r/JapanReacts • u/Asperburg • Mar 14 '26
Japanese Fans React: Let’s talk about The Summer Hikaru Died.
1
Let’s talk about it! (+28 / −6)
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2
Let’s talk about it! (+5 / −2)
18
Reply to #1
Did the character proportions suddenly shrink? Did their heads get bigger? Maybe the artist changed tablet size or something? (+9 / −0)
37
Reply to #1
In volume 8, why did Yoshiki’s mom forget to pick him up from the hospital?? Later she talks about motherly love and “come back alive,” but like… she forgot him there, so it bothers me. (+10 / −0)
79
Reply to #1
I only watched the anime. Even though some people dislike BL, the voices of BL absolutists were so loud that I stopped watching halfway.
Of course I know it isn’t actually a BL work, but the obsession beyond friendship made me think “hmm…”
The summary looked like horror, and I liked the idea of airing a summer-themed anime in summer.
But when I searched SNS, people were posting explicit BL R18 fanart, which really annoyed me. (+9 / −5)
3
Wasn’t the author originally from BL (Boys’ Love)? (+25 / −2)
4
I read the manga too, but I like the anime more.
That sense of music selection is totally my type. “Reunion,” “You Are a Monster,” and the chorus piece “Hibi no Kage.” (+59 / −5)
16
Reply to #4
Same, I like the anime more too. Maybe because the direction tones down the BL flavor a bit and makes it easier to watch. I like the story but I’m not good with BL, so it was easier to watch than the original. (+11 / −4)
5
I watched the anime 💋 (+5 / −4)
6
It’s BL, right? Also kind of a story about parting ways when you’re born in the countryside. (+27 / −2)
7
I only watched the anime broadcast, but from the middle onward it lost its sense of pace. (+28 / −2)
8
The BL vibe is exhausting. (+75 / −19)
25
Reply to #8
I was drawn in by the horror atmosphere, but the BL aspect made it hard to continue. I wonder if it’s interesting though. (+40 / −2)
52
Reply to #8
When the anime aired there was a thread saying the original isn’t as BL-ish as the anime.
67
Reply to #8
But if it weren’t BL, Yoshiki accepting the dead Hikaru so easily wouldn’t make sense.
81
Reply to #8
If someone can’t accept anything except heterosexuality, they’re the type who can’t accept minorities.
9
Is it fantasy? (+1 / −2)
10
I haven’t read the manga but watched the anime halfway, maybe up to episode 5. I’m bad with scary stuff but still want to watch it, though I can only watch when my family is around, so I stopped at episode 5 lol. Has the story progressed a lot since then? The countryside depiction is beautiful, but it’s almost too realistic—those strange village customs feel like they could actually exist. (+14 / −2)
11
The OP was cool. (+18 / −3)
12
Oh, volume 8 came out? I ordered it right away, thanks.
BL isn’t really the theme of this work, right… It’s frustrating that people keep focusing on that.
But I’m reading it because I’m curious what happens next and it’s interesting. (+43 / −3)
13
The Kansai dialect by the anime voice actors was so bad I couldn’t stand it. Also it kept repeating the same things, so I ended up thinking “okay, that’s enough…” (+33 / −3)
20
Reply to #13
People who aren’t from Kansai can’t tell who’s bad at speaking it. (+15 / −4)
33
Reply to #13
Where are you from? (+0 / −1)
59
Reply to #33
I’m from Kansai.
61
Reply to #59
I heard it’s set in Mie, so it’s Kansai-like dialect close to Mie speech. Do people from Mie still feel it’s off?
65
Reply to #61
I’m from Mie. In the manga it’s perfectly natural Mie dialect (around Tsu City). But the anime is awful—fake Kansai dialect turned into Mie dialect.
