The Summer Hikaru Died

The Summer Hikaru Died (Japanese: 光が死んだ夏, Hepburn: 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. As of June 2023, the series' individual chapters have been collected into three tankōbon volumes. 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.

The Summer Hikaru Died
First tankōbon volume cover, featuring Hikaru
光が死んだ夏
(Hikaru ga Shinda Natsu)
Genre
Manga
Written byMokumokuren
Published byKadokawa Shoten
English publisher
MagazineYoung Ace Up
DemographicSeinen
Original runAugust 31, 2021 – present
Volumes3

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 teenage boys living in a small town in rural Japan. Despite having opposite personalities and different hobbies, the two maintain a close friendship with both harboring potential romantic feelings for each other. However, on one winter day, Hikaru is fatally injured while hiking in the mountains alone. Before dying, a mysterious eldritch being comes across him and consumes him, becoming him physically in the process. This "Hikaru" has all the feelings and memories of the original, yet remains a separate being, something Yoshiki realizes rather quickly. Yoshiki still wants to stay with "Hikaru", however "Hikaru"'s alien nature, along with other eldritch beings and hunters of said beings may make that impossible.

Characters
Hikaru (ヒカル)
Voiced by: Youtarou Negishi[2] (vomic, PV1), Hiro Shimono[3] (PV2), KENN[4] (PV3), Junya Enoki[5] (PV4)
Yoshiki (よしき)
Voiced by: Tomohiro Ohno[2] (vomic, PV1), Yoshitsugu Matsuoka[3] (PV2), Tomoaki Maeno[4] (PV3), Koki Uchiyama[5] (PV4)

Production

Mokumokuren first conceived the series while studying for high school entrance exams. After graduating, Mokumokuren began posting drawings on Twitter in their spare time in January 2021.[6] Mokumokuren was later approached by the Young Ace Up editorial department to serialize the manga in Young Ace Up, which they accepted.[6] Mokumokuren is a fan of action manga from Weekly Shōnen Jump and Weekly Young Jump, particularly Tokyo Ghoul.[6]

While writing the story, Mokumokuren tries to keep the horror to a minimum by trying to appeal to people's emotions rather than just being scary. Mokumokuren also feels the theme of the story adds to the horror based on the suspension bridge effect, which states that it is easier to fall in love when feeling anxious or fearful.[6] For the artwork, Mokumokuren tries to use onomatopoeia that are not often used, while also staying cautious to make sure it works properly in the context of the story.[6]

Publication

Written and illustrated by Mokumokuren, the series began serialization on Kadokawa Shoten's Young Ace Up website on August 31, 2021.[7] As of June 2023, the series' individual chapters have been collected into three tankōbon volumes.[8]

In September 2022, Yen Press announced that they licensed the series for English publication.[9]

Volume list
No. Original release date Original ISBN English release date English ISBN
1 March 4, 2022[10]978-4-04-112273-0July 18, 2023[11]978-1-97-536054-2
2 October 4, 2022[12]978-4-04-112960-9October 17, 2023[13]978-1-97-537103-6
3 June 2, 2023[8]978-4-04-113700-0——
4 December 4, 2023[14]978-4-04-114339-1——

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.[15] The series topped the 2023 edition of Takarajimasha's Kono Manga ga Sugoi! list of best manga for male readers.[16] It was also nominated for the 16th Manga Taishō.[17] The series ranked fifth in the Nationwide Bookstore Employees' Recommended Comics of 2023.[18] This series also ranked 7th in the 7th Tsutaya Comic Awards.[19] The first volume received three times more orders than copies available in the first print run.[20] The volume was reprinted six times in three months, having over 200,000 copies in circulation.[20] By October 2022, the series had 550,000 copies in circulation.[21] By June 2023, the series had 1.4 million copies in circulation.[22]

Chanmei from Real Sound praised the story and characters as emotional. Chanmei also praised the artwork, believing it complemented the story well.[1] Tensako Miura from An An praised the story, main characters, and artwork, positively noting the artwork's use of shades of black.[23]

