Okay, I AM FINALLY DONE WITH THIS THING. Or As Done As I Think I'll Ever Get It To Be. If You Like HGSN

Okay, I AM FINALLY DONE WITH THIS THING. Or as done as I think I'll ever get it to be. If you like HGSN and long-winded theory/essay things then this might be the post for you!

But also I cannot promise that a) any of this will be news to anyone or b) that I'll get through this post without at least once giving someone cause to imagine I look like this:

Okay so to preface, this idea started when I was rambling here about "Hikaru" being a general menace (affectionate), and got some very cool responses from some other cool blogs. And me, being me, couldn't stop thinking so one idea quickly spiraled into having eighteen more that had me re-reading and taking notes on literally everything that caught my attention (like only half of which made it in here if I'm being real.)

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So let's establish some base line stuff first before I get into any of the actual meat of this post:

"Hikaru's" eyes usually do this:

Then in chapter 20 and 22 they started doing this:

It is pretty much confirmed that "Hikaru" is a god/deity, existing outside the circle of reincarnation. So in chapter 15, when he says he is 'alive' (生きてる/ikiteru) but doesn't have a 'life' (命/inochi/lifeforce), being outside of that circle is what he's referring to.

Reincarnation is a major tenant of Buddhism.

Right now, there are four known names for the god/deity/presence(s) that existed on the mountain: "Hikaru", the Great Brainsnatcher, Unuki-sama (ウヌキ様), and Nounuki-sama (ノイヌキ様).

(The only kanji here, 様 [sama], is merely an honorific meaning Mr./Ms/etc or it serves to make a sentence more polite [which I'm assuming most people know, but just in case]. Worth noting however, that it can also be in reference to the way someone is acting/how they compose themselves.)

The manga has not yet specifically clarified whether or not these four are the same entity, though we can assume that they are all connected in a myriad of ways and at the very least that "Hikaru" is the Great Brainsnatcher, on account of, you know, the theft of Hikaru's brain. However, in regards to the manga not technically clarifying, hold onto this thought for later, especially regarding Nounuki and Unuki.

When they speak to Matsuura-san Jr. at the library in ch. 18 (forgive the name but I have to distinguish between her and her mother somehow), she says: "The Great Brainsnatcher is a god from the mountains. It was said it was one who would grant somethin' in exchange [for] a special offering."

She also mentions tatarigami, implying that the Great Brainsnatcher became one at some point due to a famine that struck the village(s).

Tatarigami are malevolent spirits/fallen gods of immense destruction and chaos. The most popular instance in media that I can think of that has a tatarigami in it is Princess Mononoke. (The boar god, Nago, is taken over by demons, and ends up becoming a tatarigami before being shot down by Ashitaka in the opening scene.)

"Hikaru's" insides are white and black. But right before Matsuura-san Sr. dies at the end of chapter two- allegedly by "Hikaru's" hand, mind you- all we see is a black shadow.

Okay, cool, so now that we have all of that out of the way, here is were I super suggest you go read (or at least skim) my mythology post about the god Kangiten, the Daikon Radish, and Yoshiki being 'sweet' if you haven't already. It will come into major play from this point forward.

And with that being said, I'm going to split the rest of this post up by stating different points of my theory (or multiple theories I guess??) and then explaining and providing context for each one after.

Theory 1: The Indous are not afraid of the god on the mountain.

I'm going to specify and say that I think their relationship with that god is very different than it is for anyone else who knows about the 'presence' up there. Feeling more as if a) this god watches over the Indous, or b) the god trusts the Indous more than other humans and they are the only ones it allows to get close.

There might be a point C, but for right now I am just going to say I very much get the feeling that the Indous are not specifically this god's "jailer", and I think their sole point of contact with this god isn't just to perform a ritual to keep it contained, regardless of how some of the other older villagers act. There's a few reasons for this, and some are more conjecture/up in the air, like how I feel like no one really knows what the ritual the Indous do even is, and how Hikaru's dad feels very disconnected from the other older folks who Tanaka speaks with over the course of the series. But then, there are also reasons that I feel go a bit too far past coincidence for me to not take notice of them.

