The on-screen story of Yoshiki and “Hikaru” is just getting started, as a second season for The Summer Hikaru Died has been confirmed. The news comes after the broadcast of Season 1’s finale in Japan, with an announcement teaser depicting them on a beach.
In celebration of the renewal, the official X/Twitter account also unveiled a new key visual and illustrations by series creator Mokumokuren and character designer Yūichi Takahashi. No other information, including the release date and new cast members, was shared. Chiaki Kobayashi (Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End) and Shuichiro Umeda (My Hero Academia: Vigilantes) voice Yoshiki Tsujinaka and the titular Hikaru Indo, respectively, in the first season.
Ryohei Takeshita (Jellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night) directs the supernatural horror and queer youth anime adaptation at studio CygamesPictures, while Yuichi Takahashi (Macross Frontier) serves as character designer and chief animation director. Masanobu Hiraoka (Snorunt’s Summer Vacation) is listed as the animator of Dorodoro, with TOOBOE performing the ending theme song “Anata wa Kaibutsu”.
The Summer Hikaru Died began serialisation on the Young Ace Up website in August 2021 and currently spans seven volumes. Yen Press publishes the manga in English, which has been ranked and nominated for the Manga Taisho Award, the Tsutaya Comic Awards, an Eisner Award, and the Next Manga Award.
The synopsis for the series reads, “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…”
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
