THE SUMMER HIKARU DIED

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MANGA HorrorThe Summer Hikaru Died
ANIME HorrorHikaru ga Shinda Natsu 2nd Season

REVIEWS

• 

  Misoony

  100/100
  To Accept and Love a Monster

  What is love? Is it something a monster can feel? Does a monster even have the right to feel such a thing?

  Oh my gosh, one of my favorite manga got an amazing adaptation, and I couldn't be happier. This anime perfectly mixes the emotion and horror of the original manga to the point of making the story even stronger. I'd say this is the best anime in the Summer 2025 season. Yes, Takopi's Original Sin was amazing, but I think The Summer Hikaru Died is even better.

  Forbidden love is already a tragedy unto itself, but when the person you love is no longer the same soul you fell in love with, instead a monster who now reciprocates your feelings, what are you to do? That's the situation Yoshiki now finds himself facing.

  It's a really interesting premise. Usually, I don't expect much from horror anime, but this anime has done an incredible job. Seriously, this is probably the best horror anime I've ever watched and one of the best emotionally as well.

  __Story and Characters__

  Usually I'd make these two separate categories, but it's a very character-driven story, so it'd be difficult to do that. This story really revolves around the human experience. Whether that be experiencing genuine emotions, valuing human life or facing grief and acceptance. Yoshiki must face his feelings toward the new "Hikaru," while "Hikaru" must face the new human emotions he's experiencing. Oh my gosh, it's done so well. While they're facing these emotional and relationship conflicts, there are also people hunting down the mysterious, evil entity (Hikaru) that's come from the mountain.

  Yoshiki deeply cared for his friend, Hikaru. So when he comes back, but not as he once was, now a monster, a completely different being just wearing his friend's face, Yoshiki has to decide whether or not to accept him. He desperately wants to accept him, be by his side, and pretend everything is okay, and sometimes it seems as if that'll work well. Hikaru is a really cute character after all. But once in a while, his monstrous side does show. The human emotions vanish, and he'll easily take a person's life without any sort of hesitation. All the while stating he cares for Yoshiki. It puts Yoshiki in an interesting yet tragic position. It makes the viewer, well, me at least, want to root for Hikaru; he can be so cute at times, but for Yoshiki, that's easier said than done since his friend is a monster.

  I can't quite describe how well-done this conflict is. The anime really portrays the tension and sadness between the two really, really well.

  __Animation and Sound__

  AMAZING. Seriously, as I said earlier in the review, they were able to make such a good horror anime, which is so so rare to see! It really builds up tension, not with gore but with the emotional value of everything and the consequences those emotions could have. At the same time, the anime throws in creepy creatures that actually look creepy so that helps with the horror a lot. As for the animation in general, it looks really good. I have no complaints. It really helps carry out the uneasy vibes the story already gives. The setting should feel warm, but it doesn't; there's almost an empty feeling to it all. So the animation doing the setting so well worked wonders for the story. The music is fantastic too. I'm especially a fan of the ending song. I've liked all the OSTs as well. Hopefully, they'll be out on Spotify soon because I will absolutely be adding them to my playlists.

  What I also liked

  There's a scene in episode four where Hikaru mistakenly calls someone who's queer, diseased. He's quickly corrected by Yoshiki, clarifying that he's homosexual, not diseased. And I feel like this moment really captures the anime well. While it's not a romance, it does have undertones of the struggle queer people face for acceptance. In the small, rural village the two characters reside in, such love is seen as diseased, monstrous -- and in a way, I think that's a reference to Yoshiki's current love for Hikaru. It's so sad, but it's written really well. I'm really glad to see LGBTQ+ characters represented more in anime and in such a well-written story as well.

  I don't want to spoil anything, but the last episode was absolutely phenomenal. Seriously one of the best episodes, in general, that I've ever watched. It's heart-wrenching yet so beautiful at once. It truly shows the heartache in accepting others and yourself, and oh my gosh, the dialogue was written so beautifully. Seriously, what an amazing episode.

  

  Overall

  It's not just a simple forbidden love story. It's one that's genuinely sad and hurts to watch. It's not even necessarily a romance, yet it's still so well-written that you can feel the care they hold for each other and how much it hurts. The character's feelings really do feel genuine, and that really makes an impact. I'd absolutely recommend watching this, it's by far my favorite anime from this season.

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• 

  Hikairis

  85/100
  A Summer Too Beautiful to Last – Loving What’s No Longer There

  "Even if you're not Hikaru... I still want to stay by your side"

  It has a certain type of horror which does not depend on blood, jump scares, and monsters in darkness. It is the worst thing the acknowledgment of the fact that you still stand in one place near something you love, yet something wrong. The Summer Hikaru Died exists purely in that awkwardness, and it does so with a disturbing vapour of composure which renders it difficult to stop watching.

  The thing that I found most interesting about this adaptation is that it is tender. The anime is not hasty as every moment is allowed to breathe. The camera is lingering over the streets when they are not busy, over the grass, and the humming of cicadae, all that makes summer so nostalgic and so short. This peaceful environment turns out to be the ideal background of the emotional conflict of Yoshiki. The Hikaru we observe is not a monster, in the classic sense of this word. It is somehow more human, than situation permits. It appears to take care of Yoshiki, want to be near him, and there is where the horror, indeed, is.

