The staff for the anime of Mokumokuren’s The Summer Hikaru Died (Hikaru ga Shinda Natsu) manga began streaming the second promotional video on Monday, and it reveals the opening theme song “Saikai” (Reunion) by Vaundy, two cast members, and the July 5 premiere worldwide on Netflix.
Update: Netflix streamed the English-subtitled version of the trailer:
The newly announced cast includes:
Yoshiki Nakajima as Yūta Maki, who is Yoshiki’s classmate
© Mokumokuren/KADOKAWA/The Summer Hikaru Died Partners
Shion Wakayama as Yūki Tadokoro, who is Asako’s childhood friend and Yoshiki’s classmate
© Mokumokuren/KADOKAWA/The Summer Hikaru Died Partners
There will be a screening event for the first episode at TOHO Cinemas Shinjuku with cast and staff in attendance. There will also be a live broadcast on ABEMA on the same day with the three main cast members.
The North American premiere will screen at this year’s Anime Expo event on July 4 at 7:00 p.m. Chiaki Kobayashi (voice of Yoshiki), original creator Mokumokuren, and producers Chiaki Kurakane and Manami Kabashima will be in attendance.
© Mokumokuren/KADOKAWA/The Summer Hikaru Died Partners
The anime will premiere on July 5 on the NTV channel, and will also stream on Netflix exclusively worldwide and on ABEMA in Japan.
The anime stars:
Ryohei Takeshita (Eromanga Sensei, Jellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night, Pokémon: Paldean Winds) is directing the anime at Cygames Pictures and overseeing the series scripts. Yūichi Takahashi (Stars Align, Macross Frontier, Vivy -Fluorite Eye’s Song-) is the character designer and chief animation director. Masanobu Hiraoka (Snorunt’s Summer Vacation) is listed as “Dorodoro” animator.
TOOBOE performs the ending theme song “Anata wa Kaibutsu” (you are my monster).
Yen Press licensed the manga for English publication, and describes the manga:
Two boys lived in a village: Yoshiki and Hikaru. The two did everything together…until the day Hikaru was encompassed by a mysterious light. That was when everything changed—Hikaru most of all. Yoshiki still wishes from the bottom of his heart to always stay by his side…but is there even a Hikaru left to be with?
Mokumokuren launched the manga on Kadokawa’s Young Ace Up website in August 2021. Kadokawa published the manga’s sixth compiled book volume on December 4, and will publish the seventh volume on July 4. The manga exceeded 3 million copies in circulation by the time of the sixth volume’s release. Yen Press published the fifth volume on March 25. The manga inspired a light novel adaptation by Mio Nukaga in December 2023. Mokumokuren previously stated that the manga is planned to reach 10 volumes.
The manga was nominated for the 16th Manga Taisho Awards. (The official English name of the awards is the “Cartoon Grand Prize.”) The New York Public Library listed the manga as part of its Best Books list for teens in 2023. The manga also made The American Library Association’s (ALA’s) Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) 2024 list of Great Graphic Novels for Teens.
Both the manga and its author Mokumokuren were nominated for this year’s 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.
Source: Email correspondence
Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. One or more of the companies mentioned in this article are part of the Kadokawa Group of Companies.