References
  1. Chanmei (March 9, 2022). 幼馴染が全く別の”ナニカ”にすり替わってしまったら……？ SNSで話題沸騰『光が死んだ夏』の不気味な切なさ. Real Sound (in Japanese). Retrieved September 24, 2022.
  2. "累計55万部（電子含む）突破！『光が死んだ夏』待望のコミックス2巻刊行を記念し、池袋に大型交通広告が出現！さらに、"ヒカル"と"よしき"を異なる4組の声優が演じたコミックスPVを4週連続で公開！".
  3. "第2弾コミックPV出演声優".
  4. "第3弾コミックPV出演声優".
  5. "第4弾コミックPV出演声優".
  6. 話題の青春ホラー漫画『光が死んだ夏』作者が明かす、"恐怖"を表現するためのこだわり 「記号ではなく、行動で感情を描く」. Real Sound (in Japanese). July 5, 2022. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
  7. 山で行方不明になり、戻ってきた少年に友人は違和感が…新連載「光が死んだ夏」. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. August 31, 2021. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
  8. 光が死んだ夏 3 (in Japanese). Kadokawa Shoten. Retrieved April 22, 2023.
  9. Hazra, Adriana (September 15, 2022). "Yen Press Licenses Mokumokuren's The Summer Hikaru Died Manga". Anime News Network. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
  10. 光が死んだ夏 1 (in Japanese). Kadokawa Shoten. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
  11. "The Summer Hikaru Died, Vol. 1". Yen Press. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
  12. 光が死んだ夏 2 (in Japanese). Kadokawa Shoten. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
  13. "The Summer Hikaru Died, Vol. 2". Yen Press. Retrieved May 3, 2023.
  14. 光が死んだ夏 4 (in Japanese). Kadokawa Shoten. Retrieved October 13, 2023.
  15. Loveridge, Lynzee (August 31, 2022). "Medalist, WITCH WATCH, Akane-banashi Win Next Manga Awards 2022 Results". Anime News Network. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
  16. Pineda, Rafael Antonio (December 12, 2022). "Kono Manga ga Sugoi! Editors Unveil 2023 Rankings". Anime News Network. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  17. Cayanan, Joanna (January 24, 2023). "16th Manga Taisho Awards Nominate 11 Titles". Anime News Network. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  18. Harding, Daryl (February 2, 2023). "RuriDragon is Japanese Bookstores No. 1 Manga Recommendation of 2023". Crunchyroll. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
  19. 『TSUTAYAコミック大賞』1位は『黄泉のツガイ』 『ハガレン』作者の最新作. Oricon News (in Japanese). Archived from the original on September 28, 2023. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  20. SNSで話題沸騰中のホラー漫画『光が死んだ夏』、発売後わずか3か月で20万部突破. Real Sound (in Japanese). June 10, 2022. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
  21. 累計55万部（電子含む）突破！ 『光が死んだ夏』待望のコミックス2巻刊行を記念し、池袋に大型交通広告が出現！ さらに、”ヒカル”と”よしき”を異なる4組の声優が演じたコミックスPVを4週連続で公開！ (Press release) (in Japanese). Chiyoda, Tokyo: Kadokawa Corporation. October 3, 2022. Retrieved May 2, 2023 – via PR Times.
  22. 累計140万部（電子含む）突破！ 今、Z世代が熱狂する青春ホラー漫画『光が死んだ夏』の謎解き特設サイトが登場！ さらに、『光が死んだ夏』の情報がまとめて見れる公式... (Press release) (in Japanese). Chiyoda, Tokyo: Kadokawa Corporation. June 2, 2023. Retrieved June 13, 2023 – via PR Times.
  23. Miura, Tensako (May 24, 2022). 行方不明の幼なじみが発見されるもその正体は…SNSでも話題の青春ホラーコミック. An An (in Japanese). Retrieved September 24, 2022.
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