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 June 2026, the series' individual chapters have been collected in nine volumes. It follows the story of Yoshiki Tsujinaka, a teenager in rural Japan who discovers that his friend Hikaru Indou 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 Cypic aired from July to September 2025. A second season has been announced.

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 receiving critical praise for the story, artwork, and characters.

Plot Yoshiki Tsujinaka and Hikaru Indou are two teenage boys and childhood friends living in a small town in rural Japan. Despite having opposite personalities and different hobbies, the two maintain a close friendship. However, on a winter day, Hikaru is fatally injured while hiking in the mountains alone. Before he dies, 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 Imamaki (stage play)

, Junsei Motojima (stage play)

, May Tachibana (stage play)

, Umi Yamano (stage play)

, Mitsu Murata (stage play)

, Keijyu Matsuo (stage play)

, Rio Sawada (stage play)

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

While writing the story, Mokumokuren tried to keep the horror to a minimum by trying to appeal to people's emotions rather than just being scary. They also felt that the theme of the story added to the horror based on the suspension bridge effect, which states that it is easier to fall in love when feeling anxious or fearful. For the artwork, they tried to include onomatopoeia that are not often used, while also having stayed cautious to make sure it worked properly in the context of the story.

Mokumokuren initially introduced The Summer Hikaru Died in 2021 as a boys' love story. They later specified that the manga was never serialized as a boys' love story, instead describing the series as a "coming-of-age horror" with queer themes.

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

Media Manga Written and illustrated by Mokumokuren, the series began serialization on Kadokawa Shoten's Young Ace Up website on August 31, 2021. It is set to end with its 51st chapter on October 20, 2026. As of June 2026, the series' individual chapters have been collected in nine volumes.

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

Volumes

Novel A novelization of the manga series, written by Mio Nukaga, was published by Kadokawa Shoten on December 4, 2023. As of July 2025, two volumes have been released. At New York Comic Con 2024, Yen Press announced that they also licensed the novel for English publication.

Anime An anime adaptation was announced on May 24, 2024. It was later revealed to be a television series produced by Cypic and directed by Ryōhei Takeshita with him also handling series composition, character designs and chief animation direction handled by Yuichi Takahashi, and "Dorodoro" animation handled by Masanobu Hiraoka. It aired from July 6 to September 28, 2025, on Nippon TV and its affiliates. The opening theme song is by Vaundy, while the ending theme song is by Tooboe. Netflix is streaming the series globally, while Abema is streaming it inside Japan for free.

After the airing of the final episode of the first season, a second season was announced.

Episodes

Stage play A stage play adaptation of the manga was announced September 19, 2025. It ran at Kinokuniya Hall in Tokyo from January 9 to 18, 2026, with Sōtarō Fujii directing and script writing the play while Mikihito Sano is composing the music.

Reception Manga 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. The series topped the 2023 edition of Takarajimasha's Kono Manga ga Sugoi! list of best manga for male readers. It was also nominated for the 16th Manga Taishō. The series ranked fifth in the Nationwide Bookstore Employees' Recommended Comics of 2023. It also ranked seventh in the seventh Tsutaya Comic Award. In 2023, the series was listed by the New York Public Library among its Best Books for Teens that year. It ranked 29th on the 2023 "Book of the Year" list by Da Vinci magazine. 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. The series was nominated for Harvey Awards in the Best Manga category in 2024 and 2025 and was listed by Yen Press as its top title for 2025. The series was also nominated at the Japan Society and Anime NYC's first American Manga Awards for Best Continuing Manga Series in 2024; it received a second nomination in 2025 and won on a third nomination in 2026.

The first volume received three times more orders than copies available in the first print run. The volume was reprinted six times in three months, having over 200,000 copies in circulation. By October 2022, the series had 550,000 copies in circulation. By June 2023, the series had 1.4 million copies in circulation. By December 2023, the series had 1.9 million copies in circulation. By May 24, 2024, the series had 2.1 million copies in circulation. By June 4, 2024, the series had 2.3 million copies in circulation. By November 4, 2024, the series had 3 million copies in circulation. By July 4, 2025, the series had 3.5 million copies in circulation. By September 26, 2025, the series had 4 million copies in circulation. By December 26, 2025, the series had 4.5 million copies in circulation. By June 1, 2026, the series had 5 million copies in circulation.

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

Anime + Year Award Category Recipient Result 2025 31st Manga Barcelona Awards Best Anime Series Premiere The Summer Hikaru Died IGN Awards Best Anime Series 2026 12th Anime Trending Awards Best in Adapted Screenplay Ryōhei Takeshita Best in Sceneries and Visuals The Summer Hikaru Died Best in Soundtrack Taro Umebayashi Opening Theme Song of the Year "Saikai" Mystery or Psychological Anime of the Year The Summer Hikaru Died Supernatural Anime of the Year Best Voice Acting Performance - Male Chiaki Kobayashi 10th Crunchyroll Anime Awards Anime of the Year The Summer Hikaru Died Best New Series Best Drama Best Background Art Best Director Ryōhei Takeshita Best Voice Artist Performance (Japanese) Chiaki Kobayashi Best Voice Artist Performance (English) Paul Castro Jr. Best Voice Artist Performance (French) Jonathan Gimbord Music Awards Japan Best Original Score for Animation Taro Umebayashi Japan Expo Awards Daruma for Best Suspense Anime The Summer Hikaru Died Daruma for Best Ending "Anata wa Kaibutsu" 21st AnimaniA Awards Best TV Series: Online The Summer Hikaru Died

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