It’s going to be a fully owned series by the streamer. The show, The Summer Hikaru Died, is slated to premiere in the summer of 2025. This will undoubtedly be a thriller to people who love supernatural thrillers, given the spine-tingling storyline and phenomenal visual effects.
It started as an original manga series that was serialized back in 2021 with Kadokawa Shoten’s Young Ace magazine. It slowly started its march and gained popularity among manga readers for the chill storylines and intricately crafted characters. Two close friends, Yoshiki and Hikaru, whose lives are dramatically altered when Hikaru suddenly disappears and then returns something inexplicably off with him. Despite sensing that this is not the same Hikaru he once knew, Yoshiki remains drawn to his friend, even as dark secrets threaten to unravel their bond.
In conjunction with Cygames Pictures, a new anime from the famed brand in development is being headed by J-WOW director Ryohei Takeshita along with character designer and chief animation director Yuichi Takahashi (Vivy -Fluorite Eye’s Song). Chiaki Kobayashi and Shuichiro Umeda have done the main voice castings of Yoshiki and Hikaru.
But before its broadcast, audiences who are feeling anxious find something in store for the few who keep themselves interested as the teaser trailer from Netflix regarding the series and the first visual gives up much of the tense chilling tone created by the manga by showing atmospheric tension that helped make the manga a bestseller.
This purchase is a part of Netflix’s continuous commitment to expanding its library of anime following a couple of recent successes with titles like Dandadan. International release strategy and the very premise of The Summer the Hikaru Died will make it one of the outstanding anime shows of 2025.
The original manga has sold over 3 million copies, and it has received so many accolades, including nominations at the Manga Taisho Awards and Eisner Awards. Thus, a good anime adaptation is highly likely to bring its reputation up a notch higher.
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