The Summer Hikaru Died

The Summer Hikaru Died is the kind of story that creeps up on you - not just with its supernatural tension, but with a deeply human core that lingers long after the final page or scene. It's a quiet, eerie masterpiece that blends horror, grief, and love with incredible emotional precision.

Set in a small rural town wrapped in mist and isolation, the story follows Yoshiki, a teenage boy dealing with a terrifying realization: the friend he once knew, Hikaru, might no longer be human. What unfolds isn't your typical horror tale, but something far more nuanced - a melancholic coming-of-age wrapped in cosmic dread.

The writing (or adaptation, if you're reviewing the show) treats its characters with rare sensitivity. There's no rush to explain the mystery or force cheap scares. Instead, it focuses on building atmosphere, tension, and the fragile, complicated bond between two boys navigating love, fear, and loss. The ambiguity of their relationship - romantic? Platonic? Something more cosmic? - is part of the beauty. It invites interpretation without ever feeling coy or incomplete.

Fans of Mushishi, Shiki, or A Silent Voice will feel at home here, but Hikaru stands on its own as a rare piece of horror that dares to be gentle, even as it horrifies.

This is a story about grief, love, and the unknown. About how we cope when someone we love changes into something we can't quite understand - or when we change ourselves. It's not just one of the best horror titles of the year, it's one of the most emotionally resonant stories I've encountered in a long time. Absolutely essential.

It starts as a very strong, creepy show with the ambiguity and creativity of superior anime like Lain or Monogatari. The first episode gave me great hope about The Summer Hikaru Died as a successor of weird and visually polished anime.

The disappointment came from the fact that this season seemed to foreshadow important turning points but did nothing with them. The final episode is very flat. I understand that they are adapting a manga, so one season wouldn't have been enough, but it felt like this first season is just there to hype better seasons.

Hikaru is the best character, and his relationship with Yoshiki brings lots of questions and memorable, weird moments. There is a lot of gay subtext behind it, and I'm curious to see where they will go with that.

With an unsettling and chilling atmosphere, The Summer Hikaru Died delivers a gripping tale of horror, friendship, grief and sins based in a small town.

The plot follows Hikaru who got lost in the mountains and back after 6 months. His return brings abnormal anomalies into the town. Hikaru is gone and an entity possesses his body and his friend Yoshiki who doesn't want to believe that his friend is gone.

The horror element on this is amazing and how they create tension is well thought out and executed effectively, with everything connected as we go further. The animation is visually striking and characters are well-drawn. And the mix with hyper realistic elements within some episodes was such a brilliant touch on their end.

Overall, The Summer Hikaru Died is a creepy horror anime with elements of absurdity, emotions as well as mystery that works well to give a tense atmosphere. Waiting for the next season to see more.

My Rating : 3.5/5.

Technically speaking, 3 episodes isn't enough to proclaim this is a masterpiece, but as a big fan of body horror mixed with queer subtext (and straight up text, I mean-) this is really everything I've ever wished for in a beautifully animated package. Sound design? Amazing. Voice acting? Stellar. You can't ask for much more perfection, really - the complexity is well captured even if the content is undoubtedly less lengthy than the manga. I wonder what emotions they'll be able to pull out of me in the next episodes but so far, this is beautiful and should already be scheduled for a second season.

The Summer Hikaru Died lingers long after you put it down. What begins as a quiet, almost nostalgic slice-of-life about two boys in a rural town slowly unravels into a deeply unsettling, emotionally charged horror story that cuts straight to the heart.

The horror here isn't just supernatural - it's existential. The dread builds not from jump scares, but from the unbearable question: what if someone you loved came back... but wasn't them anymore? Yoshiki's inner conflict, his denial, his grief, and his quiet desperation are portrayed with haunting subtlety.

The art is beautiful and atmospheric, often sparse but loaded with feeling. Every shadow feels intentional. Every panel carries weight. And the pacing is masterful - slow, deliberate, with a constant sense of something not quite right.

This isn't just a horror manga. It's a meditation on identity, attachment, and the quiet horrors of change. It's intimate. It's terrifying. It's tender. A must-read for anyone who wants more than just gore and monsters - this is horror with a soul.