THE SUMMER HIKARU DIED: Episode 1 FULL LENGTH Reaction!
Added 2025-07-20 13:00:13 +0000 UTC*IRREPLACEABLE HEADPHONE WARNINGS*
I walked into this COMPLETELY blind and ooohhh, what a great decision to make, so I won't spoil too much here! I'll let the episode speak for itself.
What I will say is that this is checking off ALL the boxes for me so far and I have not been this hyped for a new series in a while now! Let's FRIGGIN' GO this summer...and see about this whole "Hikaru dying" thing. ;)
LINK TO REACTION: https://share.vidyard.com/watch/MTD2XM6W7rkgpPbwcvuVhC
Thank you for watching with me and for all the support!
Comments
Oh noooo hahaha, you know, I actually have had the “dog ate my homework” reason given by a student…and saw the bite marks on the essay, sooooo… XD Thanks for offering your thoughts and for the kind words! I am OBSESSED with this show and am so looking forward to the discussions I have cooked up for some later episodes! And yeah, the people that say this isn’t a BL – are in a huge state of denial. ANYWAY! Gay AF, yes, and amazingly written! 🙂Honestly, I feel bad, because there are actually LOTS of series that feature gay relationships in a “non-fetishized” way, people just don’t pay the mind to research them or pay attention when readers are talking about them. I digress. It makes me sad and mad that the author removed the BL tag, because this is clear as DAY a BL and it makes me sad that queer media continues to be marginalized as less than other pieces of fiction - which to be honest - there is heterosexual romance that is JUST as fetishized as the yaoi the critics pick out and way worse written…ugh, I could go on a tangent about this, but I’ll save it! But yeah, this series is amazing so far and I can’t wait to get into it even further! Let’s see what the show gives us, but thank you for the comment!
Romaniablack
2025-07-26 13:08:08 +0000 UTCOh yeah, in the discussion, I was right there with those clues - but I try not to say conjecture is confirmation, so I just put my theories out there and then see if the show gives us more evidence as we go! ;) But I did catch those moments and mentioned them in the discussion! Just wanted to let you know that I did get the references!
Romaniablack
2025-07-26 13:02:09 +0000 UTCOf course it's hard to tell from just the small flash back of actual Hikaru, but I do think it's supposed to hint that Hikaru liked Yoshiki. (That's how I read it at least). Especially the "you'd find a girlfriend easily" to me reads like "I find you so great of course you're a catch".
Mathπ
2025-07-21 12:11:33 +0000 UTCHad a whole dissertation written and accidentally closed the tab... "I'm sorry miss, my cat ate my verbose comment !" Anyway here are my thoughts : I just started this anime, and suffice to say I am OBSESSED. Like for you, this checks aaaall my boxes. Had heard about the manga a few months ago (all great things), but I put off reading it because some people were arguing that it "technically wasn't a BL". Turns out, this show is gay AF, in a well written, compelling, non-stereotypical and non-fetishized way (which representation of gay men in fiction severely lack IMO). I think the author removed the BL tag to reach broader audiences ? And those claiming it isn't one are probably doing so in response to people who discard and rule out this awesome piece of fiction for its queer main characters. But come on. From this first episode alone, I think there are near zero ambiguity as to the queerness of the characters and the themes, so in my eyes it's valid to call it BL. Now, the horror premisse of the show is already great, and right up my alley. The classic metaphysical question of "are you just your memories or are you something more" is a favorite of mine. Usually it's explored through sci-fi with cloning or teleportation shenanigans, but the situation here is very similar. After all, this entity has all of Hikaru's memories and personality, so how is the current situation (Hikaru dying and getting possessed/revived by this parasite) any different than Hikaru gaining the memories of being a weird parasite ? Thus, although this Hikaru is obviously not the same (but not dissimilarly to the way we're all not the same as we were 10 years ago), I do believe there is a part of Hikaru still alive through this being... or even that a part of this being lives in Hikaru... or is there even a difference ? Or perhaps it's just me being too hopeful that the doomed yaoi isn't too doomed xDDD.
Mathπ
2025-07-21 11:59:10 +0000 UTC
