Netflix has welcomed a new success in the world of horror anime with the premiere of ‘The Summer When Hikaru Died’ (‘Hikaru ga Shinda Natsu’), which concluded its first season with a total of twelve episodes. The series, set in a rural Japanese village, tells the story of two friends, Yoshiki and Hikaru, whose friendship is cut short when Hikaru mysteriously dies. Subsequently, a creature takes over his body, and only Yoshiki is able to notice that his friend is no longer who he used to be. Despite this disturbing reality, Yoshiki decides to maintain the charade as strange events begin to occur around him.
Waiting for the manga
With the success of ‘The Summer When Hikaru Died’, it has already been confirmed that the second season is in progress, although not many details about its development have been revealed yet. The production has shared a first poster showing Yoshiki and Hikaru walking by the sea, generating expectations among the fans of the series. However, the path to a new installment may not be as quick as expected, due to the limitations of the source material.
The original manga by Mokumokuren only has seven published volumes, and the anime has adapted up to chapter 26 out of a total of 39. This means that the series has exhausted much of the available content for adaptation, and it is expected that any further development they want to undertake may be delayed. Some rumors suggest that, given the manga’s monthly publication pace, the second season may not arrive until 2027, which would leave fans waiting for new episodes for a considerable time.
Despite these challenges, the CygamesPictures studio does not seem overloaded with other projects, which could facilitate a more agile production if new chapters of the manga are obtained in the near future. However, the success of the first season suggests that the series is a priority for the studio, generating some hope among its followers.