The second episode of Netflix’s The Summer Hikaru Died, titled “Suspicion,” follows Yoshiki’s skepticism around the parasite living inside his best friend, Hikaru’s body. The episode begins with two police cars passing through the street, which makes Yoshiki wonder what tragedy has taken place in their peaceful village. This is when Hikaru tells him about the death of an old woman named Matsuura the previous night. The ending of episode 1 suggested that Yoshiki had some sort of weird nightmare in which he saw someone knocking on Matsuura’s door. I mean, I could be wrong because the sequence was designed that way, but Matsuura’s sudden death becomes the root for Yoshiki’s suspicion that his new friend in his old friend’s body may have had something to do with Matsuura’s tragic demise. And throughout the episode, Yoshiki is struggling with the dilemma of whether he can trust the new Hikaru or not.
Spoiler Alert
A Walk Into The Woods
At school, Yoshiki and his friends discussed the mysterious death of Matsuura, who, as per the rumors, had committed suicide by stuffing her own fist down her throat. The students believed that she might have seen something she shouldn’t have. This was the moment Yoshiki looked towards Hikaru, busy with choir practice. In the previous episode, it was Matsuura who freaked out when she saw Hikaru near the crossing. She believed that the fabled spirit from the mountains had descended into their village and was lurking amongst them. At that point, Yoshiki couldn’t exactly understand what the old lady was blabbering about, though he knew that Matsuura was talking about the parasite living inside Hikaru’s body, which gave Yoshiki all the more reason to suspect his friend when Matsuura ended up dead. I think Yoshiki suspected that Matsuura could see the creature inside Hikaru, and could have exposed the parasite’s true identity, which was the reason why he killed Matsuura.
During the conversation, one of Yoshiki’s friends shared his worries as he told his pals that he might be cursed too. The thing is, the forest around the Nisyama Mountains and the surrounding area was haunted by ominous spirits, and Nonuki-sama, the one living inside Hikaru, was one of them. So every time Yoshiki’s friend took a shortcut near the East Gate Mountain and walked into the woods, one of these lonely spirits tried to contact him so they could latch onto him. Well, if you could really sense something sinister there, why would you even visit the area, right? But the students, in search of adventure, decided to go to the same spot to see if it really was haunted or their friend was just making it up.
A Spirit Attacked Yoshiki
In the woods, Yoshiki spotted a “zigzag” shadow of something in the distance. It was actually a ghost or a spirit with a long neck swinging in the air like a pendulum. As soon as Yoshiki looked into its eyes, it tried to latch upon him, when suddenly Hikaru crushed it and ate it. He later told Yoshiki that he’d had to put up a fight with the spirit, because of which his nose started bleeding. Hikaru didn’t want any other spirit to steal his friend away because he had developed feelings for Yoshiki and wouldn’t let any other spirit or person latch on to him. This may sound romantic, but it could soon take a dark turn in the upcoming episodes.
Tanaka Arrived in Kubitachi
In the previous episode, shortly after Matsuura’s shocking death, a man from the village named Takeda immediately called Tanaka and asked him to come down to Kubitachi to investigate further. Here, the conversation between Tanaka, Takeda, and the latter’s friends hinted that the exorcist company for which Tanaka worked might have something to do with the menacing spirits on the mountains. It could be possible that the company, while conducting some experiments, opened up a portal that brought these spirits to the surface. Well, we will find out more in the upcoming episodes, but for now, Tanaka assured Takeda that the company only helped contain the disaster and not the other way around. Suddenly, Takeda’s friend revealed that Matsuura’s death wasn’t the only unusual event that had taken place recently. Some six months ago, Kouhei Indou’s son had gone missing. Kouhei is Hikaru’s father, so you know which disappearance Takeda’s friend was talking about. He also talked about a ritual that probably went wrong, because of which the fabled spirits of the mountains started acting up. This was explained later in a flashback sequence, where Kouhei explained to young Hikaru that the Indou family had made an agreement with the spirits, especially Unuki-sama. This is the spelling I picked from the subtitles, but I really believe Kouhei was talking about Nonuki-sama, the spirit currently inside Hikaru’s body. It might be an error in the subtitles, I suppose. Kouhei further added that the lonely spirit wouldn’t lay a hand on a member of the Indou family, but it wasn’t above harming the one closest to them and taking them to the mountains. So Kouhei advised Hikaru that if he ever fell in love with a girl, he should marry her immediately and make her a part of the family before the spirit could take her away. Yes, I know what you are thinking. Hikaru is already in love, but not with a girl, with a boy. Well, technically, it’s not Hikaru. It’s Nonuki-sama inside Hikaru’s body, and it has already come down from the mountains, which I guess means it isn’t going to harm Yoshiki? Or will it? Well, find out.
