| Overview |
Mokumokuren (モクモクれん, Mokumokuren?) is the writer and illustrator of The Summer Hikaru Died (光が死んだ夏, Hikaru ga Shinda Natsu?).
Biography[]
In 2021, Mokumokuren delivered an upcoming-of-age horror manga "The Summer Hikaru Died" in KADOKAWA's Young Ace Up. Upon release of the first volume, the series became a critical and commercial success, with the first volume selling 200,000 copies in three months,[citation needed] and received critical praise for story, artwork, and characters.
Production of The Summer Hikaru Died[]
Mokumokuren first conceived the series while studying for high school entrance exams. After graduating, Mokumokuren began posting drawings on Twitter in their spare time in January 2021.[1] Mokumokuren was later approached by the Young Ace Up editorial department to serialize the manga in Young Ace Up, which they accepted.[1]
While writing the story, Mokumokuren tries to keep the horror to a minimum by trying to appeal to people's emotions rather than just being scary. Mokumokuren also feels the horror of the story is amplified by the emotional relationships between the characters – they attribute this to the "suspension bridge effect," a psychological phenomenon that makes it easier to develop romantic feelings when one is feeling anxious or fearful. Because the physiological arousal of excitement and fear are the same, one can mis-attribute the cause to love rather than danger.[2] For the artwork, Mokumokuren tries to use onomatopoeia that are not often used, while also staying cautious to make sure it works properly in the context of the story. They are also highly conscious of the visual arrangement of the onomatopoeia text on the page, and they hope that readers will read them carefully to help build fear and tension.[1]
While Mokumokuren acknowledges that readers are free to interpret the work however they decide, Mokumokuren explicitly describes The Summer Hikaru Died as a queer[3] coming-of-age horror story. They are particular about not positioning it as a love story, as "it is fine for queer stories that aren't romance to exist".[4] They hope the story will empathize with people who have been left out of conversations about romance and sexuality, and believe that "not understanding romantic feelings or sexual desire" is an important inclusion in a queer story.[5] To Mokumokuren, the key aspect of the work is the fear of having nowhere to belong and being unable to be what's considered 'normal'.[6]
Trivia[]
- Mokumokuren is a fan of action manga from Weekly Shōnen Jump and Weekly Young Jump, particularly Tokyo Ghoul.[1]
- They credit the horror movie Shin Mimibukuro as one of their main inspirations. They also credit the movie It Comes and the novels Bogiwan ga Kuru and Shishiriba no Ie by Ichi Sawamura.[1]
- They list their favorite films as:[7]
- Let The Right One In (2008)
- The Shape of Water (2017)
- Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983)
- The Sixth Sense (1999)
- IT[8]
- Farewell My Concubine (1993)
- The Inerasable (2017), as well as the original The Inerasable (2015)
- It Comes (2018), as well as the original novel, Bogiwan ga Kuru
- 100 Ghost Stories (2016), as well as the original novel of the same title
- The Shining (1980)
- Sadako vs. Kayako (2016)
- Cult (2013)
- It Follows (2014)
- Tom at the Farm (2013)
- Pet Sematary[9]
- Silent Hill (2006)
Notable Awards[]
- August 31, 2022: The Summer Hikaru Died (Hikaru ga Shinda Natsu) by Mokumokuren won the Global Special Prize (Traditional Chinese Edition).
- December 12, 2022: Takarajimasha's Kono Manga ga Sugoi 2023 edition! (This Manga Is Amazing!) guidebook released its top manga series listings on Monday. The Summer Hikaru Died was voted first out of twenty for male readers.
- January 2023 issue of Kadokawa Media Factory's book and manga news magazine Da Vinci unveiled its 22nd annual "Book of the Year" lists on Monday. Mokumokuren's The Summer Hikaru Died (Volumes 1-2) ranked #43.
