Hikaru died. Then “Hikaru” started his new life.
“The Summer Hikaru Died,” originally a manga series and later announced as an anime produced by CygamesPictures, premiered in July 2025.
Countryside lore, religion, friendship, adaptation and the meaning of life: these words constructed the idea of “The Summer Hikaru Died.” Yoshiki Tsujinaka (辻中 佳紀) was childhood best friends with Hikaru Indo (忌堂 光), but Hikaru went to a local mountain for a “family burden” and went missing for days. When he returned, he was different.
The atmosphere of horror and fear is very obvious throughout the anime—Hikaru was replaced by some mysterious, exotic presence, which was sensed at the very start by Yoshiki. “Hikaru” acted scared, and attempted to eliminate Yoshiki by his instinct, but with all of Hikaru’s previous memory and the way Yoshiki treated him (friendly and kind), he suppressed his urges to act violently. From Yoshiki’s perspective, despite being horrified by seeing what “Hikaru” really is, Yoshiki is filled with complex emotions but nonetheless accepts that “at least I can still be with Hikaru”. Honestly, it is kind of weird and scary, but the feeling of being overwhelmed by shock overrides those feelings.
The background setting, leading to the new identity of “Hikaru,” should be considered the most interesting part—even more than the relationship that develops between Yoshiki and Hikaru. Curiosity drives viewers to want to explore what is hidden behind the village and why Hikaru died. The lores are also attractions to go further in the story.
On the other hand, the emotional development or relationship development is too much, as it drags down the whole plot. In a few episodes, the “discovering” part of the plot vanished, leaving things between Yoshiki and Hikaru only, which dried out the feelings of curiosity, leaving viewers inclined to skip those episodes.
In the perspective of rendering and illustrating scenes, the works are appreciated. Though the anime is scary and intense, the animation does not overpower these feelings. Various pressure-filled scenes do not give out an uncomfortable feeling but still depicts the threat, and the jump scares do not really scare you, but instead shock you.
“The Summer Hikaru Died” is really a polarizing anime. It will be a great one for those who want to see the relationship part, and while it does lean towards towards BL (Boy Love) though there’s no actual gay content included; audiences for lores and background settings should consider it as a secondary, or “bench anime,” which is a good choice when there are no other animes viewers are heavily interested in.
In the perspective of rendering and illustrating scenes, the works are appreciated. Though the anime is scary and intense, the animation does not overpower these feelings. Various pressure-filled scenes do not give out an uncomfortable feeling but still depicts the threat, and the jump scares do not really scare you, but instead shock you.
“The Summer Hikaru Died” is really a polarizing anime. It will be a great one for those who want to see the relationship part, and while it does lean towards towards BL (Boy Love) though there’s no actual gay content included; audiences for lores and background settings should consider it as a secondary, or “bench anime,” which is a good choice when there are no other animes viewers are heavily interested in.
