Imagine being so young and having to figure out your romantic feelings for a close friend. Then imagine not only that your feelings might be seen as taboo depending on where you live, but also pile on the confusion, grief and anxiety of having the person you have those feelings for change irreplicably into something different. Very interested in seeing where this one goes!
For me the horror of this manga stems from the fear of being gay in a rural area, the body horror and uncanny valley effect are ways to explore that fear through the extreme perspective of horror.You dont have to be gay on a rural town to feel the same dread a young kid has thanks to this perspective the manga presents, which in turn makes it easier to empathise with the experience.
Honestly it's a really cool manga, what I love is how complex the protagonists are and how although this isn't quite the horror manga you can still share the anguish and be curious about what the fuck is Hikaru now I specially love the imagery when "Hikaru" loses stability and how it literally starts to bleed out of his Hikaru form. The mistery is well constructed and the tension you feel is really good Like, are they falling in love? Is it a symbiotic relationship? When will the Buble of fake stability burst? Yet one can't help for cheer then and wish them happiness although it's still fucked up as fuck because one of them is not real, is just an impostor, but with it's own feelings ??? We quite don't know Truly a great story
I will also point out that poor Yoshiki lost a friend/love and gain a responsibility. He has to take care of "Hikaru" and deal with a kinda selfish cosmic horror that just happened to look like his friend while being an adolescent in a little mountain town
I love this manga. Also, it s great for me, as a gay young man, to see a manga with BL pieces getting so much attention and praise. Hugs from Brazil!!! ❤❤❤❤
I think the allegory of being terrified to express true emotions comes across so viscerally, especially in the first part of the series, and that vulnerability makes the horror so much more empathetic some how.
I swear I don't usually get fazed when reading horror manga but this one really made my skin crawl. Even the long shots where you can't see the ghosts close up are so terrifying. One of them was when the mc was looking out the window to see a disturbing creature running towards the school. It gave me nightmares and I want more. Definitely a must read!!
Junji Ito's works had not clicked with me in the past so I've been reluctant to try other horror manga, but this one has manage to impress me with some of its pages. Good job capturing why The Summer Hikaru Died is so special!
Funnily enough, I don't think his work is for everyone, not just non-horror fans, but for horror likers too. His manga *feel* the same, so if you don't like one, I feel like it's a struggle to like the rest. This is definitely a different vibe!
Love this manga, cause it has many types of horror in it from the most mundane things to uniquely weird situations. Like, yes, Yoshiki has a really bad time in this story, but probably both og and current Hikaru have a lot going on too from having to participate in some occult rituals to questioning if their feelings are truly theirs and having to exist in unfamiliar and even hostile environment while even the closest person you have just constantly fears something in you. And ironically those fears kinda bring them closer, and it's very interesting. The art itself is marvelous too. Looking forward to see there this story goes, but it's already an amazing read. Thanks for covering it on your channel! Your videos are incredibly well made and the editing is amazing!
this manga really makes you think, it makes you stare at a wall and wonder who should i trust or what would i do. love the author and his work and loved your video as well.
This manga grabbed my attention from the first panel. I've never had a manga make me so thoroughly uncomfortable while reading it, but be so absolutely engrossed at the same time. The vibe and subtext of the story I can relate to so much, being gay and from a rural village in the midwest of about 400 people. My childhood friend, and first love, died as well at an age before we both knew who we were or what our feelings meant. So I feel like I can relate to Yoshiki so much. I could easily see myself allowing myself to be fooled into thinking that he's back and get the closure I never will have. Wouldn't matter if they're not them, you wouldn't be able to go through the heartache of loosing them a second time.
It's out! I was really looking foward to this video and you nailed it! This manga is such an insightful take on the "came back wrong" trope, it really makes you question everything that you see and read
i just caught up with this manga in one sitting, and every page, every chapter just has you itching to read the next, to uncover this mystery along with both yoshiki and "hikaru"... body horror, and honestly horror in general has never been my cup of tea, but the summer hikaru died is just so good and so haunting. the way we ourselves, as readers, find ourselves sympathising with "hikaru" in spite of his otherness; the lines being blurred between the hikaru yoshiki knew and adored, and the "hikaru" that has taken his place. also, i did start reading it partially because i saw you made a video on it! i'm glad i read it before watching this, and thank you for talking about the series and things you love because your recommendations never miss :]
Read the manga and enjoyed the video. Love the mysterious things that surround the villages and can't wait to see what happens in the future. Definitely interested in seeing what's next in this tetralogy of manga videos.👍
Your videos are really great at expressing and visualizing the intriguing parts of a story and the beauty of its visuals! Thanks for the recommendation, it sounds very interesting and now I really want to read it!
