On May 24, 2024, the anime adaptation of the manga series “The Summer Hikaru Died” was announced via the X account of the author, Mokumokuren. The announcement, however, did not specify whether the adaptation would be a TV series, OVA series, or a movie.
“The Summer Hikaru Died” manga began serialization in August 2021 and has published five volumes to date. The series has received various accolades and has even inspired a light novel adaptation written by Mio Nukaga, with Mokumokuren serving as the illustrator for the novel.
The Summer Hikaru Died Receives Anime Adaptation
The announcement tweet featured a short video showing the main cast of the series sitting around a table. Initially, the video was in monotone but transformed into a colorful display as the announcement of the anime adaptation was made. The tweet was captioned: “‘The Summer Hikaru Died’ is being made into an anime. Thank you for your cooperation.”
The manga series, written and illustrated by Mokumokuren, started as a web manga on Kadokawa’s Young Ace Up website in August 2021. It was later published as physical volumes, with five volumes currently available in Japanese. Yen Press acquired the rights to publish the series in English and has released three volumes, with the fourth scheduled for release on August 20, 2024.
「光が死んだ夏」がアニメ化します！
何卒よろしくお願いします。 pic.twitter.com/nCcj6hnQyV
— モクモクれん (@mokmok_len) May 24, 2024
The series has won the Traditional Chinese Global Special Prize at the Tsugi ni Kuru Manga Awards in 2022 and was nominated for the Manga Taisho Awards in 2023. It has also achieved significant commercial success, with 2.1 million copies sold between volumes 1-4.
“The Summer Hikaru Died” is a horror-mystery manga that revolves around two male protagonists, Yoshiki and Hikaru. These two best friends live in a small village, where they find comfort in each other’s company. Their deep bond often leads others to question the authenticity of their friendship.
The story takes a dark turn when Yoshiki starts noticing changes in Hikaru following a mysterious incident one summer. Hikaru’s personality and appearance begin to shift in unsettling ways, and whenever Yoshiki tries to discuss these changes, Hikaru becomes threatening, insisting that Yoshiki accept the new reality. Hikaru even claims that ‘it’ loves Yoshiki.
Yoshiki finds himself trapped in a situation where he has to pretend to be best friends with someone who may no longer be the friend he once knew. The horror-mystery deepens as Yoshiki grapples with the question of whether Hikaru is still the same person or if something far more sinister has taken over his friend.
