The Summer Hikaru Died (2022)

The best place to start if what grips you in Ito is the wrongness of something familiar. In rural Japan, Yoshiki realizes his best friend Hikaru has been replaced by an otherworldly entity, and he chooses to keep it close anyway. Mokumokuren builds dread out of still summer days and sudden scratchy, smeared panels where the thing shows through. Where Ito's horror is cosmic and indifferent, this one is tender, and the love is what makes it frightening. It topped Kono Manga ga Sugoi's 2023 list for male readers, and the story ended in Japan in October 2026 after 51 chapters, so Yen Press's English edition is heading for a finish.