The staff for the Hikaru ga Shinda Natsu (The Summer Hikaru Died/ 光が死んだ夏) TV anime confirmed that the anime will be getting a second season. A teaser video and visual have been revealed, along with illustrations by author Mokumokuren and by character designer Takahashi Yuuichi.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQbgKFzgAyI]
The anime’s first season was directed by Takeshita Ryohei at Cygames Pictures, and it premiered in Japan on July 5th, 2025. The anime starred:
- Kobayashi Chiaki as Yoshita Tsujinaka
- Umeda Shuuichirou as Hikaru Indou
- Hanamori Yumiri as Asako Yamagashi
- Kowaka Wakana as Rei Kurebayashi
- Kobayashi Chikahiro as Tanaka
- Nakajima Yoshiki as Yuta Maki
- Wakayama Shion as Yuki Tadokoro
The anime’s first season can be streamed worldwide on Netflix and on the ABEMA streaming service in Japan. Netflix describes the anime below:
“Six months ago, Hikaru vanished for a week. Now, as his best friend Yoshiki senses something amiss and confronts him, the harrowing truth emerges.”
The anime is based on Mokumokuren’s Hikaru ga Shinda Natsu manga. The horror manga was launched by Mokumokuren on Kadokawa’s Young Ace Up website in August 2021, and Kadokawa released the manga’s first tankoubon volume in March 2022. The most recent volume, number seven, was published in July 2025.
Yen Press releases the manga in English under the name The Summer Hikaru Died, and it will release the sixth volume on October 28th, 2025. It describes the manga’s first volume below:
“It has Hikaru’s face. It has Hikaru’s voice. It even has Hikaru’s memories. But whatever came down from the mountains six months ago isn’t Yoshiki’s best friend. Whatever it is, it’s dangerous. Carrying on at school and hanging out as if nothing has changed—as if Hikaru isn’t gone—would be crazy…but when it looks so very like Hikaru…and acts so very like Hikaru…”
The manga was adapted into a light novel by Nukaga Mio in December 2023, and Kadokawa released the series’ second novel in July 2025. Yen Press released the first novel in English in April 2025.
The Hikaru ga Shinda Natsu manga has been nominated for several awards, such as the 16th Manga Taisho Award, and it has been listed in several prominent book lists, such as the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) 2024 list of Great Graphic Novels for Teens. The manga and its author were also nominated for the 2024 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards; the manga was nominated for the Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia category, while Mokumokuren was nominated for the Best Writer/Artist category.
We’ve previously covered Hikaru ga Shinda Natsu on NamiComi News. Check it out here.
