ANIME EMBRACES BOYS' LOVE, HIGHLIGHTS QUEERPHOBIA

The Summer Hikaru Died opens up opportunities for diverse representation of queer posthuman figures in media

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that yokai exists for many centuries in Japan. Broadly speaking, it can be creatures, presences or phenomena that are mysterious or eerie. It corresponds to the animistic worldview in which the natural world is inhabited by reikon (spirits). Despite the prevalence of modern science, religious or spiritual faith, as well as customs, it still exists.

The spirit challenges spatial, material and chronological boundaries between human and nonhuman entities. It is believed that the deity stays on the mountain to keep guard over evil spirits, otherwise they haunt the village. The mountain is the boundary between the everyday world and the world beyond. Anything undesirable or chaotic should be kept in the margin, not at the centre.

However, the fact that the deity can impersonate a human being and come down to the village shows that this boundary is actually imaginary and porous. Asako and Kurebayashi are villagers with a sixth sense who can see yokai in the mundane reality.

"Our world overlaps with the world of dead people. They're right beside us.