サマータイムレンダ

SUMMER TIME RENDER

MANGA

STATUS
COMPLETE
VOLUMES
13
RELEASE
February 1, 2021
CHAPTERS
139

DESCRIPTION

A tragic incident calls a young man named Shinpei back to his hometown on the remote island of Higotoshima, Japan. But something sinister awaits upon his return, and a chilling sequence of events unfolds that will have dire consequences for Shinpei, for Japan, and for the entire world!

(Source: Udon Entertainment)

CAST

Hizuru Minakata
Shinpei Ajiro
Ushio Kofune
Mio Kofune
Haine
Ryuunosuke Nagumo
Tokiko Hishigata
Ginjirou Nezu
Sou Hishigata
Masahito Karikiri
Tetsu Totsumura
Shiori Kobayakawa
Alain Kofune
Chitose Hishigata
Seidou Hishigata
Tatsuo Kobayakawa
Asako Kobayakawa

CHAPTERS

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REVIEWS

GGShang
75/100
An engaging mystery thriller that's deeply shounen, for better or for worse
What happens when you take the premise of Us, the plot skeleton of Erased, mix it with the powers of Re:Zero and top it off with a good helping of shounen flair? Well you get Summer Time Rendering of course. Now, I’m genuinely stuck on how I feel about this series. On one hand, the initial pull of the mystery surrounding the main character and the bizarre happenings around his hometown island are captivating, but I just can’t bring myself to say that this is a great series. Let’s get more into the details.

Just in case the initial comparisons didn’t make sense, Summer Time Rendering is mystery series where our MC returns to his hometown to attend the funeral of his childhood crush and step sister (it’s not weird I swear), only to find that the town is in grave danger. Doppelganger shadows have appeared throughout town killing their originals and taking their place. At the same time, our MC suddenly gains the power to go back in time after he dies and, using this newfound power, tries to prevent the mass murder of all the townsfolk he grew up with. Like I said earlier, the initial few chapters when the audience and MC are just learning about the gravity of the situation going on is probably the best part of the manga. It plays hard off of shock value and drops clues to events that will later occur, leaving the readers confused yet interested in what is going to happen next. Following this initial phase of the manga, it subsequently goes into more trial-and-error planning and execution through the use of the time traveling power, and ultimately ends with the finale. It’s with these phases of the manga that I have a few issues with. The first problem that plagues this manga is the fact that it suffers, strangely enough, from a very typical shounen problem: power creep. As the MC learns more and more about the situation and devises strategies to deal with them, the enemy likewise becomes stronger and stronger. It gets to a point where I personally find it hard to believe that this all came about from such a brilliant beginning. Not only that, but for a mystery series, Summer Time Rendering left me with quite a few questions by the end that I still don’t quite understand. The best example of this is probably the ending, which I actually really enjoy, but still find questionable based on things set up earlier in the series.

Moving on from the plot however, the series actually holds its own fairly well. Many of the characters are likeable, albeit pretty flat, which do a well enough job to support the main plot. Still though, I have two issues in regards to the characters in this series. The first and most important one is the fact that the main villain of the manga is hella boring (or at least one of them is). They fall into the realm of “being evil for the sake of being evil”. There is no genuine rational for their actions beyond that, which I think really hurts the story. Aside from that, the other issue I had is the fact that Summer Time Rendering doesn’t try to go deeper into the one really interesting character conflict within the story, that of the two sisters. With the whole story being about shadows being monsters and taking over the place of their originals, the idea that one sister lives in the other’s shadow is a point that is brilliantly raised. I think if they explored it more and gave more tension then they could have really had something good on their hands, yet all they do is bring up the fact and drop it at that. It’s honestly pretty disappointing.

So at this point it sounds like I really dislike the series, but I somehow I don’t. And I think the reason for that is because of the pacing. There is generally little to no lag time between story beats which keeps the flow of the story strong. Every point leads to later points, and all ideas set up are delivered upon later. This makes for an enjoyable reading experience that is really satisfying for a binge reader such as myself. So while the story may have its flaws, it makes up for it by being straight up fun to read.

To bring a few more comparisons into this review, Summer Time Rendering feels like a more shounen version of Erased or Shiki, which I personally found to be a great benefit since those two (especially Shiki) felt overly heavy to read. Yes this series has its flaws, some of which can be pretty bad, but I found it enjoyable despite them. So if you’re in the mood for a lighter yet still interesting mystery manga, then I’d suggest you go check this one out.
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LauruxKittyCat
84/100
A great thriller story with some plot holes.
Summertime Rendering is a very interesting manga overall. It's not unique in it's way of using time travel or parallel universe concepts, but the way the characters all feel distinct and you can definitely find at least one to sympathize with is what makes this and entertaining read.

There's going to be a lot of spoilers so I'll just hide them if you would like to read it yourself.

The world of this manga is quite plain, I didn't feel attached to the island or it's culture. It wasn't drawn too detailed either, but it's okay since the characters make the whole story what it is.

Character wise, like I already mentioned, every one of them is very distinct, if you want a young guy that tries to calculate his moves and occasionally thinks objectively because of his past mistakes, check. Maybe you want a strong female protagonist that can kick everyone's butt and still stay the cutest and most lovable, check. Maybe you want that one annoying second female that keeps having unrequited love that the protagonist has to save, but it's okay because she's actually pretty chill, check. Or maybe you want pretty good villains that do reflect actual evil and greed.

I'm a sucker for when the evil guys are actually humans overcome by greed for more. It's a great concept because it's true to life. Most humans can turn to the dark side very easily, just by temptation alone.

