dead body. The stormy night he went missing, Yoshiki trudged out into the rain, marching through the forest until he found his friend’s body, unresponsive. The trauma left him bedridden for days and when he finally came around… Hikaru was alive. This new Hikaru was alive. He grieved the loss of his closest friend for days before finding out that he was still here, in some way. He thought it was a dream. But even now, sitting next to Hikaru as he is… he misses his old friend. In response, Hikaru pledges to Yoshiki that, although he may never truly replace the original, he will always cherish and protect him.

However, at this point in the manga, we take a departure from the tale to uncover a council of individuals well-versed in the spiritual happenings of the area. Something known as "Kubitachi's Burden" has escaped the confines of the forest and infiltrated the town. As a result, they've enlisted the services of an expert to investigate this phenomenon firsthand. This spells danger for Hikaru, and also Yoshiki. The pair begin growing close again. Yoshiki even puts his hand in Hikaru’s body once more, this time permitting himself to wonder if it does feel good, in spite of telling himself it ought to feel wrong.

But getting this close to Hikaru might be dangerous, according to some. It might attract other things from the spiritual side toward Yoshiki. Things more dangerous and unpredictable than his smiling friend. Like some sort of demon lurking in Yoshiki’s shower drain that attacks his little sister. A demon Hikaru promises to deal with… but when Hikaru seems to be taking too long Yoshiki becomes worried, and comes to rescue him. The demon takes the opportunity to lunge into Yoshiki, take over his mind and forces him to try and drown Hikaru. The demon is expelled and escapes, giving Yoshiki a glimpse into the danger that spirits present.

As time marches on, the council of village elders redoubles their efforts to unearth the truth behind the elusive forest spirit's escape.

One fateful night, amidst a gathering of friends, Hikaru and Yoshiki find themselves separated, leaving Hikaru alone with Asako. The young girl delves into memories of Hikaru from before his mysterious disappearance and then poses a daunting question to the new Hikaru: "Who exactly are you?"

Asako has a familial history of sensing spirits. Some may see them as faint shadows, but Asako can hear them. Even though she can sense that there is something paranormal about Hikaru, she does not fear him. She recalls an experience where she encountered an invisible spirit calling for her attention on a village road. Trying to live by her family’s rules of remaining separate from spirits, she eventually realised that this spirit was trying to warn her — her best friend was crossing a blind corner where a driver was speeding. The spirit saved her friend’s life.

While other characters who are aware of spirits believe that not all spirits are malevolent, they hold the caveat that — because some are dangerous, that we must be suspicious of all of them. Asako simply does not have this outlook. Instead, showing a willingness to allow the spirit to show its true colours. Just as she affords that same opportunity to the-thing-that-replaced-Hikaru.

Noticing for the first time that she can see him differently than others, the-thing-that-replaced-Hikaru tries to show her his true form, that which he can only describe to Yoshiki. Perhaps she can see him for what he truly is, stripped of the physical form. He does, after all, repeatedly mention that spirits are lonely, and long to be seen — is he truly so different?

Their connection, while brief, causes Asako to collapse — just as Yoshiki is in view. In a frantic state, he fears that Hikaru may have killed her. The-thing-that-replaced-Hikaru expresses confusion at these anxieties. He struggles to grasp the distinction between life and death. Not a foreign concept to him, entirely, but he simply sees no empirical difference between something alive, and the same thing while dead.

Thankfully, Asako regains consciousness, having merely fainted. Remarkably, her first concern isn't for her own well-being but for Hikaru's. She recognizes that he's been possessed and seems willing to help, but Yoshiki cannot bear the weight of it all and decides to depart, leaving Hikaru to ponder the profound questions of life and death alone. Hikaru wrestles with existential questions, contemplating the meaning of being alive. He dreads the thought of losing those he cares about, especially Yoshiki. He's uncertain whether his thoughts are truly his own or remnants of the old Hikaru's consciousness lingering within him. What he fears most is that he may have irreparably driven Yoshiki away.

However, when Yoshiki unexpectedly appears at Hikaru's doorstep on Monday, offering to take him to school, Hikaru is both astonished and elated. To his compounded delight: Yoshiki proposes to cut class and embark on a day of fun together. They visit the movies, savour popsicles, and spend time reading manga.

For the first time since Hikaru's transformation, it feels like Yoshiki is making an earnest effort to bring happiness into Hikaru's life, reminiscent of the days of their youth, before Hikaru's apparent demise and the arrival of the new Hikaru.

