YMMV / The Summer Hikaru Died

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• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • "Hikaru" is ripe for discussion. Is he truly benevolent and just has a bad case of Blue-and-Orange Morality? Is he more malevolent than he lets on? Are his feelings for Yoshiki genuine, or simply an imprint from the original Hikaru's dying thoughts? Furthermore, Chapter 13's discussion of Donald Davidson's "Swampman" thought experiment raises the question of whether "Hikaru" should be even considered a separate person from the original Hikaru.

• Nightmare Fuel:
  • The entire premise runs on this- being a normal teenager in a small town and losing your best friend (and unrequited love) is bad enough. But then having him come back as some thing that immediately threatens to kill you if you reveal the truth and actively attempts to kill your classmate for the same reason? Nightmarish.
  • "Hikaru's" breakdown in Chapters 6 and 7 over Yoshiki beginning to reject him. He visibly begins to fall apart physically and emotionally, revealing his true form before pinning Yoshiki to the ground and seemingly forcing some sort of Mind Meld onto him. Yoshiki's panic and the ease with which "Hikaru" bruised his arm by grabbing it only adds to the nightmarish atmosphere of the scene.
    • Worsened a few chapters later with one reveal- the bruises are getting worse following "Hikaru" entering Yoshiki's body and mind...
  • After several relatively calm and heartwarming chapters, Chapter 15 brings back the Nightmare Fuel in spades. Namely, a suspicious Asako corners "Hikaru" and begins to question him, leading to "Hikaru" doing... something to her that makes her fall unconscious. When confronted by Yoshiki, "Hikaru" eerily calmly confirms that he planned to kill her, leading to a full show of his Blue-and-Orange Morality in which he states that he doesn't see much of a difference between life and death and the only reason he won't kill Yoshiki is that he likes him. Needless to say, Yoshiki vomiting from stress and fear is an understandable reaction.

• Squick:
  • Yoshiki putting his hand inside "Hikaru's" chest. He describes the texture of whatever's inside of him as "cold" and like raw chicken. It doesn't help that "Hikaru" seems to physically enjoy it, blushing and saying that it feels good.
  • Equally squicky is the second time, during which "Hikaru" puts some of himself inside Yoshiki. Yoshiki's mix of disgust, fear and pleasure at the experience makes the scene very uncomfortable.

• Tearjerker:
  • Yoshiki's state in Chapter 1- curling up and sobbing quietly in his bed out of grief over Hikaru while his mother unknowingly calls him down for breakfast. His numb demeanor and relative lack of reaction to "Hikaru" can be taken as sheer shell shock over losing his only friend.
    • This scene and the entirety of the story retroactively becomes even more tragic with the revelation that Yoshiki found Hikaru's corpse in the woods and that he's had to live with that knowledge for six months before the start of the story.
  • Yoshiki's entire life falls into this category with the more that's revealed. He's a frequent target of gossip in the small town he lives in due to his parents' unstable marriage, he is a closeted teenager in an implicitly conservative/homophobic area (with the original Hikaru innocently referring to a gay villager as "sick" before being corrected), and his one friend dies only to be replaced by an Eldritch Abomination that is seemingly drawing more dangerous spirits towards Yoshiki and his family. To say that his status as The Eeyore is earned is an understatement.