The Summer Hikaru Died Sets Netflix Release Date With Creepy New Trailer

The Summer Hikaru Died is a spooky new Horror anime coming to Netflix this Summer, and the streaming service has finally set a release date for the new anime’s premiere with a very creepy new trailer. As we enter the final month of the Spring 2025 anime schedule, it’s now time to start looking ahead to the next wave of anime coming our way. The Summer 2025 anime schedule looks to be one of the strongest seasons in recent memory, and it includes some adaptations that fans have been eagerly anticipating for the last few years. And one of them is much creepier than others.

The anime adaptation for Mokumokuren’s The Summer Hikaru Died is one of the most anticipated new premieres of the Summer, and it features a creepy monster mystery that lingers over a small and quiet town. It’s likely going to feel differently than anything else fans will see this Summer, and Netflix has now confirmed that this new anime will be premiering on July 5th worldwide. To celebrate the confirmed release date, you can check out the newest trailer for The Summer Hikaru Died in the video above. You can also check out the anime’s newest poster below.

The Summer Hikaru Died is Coming to Anime Expo 2025

Together with the confirmation of the release date, CyberAgent has announced that The Summer Hikaru Died will be coming to Anime Expo 2025 with some big events for the new anime’s debut. Not only will fans in attendance be able to check out some special materials behind the production for the first time, but The Summer Hikaru Died will also be hosting a special panel on July 4th. This will include the world premiere of the new anime’s first episode, and will then feature a talk including original series creator Mokumokuren, Yoshiki Tsujinaka voice actor Chiaki Kobayashi, and the anime’s producers.

Premiering with Netflix on July 5th, The Summer Hikaru Died‘s anime will feature Ryohei Takeshita (Jellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night) directing The Summer Hikaru Died for Cygames Pictures (Uma Musume Pretty Derby: Beginning of a New Era). Takeshita will also be overseeing the scripts for the new series with Yuichi Takahashi serving as character designer and chief animation director. The anime previously announced that it will also star Chiaki Kobayashi and Shuichiro Umeda as the main duo, Yoshiki Tsujinaka and Hikaru Indou respectively. The opening theme for the series is titled “saikai” as performed by Vaundy.

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What Is The Summer Hikaru Died About?

It’s yet to be revealed as to whether or not Netflix will be streaming The Summer Hikaru Died on a weekly basis, but this release date seems to tease it as such. As for what the new anime is about, Netflix begins to tease it as such, “Yoshiki and Hikaru live in a rural village and have been close friends since they were young. The blazing sun… The constant buzzing of cicadas… Ice cream on the way home… On a perfectly ordinary summer day, as they laugh over trivial things, Yoshiki turns to Hikaru and says: ‘…You’re not Hikaru, are you?’ Six months earlier, Hikaru went missing in the mountains and returned unexpectedly a week later.”

The synopsis continues with, “The new Hikaru looks and sounds just like the original, but something else is stirring within him. ‘Hikaru is gone… If that’s the case, then…’ Yoshiki continues spending his days with the ‘something’ imitating Hikaru, while pretending as if nothing has changed. Meanwhile, strange incidents begin to plague the village. Falling into the unknown ‘something’ — The curtain soon rises on this coming-of-age horror story.”