Netflix’s Big Summer Anime Is Already In Trouble

Netflix is coming in hot this summer with one of the most anticipated horror anime in years, The Summer Hikaru Died. As well as the second cour of Sakamoto Days and Season 2 of Dandadan, Netflix is treating audiences to the new horror series based on the manga by Mokumokuren, which premieres on July 5th. The Summer Hikaru Died is expected to be one of the big hits this summer season. But, should the series succeed and a second season gets greenlit, the show will be faced with a major problem.

The Summer Hikaru Died first began serialization in Kadokawa’s Young Ace Up seinen magazine in August 2021. So far, 36 chapters have been released, which have been translated and collected into six volumes in English. With the series ongoing, more chapters will be released in the coming months. But has hype got the best of the young series, and has Netflix greenlit the anime too early?

The Summer Hikaru Died Is Still a Young Manga

If The Summer Hikaru Died is successful, fans will no doubt be calling for a second season. But, with that comes one major problem: The Summer Hikaru Died might not have enough material to sustain future seasons yet.

This issue is partly caused by the manga’s age. The series is only four years old, with relatively few chapters having been published since it first began serialization. On average, most anime adapt one or two chapters per episode, although this is also dependent on the pacing and action within the respective chapters. As a result, the number of chapters of The Summer Hikaru Died currently published is barely sufficient for a single season of 24 episodes. Thankfully, The Summer Hikaru Died will run for 12 episodes a season, but this only delays the problem.

For a major action series like One Piece or Solo Leveling, this isn’t much of an issue, as there are vast chunks of action between the manga panels that need to be fleshed out with fight choreography. But The Summer Hikaru Died doesn’t have that. Due to its slice-of-life narrative trappings, which are then blended with horror tropes, even The Summer Hikaru Died‘s most dramatic and fear-inducing scenes aren’t the result of great action. For example, in the first volume, Yoshiki and his friends discover an evil spirit lurking in the woods, which Hikaru warns them not to look at. When Yoshiki ignores the warning, the spirit begins moving closer and becomes more aggressive. Most other shows would drag this scene out to create a vast moment of action, but The Summer Hikaru Died quickly blows through the moment. It isn’t the individual scene that is terrifying, it is the frequency of the supernatural and freaky events that builds tension, which leads into the biggest problem the show will face…

[RELATED – 10 Best Horror Anime to Chill You to the Bone]

The Summer Hikaru Died Is a Very Slow-Paced Manga

There are two distinct types of horror manga/anime. There are horror stories that use gruesome visuals that constantly bombard the reader, overwhelming them with terrifying and gross imagery. Then there’s the kind of horror that builds tension slowly but constantly, and refuses to ever release it. The Summer Hikaru Died falls into the latter category. While this makes it an incredibly effective horror series, it also has one major drawback: the pacing is a lot slower than most other stories within the genre.

The Summer Hikaru Died manga uses everything from the chirping of cicadas to the unnatural brightness and heat of the summer to evoke a sense of unease. But it is the slow pacing that lingers within scenes that creates the most tension, especially in the moments between Yoshiki and Hikaru. Should the upcoming anime remain faithful to the manga’s pacing, it would make fans of Mokumokuren’s work incredibly happy, as the slow-burning narrative style is part of The Summer Hikaru Died‘s distinct identity. But, it would also be very alienating for casual viewers.

We previously mentioned that most anime adapt one to two chapters of a manga per episode. But, given The Summer Hikaru Died‘s slower pacing, it is more likely that the series will adapt roughly three chapters per episode to hit the 20-minute mark. This won’t be a problem for the show’s first season, as there will be just enough material for the series to adapt. But, should The Summer Hikaru Died be renewed for more seasons, which is likely the plan given the popularity of the manga, then Netflix will be faced with a major problem. In the age of streaming, studios are trying to churn out new seasons far quicker than before (Dandadan fans have waited less than 12 months for Season 2). But, The Summer Hikaru Died fans might be waiting a couple of years for enough chapters to be published before a second season is viable.