Summer in Japan is a torpid season of hot, humid days and sensory stimulation: the ubiquitous drone of cicadas, the creature comforts of shaved ice and snacks from festival food stalls, the dizzying glint of sparklers or fireworks by night. Against this familiar backdrop, a bone-chilling secret threatens to upend a rural community in ¡°The Summer Hikaru Died.¡±
The title alone sets the stage for this atmospheric anime adaptation by CygamesPictures of the eponymous manga series from artist . The story centers on Yoshiki Tsujinaka, a lanky, brooding high school student with a mop of black hair, and Hikaru Indo, Yoshiki¡¯s impish best friend with an easy smile ¡ª or rather, the creature that¡¯s now impersonating Hikaru.
Yoshiki¡¯s perpetually gloomy mien is forgivable in light of the burden he carries: the memory of stumbling upon Hikaru¡¯s dead body in the mountains. When the supernatural entity posing as Hikaru returns to the town where the teens live, Yoshiki knows that this can¡¯t really be his friend.
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