The terrifying mystery is far from over.
After the finale episode of “The Summer Hikaru Died” (Hikaru ga Shinda Natsu) premiered on 27 September, it was announced that Season 2 is now in production. The news, which was also revealed via the anime's official X (formerly Twitter) account, was paired with a teaser visual celebrating the news.
The Summer Hikaru Died is the romance of the season
Although “The Summer Hikaru Died” is first and foremost a chilling folk horror anime, the series is centred around the bitter love between its two main characters, Yoshiki and Hikaru–or more exactly, the thing that has Hikaru's face. Yoshiki grapples with a complex variety of emotions towards the monster who took Hikaru's form: paralysing grief, unbounded joy, spine-tingling terror, and even all-consuming hate paired with an unequivocal love.
Yoshiki knows that the Hikaru he truly loved had died deep within the mountains that one fateful summer's day, but even though the “Hikaru” that came back isn't the same boy he grew up with, he can't help but pour his affections on the monster simply because it has Hikaru's face and memories.
However, the monster itself holds deeper ties with their backwater town than what is initially believed. And with the townspeople hiding dark secrets tied to Hikaru's fate, it's up to Yoshiki to unravel the threads and solve the mystery behind what exactly took Hikaru.
Sure, there's Lovecraftian terror almost every episode, but the anime cultivated the depth of love between “Hikaru” and Yoshiki, showing us the breadth of their devotion to each other, and that's something not every romance anime can do.
It's pretty rare for a horror boy's love anime to make as much impact as “The Summer Hikaru Died” did, and we're definitely excited for more.
What can we expect for Season 2?
A broadcast window is still up in the air for Season 2, but the story will definitely come to a head once it's in our screens. Season 1 portrayed the first two arcs of Mokumokuren's manga, which is the ‘Daily Life Arc’ and ‘The Mystery Solving Arc’.
The next arc, which will animate the manga's current ‘The Hole Closing Arc’, will feature Yoshiki and “Hikaru” taking action towards the darker forces threatening their town.
So far, the manga is still ongoing, so if you're wanting to find out what comes next for Yoshiki and “Hikaru” before Season 2 airs, the anime adapted until Chapter 26, Volume 5.
The manga is planned to have 10 volumes according to Mokumokuren, with the title's upcoming sixth volume set to be published by Yen Press on 28 October.