In reference to my Daikon Radish post, I genuinely believe the god Matsuura Jr. talks about (Unuki-sama) is somehow connected or inspired by the god Kangiten. And as such, here's a quote from the god Kangiten's Wikipedia page:

On the one hand, he is popularly revered as an extremely efficacious god who grants whatever is asked of him without fail, including impossible wishes. He is also said to watch over those who have a karmic connection with him from the moment of their conception, serving as their invisible companion throughout their lives.

My understanding is that a karmic connection (which is also a part of Buddhist tradition) is when two people find each other and work through some sort of lesson born of their past lives to resolve a karmic debt.

And of course I couldn't help but think about the Indous upon reading the that portion of his wiki. Especially since they seem to have a very unique connection to the god on the mountains/Unuki. For the other villagers Unuki-sama seems to be an object of fear, but for the Indous, they regard the god with some sort of... familiarity(?) An example of this is not just how we see the Indous interact with it, but also because of how "Hikaru" himself acts.

For example:

Hikaru's grandfather calls Unuki san instead of sama, implying a closer connection with Unuki/the god. Granted, this could be a personal relationship between Hikaru's grandfather and Unuki-sama, but like I said, I doubt it, and my doubt only grew stronger when I got around to re-reading the scene where Hikaru dies.

(I'd settle for anyone as long as they) go keep him company in [my] place.

Hikaru made a wish for this terrible, unknowable god to keep his friend- to keep Yoshiki- from being alone. He could have asked for any impossible wish (including not dying??) but instead he made a wish that gave way to the the Brainsnatcher being able to leave the mountain and not only sate its own loneliness, but Yoshiki's as well.

We may not know Hikaru well, seeing as there is only like two flash backs of him in the entire manga (I might be exaggerating, but the point is there is painfully little of the real him actually seen anywhere, he is the definition of haunting the narrative). But judging from what we do know, Hikaru cared about Yoshiki enough to want to keep him from being lonely. So really, truly, why would he have asked this of the GB if he thought there was even a chance it could be a horrible spirit of chaos and violence? Sure, shock, pain, and blood loss can do horrible things to you, but from a narrative standpoint, I don't think it makes much sense to do something with his last damn breath that could deliberately endanger Yoshiki?

And finally, all of that also makes me think of "Hikaru's" far more tender expression here:

"Hikaru" doesn't feel like the ritual failing is why he was able to leave, and perhaps it is obvious and I'm just barking up a fallen tree, but I'm inclined to believe the only reason "Hikaru" was able to come down from the mountains is simply because Hikaru Indou wished him to.

Theory 2: I think the village(s) owe a karmic debt and in some way or another the Indous are the ones responsible for the upkeep on this debt.

Hikaru's grandfather specifically comments, "This village... [???] The karma runs deep..."

@entertext's translation of ch. 17.2 says that the village 'bears a heavy karma from a long time ago.'

(The middle, seemingly unintelligible part is the same in the OG pages as it is in the scanlation screenshot above. Some of it looks like it might be in a cursive, but I will be real the extent of my experience with Japanese cursive is that one chapter of Blue Exorcist where Rin being illiterate is reality for moment there until Shura realizes it's in cursive and she also can't read it, so I don't think that's a good sign my horrifically dyslexic ass has a good shot at deciphering it either. But I digress-)

I will be real with you, I don't have too much to go on with this one. We know these things for sure though. (Spoilers for untranslated chapters.)

There is someone in "Hikaru's" memories from the past that looks like they could be related to Hikaru, who carried a severed head up to (most likely) the place literally named 'Severed Head' and came face to face with Unuki-sama/"Hikaru".

(Ch. 22.3) There were large amounts of bones found in each of the villages and each type of bone was specific to the name of the village where it was found (Udekari=arms, etc). The skulls were the only bones never found, so one can assume this means they are somewhere in or around Kubitachi.

The Indous are the only ones who seem to be able to go up to the mountain and survive. Yes, Hikaru and his father died while there, but the grandfather hasn't (yet 😬) and there's decent enough evidence that, at the very least, Hikaru's father went up there himself on multiple occasions.

Hikaru took 'a person's head' on his final hike (according to Tanaka), presumably to complete the ritual and potentially just like his ancestor had (except that was with an actual head, of course).