Published Works[]
Self-Published[]
- A Classmate Who'll Do Anything for You (なんでもしてくれる同級生, Nandemo Shite Kureru Dōkyūsei?) (2020)
- A Story About a School Where Only Cute-Faced Kids Are Allowed (2020)
- The Summer Hikaru Died Prototype (光が死んだ夏のプロトタイプ, Hikaru ga Shinda Natsu no Purototaipu?) - Commonly referred to by English-speaking fans as "Chapter 0". It is an early, non-canon "prototype" of the story. Mokumokuren considers it separate from the serialized work due to numerous changes made to the canon story.[10]
Period[]
|
Japanese:
ピリオド |
Genre:
Boys Love, Suspense |
| Type:
Oneshot |
Date:
May 14, 2021 | |
| Category:
Josei |
Publisher: | |
| Synopsis:
Two childhood friends enjoy sparring over a fighting game on the day their lives would be irrevocably changed. | ||
183 Investigator in Handcuffs[]
|
Japanese:
一八三 手錠の捜査官 |
Genre:
Buddy Cop, Mystery |
| Type:
Oneshot |
Date:
May 18, 2023 | |
| Category:
Josei |
Publisher: | |
| Information:
Police Sergeant Onodera Gamon is paired up with a prisoner to investigate crime as part of a new system known as "Inmate Investigation Assistance Measures." Prisoner number 183, commonly known as "Andore," has incredible abilities, but his highly erratic behavior make him and Gamon a mismatched pair formed in the possible worst way. Written by Izumi Sari and illustrated by Mokumokuren, "183 Investigator in Handcuffs" was released to promote Izumi's novel of the same title. | ||
The Summer Hikaru Died[]
|
Japanese:
光が死んだ夏 |
Genre:
Horror, Slice of Life |
| Type:
Serialization |
Date:
August 31, 2021 – present | |
| Category:
Seinen |
Publisher: | |
| Information:
Yoshiki and Hikaru are two teenage boys living in a small town in rural Japan. Despite having opposite personalities and different hobbies, the two maintain a close friendship. However, on one summer day, Hikaru is bodysnatched by an alien force. Yoshiki still wants to stay with Hikaru, but Hikaru has changed so much that it may ruin their relationship. Mokumokuren first conceived of the series while studying for exams and later began posting drawings on Twitter, which led to the Young Ace Up editorial department approaching Mokumokuren to serialize the manga via the Young Ace Up website. The series has been licensed in English by Yen Press as "The Summer Hikaru Died". | ||
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 文＝リアルサウンドブック編集部 (July 5, 2022). 話題の青春ホラー漫画『光が死んだ夏』作者が明かす、"恐怖"を表現するためのこだわり 「記号ではなく、行動で感情を描く」. Retrieved on July 19, 2024.
- ↑ 文＝リアルサウンドブック編集部 (July 5, 2022). 話題の青春ホラー漫画『光が死んだ夏』作者が明かす、"恐怖"を表現するためのこだわり 「記号ではなく、行動で感情を描く」. Retrieved on March 13, 2025.
- ↑ Mokumokuren, Bluesky @mokmok-len.bsky.social (November 20, 2024). ジャンルタグがなんであれ、そしてこの話がロマンスで無かったとしても、クィアの話であることは作者として保証します。 ["Whatever the genre tag, and even if this story isn't a romance, as the author, I guarantee that it is a queer story."] Retrieved and archived on February 26, 2025.
- ↑ Mokumokuren, Bluesky @mokmok-len.bsky.social (November 7, 2024). ロマンスではないクィアの話が存在しても良いと思います。だから公式としては、当初から恋愛物語として位置付けないように心がけています。 ["I think it's fine for queer stories that aren't romance to exist. So officially, we've been careful from the start not to position it as a love story."] Retrieved and archived on February 26, 2025.
- ↑ Mokumokuren, Bluesky @mokmok-len.bsky.social (November 7, 2024). 「恋愛感情や性欲がわからない」というのもクィアの話として大事な設定だと思っています。 ["I think that 'not understanding romantic feelings or sexual desire' is an important setting in a queer story."] Retrieved and archived on February 26, 2025.
- ↑ Mokumokuren, Bluesky @mokmok-len.bsky.social (November 7, 2024). 光が死んだ夏のジャンルについては読んだ人が自由に考えるものという意見は変わっていないですが、恋愛や性の話から取り残された人たちにも寄り添う話であるべきだと思っているので私は「青春ホラー」と説明してます。属性を問わず様々な人に共通する「"普通"になれない、居場所がない恐怖」が肝だと思ってます。 ["My opinion that The Summer Hikaru Died is something that readers are free to decide as they wish remains unchanged, but I believe it should be a story that sympathizes with people who have been left out of conversations about romance and sex, so I describe it as 'youth horror.' I think the key is the fear of not being able to be 'normal' and having no place to belong, which is something that many people share, regardless of their attributes."] Retrieved and archived on February 26, 2025.
- ↑ Mokumokuren, Bluesky @mokmok-len.bsky.social (July 16, 2025). 私は映画から影響を受けることが多いです。好きな映画は。。。 Retrieved on September 10, 2025.
- ↑ Not specified whether it's It! (1967, Herbert J. Leder), It (2017, Stephen King), or other films by the same title.
- ↑ Not specified whether it's the 1989 original or the 2019 remake.
- ↑ Mokumokuren, Bluesky @mokmok-len.bsky.social (July 17, 2025). 「光が死んだ夏」のプロトタイプ版は違法サイトで見ることが出来るようですが、連載版とは別物だと思って頂きたいです。プロトタイプ版からたくさんの設定が変更されているので、何の考察の根拠にもなりません. ["It seems that the prototype version of "The Summer Hikaru Died" can be viewed on illegal sites, but please consider it to be something different from the serialized version. Many settings have been changed from the prototype version, so it cannot be used as a basis for any speculation."] Retrieved on July 17, 2025.