The Summer Hikaru Died Episode 4 is another doozy. Episode 3 was a brilliant display of horror, dialogue, and the persistence of living despite the grief that surrounds us. It’s a perfect example of what makes the anime such a compelling watch. And while “Summer Festival” doesn’t quite hit the same way, it is still a great episode. The worldbuilding is oddly paced, but it lays a great foundation for upcoming episodes.
The theme for this episode is very much about grief, specifically Yoshiki’s (Chiaki Kobayashi) manifestation of grief towards Hikaru (Shūichirō Umeda). It’s revealed that Yoshiki knew that Hikaru was dead the night he went missing, after going out to look for him in the rain. Yoshiki mentions his week-long illness following it, only to discover Hikaru in the hospital. Giant lore drops aside, it’s essential to focus on Yoshiki.
He’s a young kid who sees his best friend dead in the mountains, and it’s evident that his grief is there from the moment he found Hikaru. At that age, it’s hard to put strong emotions like that into words. It’s unsurprising for Yoshiki to be so unwell that he missed school. And when you realize that his grief definitely stems from his romantic love toward Hikaru—even if he doesn’t realize it—it pulls on your heart strings that much more.
The Summer Hikaru Died Episode 4 deals with complicated emotions.
Which leads to something significant: it’s clear that Yoshiki and Hikaru love each other. Yoshiki’s grief manifests in such an extreme way that it bears a striking resemblance to romantic love. Add to that how Hikaru begs to stay alive because he can’t leave Yoshiki, and it’s obvious that the two feel the same way, even if neither knows what that feeling is.
The anime practically hits watchers over the head with this in a flashback where the two of them discuss a neighborhood family whose son is LGBTQ+. The animators crafted this moment perfectly to convey that subtle romance between the boys that viewers can’t overlook.
Post-credit scenes aren’t just for Marvel movies these days. The one featured at the end of the episode is the perfect closer. No spoilers save to say that Hikaru comes across the sexy tree from earlier in the episode. To some, this might be underwhelming in comparison to the rest of the anime, but let’s not forget that some of the best horror tropes come out of something mundane. The scene is a hidden gem that credit skippers will regret not watching the first time around.
Important lore can’t help but stall the pacing.
The Summer Hikaru Died Episode 4 does not have the best pacing. The episode is awkwardly slow at times, drawing out scenes that do not need to be. This is most notable when the episode shifts between the elders discussing the mythos of the mountain and Hikaru and Yoshiki at the festival. The stream of conversation, accompanied by shots of the boys, creates a laggy feeling, interrupting and undercutting the scene’s flow. The conversation at hand isn’t very riveting, either.
Additionally, the increase in action when Tanaka jumps up almost feels out of place with the rest of the episode. Up until that moment, there wasn’t much going on since this episode is full of exposition and lore-building. It doesn’t have a sense of urgency, so much as if the episode needed some life injected into it, and this was the best way they thought they could animate it. This does the series a disservice when it’s an important moment in the anime.
The Summer Hikaru Died Episode 4 might be a bit slower than previous episodes, but it reveals a lot of lore surrounding Hikaru, his family, and the village itself. Even with the slow pacing, the episode delivers what we’ve come to love about the anime: an uneasy story about some creepy creature that took over Hikaru’s body. At long last, we learn more about that fateful night in the mountains.
The Summer Hikaru Died Episode 4 is available now on Netflix.
Images courtesy of CygamesPictures/Netflix.
REVIEW RATING
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The Summer Hikaru Died Episode 4 - "Summer Festival" - 8/10
8/10
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