Chapter three ends with a flashback to something Hikaru's dad said when Hikaru was a kid. He said that if Hikaru ever had a girl he liked, he should marry her quickly, or else 'the Great Unuki' would take her to the mountain. He also said that Unuki promised not to lay hands on humans of the Indou family, so any girl or guy Hikaru liked would only be safe after the they got married. *gestures vaguely upwards to Theory 1*

Hikaru: Why does it take them? Dad: Because it's lonely, it may whisk [away] someone dear to the family and replace them. It could take away the people most important to you.

So perhaps, the village(s) in some way or another angered Unuki-sama and the Indou's were tasked with doing the leg work for making up for the misdeeds done unto the god. This leg work, presumably, is carrying 'heads' up to the mountain to keep the lonely god company. Then, over time, this could have awarded Unuki the nickname 'The Great Brainsnatcher' on account of there usually being brains inside heads, y'know?

And what could the village(s) have done to upset Unuki-sama so much? I'm thinking perhaps they took away someone who kept the god company (and maybe killed them?) I imagine this likely would have happened around the time of famine Matsuura Jr. talked about in the library, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if whatever this event was that caused such anger involved some sort of cannibalism. Which may feel a bit out of place, but I say it on account of a piece of lore surrounding Kangiten (AKA Vinayaka).

In another legend recorded in a medieval Japanese iconographic compendium known as the Kakuzenshō, Vinayaka was originally the king of a country called Marakeira, who only ate beef and radishes. When these became rare, he started feasting on human corpses; when these too became scarce, he began to eat living people. His subjects eventually revolted and were about to kill the king when he transformed himself into "the great demon king Vinayaka."

-via Wikipedia

And that is a perfect segue into my third theory.

Theory 3: Nounuki-sama is a tatarigami born of Unuki-sama after whatever incident happened between it and the villages.

There have been some very excellent posts that talk about Mokumokuren's use of shadows when it comes to "Hikaru" and I'm going to continue to play into that here just a little bit.

Like I pointed out before, when Matsuura Sr. dies, all that we can really see of what MIGHT be "Hikaru" is a black shadow. We don't know for sure that what killed her is actually "Hikaru", but it is sure as hell implied to be him.

But also... "Hikaru" doesn't seem to be too sure of his actions himself?

He has said twice now by my count that he would not lie to Yoshiki, and since we have no evidence to deny that claim (so far anyway), I am inclined to believe that when he says he doesn't know if he killed old lady Matsuura, that he truly doesn't know.

And I think I have an idea is to why.

From what I've noticed, there is always some piece of "Hikaru's" face that is lit up, even when he's doing something menacing such as literally taking a step towards Asako to kill her.

The exceptions to this rule seem to be Matsuura Sr's death, and also, the end of chapter twenty. 🙃

I rambled about this scene a lot in my very first link at the top of this post, and to be frank, these four pages are, to me, the most unnerving in HGSN by far. Maybe even some of the most unnerving I've seen period, and part of it is how we never once see "Hikaru's" face. We don't know what expression he's making, we don't know what he might be feeling; hell, we can't even hear him because of the unique horror reading things off a page can bring. We have no clues to his state of mind. We only one set of eyes that aren't doing the bleeding iris thing we're used to, a intense focus on Yoshiki's soul, and darkness.

And potentially the worst/most unnerving part of it all is that "Hikaru" doesn't seem to remember what he was even doing there to begin with. I don't think it's a coincidence that "Hikaru" is having a hard time remembering both this scene and Matsuura Sr's death.

Part of what drew me to this manga was the fact that "Hikaru" was described as an Eldritch creature/god, and by nature, Eldritch gods are unknowable. Your brain cannot fully comprehend what you're seeing when you look upon them and that lack of comprehension is what drives you mad. "Hikaru" is a god, and he is a god with a borrowed brain; full of thoughts and feelings and memories that all belonged to one young, incredibly human boy. He is a god with constant access to all of the humanity that Hikaru had to offer, and I don't believe there's any way he could come away from that sort of exposure 'unscathed'.

