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The Summer Hikaru Died

The Summer Hikaru Died
First tankōbon volume cover, featuring Hikaru
光が死んだ夏
(Hikaru ga Shinda Natsu)
Genre
Manga
Written byMokumokuren
Published byKadokawa Shoten
English publisher
MagazineYoung Ace Up
DemographicSeinen
Original runAugust 31, 2021 – present
Volumes6
Anime television series
Directed byRyōhei Takeshita
Written byRyōhei Takeshita
StudioCygamesPictures
Licensed byNetflix (streaming rights)
Original networkNippon TV
Original run Q3 2025 – scheduled
icon Anime and manga portal

The Summer Hikaru Died (Japanese: 光が死んだ夏, Hepburn: Hikaru ga Shinda Natsu) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Mokumokuren. It began serialization on Kadokawa Shoten's Young Ace Up website in August 2021. As of December 2024, the series' individual chapters have been collected in six tankōbon volumes. It follows the story of Yoshiki, a teenager in rural Japan who discovers that his best friend Hikaru has been possessed by an otherworldly entity, forcing him to navigate their changed relationship amid supernatural dangers.

Mokumokuren first conceived of the series while studying for exams and later began posting drawings on Twitter, which led to the Young Ace Up editorial department approaching Mokumokuren to serialize the manga via the Young Ace Up website. An anime television series adaptation produced by CygamesPictures is set to premiere in Q3 2025.

Upon release of the first volume, the series became a critical and commercial success, with the first volume selling 200,000 copies in three months, and received critical praise for story, artwork, and characters.

Plot

Yoshiki and Hikaru are two teenage boys living in a small town in rural Japan. Despite having opposite personalities and different hobbies, the two maintain a close friendship. However, on one winter day, Hikaru is fatally injured while hiking in the mountains alone. Before dying, a mysterious eldritch being comes across him and consumes him, becoming him physically in the process. This "Hikaru" has all the feelings and memories of the original, yet remains a separate being, something Yoshiki realizes rather quickly. Yoshiki still wants to stay with "Hikaru"; however, his alien nature, along with other eldritch beings and hunters of said beings, may make that impossible.

Characters

Hikaru Indo (忌堂 光, Indō Hikaru)
Voiced by: Yōtarō Negishi (vomic, PV1),[2] Hiro Shimono (PV2),[3] KENN (PV3),[4] Junya Enoki (PV4),[5] Shūichirō Umeda (anime)[6]
Yoshiki Tsujinaka (辻中 佳紀, Tsujinaka Yoshiki)
Voiced by: Tomohiro Ohno (vomic, PV1),[2] Yoshitsugu Matsuoka (PV2),[3] Tomoaki Maeno (PV3),[4] Koki Uchiyama (PV4),[5] Chiaki Kobayashi (anime)[6]

Production

Mokumokuren first conceived the series while studying for high school entrance exams. After graduating, Mokumokuren began posting drawings on Twitter in their spare time in January 2021.[7] Mokumokuren was later approached by the Young Ace Up editorial department to serialize the manga in Young Ace Up, which they accepted.[7] Mokumokuren is a fan of action manga from Weekly Shōnen Jump and Weekly Young Jump, particularly Tokyo Ghoul.[7]

While writing the story, Mokumokuren tries to keep the horror to a minimum by trying to appeal to people's emotions rather than just being scary. Mokumokuren also feels the theme of the story adds to the horror based on the suspension bridge effect, which states that it is easier to fall in love when feeling anxious or fearful.[7] For the artwork, Mokumokuren tries to use onomatopoeia that are not often used, while also staying cautious to make sure it works properly in the context of the story.[7]

Mokumokuren introduced this as a one-shot in 2021 under the Boys' Love genre,[8] but chose not to specify the genre of the official publication in 2022.[9]

Setting

Mokumokuren used their grandmother's hometown as model, where the houses were all packed together tightly and normal for the neighbors to come and go without permission. They got the inspiration during their visit to the region. As Mokumokuren wanted the characters to speak in distinctive dialect, they looked up for a dialect that is "slightly different from Kansai dialect" and decided the setting on place that is located in "mountainous area of Tokai region." As the result, a fictional rural town located between mountains in Mie Prefecture became the setting of the series, and some characters are speaking in Mie dialect. [10]

Media

Manga

Written and illustrated by Mokumokuren, the series began serialization on Kadokawa Shoten's Young Ace Up website on August 31, 2021.[11] As of December 2024, the series' individual chapters have been collected in six tankōbon volumes.[12]

