The Summer Hikaru Died anime reveals new key visual ahead of Summer 2025 premiere

On Thursday, March 20, 2025, the official website and X (formerly Twitter) account of The Summer Hikaru Died anime unveiled a new key visual featuring the main duo. In addition, the staff released character visuals for Hikaru Indo and his friend Yoshiki Tsujinaka. The anime is set to premiere in Summer 2025, but no exact release date has been revealed as of this writing.

Produced by CygamesPictures, The Summer Hikaru Died anime serves as an adaptation of the eponymous supernatural horror manga series, written and illustrated by Mokumokuren. Kadokawa Shoten's Young Ace Up site has been serializing the manga since August 2021, with six tankobon volumes released thus far.

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The Summer Hikaru Died anime's new visual features Hikaru Indo and Yoshiki Tsujinaka

The official staff unveiled a new key visual for The Summer Hikaru Died anime on Thursday, March 20, 2025. The illustration features the main duo, Hikaru Indo, and his friend Yoshiki Tsujinaka, standing under a blue sky in the Kubitachi village, the story's setting.

The visual creates an eerie vibe, with Hikaru ominously watching behind Yoshiki. Moreover, the key visual has a catchphrase, which reads "My friend who came back, it was something I didn't know" in English. The illustration perfectly teases the series' supernatural aspect.

In addition, the staff revealed the character visuals for Hikaru and Yoshiki. The official Twitter handle for The Summer Hikaru Died anime has described Hikaru as thus:

"Six months ago, 'Something' appeared in place of 'Hikaru' who went missing in the mountains of a forbidden area. Although it looks and sounds just like Hikaru, it is not Hikaru. It seems innocent and curious."

Likewise, Yoshiki is described as a high school student living in the Kubitachi village. He has accepted the fact that his childhood mate, Hikaru, has been replaced by a strange entity. Despite the conflicts in his mind, Yoshiki continues to spend his daily life with Hikaru.

Notably, The Summer Hikaru Died anime will begin its broadcast on Nippon Television in Summer 2025. The staff has yet to disclose a narrower release date. The anime will also be exclusively distributed worldwide on Netflix. In addition, fans in Japan can watch the anime on ABEMA and Netflix.

Prior to its broadcast, official staff shall organize a special booth stage for the anime at AnimeJapan 2025 on March 22-23, 2025. The booth shall be held at the Kadokawa Booth, where visitors can purchase original goods. Moreover, the series will appear on the event's Green Stage on March 23, 2025. The main voice actors will be present at the event.

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The cast, staff, and the plot of The Summer Hikaru Died anime

Yoshiki, as seen in the teaser PV (Image via CygamesPictures)

The horror anime stars Shuichiro Umeda as Hikaru Indo, who has been consumed by a strange entity, and Chiaki Kobayashi as Hikaru's childhood friend, Yoshiki Tsujinaka. More cast members will be announced in the future.

Ryohei Takeshita directs and supervises the series composition at Cygames Pictures, with Yuichi Takahashi as the chief animation director and character designer. Masanobu Hiraoka is also listed as the key animator. He has previously worked as the key animator for some of the episodes of Chainsaw Man.

Hikaru, as seen in the teaser PV (Image via Cygames Pictures)

Based on the original manga, The Summer Hikaru Died anime centers around two childhood friends, Hikaru and Yoshiki, who spend their normal days in a small village called Kubitachi.

One day, Hikaru goes missing in the mountains. However, when he returns, Yoshiki realizes that his friend is no longer the same; it's almost as if a mysterious being is imitating him. Thus, the supernatural anime will explore Yoshiki and Hikaru's thrilling story.

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