CyberAgent, Inc. today announced the television anime adaptation of award-winning author Mokumokuren’s The Summer Hikaru Died (published by Kadokawa) will be coming soon to Netflix globally. Produced by CygamesPictures, the supernatural series has debuted a new teaser visual and trailer, alongside cast and staff announcements.
The Summer Hikaru Died is a hit horror manga series (available in English from Yen Press) about an ordinary high school boy named Yoshiki, who experiences various mysterious incidents in his life with Hikaru, a mysterious being who imitates his best friend Hikaru Indou.
Synopsis: In a certain village …
Since their childhood, they have grown up together. Yoshiki and Hikaru, childhood friends. The sun shining down on them. The chirping sound of a cicada. Ice cream on the way home. Laughing over trivial things.
One day in summer, no different from any other day … You’re not Hikaru after all, are you?
Half a year ago, Hikaru went missing in the mountains. A week later, he came back on a whim. The voice, the figure, the thing that looked like Hikaru. What was stirring inside…
“Hikaru is no longer with us … if that’s the case.” Starting the days with “something” in the form of a friend, The “same as usual” everyday life. But at the same time, Strange incidents begin to plague the village. Falling into the unknown “something” — The curtain rises on a coming-of-age horror story.
The series is directed and composed by Ryohei Takeshita (Jellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night, Eromanga Sensei, Pokémon: Paldean Winds, Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun), with character design by chief animation director Yuichi Takahashi and “dorodoro” ghostly effects animation overseen by Masanobu Hiraoka.
“When I first read the original work, I remember reading the pages with excitement, wondering what kind of expression I should use to express the frames of the original story in the animation,” commented Takeshita. “The entire staff has been working earnestly on the original work in order to skillfully animate not only the delicate emotions of Yoshiki and Hikaru, two young boys struggling to understand each other, but also the beautiful and innovative manga structure, so please look forward to the release.”
The voice cast is led by Chiaki Kobayashi as Yoshiki and Shuichiro Umeda as Hikaru.
“From the time of the audition, I was swept up in a jumble of emotions: I [as Yoshiki] shouldn’t be with [Hikaru], but I want him to be with me; I’m scared, but comfortable with him; and I’m not sure what to do,” said Kobayashi. “I will do my best to pull out all Yoshiki’s feelings and melancholy by mobilizing all my blood, flesh, and bones. Since various values are intermingled in today’s society, I hope that many people will watch this anime.”
Umeda noted, “It was a new experience for me to play the role of Hikaru, and at the same time, it was like looking into the darkness. I am uncertain about many things in my mind and body, but I am certain that I want to stay with Yoshiki, so I will play his role with a strong sense of that feeling. I went into the audition with that in mind.”