I’ve been debating whether or not I wanted to buy and read this series, but I think this video finally sold me on it. I was already curious about it before and the analysis here was really interesting and fun. It’s also been a while since I’ve gotten to enjoy some good horror so I’m hoping this will be a fun series to get through.
I'm always blown away by the way you edit movement and subtle motions to the manga panels on screen. How do you do it? What program do you use? I'd love to see a tutorial on what your process is when adding such life to the otherwise static illustrations. I'm still using old editing software for my own videos so they look very static lol
i love people talking about their favorite things like.. "top favorite.." videos, so i would really love a top favorite manga video from you 😭 just saying
It's kinda funny that I think of the goo that unuki is seemingly made of reminds me of lava. I have a strong want to touch it but I know it's dangerous like lava is in its own way. Great video like always!
I love your videos and manga analysis, they inspire me to improve my own art and pay attention to little details that are so important yet so hard to miss.
Great video. Thought you might cover this. There is something about horror stories like this that really draws me in. By the way, this year's Kono Manga ga Sugoi 2024 winners were recently announced. The Summer Hikaru Died was the 2023 winner, but you might find some interesting manga from this year's list as well. The 2024 winner was The Days of Diamond, the story of a boy who is naturally talented at sports, but suffers because of how others envy and scorn him. In second was the author of Fullmetal Alchemist's new manga, Daemons of the Shadow Realm. Manga Taisho is another manga award worth paying attention to.
Yes, one of the interviews I quoted was from the Sugoi winning interview mokumokuren did last year! Will have to check our the days of diamond 👁 Daemons I've had my eye on for a while given the mangaka, but I'll have to check the others too!
Ended this manga yesterday and the idea of grief with body horror has been bashing my head since, i do wish "Hikaru" and Yoshiki can find their own answers at the end of the story, meanwhile i am in love on this dive and read of the story, thanks!
I will not rush into buying this series and buy it in French like Fool Night. I will not rush into buying this series and buy it in French like Fool Night. I will not-
I realised that my perception on BL manga changes throughout the year. When I trace my perception back then when I was a teenager, I tend to think that there should be a happy ending to it despite the tragedies and trauma the protagonist and other characters had gone through. Now, when I read this manga, something strikes me that this genre is beyond the idea of romanticising the two (the human and the “brainsnatcher”) but it is about grief and trauma. It’s hard enough to exist in a hostile environment that makes you feel like your sexual orientation doesn’t matter in the grand scheme but Yoshiki’s emotions for Hikaru are truly queer love (at least for me). I don’t expect a “happy ending” or a “deserving end” for “Hikaru” and Yoshiki but simply I want to see to the end of his nightmare. I can’t deny that Yoshiki simply can’t comprehend the being that inhabits the shell of Hikaru and “Hikaru” is learning the human aspect by descending down the mountain and still he isn’t anywhere “human”. It could be that the brainsnatcher acts on desire I suppose. Desire may not be good or evil as perceived by humans…after all it’s a supernatural being… it probably doesn’t possess the morality of ordinary humans. One scene that strikes me the most that conveys the burden of grief and pain for Yoshiki is when he told “Hikaru” that he’s looking at Hikaru’s remains. Still waiting for the upcoming chapters and updates.
Having spent the entire afternoon watching all of your videos, after saving and finally watching your dungeon meshi video, you could say I'm a big fan of yours now haha and now I have a bunch of new to me manga saved to read :>
Alright, new LIM video! Best Christmas present ever! I know I say this every time, couple of years ago I was kind of writing a short story with a similar premise: some unspeakable horror takes over the body of a recently deceased and tries to pass as that person without much success, but the people around him just play along as if everything is ok because they're terrified and confused by the situation. Should have done more to finish writing it. 😂 Hope you had some nice Holidays.
