The Summer Hikaru Died episode 11 had plenty of revelations for fans to ruminate on for the next week. Of course, there are still too many loose ends, and the finale of the anime banks on properly tying them together.
The biggest revelation of them all was, of course, the Indou family’s sin. Apparently, there was a mass death in the village because of one head of the family wishing to bring his dead wife back to life at the cost of everyone else.
The Summer Hikaru Died Episode 11 Is Atmospheric Horror at Its Peak
The Summer Hikaru Died is more of an atmospheric horror, and it executes the trope perfectly without relying on jump scares. From the very beginning of the anime, the setting has felt more eerie than the big revelations. There is a grave sense of foreboding around the village in which the story is set.
So when it is revealed that the village is actually a site of mass death or sacrifices, it does not come off as the big surprise that it was intended to be. The audience has always had the idea that something wrong had happened, and on a large scale at that. Thus, the story of Hichi Indou, the living head, is disconcerting but not outrageous.
Of course, there was a genuinely horrifying moment in the episode as well, when Hikaru suddenly lost to his instincts and tried to devour Yoshiki. The chase scene in the hallway of the empty school during the waning hours of the day is something nightmarish. There was no jump scare, only a slow realization that it’s too late.
The Sins of the Past Might Have Been Carried Into the Future
What stole my attention was actually the fact that Yoshiki’s father suspects Hikaru’s dad had died not because of mysterious circumstances, but a planned execution. Like Hikaru, his father had the same caring yet larger-than-life nature. He was against the practices of the Indou family and tried to go against it. The result was his mysterious death.
The atmospheric horror in The Summer Hikaru Died has taken a sharp turn in episode 11 as the attention shifted to a murder mystery, even if for a brief moment. The fact that Hikaru might have faced the same fate as his father is a very real possibility. The adults of the village have always been adamant about the practice continued by the Indou family. They have even become aggressive at times while protecting the legacy/rituals.
What do they know that even Yoshiki’s father doesn’t? And what if they are hiding something more sinister about the Indou Family’s sin? What did you think about The Summer Hikaru Died episode 11? Let us know in the comments below.
The Summer Hikaru Died anime is currently available to stream on Crunchyroll.