Shinpei: I do like him and the way he's able to take a step back and look at the situation objectively, I think we all wished we could do that. I just want someone to clarify this for me. At the end of the manga, Shinpei gets the awakened Hiruko's eye from Ushio, right? And that's been happening for a lot of loops in parallel universes. But does that mean that Shinpei can still loop? Not that it's needed now that everyone is alive, but is it possible that he still has that ability? Or did Hiruko's eye disappear with Hiruko. But then how did Ushio give the awakened eye to Shinpei at the start and end of the manga if it was supposed to disappear. Overall, mentally Shinpei is the strongest, being able to withstand seeing your friends die over and over and over again, on top of that, being able to kill yourself whenever the time comes takes a lot of mental strength, which is why Shinpei is strong, but it also reminds me of the way psychopaths think. If you have the ability to save your friends over and over and over again, normal people would break down at the sight of their friends dying like that. Shinpei seems to brush it off and look at everything objectively, which is what most psychopaths would do. They don't use feelings, they use logic.

Ushio: Still don't understand how was she able to be the "different and good" shadow. Is it because of Ushio's overall good being? Was she born from within Hiruko's request to end it all. Like we see at the end of the manga, Hiruko asks Ushio to erase her, maybe that was Hiruko's plan from the very beginning if the plan to go home didn't work out. Maybe Ushio's shadow was created like a plan B. Overall, Ushio is a great character, lovable and you always want her to win. Not too overpowered, but also not too weak. Psychologically she's probably the second strongest of the whole squad, right after Shinpei.

Hiruko: Apart from it being a god that was washed ashore a long time ago, we don't know much about it. It created all these shadows because of what? Loneliness? I think so. Seeing the being left of the great god Hiruko at the end is heartbreaking. Even if it was portrayed as the villain for the biggest chunk of the story, all it wanted was to go home and live happily with it's family. Sadly, even gods fall victims to human traps

Shide: There's too many names this guy goes by so I'll use the easiest one of them. The fact that this selfish guys decided to take care of a "god" and in turn saw a chance to control it already says a lot about him. Hungry for power he was. Not only that, but also immortal life and to see everything burn around him. A villain that has no reason to get sympathy from others, unlike Hiruko. The whole armor made of corpses already says enough about this guy. And the fact that he dares to be unhappy with the fact that he can't be reborn again is maddening, the guy lived for 324 years or something and still hasn't learned a thing.

All in all, this ending part is for the people that hasn't read this manga yet and would like to try it.
It's good, a really easy and quick read in my opinion. You'll breeze through it very easily. The start may seem interesting, then it gets s little slow and repetitive, but don't worry, it gets a lot better and if you like action, the end definitely has enough of it. A very thrilling story with mysteries to uncover. A great read for the summer.
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Sakuraplant
100/100
Very intriguing, now a personal favorite

WARNING, SPOILERS AHEAD!

So I was watching a YouTube video on manga recommendations and this was on the list. I was hesitant at first ( most likely because I was judging from the manga cover ), but wanted to give it a try. Also the other manga I was reading didn't update the latest chapter, and I was too impatient to wait for it to come out.
__About__
The story is set on a small, fictional island called Hitogashima. A boy named Shinpei Ajiro returns after leaving two years ago to live in Tokyo. He comes to attend the funeral of his childhood friend, Ushio Kofune. Eventually, Shinpei starts to uncover the dark mysteries and monsters of the island, and must save his family and friends.

The monsters, which in fact are called shadows. Personally, I like to call them walking printers that can shapeshift.
__Characters__
First off, the characters are great. I like how each one has their own personality and you learn their roles in the story after Ushio's death. Shinpei is a good character who loves his friends and family dearly, and is willing to do anything to protect them. There are times where he doubts himself, but then his confidence starts to come back. I also find the " take a step back and think" kinda funny cause it reminds me of one of my family members saying something similar to that. I like how Shinpei's able to use his objectivity and think things through. Mio's a nice, cute character. She was really funny in the story, especially when it came to Sou confessing his feeling to her. Speaking of Sou, he's great! Though, I feel bad that he thinks it's his fault for Ushio's death cause he wasn't fast enough. Nagumo/Hizuru were super cool, and did a great job during the big fights ( which you'll see once you get near the middle of the story ). Shadow Ushio is very funny. She was energetic and was serious when she needed to be. I would say she was the most positive out of all characters. She wasn't just the comedic relief, but she's strong and I like that about her.
__Art style__
I think the artsyle plays a major role when it comes to making manga. It's what draws the reader in and allows them to feel like they are in that setting. Put simply, the artwork was stunning. I loved the amount of detail that was put into the background and into the characters. For example, in the scenes when it was raining. I liked the way they were drawn. Even if it's in black and white, you can still see the beauty of it. Like literally, I wish I could draw like that!
__Plot__
The plot was very interesting. It's like if the movies "Us" and "Happy Death Day" had a child. Just different characters and slightly different objective. Seeing the characters work together was great, and I like how in each chapter, the characters were getting closer and closer to finding a way to stop the monsters. I will admit that there was a lot of information to take in, especially when Shinpei is explaining certain things. So it's kinda a lot to process. Nevertheless, it didn't stop me from enjoying it. I couldn't put the manga down.
__Conclusion__
All in all, this was a great series. As I am writing this review, I am currently watching the anime adaptation. Would I recommend it? Sure, if you don't mind violence and bloodshed. So if you like action, thrillers with a bit of comedy, this is perfect for you. Although, I think it would be a little too much if you are planning to recommend this to a person who is just getting into manga.
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