Adolescence is hard.
Being Yoshiki really is suffering. Hikaru may be the character in the title, but it’s no coincidence that it’s Yoshiki’s eyes through which we see (sometimes literally) most of The Summer Hikaru Died. Anytime you add sci-fi/fantasy/horror elements to a coming of age story it’s a good bet the author is using them for metaphorical purposes, and that’s the certainly the case with Mokumokuren. But in practical terms they make Yoshiki’s life incredibly difficult. It’s not like the phase of life he’s in is easy generally, but then you add the Yoshiki-specific complicating factors (especially in a small town). And Hikaru being a… whatever he is on top of that? Poor kid.
I think there are two main psychological elements to this story. One is the suffocation Yoshiki feels in this place where everyone knows everyone and thinks your business is their business. The other is the struggle to process what dealing with Hikaru means. The problem, obviously, is that in some sense this is still Hikaru, He knows things that are secrets only he and Hikaru know, and for two soulmates in a small town those secrets are incredibly important. How could this creature who knows those things and looks and sounds and smells like Hikaru not be his most important person?
But, clearly, he’s not. Yoshii is smart, he understands this. That’s why he finally reaches out to Kurebayashi-san (though he carelessly lets this slip to Hikar2 by leaving his phone on the table when he leaves the room). It’s too much to process alone, and Kurebayashi seems understanding and sympathetic. And when they meet at the hilariously over the top “Diner America”, she does nothing to dispel that notion. Kurebayashi lets slip that she’s experienced something reminiscent of Yoshiki’s current situation herself, though she doesn’t go into details. She also expresses surprise that Yoshiki is “mixing” with a boy – she assumed it was a girl he was in love with. Make of that what you will.
Kurebayashi is still a mystery figure to an extent. But she seems genuinely to be sensitive to things most people are not. She tells Yoshiki that “eerie” things are happening in the town and villages (the first time we’ve heard that turn of phrase), and that they started as soon as the “straight out of hell” presence she felt on the mountain disappeared. Perhaps, she muses over an “American Mega Deluxe Mountain President” parfait, it was that presence on the mountain that kept things in balance, and that the visitors currently showing up are a result of its absence.
It’s certainly worth noting that Hikaru disappeared on that “forbidden” mountain. And, we now know, Hikaru’s father died on it. There’s a suggestion that Yoshiki and Hikaru’s father were close – he certainly remembers him fondly, and seems to be close with his remaining family. That too makes all this harder for him, of course. Unable to process all this Yoshiki does what teen boys often do in such situations, go into a shell and sulk. His and Hikaru’s friends certainly notice, as well as the fact that Hikaru seems to have been “clinging” to Yoshiki a lot more than usual lately.
This all comes down to a showdown in the classroom after school, as Hikaru refuses to allow Yoshiki to avoid him. And once more it’s a sequence where Hikaru’s “otherness” leads to what can only be described as a starkly intimate encounter, though it largely defies categorization beyond that. Lots of things are happening here – Hikar2’s control seems to slip, Yoshiki is simultaneously terrified and fascinated. Ultimately it can only be a reminder that whatever this creature is, it’s not his lifelong friend. But something about it is Hikaru, and it’s also the closest thing he’ll ever get.
Under the circumstances trying to understand Hikaru seems to be an impossible ask. Yet Yoshiki can’t help trying, and the realization that hits him is that whatever this thing is, it’s acting like a child. What that means is another question, and certainly one at this point beyond Yoshiki’s ability to answer. But whatever Hikaru is, Yoshiki is still human and subject to human emotions – emotions that Hikar2 seems subject to as well, which confuses him more than anything else. Adolescence is hard.
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