Absolutely what I wanted to see the moment I knew u would definitely do a video about this brilliant manga 🙏 Ur style of telling facts & just storytelling in general is so intriguing! U became my favorite RU-vidr because ur videos are just incredibly inspiring
ive loved hgsn since it started being fantranslated, im so glad its progressively gaining more traction. you cant call the fandom small but only 2 / 100 people in a room are likely to know it
yoo man , after watching your fool night video i was fucking mad and so happy that i found you and your channel because man that video was absolutely fucking amazing and i will def check out your other videos , but im just wondering whether you're planning to release a 1 hour or an hour+ video ? because that would be insane haha and also do you have some inspirations when it comes to your channel and content would def love to hear some ! and ofc pleaseee keep making stuff and hope you're doing amazing !
I recently started watching your videos and it got me into reading manga, so thank you and I hope your channel keeps growing! May I ask where you learned to animate your videos? I love your animations and like learning random things it seems like something that takes a lot of time and practice, but fun.
I think you would've love the Doctor Who episode "Wild Blue Yonder" and "Midnight". You don't need to watch the whole series, you just have to watch it like an anthology episode
You know what's a little ironic. I truly love stories about machines discovering their humanity, but if you're not acting right, that's a bridge too far for me😅
I dont think the new hikaru is evil its a foreign being that sees the world differently no hatred or ill intent towards people though he does occasionally feel fear.
he has threatened yoshiki once or twice before and other stuff to people I won't spoil incase others are reading haha. I think it's a mixture of both tbh! The more he keeps living the softer he seems to become though
I love basically everything this manga was doing-allegory, horror, characters who feel very real-but I ultimately ended up having to put it down because of awkwardness. Like, I think it’s important for teenagers and young adults to have stories that let them explore these themes safely, but as a 30+yo I just feel like I should be giving these boys their privacy.
Have you read "Run Away With Me, Girl"? It's a shory GL manga (16 chapters long, I think) that acts both as a realistic love story AND a critique of gender expectations, most notably in Japan. Your videos are extremely thoughtful and well-put together, so I wonder what your thoughts on it would be!
Thank you, i was just watching manga pv where Shimono and Tsugu are the seiyuus. Is there any chances that you would delve into Kaoru Mori or Xia Da's works?
Your video is brilliant as always but there is something that bugged me throughout about your description of the uncanny valley.. While yes, it's real, it's for the most part regarding avoidance of corpses, the sickly, and the deformed. It's our natural instinct forcing us to avoid decomposing corpses, finding them scarier and scarier the further along they are in decomposition, thus intensifying the uncanny valley to keep us away from its dangers, think of it like this, the early humans who didn't find corpses creepy, or didn't have the uncanny valley reaction, didn't avoid corpses, caught diseases from them, and died out, but it's just that, a natural instinct evolved in us over time to make us avoid the dead. And unfortunately the narrative of this phenomenon being related somehow to creatures that imitate humans in real life take away from its very real, and very eerie importance to our survival.
The meaning of the phrase “uncanny valley” can change, and has. That’s just how language works, it’s flexible. Using it in the context that it is most commonly used in doesn’t take anything away from any survival instincts we may have. Words and phrases can, and often do, have more than one meaning. Also, “regarding avoidance of corpses, the sickly, and the deformed” is just… an extremely unpleasant thing to read. Don’t group people with physical abnormalities in with corpses and people with (contagious) diseases. Moreover, your explanation of what the uncanny valley is (to you) just doesn’t make much sense? It doesn’t follow logically. Humans didn’t learn to avoid “the deformed” because of the reasons we avoid corpses. People with unusual anatomy aren’t contagious, they don’t produce a repulsive smell, etc.
@@VultureSkins as unpleasant as it is to read, I'm talking about this from a strictly scientific standpoint, with no bias of my own towards anyone. I'm a big fan of everything evolution related, and nature selects to avoid harm, feelings like disgust or repulsion keep us safe from disease, which is as I said before why we have such instincts, no bias, again, purely objective. Please don't apply your own assumptions about my intent
It's currently at the start of ch23 (each chapter is split into 4 parts and generally released every/every second week or something from my experience?). Official eng translations got 2 volumes out currently
It's not a perfect replacement, it still needs some adjustments to meet ones similar to how some people incorporate 2d with 3d animations. I using tried and didn't get quite what I wanted despite how descriptuve i was. So I use it as a resource to speed up the creative process while editing to get more of. the details that I want. Kind of like when I ask the Chat GBT to write an essay for a section I need to make a 500 word passage for a asked for a tenth grade level summary or the subject and while it did gave me a product it did get some info wrong mixing up between people. I did use it made some info corrections then reworded it.
