Have you heard of “The Summer Hikaru Died”? I was first introduced to it a few years ago while I was living in Japan, and it quickly became one of my favourites. Though it started as just a manga series, its popularity grew rapidly, and so did demand for more content. With two volumes of a light novel series and one season of its own anime, fans have been gifted with quite a bit!
As I read the manga religiously, I wasn’t actually the biggest fan of the anime—it introduced things in a very different order from the manga. Though now I do have to admit that I think the anime was very well done, at the time, I really wanted a scene-by-scene animation true to the manga. I can now enjoy the two as two separate pieces of media from the same series that I love, but it’s important to remember that they’re different.
I have recently begun reading the light novel…and would you believe that the light novel is also rather different from both the manga and the anime? At least the introduction is.
So, in this post, I want to talk a little about the differences I have noticed in all three pieces of media, and which I enjoyed the most.
**I am only going to be talking about the introductions to each piece in this post**
The Manga
In the manga, we’re introduced to both Hikaru and Yoshiki at the same time. The two boys are sitting outside eating icy treats and chatting. It’s through this chatting that Yoshiki is able to determine that there’s something not quite right with Hikaru, and point-blank asks him whether he’s actually Hikaru or not.
This question comes completely out of the blue for the reader, and instantly sets a tonal shift. It goes from two friends having a casual conversation, to something’s not right. This is a tone that is constant throughout the series, so I found this to be a perfect introduction.
We then cut to Hikaru, with something now oozing out of his face. Up until now, the reader had no reason to assume Hikaru was anything other than a normal boy, leading to even more confusion and unease. This “Hikaru” states that he “had done a perfect imitation”, and begs Yoshiki to not tell anyone.
Yoshiki, clearly petrified, agrees and lets Hikaru hug him.
In my opinion, this introduction does a perfect job of setting up the mystery of this manga series. We know that Yoshiki and Hikaru were close friends—close enough for Yoshiki to be able to tell something was wrong with Hikaru very easily. It also leaves the reader with a lot of questions—what’s oozing out of Hikaru’s face? What is Hikaru? What happened to the original Hikaru?
These are all questions that are slowly answered throughout the series. This introduction does a wonderful job of igniting interest in the overall mystery of the story, without giving anything away. All we know here is that something happened to Hikaru.
The Anime
Unlike the manga, the anime’s introduction focuses on the moment Hikaru’s body is possessed by the spirit. We’re shown the scene of Yoshiki running through the forest, passing the tree that caused Hikaru to slip—though we don’t know this at the time—and eventually returning back home.
We’re also shown Hikaru at the bottom of the cliff where he fell, raising an arm out to some mysterious creature while lying on the ground, saying he doesn’t want “him” to be alone.
The anime then cuts to the scene that started the manga, with Yoshiki telling Hikaru “You’re not Hikaru, are you?”
This version focuses more on “What happened to Hikaru?” compared to the manga, however I found the tone to be completely different. While the manga introduction had more of a mystery-first tone, the anime focused more on the supernatural.
We are still shown how close Hikaru and Yoshiki are in this introduction, with Yoshiki frantically searching through the woods for him. I just didn’t find the scene to be as impactful in the anime as it was in the manga. Perhaps because their relationship is much more established by the time this scene happens in the manga.
The manga chooses to wait quite a while before even talking about what happened to Hikaru in the woods, so I was surprised to see the anime start with it. It does help tie everything together for fans new to the franchize though—the woods play a very important part of the story, so I can’t fault it much for introducing it early.
The Light Novel
In the prologue of the light novel, we’re told everything through Hikaru’s perspective. He was doing his job as the son of his family in the woods, saw a tree shaped like a woman, laughed, slipped, and fell down a cliff. Now at the bottom of the cliff, his body is broken, and he is slowly dying.
His thoughts are shared with the readers as he’s dying—he hopes no one will miss him too much, he’s sorry to his parents for dying in such a way, and he doesn’t want his childhood friend to be left alone.
It’s as he’s dying at the bottom of the cliff that he begins feeling a warm presence come toward him. He keeps thinking about how he doesn’t want to leave his friend alone, and does his best to reach out towards the warmth.
After reading the light novel, I can only assume that the anime was based off of both the light novel and the manga. As the anime seems to follow the light novel’s introduction, and then the manga’s. Honestly, I was surprised with how much detail was put into this introductory scene. Though I really enjoy the manga’s introduction and how it sets up the fact that Hikaru and Yoshiki are incredibly close… I also really enjoyed the light novel’s introduction.
This introduction is one of the rare times that we get to hear the “real” Hikaru’s thoughts. The reader is typically only shown the original Hikaru through Yoshiki’s lense, so I was pleasantly surprised by how this was written. It also shows just how strong Yoshiki and Hikaru’s bond is, with Yoshiki being in Hikaru’s last dying thought.
While him reaching out to the warmth from the bottom of the cliff is in both the light novel and the anime, I think the light novel did a much better rendition. The anime’s introduction is rather hectic, showing everyone search for Hikaru frantically. The mood is scared and rushed. The light novel’s introduction on the other hand, is calm and collected, focusing just on Hikaru. The mood is scarily calm and sad.
All in all, I think all three pieces are fantastic. All of them add something different to the franchise, making up one amazing story.
Have you read The Summer Hikaru Died? Let me know your thoughts about it!
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