While The Summer Hikaru Died 4 is still worth reading, the series is at a crossroads of whether it’s worth going past this volume.
The Summer Hikaru Died 4 continues building up the mystery, but insufficient explanations make it challenging to grasp what’s happening. While mystery can work for a series, it packs in too much with too little, creating a drag and frustration. Still, the relationship between Hikaru and Yoshiki helps to keep readers invested. But if the information remains murky, the series will suffer more as it progresses. While The Summer Hikaru Died 4 is still worth reading, the series is at a crossroads of whether it’s worth going past this volume.
Created by Mokumokuren, translated by Ajani Oloye, and lettered by Abigail Blackman, the volume starts with Yoshiki washing Hikaru’s shirts. Although he realizes Hikaru is dangerous—as whatever entity is in Hikaru’s body does not understand right and wrong—he resigns himself to stay friends with Hikaru. Whether this is residual from his inability to let Hikaru go or whether it’s the entity is unclear in the Yen Press manga. One moment, it seems the former; the other, the latter.
The Summer Hikaru Died 4 Opens Up the Mystery For the Pair to Sleuth
Whatever Hikaru is remains unknown even to him. But Yoshiki and Hikaru start making the rounds to different people around the village to try and learn what they can. Here, some snippets come to light. One thing is that theirs and surrounding villages look like parts of a body on a map. But as they discuss abnormalities, the conversation becomes confusing as they don’t know what’s causing all these entities to leave the mountains. However, it might be whatever Hikaru is that’s unknowingly causing it.
While confusing, it seems years back; the villagers angered a god. So, blessings became curses, and many people died. Now, older townsfolk who remember still blame Hikaru’s family for what happened then. Hikaru might have gone to the forests to perform a ritual to appease the god. But when he died, an entity took his body. Whether it’s the god himself is still unclear.
Creepy Moments and Odd Choices
There are a lot of eerie moments and illustrations of creepy feet, entities in a closet, and more. They give off fear of what’s inside your closet. However, a lot occurs that remains either confusing or questionable. After Yoshiki realizes Hikaru attacked their friend, he does not shun him or out him. In fact, he decides he will be Yoshiki’s ride or die. Yoshiki decides that even if Hikaru kills more people, he will accept it. While their relationship is fascinating, the fact that Yoshiki’s willing to risk everyone else around him feels selfish and implies his feelings for the rest of his family and friends are hollow.
So, while The Summer Hikaru Died 4 has uncomfortable moments as different characters converge, too many confusing explanations and decisions make it hard to understand or accept. Connecting with characters is paramount to enjoying a story, whether you know and accept them or hope for their downfall. But the actions of characters—Yoshiki especially—stretches credulity. The horror elements in The Summer Hikaru Died 4 don’t detract from the series’ many missteps, leaning into mystery so heavily that it sacrifices clarity and understandable character choices. However, it still delivers enough entertainment, and the last panel is a shocker.