The scene inside Matsuura’s house even explained why these spirits were so attracted to certain people. In her childhood, Matsuura had had a traumatic experience in the mountains. I believe she got lost there and shared a glance with one of those lonely spirits, maybe with Nonuki-sama itself. But before the spirit could latch onto her, Matsuura ran away. And because Nonuki-sama couldn’t come down from the mountains on its own, likely due to Indou’s ritual, Matsuura kept hearing the voices in her head and had visions of the sinister spirit. Once, even her daughter disappeared into the mountains, adding to her fears. So, it’s suggested that Matsuura spent her entire life in fear, unknowingly attracting the spirit towards her. And when Nonuki-sama finally descended from the mountains, it paid a much-awaited visit to Matsuura, which was likely the moment she took her own life in fear. Well, that’s just my theory, but let’s see how it plays out in the upcoming episodes.
Tanaka Found Kouhei’s Bag
After breaking into Matsuura’s house in search of evidence, Tanaka, Takeda, and their friends arrived at a house that belonged to Mikasa. I am sorry that I don’t know a lot of the characters here, because the subtitles are really off and the anime doesn’t really introduce them, per se, so bear with me. At Mikasa’s house, Tanaka revealed that he had visited the mountains and found a duffel bag that the friends believed belonged to Kouhei. Actually, it was Hikaru who had lost the bag in the mountains when he went there trekking. Inside the bag, Tanaka found a black stone, an effigy of someone’s head, to be precise. Tanaka explained that this stone was highly effective in warding off spirits. I guess Hikaru took it with him when he went into the mountains, but because of his fatal accident, he lost the stone. He was no longer protected against the spirits; therefore, Nonuki-sama approached him and possessed him to save his body. Furthermore, Tanaka couldn’t find any sign of the mountain’s impurity, which meant he knew that Nonuki-sama had come down from the mountains and was hiding somewhere among the villagers. So, it’s likely that he’s going to search for the spirit in the village and investigate or interrogate the villagers to find Nonuki-sama.
Yoshiki Was In A Fix
The thing is, even though Hikaru saved Yoshiki from the swinging spirit in the woods, Yoshiki still wasn’t sure if he should trust the creature inside Hikaru. Earlier in the episode, Hikaru had let Yoshiki stick his hand inside the opening in his chest to make him feel what it was like “to be inside him.” Well, without going into explicit detail, I guess this was the first time they got intimate, not in a normal way though. Hikaru just wanted Yoshiki to trust him, and maybe it did make Yoshiki feel comfortable around him, but his chain of thoughts was abruptly broken when a woman named Rie Kurebayashi approached Yoshiki outside the shopping center and cautioned him not to mingle with things he didn’t quite understand. The warnings of this normal housewife can be interpreted as a reflection of how modern society still views same-sex romance. Because that’s what it is for them, right? An unnatural romance.
But how could Rie feel the spirit’s presence around Yoshiki? I guess it’s because Hikaru had let Yoshiki inside him and might have left some of his essence on Yoshiki, which Rie picked up on. She further told Yoshiki she always felt a terrible air wafting from the forbidden area near Kubitachi Village, but lately that dreadful feeling had disappeared. Yes, because Nonuki-sama left the mountains. Before leaving, Rie shared her contact details with Yoshiki in case he wanted to talk about the spirit. But will he meet her again?
The episode began with a cicada trying to leave its exoskeleton, or shell, but it got stuck in the process and fell down onto the ground. When this cicada appeared again on the screen, we saw that its whole body was covered with ants, suggesting the insect died during molting. Now, the reason why I am talking about this dead cicada is because in the episode, it mirrors the plight of Hikaru. He likely fell from high ground while he was out trekking and eventually met his tragic end. But because of a supernatural event, Hikaru’s body was taken over by a spirit, and his body came back to life. The same thing happened in episode 2’s ending, when the same cicada which got stuck in its shell during molting was possessed by Nonuki-sama, which probably saved the cicada from its imminent death. But hold on. This scene was just a figment of Yoshiki’s imagination. In his head, Yoshiki entertained a possibility that if the cicada had been possessed, just like Hikaru, then it wouldn’t have to lose its life and could have the chance to transform into an adult like a normal insect. So, the confusion that Yoshiki was trying to solve through this fictional scenario was that he should talk to Rie and expose Hikaru’s real identity or protect his friend’s secret so he could live with him for as long as he could. The closing shot of the cicada getting possessed by the spirit implied that Yoshiki chose to keep Hikaru’s secret, as he didn’t want to lose him again. He might not be the same person who died in the mountains, but Yoshiki had feelings for him, which he failed to ignore. I know he’s being selfish; that’s what love is, right? Right now, Yoshiki is in denial, but hopefully he’ll understand that whatever is keeping Hikaru alive isn’t real, and he should let his friend rest in peace and have the courage to move on in life.