We already know "Hikaru" doesn't feel as if he had thoughts or feelings or a purpose before taking on Hikaru's body. He wandered on that mountain for years in a supposed haze before granting Hikaru's impossible wish that freed him. And we also know what Rie said about the mountain:

If you head towards Kubitachi, there's a mountain that's off limits, right? I've long felt something ominous emanating from there. I just know there's something terrible lurking there. But recently that ominous feeling disappeared into thin air. 'Gee, I wonder where it went? I'm a little scared-' went my thoughts. Until I realized that "it" is right by your side.

I find it interesting that there was a malevolent presence that was so strong that Rie could feel it without even being on the mountain, but then the moment "Hikaru" gets a body, he becomes harder to suss out. And perhaps that is because, as otherworldly and terrifying as "Hikaru" can be, the creature we know isn't truly this malevolent god that everyone fears. But maybe, the "Hikaru" we see at the end of chapter 20 is. I think who we see in the dark is Nounuki, as opposed to Unuki.

And before I say anything else, I feel like I should clarify that I am absolutely not trying to imply that "Hikaru" has some sort of split/multiple personality thing. I think this malevolence/tatarigami is more like a chronic physical illness and/or chronic pain issue that has flare-ups. Potentially even something like mono that lurks in your body for years until it finds the perfect opportunity to rear its head and trigger the cold symptoms again. (Or if I were to veer away from the analogy, something that reminds "Hikaru" of whatever incident caused him to become a tatarigami in the first place?)

And as for the memory loss?

He's an unknowable deity, so maybe just enough of "Hikaru" is human after he took over Hikaru's body, that he is also unable to know himself- or at least, not the full extent of himself. If we think of Unuki-sama and Nounuki-sama as two sides of the same coin then it makes sense that when the coin is flipped to the more godly Nounuki side, that it would be more difficult for "Hikaru" to remember those moments later on when the coin turns over again.

I also think this is why his eyes have been doing something different since the end of chapter 20 and it only makes me all the more nervous/excited to see what's going to happen in the next update after leaving us on that terrifying last panel.

And with that I am done; please forgive the super abrupt ending, I have no idea what else to say without running around in circles more than I fear I already have.

I’m so scared of what might happen to yoshiki in the story. Mokmoklen still hasn’t given us enough information but I noticed a pattern.

So, we know that for some kind of reason hikaru’s ancestor actually met lord brainsnatcher and after that encounter we can presume that some kind of pact was made (or something happened that deeply affected the brainsnatcher)

But what worries me the most is the importance heads have been having. Hikaru’s ancestor was carrying a head , and we can presume that it was from yoshiki’s ancestors as well because of the long lashes and the hair (everyone is always telling him off because of this damn hair 😭)

And we know that this person’s head became the protecting amulet of hikaru’s family since it was in their posses

Now this is where I’m theorizing, but I believe that this person might be hichi-san and they were some kind of sacrifice for the great brainsnatcher. “We must return hichi-san to the mountain”that’s what hikaru’s grandpa said, and what if that’s the reason why hikaru’s ancestor brought the head of his beloved with him? Distraught after the ritual he escapes with their head and miraculously meets with this mysterious entity (“Hikaru”) and from that moment on the brainsnatcher swore it would never hurt the people that were protected by the indou’s family.

And I believe this might be yoshiki’s faith in the near future. Notice how mokmoklen always draws attention to yoshiki’s neck in most official arts (and we know that their drawings have deep symbolism and foreshadowing in them)

His head here is literally cut off (he’s also missing an eye and the person’s head at the beginning had that side of their face covered so we can’t really say if that’s the case as well for them but yk)

Now something important we know is that yoshiki’s soul is very pure? Beautiful? However you wanna put it, and “Hikaru” stated multiple times that spirits are attracted to him because of that. (We also know from asako’s granny that the line that separates the human world with the world of the undead is significantly getting thinner and more blurred)

So what if a human sacrifice was needed ? A human with a soul so beautiful that would lure all the spirits back to their original place?

Part 5? I can't wait for the next update!!

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 / Part 7.5 / Part 8

pardoner’s tale - the star killers

I think it's funny that Yoshiki thought he could maybe kill Hikaru by stabbing him like he didn't put his entire arm right in his chest some days before and Hikaru Actually liked it lol

“He never had any real hope in the affair from the beginning; but being a cheerful hobbit he had not needed hope, as long as despair could be postponed.”

The comic is based on a scene from the chapter “The passage of the marshes”