Yet, Yoshiki's intentions take a shocking and brutal turn as he plunges a knife into Hikaru's abdomen. His plan was to grant Hikaru one final day of joy before ending his existence, but Hikaru does not succumb. Hikaru’s physical form does not have the same limitations as a normal human.

Overwhelmed by despair, Yoshiki realises that things can never return to the way they were. This new Hikaru will not release him from his grief. Consequently, he implores Hikaru to kill him. Instead, Hikaru chooses to demonstrate his trust for Yoshiki, by giving himself a mortal vulnerability. Reaching into himself, he pulls roughly half of his spirit from his body, and condenses it into a small stone for Yoshiki to keep. With Hikaru’s spirit now ‘small’ enough to be harmed by lethal force, he hopes Yoshiki can trust him.

Deciding to move forward as friends, the boys stand before another hurdle: to truly trust each other, they need to know what the-thing-that-replaced-Hikaru was before it became Hikaru. The why and the how are already known. Yoshiki takes the fragment of Hikaru’s spirit and decides to help him find out what he really is.

During their investigation they discover that their little village, called Mount Hope, was once a much larger domain, but near the end of the Edo period, split into the five smaller villages it exists as today. The split was caused by famine, economic strife, and a number of strange, unexplainable deaths. Locals attribute those deaths now to the Lord Brain Snatcher, a malevolent god within the mountainous forest that plagued the people of the domain. But it’s believed to have been trapped within the boundaries of the forest ever since the famine. Like the deaths might have actually been sacrifices in a protective ritual against it. And Hikaru’s family, for centuries, have been the protectors of the boundary.

Going into the mountains to conduct a ritual that would keep solid the barrier between the realm of the Lord Brain Snatcher and the human world. But when Hikaru died performing it, and then came back, he brought something back with him. Is Hikaru the Lord Brain Snatcher? Or is he something else?

This, as of now, is where the story has left off…

We can see Hikaru as dead, possessed by an imposter. But shunning this new creature doesn’t change the fact that the original Hikaru is gone. Alternatively, we can observe this spirit’s intervention as a chance encounter to allow Hikaru to live on. I consider the latter more optimistic. Aren’t people always changing anyway? A person cannot walk through the same river twice — they are no longer the same person, nor is it the same river. What is this possession but another, albeit radical, form of change? The alternative is that Hikaru stays dead.

The lingering question hanging in the air is the mystery of intention. What is this story trying to say? Perhaps it’s as indicative of queer experiences as I’ve outlined — indeed it is focused on a queer character.

But how does the author plan on moralising this? What should we DO about the monster? Is the monster even something to be feared? Or is this a looming cautionary tale about ‘mixing’ with the others? This is information we do not, as of yet, have. Mangakas are notorious for their anonymity— and for good reason.

For manga — what is on the page, is what is intended to be read. Everything else is what you bring and take away from it. Only as the tale unfolds will we understand. And what this has to say about mixing — that depends entirely on what Hikaru is. Is Hikaru truly the Lord Brain-Snatcher? There are many spirits… perhaps he is another? After all, the elder council references Kubitachi's Burden… is this the Brain Snatcher? Or something else? A protective force created to keep the evil spirits within the dark domain of the mountain forest? Perhaps this is what Hikaru is instead.

However, I choose to believe the resolution will support a mixing of human and spirit. They are not without vulnerabilities… and we are not without strengths. After all, there are various humans in this story who generate as much — or more — threat than the lonely, needy spirits. And there are some who are even as hostile and chaotic as the malicious ones. We fear the spirits only because we are not familiar with their intentions. In English we have a phrase: “better the devil you know”.

I generally prefer to trust creators, and people in creative fields for having the best of intentions — for leaning towards social growth and acceptance, leaning towards ‘mixing.’ At least… until they show their true colours otherwise.

Art speaks to a need for human connection, anthropologically. The role of art across the human experience is to bring people together through universalities of life and existence. Biography or allegory make no difference — the goal is connection. To be seen and to see another; to find joy in commonalities, to normalise what the divisive nature of society considers taboo.

Art for the sake of division, or isolation is of no use to us — perhaps it cannot even be called art. Art meant to warn people against ‘the other’ is art that’s intention is divisive, not connective. Art meant to unite one group of people just to exclude another is to pander to the archaic days of human tribalism, for which thousands of years of art have been tirelessly trying to correct.

Perhaps because I recognize a connection between this half-way-dead boy, his confused best friend, and a world which wants to keep them apart; I see this example of art trying to argue that our need to connect is stronger than our ability to separate. And instead of shunning what we don’t understand, or what we fear, Hikaru will teach us to show empathy, compassion, and patience to those who are different, who don’t fit in, and even those who are, by many, considered monsters.

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