"The Summer Hikaru Died" Vol. 1-3 by Mokumokuren

Today "The Panelists" discuss The Summer Hikaru Died, a queer coming-of-age horror manga. "We" discuss themes of queerness as contagion, Mokumokuren's digital art process, and horrifying moments of tenderness that we can't look away from. You'res̵̼̟̰̭̲̬̽̇͠ṫ̴̳̲̯̘͙͉̟̣̟̆i̴̡̡̧̧̧̧͙̝̣͉̯̱̰͕͋̾͊̒̀͂͑̿̀̅̚̕͝͝l̶͙͍͚̝̘̠̺̦͇̺̋͂̾͒͑̑̀̇͌̎̏̚͝l̶͕̦̠̞͙̈́͋̑͊̿͛͒̎̈́ ̷̧̤̖̳̼̫̝̻̜̖͚̲̫͇̓̑̈́̑̋̈́̔̆́͋̔͠ͅr̸̙̻͋͗̂͘e̴̥̳͓̜̫̣͊͜͜ả̶̳̥̞̉͋̐̓̌̽̍̕͜͝ḑ̸̢̭̮͓͓̺̣͙̭͔̥͊̑̋̉̀̀ị̶͍̓̾̇̌̿͂̄n̴̼͉͔͓̤͂̽͂͊͜g̴̨̦̲̍? You should go. There's ņ̴̯̳̘̗̲̺̓͗̓͑̄̈́̋̆̓͌̒́o̷̧͇̦̩̪͖̰͈̰͉̎t̸͓̬̼̳͓͇̩̮̭̺̥̀̎͐̅̌͠h̵̡͕̝̜̠͔̟̦̻̯̋̇̓̿̾̿̿̈͝ͅȉ̴̘̼͕͍̱̜̓̄́̓̈̆̄͗̒͐͘n̷̨̩̮͔̲̪̳̽̿͒̓̈́̾̈́̏͘͠g̶͈̈́̔ ̷̧̨̨̢̧͇̯͚̣̞̐͂͌̓̑͒̎̋̇̎̓͝ę̸̨̛̳̤̮͓̻̗̻̥̣̰̮́̉̒͊̓͒̎̚͜͝l̶͎̟̦͍͉̟̣͈̮̩͗͒̇͊͘ͅͅs̷͚͐͐̇e̴̠̜͗ ̴̡̡̛͎̯̩̗̻̺͖͍̟̖͉̃̇̈́̒͜͝ͅf̴̣̔̎̀͗̋̏̐̂͝ǫ̸͙͇̬̗̠̯̭̭͍͗̔̀̉̐̔̀̐ͅŗ̴͖̬̼͉̹̫̻͕̺͔̱͂̎͆̕ ̷̢̯̟͓̲̪͋̉̀̈͊̀̀̾̐̌̀̊͝ͅỵ̸̥͇̎̔͒̈̌̂͂̀͒̀̉͊͝o̵̲͕̯̪̥̹̗̗̮̼̦̬͇̙̓̎̉͑͐̚͝͝͝u̵̧̦̻̟̎̇̈́͛͑̃̀̚͠ ̵̰͍̇́h̴̢̘̑̒̅͋͐̚̕e̷̡̛͉͈͍̖̹͐̓̆̀̉̇̀́̒̓̑̅͠ř̸̛̤͖̾́́̀̽́̏͝͠e̶̗̠̳̠̦͇̐̀̆̌͌̇̽̌̿͆͠. Do you feel that? It feels like r̶̛̯͚̦͙̠͕̩̠̭̣̾̎̈́́͊̂̈́͐͆̀̚a̷̢̟̺̖̲͖͍͓͍̽̒͗́̂̑̏͘ẃ̴̗͇̠͍͔̪̹̺̣̬̝͋̏͝ ̸̡̫͒̌̄͋͆̃͠c̸̺̻̹̭̝̳̲̥̬͍͖͕̀͗h̵͉͉͎͋i̸͍̠͈͈̬͇̠̯̖̰͈̤̱̬͉̓̈́̽́̅̉͒̊c̶̺̮̈́̿͂̈́̚k̵̫̬͖̱̗͍͎̜̗͂̂͊͑̀͘̕͝ḝ̴͔̱̫̼̘̳̥̆͌̒͂̎̒͒̈͛͆͠͝n̵̮̳̺͕̤̓. (00:00) - “The Summer Hikaru Died” by Mokumokuren (00:36) - Front Matter (00:44) - Non-Spoiler Summary (01:23) - Impressions (14:08) - The horror of this art (23:29) - Mokumokuren’s privacy (25:48) - Master + Master (29:02) - How adults are drawn (32:17) - SPOILER ZONE (32:54) - The reveal is so fast (35:13) - Queerness as contagion (40:13) - CW: Homophobia (41:01) - The locker room scene (43:16) - The moment in the classroom (47:15) - Wtf is up with everyone else? (50:22) - The anime (51:54) - Is it a BL? (59:32) - The joke comics (01:00:07) - Swamp Man (01:00:52) - Further Reading Further ReadingThe manga is ending with Chapter 51 on October 20th. Looks like it will be about 10 volumes. The Summer Hikaru Died on Netflix Mokumokuren’s other work is largely one-shots and Doujinshi that I had a hard time finding. Look for titles like “Period” and “Classmate Who Will Do Anything For you” Uzumaki by Junji Ito Your Hand From the Other Side by Wata Rainy & Kajii Fuku A comics podcast for everyone, proud to be a part of The Worst Garbage network. Find us on Bluesky or Tumblr. This week’s panelists can be found at: Scout Matt Robin Jillian Editing this week by AJ Fillari. Cover art by Scout Wilkinson. Intro/Outro music by Boqeh.