What is love? Is it something a monster can feel? Does a monster even have the right to feel such a thing? Oh my gosh one of my favorite manga got an amazing adaptation and I couldnt be happier. This anime perfectly mixes the emotion and horror of the original manga to the point of making the story even stronger. Id say this is the best anime in the Summer 2025 season. Yes Takopis Original Sin was amazing but I think The Summer Hikaru Died is even better. Forbidden love is already a tragedy unto itself but when the person you love is no longer the same soul you fell in love with instead a monster who now reciprocates your feelings what are you to do? Thats the situation Yoshiki now finds himself facing. Its a really interesting premise. Usually I dont expect much from horror anime but this anime has done an incredible job. Seriously this is probably the best horror anime Ive ever watched and one of the best emotionally as well. 220https://i.pin.com/1200x/02/e3/5b/02e35b91c7e19e36669b918bdd3b2b74.jpg Story and Characters Usually Id make these two separate categories but its a very characterdriven story so itd be difficult to do that. This story really revolves around the human experience. Whether that be experiencing genuine emotions valuing human life or facing grief and acceptance. Yoshiki must face his feelings toward the new Hikaru while Hikaru must face the new human emotions hes experiencing. Oh my gosh its done so well. While theyre facing these emotional and relationship conflicts there are also people hunting down the mysterious evil entity Hikaru thats come from the mountain. Yoshiki deeply cared for his friend Hikaru. So when he comes back but not as he once was now a monster a completely different being just wearing his friends face Yoshiki has to decide whether or not to accept him. He desperately wants to accept him be by his side and pretend everything is okay and sometimes it seems as if thatll work well. Hikaru is a really cute character after all. But once in a while his monstrous side does show. The human emotions vanish and hell easily take a persons life without any sort of hesitation. All the while stating he cares for Yoshiki. It puts Yoshiki in an interesting yet tragic position. It makes the viewer well me at least want to root for Hikaru he can be so cute at times but for Yoshiki thats easier said than done since his friend is a monster. I cant quite describe how welldone this conflict is. The anime really portrays the tension and sadness between the two really really well. Animation and Sound AMAZING. Seriously as I said earlier in the review they were able to make such a good horror anime which is so so rare to see It really builds up tension not with gore but with the emotional value of everything and the consequences those emotions could have. At the same time the anime throws in creepy creatures that actually look creepy so that helps with the horror a lot. As for the animation in general it looks really good. I have no complaints. It really helps carry out the uneasy vibes the story already gives. The setting should feel warm but it doesnt theres almost an empty feeling to it all. So the animation doing the setting so well worked wonders for the story. The music is fantastic too. Im especially a fan of the ending song. Ive liked all the OSTs as well. Hopefully theyll be out on Spotify soon because I will absolutely be adding them to my playlists. What I also liked Theres a scene in episode four where Hikaru mistakenly calls someone whos queer diseased. Hes quickly corrected by Yoshiki clarifying that hes homosexual not diseased. And I feel like this moment really captures the anime well. While its not a romance it does have undertones of the struggle queer people face for acceptance. In the small rural village the two characters reside in such love is seen as diseased monstrous and in a way I think thats a reference to Yoshikis current love for Hikaru. Its so sad but its written really well. Im really glad to see LGBTQ+ characters represented more in anime and in such a wellwritten story as well. I dont want to spoil anything but the last episode was absolutely phenomenal. Seriously one of the best episodes in general that Ive ever watched. Its heartwrenching yet so beautiful at once. It truly shows the heartache in accepting others and yourself and oh my gosh the dialogue was written so beautifully. Seriously what an amazing episode. 220https://i.pin.com/1200x/c4/30/8e/c4308eef5e299154d36e62d9d92ada64.jpg Overall Its not just a simple forbidden love story. Its one thats genuinely sad and hurts to watch. Its not even necessarily a romance yet its still so wellwritten that you can feel the care they hold for each other and how much it hurts. The characters feelings really do feel genuine and that really makes an impact. Id absolutely recommend watching this its by far my favorite anime from this season.