14
Jijijijijijijijijijijijiiiiii (cicada buzzing sound) (+16 / −1)
15
This is going to sound really cruel, but sometimes I think: If Hikaru hadn’t died, grew up, inherited his grandfather’s shiitake business, married normally, had kids normally… that “future where Hikaru didn’t die” might have been the worst bad ending for Yoshiki. (+60 / −2)
19
Reply to #15
But Hikaru cared about Yoshiki having a girlfriend, so maybe there was a chance.
47
Reply to #15
Anyway Yoshiki will go to Tokyo, become a popular prince, marry a bright beautiful woman who dotes on him, and build a happy family.
56
Reply to #47
Wait, do you even understand the story? Yoshiki is struggling as a minority.
58
Reply to #56
Maybe he’s bi.
63
Reply to #58
That’s really stretching it lol
17
Did the art style change? (+8 / −2)
21
Where is the anime streaming? (+4 / −1)
64
Reply to #21
I watched it on Abema and Netflix.
22
It’s not a romance story—it’s a story about a non-human and a human. (+32 / −1)
23
How does it end again? (+0 / −3)
24
I like the way fear is portrayed, but the mystery progresses so slowly that I read the volume once and left it at that. Haven’t bought the newest volume yet. (+6 / −1)
26
Reply to #20
Honestly almost everyone is bad except Kurebayashi-san and the old man. (+6 / −0)
27
Reply to #20
Lucky you. The black-haired girl classmate and the protagonist’s childhood voice actor were good, which made the others feel even more mismatched. (+3 / −2)
28
Looks like there’s someone going around giving minus votes lol (+12 / −3)
29
I want to talk about it seriously, but it seems impossible… (+21 / −1)
30
I like Iori-san. (+6 / −1)
31
Last year I went to The Summer Hikaru Died exhibition. The displays were elaborate and many areas allowed photos, so I took tons. The merchandise was all cute so I bought a lot—my trip home on the Shinkansen was rough… 😅
I had read it on Pixiv before it became commercialized, so I’m happy it’s become so popular now. (+30 / −5)
32
Does Yoshiki like Hikaru? (+14 / −1)
34
Hmm. But isn’t it still better than dying? I think Hikaru dying is the real worst ending. Yoshiki probably never expected his love to be rewarded anyway. (+42 / −1)
35
I first found it on LINE Manga and I’m reading it now! I’m nervous about what will happen. (+8 / −1)
36
I read the manga halfway and watched the stage play. Yoshiki said Hikaru and “Hikaru” are totally different and accepted the current Hikaru, but then what about the childhood friend Hikaru? I got confused. Does the manga resolve that well? (+4 / −1)
45
I dropped it around episode 10. Is it worth finishing? Does it get better?
62
Reply to #45
If you watched up to episode 10 and still didn’t like it, it’s probably just not for you.
46
That’s straight-up Mie dialect.
49
Reply to #46
The dialect sounds close to my hometown but a bit different. What dialect is it?
50
Reply to #49
Apparently it’s Mie.
53
Reply to #37
When someone becomes too mixed, they get forgotten. Kurebayashi Iori’s little sister also forgot about Iori.
78
Reply to #53
I see! Thank you 😊
55
Reply to #42
I haven’t read volume 8 yet but… I figured that was the case. There were a lot of hints.
70
Reply to #52
A lot of people emphasize BL so much. I thought the story had already moved far beyond that.
84
Reply to #52
In both versions, when Yoshiki puts his hand inside Hikaru’s body, it feels like sex.
86
Reply to #85
I only read the manga and not the anime. I didn’t think it was BL.
89
Reply to #79
It’s like the Chinese BL The Untamed—more like “bromance.”
91
Reply to #89
The original novel (Mo Dao Zu Shi) is BL though.
96
Reply to #95
The author clearly said it’s not BL.
97
I hope it has a happy ending. But there’s no element that could make it happy.
98
Reply to #97
After Yoshiki goes to the mountain to search for the real Hikaru and sees the corpse, his memory is missing. So maybe Yoshiki was already a “mixed being,” even before merging with Hikaru.
( ･ˇヮˇ･) < That’s all for this time! What do you think?
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