In September 2022, Yen Press announced that they licensed the series for English publication.[13]

Volumes

No. Original release date Original ISBN English release date English ISBN
1 March 4, 2022[14]978-4-04-112273-0July 18, 2023[15]978-1-97-536054-2
2 October 4, 2022[16]978-4-04-112960-9October 17, 2023[17]978-1-97-537103-6
3 June 2, 2023[18]978-4-04-113700-0April 16, 2024[19]978-1-97-539276-5
4 December 4, 2023[20]978-4-04-114339-1August 20, 2024[21]978-1-97-539862-0
5 June 4, 2024[22]978-4-04-114997-3March 18, 2025[23]979-8-85-541459-2
6 December 4, 2024[12]978-4-04-115608-7——

Novel

A novelization of the manga series, written by Mio Nukaga, was published by Kadokawa Shoten on December 4, 2023.[24] At New York Comic Con 2024, Yen Press announced that they also licensed the novel for English publication.[25]

Anime

An anime adaptation was announced on May 24, 2024.[26] It was later revealed to be a television series produced by CygamesPictures and directed and written by Ryōhei Takeshita, with character designs and chief animation direction handled by Yuichi Takahashi, and "Dorodoro" animation handled by Masanobu Hiraoka. It is set to premiere on Nippon TV in Q3 2025. Netflix will stream the series globally, with Abema streaming it inside Japan for free.[6][27]

Reception

In the 2022 Next Manga Award, The Summer Hikaru Died ranked 11th in the web manga category. It was also the most popular choice among traditional Chinese voters.[28] The series topped the 2023 edition of Takarajimasha's Kono Manga ga Sugoi! list of best manga for male readers.[29] It was also nominated for the 16th Manga Taishō.[30] The series ranked fifth in the Nationwide Bookstore Employees' Recommended Comics of 2023.[31] It also ranked seventh in the seventh Tsutaya Comic Award.[32] In 2023, the series was listed by the New York Public Library among its Best Books for Teens that year.[33] It ranked 29th on the 2023 "Book of the Year" list by Da Vinci magazine.[34] In 2024, the first volume and series author Mokumokuren were nominated for the Eisner Award for Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia and for Best Writer/Artist respectively.[35] The series was also nominated for Harvey Awards in the Best Manga category in the same year.[36]

The first volume received three times more orders than copies available in the first print run.[37] The volume was reprinted six times in three months, having over 200,000 copies in circulation.[37] By October 2022, the series had 550,000 copies in circulation.[38] By June 2023, the series had 1.4 million copies in circulation.[39] By December 2023, the series had 1.9 million copies in circulation.[40] By May 24, 2024, the series had 2.1 million copies in circulation.[41] By June 4, 2024, the series had 2.3 million copies in circulation.[42] By November 4, 2024, the series had 3 million copies in circulation.[43]

Chanmei from Real Sound praised the story and characters as emotional. Chanmei also praised the artwork, believing it complemented the story well.[1] Tensako Miura from An An praised the story, main characters, and artwork, positively noting the artwork's use of shades of black.[44]

