So, in The Summer Hikaru Died episode 5, Yoshiki gave Hikaru his first love bite (quite literally). I mean, I know he was possessed, but aren’t we all? The episode, titled “Wig Ghost,” is comparatively slower and less eventful, which only makes me wonder if something really big is coming our way in the next one. The reason I say this is because both Yoshiki and Hikaru are much closer than they were before. They are leaving their “imprint” on each other, which is kind of their way of making out with each other in empty classes after school. But you may ask, what’s the conflict here? Who’s going to stop them? Well, there’s a post-credit scene in the episode that suggests Tanaka has set up another magical trap to catch Nonuki-sama. He’s obsessed with stopping the evil spirit and won’t stop until he has achieved his goals. In short, Tanaka is coming for the new Hikaru, and the person closest to him will inevitably get hurt. With that said, allow me to take a look at the major events of episode 5.
Spoiler Alert
The Wig Ghost Haunts Kaoru
In my previous article, I had mentioned that Nonuki-sama could be some kind of protector or guardian spirit who stopped all the other spirits from leaving the mountains and hurting the people of the area. It couldn’t be a coincidence that the villagers called it “Mountain God.” Based on this theory, it could be assumed that after Nonuki-sama descended from the mountains, all the other spirits followed the lead and started haunting the people in Kubitachi Village. In episode 5, we came across one such spirit called the Wig Ghost, who appeared to Yoshiki’s sister, Kaoru, in the family bathroom. Now I am not sure if this was the same spirit that we saw lurking near the railway crossing in the previous episode, or if it was someone else entirely.
After school, Yoshiki told his friends about the ghost, when Hikaru suddenly said he would inspect his bathroom to find out more about this “huge glob of hair.” It was apparent that Hikaru knew about the malevolent spirit that was trying to scare Yoshiki and his family. Hikaru told him that he had expected these spirits to pester him, but he didn’t expect them to go after the only person he was close to, that is, Yoshiki. This made one thing clear: Nonuki-sama wasn’t the one controlling these spirits, he was in direct conflict with them for reasons not yet revealed in the show. Hikaru had previously saved Yoshiki’s life when a spirit with a long-swinging head had tried to possess Yoshiki in the woods, and Hikaru was going to do the same thing once again. He said he would crush it and eat it to free Yoshiki and his family of this evil spirit. Unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned, and Hikaru got trapped in a trance state.
Yoshiki’s patience ran thin, and he decided to intervene; however, as soon as he touched Hikaru, the spirit pulled Yoshiki into the bathtub water. Inside his mind, Yoshiki could hear all the vile words people spoke about him and his family. It was obvious that the spirit was trying to paralyze Yoshiki with fear and doubt and make him a prisoner in his own mind. He quickly started to lose his mind and got stuck in a memory when he’d fought and attacked Hikaru in his childhood. In reality, the Wig Ghost was using Yoshiki as a vessel to kill Hikaru because it couldn’t directly do so itself, and this was when Yoshiki bit Hikaru on the arm. Hikaru tried his best to bring Yoshiki to his senses, and when he bit him, Nonuki-sama came out of Hikaru’s body and pushed the Wig Ghost away from Yoshiki’s mind. However, it needs to be mentioned that Hikaru didn’t crush or eat the Wig Ghost. It scared it off, which means the malevolent spirit could attack someone else in the near future. Well, we’ll find out.
Tanaka Unleashes a Hunting Dog
All of a sudden, Tanaka realized that he was done waiting for Nonuki-sama to show up again or attack someone in the village, and therefore he needed to send someone to do the searching for him. In the post-credits scene, he, along with Takeda, visited the tiny shrine where the Indos performed their ritual for Nonuki-sama. He crushed the shrine with his feet and cut his palm with a knife, soaking an eyeball-shaped totem with his blood. As far as I can tell, it seemed like he activated the hunting dog with his blood, as all these supernatural spells demand a sacrifice. And later he threw the totem towards the shrine so the dog would pick up on the presence of the spirit that once lived there and chase it down. As Takeda saw him casting the spell, he thought to himself that this exorcist was going to destroy their whole village. However, deep down, he wanted him to, but why? You have to remember the conversation Takeda, Mikasa, and Matsushima had in the previous episode, where they mentioned that they were done worshiping the Mountain God and wanted some permanent solution for these spirits. However, the question here is, can they really get rid of Nonuki-sama, the one who has been protecting them from the other malevolent ghosts living in the mountains?
Nonuki-sama Leaves a Mark on Yoshiki
In the third episode, Rie Kurebayashi, the woman he met at the dinner, had told Yoshiki that “mixing” with the evil spirits would leave a mark on his body that would stain him for life. I hope you remember that Rie’s husband was possessed in a similar manner, and even though she knew the truth, she was in denial for a very long time, just like Yoshiki. According to Rie, these marks or imprints left by the spirits also start attracting things from the other world, which could explain why so many spirits were turning up in Kubitachi Village, especially to people close to Yoshiki or the ones he encountered.
In episode 5, Yoshiki tried to touch the insides of Hikaru once again, hoping it would be less creepy this time; however, as soon as Yoshiki pushed his hand inside Hikaru’s chest, Nonuki-sama started crawling to his head, just like before. To me, it seemed like the moment Nonuki-sama left Hikaru’s body, it lost its connection with its memories and became a “robot” or a “parasite” again. Its natural instincts took over its mind, which was why it tried to possess Yoshiki, just like it had possessed Hikaru. So can I just say here that Nonuki-sama had no feelings or mind of its own? It’s just rehashing the memories of the dead Hikaru, which made it familiar to Yoshiki, but as soon as Nonuki-sama lost its connection with those memories, it made Yoshiki uncomfortable. He no longer knew what he was dealing with. Well, a very complex relationship, to say the least.
Coming back to the mark Nonuki-sama had left on Yoshiki’s arm, I think it’s quite possible that Tanaka’s hunting dog will pick up Nonuki-sama’s presence on Yoshiki, making Tanaka and others believe that the fugitive Mountain God had possessed Yoshiki. This will leave Hikaru with no other option but to reveal the truth to Tanaka so he would leave Yoshiki alone. So, is this going to be Hikaru’s ultimate sacrifice? To die for the second time to save Yoshiki’s life? We’ll find out.
