The Summer Hikaru Died

This article is the general series overview.

For the manga, see The Summer Hikaru Died (manga).
For the anime, see The Summer Hikaru Died (anime).
For the novel, see The Summer Hikaru Died (novel).
For the stage play, see The Summer Hikaru Died (stage).
For other uses, see Disambiguation.

The Summer Hikaru Died
Translated title	The Summer Hikaru Died
Japanese title	光が死んだ夏
Rōmaji	Hikaru ga Shinda Natsu
Series Information
Release Date	August 31, 2021 – present
Genre	Horror, Slice of Life, Mystery
Illustrated by	Mokumokuren
Written by	Mokumokuren
English Publisher	Yen Press
Japanese Publisher	Kadokawa Shoten
Magazine	Young Ace Up
Demographic	Seinen

The Summer Hikaru Died (光 (ひかる) が死 (し) んだ夏 (なつ) , Hikaru ga Shinda Natsu^?) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Mokumokuren. It began serialization on Kadokawa Shoten's Young Ace Up website in August 2021. Mokumokuren first conceived of the series while studying for exams and later began posting drawings on Twitter, which led to the Young Ace Up editorial department approaching Mokumokuren to serialize the manga via the Young Ace Up website.

Upon release of the first volume, the series became a critical and commercial success, with the first volume selling 200,000 copies in three months, and received critical praise for story, artwork, and characters.

Plot

Yoshiki and Hikaru are two boys living in a rural town. They did everything together, until the day Hikaru was body-snatched by a mysterious being on the village mountain. Though it looks and sounds just like Hikaru, what came back down the mountain was not Yoshiki's best friend. Whatever it is, it's dangerous. Yoshiki wishes they could carry on normally, as if the real Hikaru isn't gone – but with the new "Hikaru" taking his place, things may never be the same.

History

Publication

Written and illustrated by Mokumokuren, the manga series began serialization on Kadokawa Shoten's Young Ace Up website on August 31, 2021. As of September 2025, the series' individual chapters have been collected into seven tankōbon volumes.

In September 2022, Yen Press announced that they licensed the series for English publication.

Adaptations

• A VOMIC adaption of the series was published on YouTube (エースこみっくチャンネル Ace Comic Channel) from November 2021 to December 2023.
• A novelization of the series by Mio Nukaga began publication in December of 2023.
• An anime adaptation of the series by CyGamesPictures was announced on May 24, 2024, with the first trailer releasing on November 25, 2024. It began airing on July 5, 2025.
• A stage play was announced on June 2, 2025. It is scheduled for January 2026.

Reception

In the 2022 Next Manga Award, The Summer Hikaru Died ranked 11th in the web manga category. It was also the most popular choice among traditional Chinese voters. The series topped the 2023 edition of Takarajimasha's Kono Manga ga Sugoi! list of best manga for male readers. The first volume received three times more orders than copies available in the first print run. The volume was reprinted six times in three months, having over 200,000 copies in circulation.

Chanmei from Real Sound praised the story and characters as emotional. Chanmei also praised the artwork, believing it complemented the story well. Tensako Miura from An An praised the story, main characters, and artwork, postively noting the artwork's use of shades of black.

On September 26, 2025, manga sales surpassed 4 million copies (including digital).

External links

• Official manga website (in Japanese)
• Official Kadokawa manga promo website (in Japanese)
• The Summer Hikaru Died (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• Official anime website (in Japanese)