References

  1. ^ a b c Chanmei (March 9, 2022). 幼馴染が全く別の”ナニカ”にすり替わってしまったら……？ SNSで話題沸騰『光が死んだ夏』の不気味な切なさ. Real Sound (in Japanese). Archived from the original on September 22, 2022. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
  2. ^ a b 「光が死んだ夏」キャスト違いのPVを4週連続公開、ボイスドラマ聞ける駅広告も. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. October 3, 2023. Archived from the original on October 13, 2022. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
  3. ^ a b 22年を代表するヒット漫画『光が死んだ夏』、新宿駅の大型広告をフラッシュ撮影すると"ナニカ"が写る!? PV第2弾の担当声優は下野紘さん、松岡禎丞さん！ (Press release) (in Japanese). Kadokawa Corporation. October 10, 2022. Archived from the original on October 25, 2022. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via PR Times.
  4. ^ a b ＼メディア注目度急上昇マンガ！／『光が死んだ夏』、超ロングサイズ広告が阪急大阪梅田駅に出現！ PV第3弾の担当声優には、KENNさん、前野智昭さんが登場！ (Press release) (in Japanese). Kadokawa Corporation. October 17, 2022. Archived from the original on October 27, 2022. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via PR Times.
  5. ^ a b 『光が死んだ夏』の超大型広告が渋谷をジャック！ 4週連続公開PVの第4弾担当声優は榎木淳弥さん、内山昂輝さん！ (Press release) (in Japanese). Kadokawa Corporation. October 24, 2022. Archived from the original on October 30, 2022. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via PR Times.
  6. ^ a b c Pineda, Rafael (November 26, 2024). "The Summer Hikaru Died Anime's Teaser Unveils Summer TV Debut, Netflix Streaming, Cast, Staff". Anime News Network. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  7. ^ a b c d e 話題の青春ホラー漫画『光が死んだ夏』作者が明かす、"恐怖"を表現するためのこだわり 「記号ではなく、行動で感情を描く」. Real Sound (in Japanese). July 5, 2022. Archived from the original on September 21, 2022. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
  8. ^ ホラーな人外BL『光が死んだ夏』がヤングエースUpにて連載開始！. ちるちる (in Japanese). September 2, 2021. Archived from the original on January 15, 2023. Retrieved July 22, 2024.
  9. ^ 光が死んだ夏は何のジャンルの漫画なのか？と混乱している人をよく見かけるのですが、私もよく分からないで描いています。読んだ人それぞれに好きに受け取って貰えたら嬉しいと思っています。 (in Japanese). Twitter. July 7, 2022. Archived from the original on July 26, 2024. Retrieved July 22, 2024.
  10. ^ このマンガがすごい！2023 [Kono Manga ga Sugoi!] (in Japanese). 2023. ISBN 978-4-299-03737-4.
  11. ^ 山で行方不明になり、戻ってきた少年に友人は違和感が…新連載「光が死んだ夏」. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. August 31, 2021. Archived from the original on September 22, 2022. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
  12. ^ a b 光が死んだ夏 6 (in Japanese). Kadokawa Shoten. Retrieved October 30, 2024.
  13. ^ Hazra, Adriana (September 15, 2022). "Yen Press Licenses Mokumokuren's The Summer Hikaru Died Manga". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on September 24, 2022. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
  14. ^ 光が死んだ夏 1 (in Japanese). Kadokawa Shoten. Archived from the original on September 23, 2022. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
  15. ^ "The Summer Hikaru Died, Vol. 1". Yen Press. Archived from the original on February 2, 2023. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
  16. ^ 光が死んだ夏 2 (in Japanese). Kadokawa Shoten. Archived from the original on September 22, 2022. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
  17. ^ "The Summer Hikaru Died, Vol. 2". Yen Press. Archived from the original on August 18, 2024. Retrieved May 3, 2023.
  18. ^ 光が死んだ夏 3 (in Japanese). Kadokawa Shoten. Archived from the original on April 22, 2023. Retrieved April 22, 2023.
  19. ^ "The Summer Hikaru Died, Vol. 3". Yen Press. Archived from the original on August 18, 2024. Retrieved October 26, 2023.
  20. ^ 光が死んだ夏 4 (in Japanese). Kadokawa Shoten. Archived from the original on August 18, 2024. Retrieved October 13, 2023.
  21. ^ "The Summer Hikaru Died, Vol. 4". Yen Press. Archived from the original on August 18, 2024. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
  22. ^ 光が死んだ夏 5 (in Japanese). Kadokawa Shoten. Archived from the original on August 18, 2024. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  23. ^ "The Summer Hikaru Died, Vol. 5". Yen Press. Retrieved October 4, 2024.
  24. ^ 人気コミック「光が死んだ夏」ノベライズ 2023年12月発売！ (Press release) (in Japanese). Chiyoda, Tokyo: Kadokawa Corporation. November 10, 2023. Archived from the original on November 11, 2023. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via PR Times.
