The Summer Hikaru Died (光が死んだ夏), an adaptation of Mokumokuren’s acclaimed horror manga, is officially coming to Netflix in summer 2025.
This announcement, made earlier today (November 27, 2024) by Netflix, comes with a teaser visual, a promotional video, and a lineup of talent that’s looking pretty promising. The exact release date is yet to be revealed by Netflix.
For those who don’t know, The Summer Hikaru Died is a haunting mix of slice-of-life and horror. It’s been serialized on Young Ace UP and currently spans five volumes, with the sixth one dropping on December 4.
The series bagged the top spot in the This Manga is Amazing! 2023 (Kono Manga ga Sugoi!) male readers’ category—a big deal, considering how competitive that list gets every year.
The story centers on Yoshiki, a high school boy living in a rural village, and his childhood friend Hikaru—or rather, a mysterious entity that’s replaced him.
Cue unsettling “supernatural slice-of-life” vibes as strange events unravel around them. The horror isn’t just in the supernatural—it’s in the unease and tension that drips from every interaction.
Staff and Cast
The adaptation is being helmed by Ryohei Takeshita (The Night of the Jellyfish Can’t Swim), with CygamesPictures handling animation. CygamesPictures is known for polished visuals, so expectations for this adaptation’s atmosphere are already sky-high.
As for the cast:
- Chiaki Kobayashi voices Yoshiki. You might recognize him from his roles in Great Pretender (Makoto) or Hell’s Paradise (Gabimaru). Based on his comments, he’s fully committed to capturing Yoshiki’s conflicted feelings and emotional turmoil.
- Shuichiro Umeda takes on the role of Hikaru, or rather the “thing” masquerading as Hikaru. Umeda mentioned the surreal challenge of embodying something both familiar and deeply uncanny.
TL;DR
- Manga: The Summer Hikaru Died by Mokumokuren (5 volumes, 6th releasing Dec. 4).
- Anime: Summer 2025, Nippon TV.
- Streaming: Netflix (global) and ABEMA (Japan).
- Studio: CygamesPictures. Director: Ryohei Takeshita.
- Cast: Chiaki Kobayashi (Yoshiki), Shuichiro Umeda (Hikaru).
Source: Comic Natalie, Netflix
