While the first volume of the manga The Summer Hikaru Died dealt with grief, it feels like much of the second is based on the idea of acceptance. From Yoshiki accepting “Hikaru,” learning about “Hikaru” accepting his new life, and even the people in the village accepting things are starting to go wrong after what happened to the real Hikaru. Everyone is learning to deal with life as it is now and, in turn, reacting to it, and Mokumokuren does a fantastic job of showing the results of this.
The introduction of this volume picks up right where the first left off. Yoshiki got a better idea of exactly what “Hikaru” is, and Hikaru is coming to terms with letting go like that in front of the person he’s most connected to. Both of them are still reeling from the experience and information. However, even with Yoshiki knowing getting involved with whatever Hikaru is could lead to bad things not only for him, but the village, he’s willing to do so. The two make up, and we see an opportunity for them to engage in normal activities. Yoshiki helps Hikaru attempt to befriend a cat that didn’t even really care for the real Hikaru. The two of them take Yoshiki’s sister Kaoru to a festival. We even learn more about the death that set every event in motion.
It’s around then that we start to see the acceptance of other people. A number of older gentlemen from the village are talking about the role Hikaru’s family played. They discuss how Kouhei, his father, handled a certain ritual. They’re coming to accept that Kouhei was right and they should have listened before things got to this point. As a result, they accept that now they need to call in someone else, another authority, to handle things.
However, what I also really loved about volume 2 of The Summer Hikaru Died is that the manga shows the price of that acceptance. We’re seeing the price that people have to pay because of that. Tanaka being called in seems like something of a “last resort.” That person even suggests how challenging the situation is. We’re seeing Yoshiki and “Hikaru” taking new steps in their relationship as they accept each other, which leaves him concerned about the nature of these interactions as he sees the certain result of one such moment carrying over from the first volume. We’re even seeing Yoshiki’s family affected by this relationship, with Kaoru nearly caught up in it.
This means that the second volume of The Summer Hikaru Died manga ends with a fantastic cliffhanger. We’ve seen Yoshiki start to deal with the supernatural. We also had a moment in the first volume where “Hikaru” noticed that something was aware of Yoshiki and dealt with the situation. But with this latest circumstance, it’s our first experience with a truly hostile force encountering both of them. It really makes me wish we had a release date for volume three.
The Summer Hikaru Died remains this atmospheric manga where the relationship between Yoshiki and Hikaru, both the original and the new entity, is the crux of the whole series. Seeing the development and growth as they help each other adapt to the world as it is now is so critical, and in this second volume we’re seeing both start to accept new things about their relationship and life. However, this means throughout the volume Mokumokuren drops hints and clues about the cost of them getting comfortable.
Volume 2 of The Summer Hikaru Died is available now, and the third volume of the manga appeared in Japan in June 2023.