  25. ^ Hodgkins, Crystalyn (October 21, 2024). "Yen Press Announces 16 Title Licenses, Ize Press Licenses 4 Titles". Anime News Network. Retrieved October 21, 2024.
  26. ^ Pineda, Rafael (May 23, 2024). "The Summer Hikaru Died Horror Manga Gets Anime". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on May 24, 2024. Retrieved May 24, 2024.
  27. ^ @NetflixJP (November 27, 2024). "原作 #モクモクれん
    アニメ『#光が死んだ夏』ティザービジュアル
    未知の"ナニカ"へ墜ちていく青春ホラー物語の幕が、今、上がる──
    2025年夏よりNetflixにて独占配信"     (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  28. ^ Loveridge, Lynzee (August 31, 2022). "Medalist, WITCH WATCH, Akane-banashi Win Next Manga Awards 2022 Results". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on August 31, 2022. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
  29. ^ Pineda, Rafael Antonio (December 12, 2022). "Kono Manga ga Sugoi! Editors Unveil 2023 Rankings". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on December 14, 2022. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  30. ^ Cayanan, Joanna (January 24, 2023). "16th Manga Taisho Awards Nominate 11 Titles". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on January 24, 2023. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  31. ^ Harding, Daryl (February 2, 2023). "RuriDragon is Japanese Bookstores No. 1 Manga Recommendation of 2023". Crunchyroll. Archived from the original on February 2, 2023. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
  32. ^ 『TSUTAYAコミック大賞』1位は『黄泉のツガイ』 『ハガレン』作者の最新作. Oricon News (in Japanese). September 28, 2023. Archived from the original on September 28, 2023. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  33. ^ Pineda, Rafael Antonio (November 24, 2023). "Four Manga Make the NY Public Library's 2023 List of Best Books for Teens". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on November 24, 2023. Retrieved November 24, 2023.
  34. ^ Tai, Anita (December 5, 2023). "Tomoko Yamashita's Ikoku Nikki Tops Da Vinci Manga Ranking". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on December 6, 2023. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
  35. ^ Adams, Timothy (May 16, 2024). "2024 Eisner Award Nominees Revealed". ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on May 16, 2024. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
  36. ^ Pineda, Rafael Antonio (August 15, 2024). "Harvey Awards Nominate Frieren, Delicious in Dungeon, The Summer Hikaru Died, More Manga". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on August 15, 2024. Retrieved August 15, 2024.
  37. ^ a b SNSで話題沸騰中のホラー漫画『光が死んだ夏』、発売後わずか3か月で20万部突破. Real Sound (in Japanese). June 10, 2022. Archived from the original on September 22, 2022. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
  38. ^ 累計55万部（電子含む）突破！ 『光が死んだ夏』待望のコミックス2巻刊行を記念し、池袋に大型交通広告が出現！ さらに、”ヒカル”と”よしき”を異なる4組の声優が演じたコミックスPVを4週連続で公開！ (Press release) (in Japanese). Chiyoda, Tokyo: Kadokawa Corporation. October 3, 2022. Archived from the original on March 14, 2023. Retrieved May 2, 2023 – via PR Times.
  39. ^ 累計140万部（電子含む）突破！ 今、Z世代が熱狂する青春ホラー漫画『光が死んだ夏』の謎解き特設サイトが登場！ さらに、『光が死んだ夏』の情報がまとめて見れる公式... (Press release) (in Japanese). Chiyoda, Tokyo: Kadokawa Corporation. June 2, 2023. Archived from the original on June 13, 2023. Retrieved June 13, 2023 – via PR Times.
  40. ^ 『光が死んだ夏』ノベライズを記念して、直筆サイン入りグッズが当たるキャンペーンを実施！ (Press release) (in Japanese). Chiyoda, Tokyo: Kadokawa Corporation. June 2, 2023. Archived from the original on December 9, 2023. Retrieved December 15, 2023 – via PR Times.
  41. ^ 漫画『光が死んだ夏』アニメ化決定 親友の姿をした”ナニカ”と少年の狂気孕む青春ホラー. Oricon News (in Japanese). May 24, 2024. Archived from the original on May 24, 2024. Retrieved May 24, 2024.
  42. ^ アニメ化も決定！ 青春ホラー漫画『光が死んだ夏』コミックス5巻刊行を記念し、作品PVを公開！. プレスリリース・ニュースリリース配信シェアNo.1｜PR TIMES (in Japanese). June 4, 2024. Archived from the original on June 5, 2024. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
  43. ^ モクモクれん@mokmok_len [@mokmok_len] (November 4, 2024). 「光が死んだ夏」⑥巻は12/4発売です！今巻で発行部数が300万部になりました。いつも読んでくださって本当にありがとうございます！アニメも含めて、これからも何卒よろしくおねがいいたします。 (Tweet) (in Japanese) – via Twitter.
  44. ^ Miura, Tensako (May 24, 2022). 行方不明の幼なじみが発見されるもその正体は…SNSでも話題の青春ホラーコミック. An An (in Japanese). Archived from the original on September 23, 2022. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
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