  The love here is not articulated but cannot be ignored. Yoshiki is not only afraid or in denial by remaining with Hikaru but rather loving him. He is aware that something has gone wrong, that the actual Hikaru is gone, but he opts to hold onto this new him, however, uncanny it is. This is best portrayed in the anime with little glances, little touches, and long silences that can communicate more than words could ever communicate. This is not a love story in the usual sense of the word, it is more complex, more hurtful. It poses the question of whether love is able to endure when the person that you are in love with has essentially changed.

  The sound design takes everything to a new level, the natural environment makes the silence itself so heavy, the music does not appear much, but it is so gentle and almost sorrowful, like a memory that you cannot keep. The plotting maintains a slow and intimate pace giving attention to the inner world of Yoshiki instead of jump scares and flashy horror. It is not attempting to frighten you off the chair, it is attempting to sink into your flesh, to make you wonder what you would do in the position of Yoshiki.

  This anime isn't for everyone. You may get frustrated going in and expecting a fast-paced action and a classic supernatural fight. However, when you need something spooky, silent and very human, this is one of the most emotionally resonant series of recent years. It is a tale of sorrow, romance and suffering of not letting go of something that is already lost.

  Towards the end, I was both cold and empty, like I experienced the summer of Yoshiki with him. The Summer Hikaru Died is not merely horror it is a reflection on maturing, losing a loved one, and making a decision to love despite the pain. And that is why it is one of the most beautiful - and heartbreaking - anime of the year.

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• 

  melamuna

  80/100
  Coming of Grief (+ Horror on the side)

  ---

  

  We associate summer as a time where we can loosen up. Though we may not like the hot weather it brings, it refreshes us through festivals, food, and moments shared among friends (or even shared with a potential “someone”). And yet, in the case of our character, Yoshiki Tsujinaka (Chiaki Kobayashi), he doesn’t feel great, as he’s been feeling down in the dumps—despite the presence of Hikaru Indou (Shuichirou Umeda).

  What we don’t often realize is that summer is also associated with the presence of spirits—or in this case, the presence of a mimic. It might not click at first, but the rest of this rural village has been feeling it lately: a sudden, dense, heavy feeling, a presence they couldn’t grasp until it was too late.

  Suddenly, Yoshiki’s mind clicks—and he finds a revelation.

  Hikaru’s dead. And whoever’s on my side isn’t Hikaru.

  Yoshiki should be frightened by this revelation, and yet, he clings. Where everyone else should be afraid, he stays. And that heavy energy, which should have crushed Yoshiki’s heart, ultimately warms him more. ***

  To get straight to the highlights of this anime: this is by far one of the most well-directed horror anime we’ve had in such a long time—if not ever in the anime scene. Its quiet, eerie ambiance, paired with the sound of cicadas, invokes both a calm feeling and a sense of the unknown within the anime’s rural setting. This is enhanced by suspenseful music that heightens the tension of its highly aesthetic visuals, and avant-garde editing that creates one of the most uncomfortable visual-audio horror experiences in anime—essentially unrivaled by others (excluding gore-focused anime, which belong to a different category altogether).

  But as a horror anime, it goes even further. While the series mainly follows the daily lives of these characters in a rural town, along with the outsiders trying to uncover the anomalies within it, the lore implied in the background is one of the most intriguing of the season—despite often playing subtly in the shadows. After all, this is a horror series, but it pushes beyond the genre. It introduces a theme rarely explored in horror anime:

  What if that “special” person, so dear to your life, died?

  Aside from being a horror show with horror-esque progression, it is also a captivating drama behind its attractively creepy visuals. The show explores these themes of grief and loss and complicates Yoshiki’s circumstances with the presence of Hikaru’s mimic—a person who feels like he's there, but isn’t. Yoshiki battles conflicting feelings, knowing that the Hikaru he’s been with his entire life is no longer there. Despite the mimic in front of him bearing a resemblance to Hikaru’s traits, it is empty of Hikaru’s heart.

  On some days, Yoshiki feels relieved that—despite the lack of heart in this mimic—it helps alleviate his guilt over the loss, his longing, and his unresolved grief over the realization that Hikaru is gone. Yet that exact comfort is also the source of Yoshiki’s pain. The more present the mimic is, the more his heart aches.

  It’s a conflicting feeling that should have an obvious resolution—but that’s not how real life works. Or rather, that’s not how the human heart works. This series explores that emotional complexity, intertwined with a captivating, traditional, summer-themed rural yokai horror story. ***

  The Summer Hikaru Died stands out as a horror anime that’s genuinely terrifying at times—something rare in 2025. It crafts a beautifully haunting atmosphere while delivering a coming-of-age—or rather, a coming-of-grief—story that deeply resonates with its audience. It’s a highly recommended watch amid the crowded lineup of Summer 2025. ***

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COMMENTS

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