The first main trailer for The Summer Hikaru Died anime is here. The new preview of the upcoming TV series comes with more scenes of protagonist Yoshiki Tsujinaka and his previously missing best friend Hikaru Indou, who’s back but not quite the same as before, or even human.
Countering some of the eeriness is the tune of the previewed, newly announced ending song “Anata wa Kaibutsu” by TOOBOE.
There are also some new cast announcements, which include Yumiri Hanamori as Asako Yamagishi, Wakana Kowaka as Rie Kurebayashi, and Chikahiro Kobayashi as Tanaka. On the staff side, new reveals include:
• Background art director: Kohei Honda (Akiba Maid War)
• Color designer: Naomi Nakano (Solo Leveling)
• Compositing director: Tomohiro Maeda (Granblue Fantasy 10th anniversary movie) グランブルーファンタジー 10th Anniversary Movie
The Summer Hikaru Died is set to begin its Japanese broadcast in the Summer 2025 anime season and will be streamed internationally on Netflix this year. The anime adapts the KADOKAWA-published manga by Mokumokuren, which Yen Press describes as:
It has Hikaru’s face. It has Hikaru’s voice. It even has Hikaru’s memories. But whatever came down from the mountains six months ago isn’t Yoshiki’s best friend. Whatever it is, it’s dangerous. Carrying on at school and hanging out as if nothing has changed—as if Hikaru isn’t gone—would be crazy…but when it looks so very like Hikaru…and acts so very like Hikaru…
The manga began serialization on the Young Ace Up website in August 2021 and has six tankoubon volumes as of December 2024.
Staff
• Director: Ryohei Takeshita (Jellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night and Eromanga Sensei)
• Series composer: Ryohei Takeshita
• Character designer and chief animation director: Yuichi Takahashi (Vivy -Fluorite Eye’s Song- and Mononoke The Movie: The Phantom in the Rain character designer)
• Dorodoro animator: Masanobu Hiraoka (Chainsaw Man Ending 9 storyboard artist, unit director, animator, and editor)
• Animation production: CygamesPictures
Cast
• Chiaki Kobayashi as Yoshiki Tsujinaka
• Shuichiro Umeda as Hikaru Indo
Source: The Summer Hikaru Died anime website
