As we’re wont to do here at LiA Towers, let’s let the lede be the lede and not bury it. Hikaru ga Shinda Natsu has been officially confirmed for a second season. This was never in doubt – the manga was already very popular, and the anime gave it one of the biggest per-volume boosts of 2025. Nevertheless it’s nice to have that all be settled up front, though we’ll have to wait a while. I encourage you to listen to the My Taste is Better Than Yours episode on this series, where Samu and I delve into matters of the adaptation and its practicalities in some detail.
In brief, the manga is set to be ten volumes in total. It’s currently serializing chapters that will comprise volume 8, and if there are no major hiatuses (there have been a couple) that would see the final volume released around the beginning of 2027. It’s possible that the second season could start production while the manga is ongoing of course – if Mokumokuren knows the chapter count maybe they know the details of the ending. But at this point I’d be very surprised if we saw the final season before 2027.
Samu and I speculated that this was all pre-greenlit, which seems very likely. We also mused on where the anime would choose to end the first season, and we pretty much nailed that. “The beach scene” is a crucial moment in the series, and as the story lacks an obvious plot-driven stopping place, this was the logical one from a character standpoint. Samu even noted that Tanaka-san appearing might get shoehorned in right at the last. There is one more moment which would have been an interesting one to end on, a bit closer to a traditional cliffhanger, but they chose to leave that for the start of Season 2.
The first key moment of the episode comes when Tanaka tells Takeda-san that Nonuki-sama doesn’t exist, and never did – that the whole Indou ritual was a waste of time. He doesn’t go into detail on what this means, but he does say that he has a plan to save the village – which even in this scenario still needs saving, apparently. We then cut to the school, where summer break is pending and the end-of-term ceremonies are ongoing. Hikar2 shows up late and loiters in the classroom, looking pensive and thoughtful. That’s where Asako finds him, as if she knew exactly where he would be.
Asako is one of those villagers with extra senses, we knew that. She may also have had feelings for Hikaru – at the very least, he was an important friend. What her reaction to his confirming her suspicions calls home for Hikar2 is that he’s robbed Hikaru’s friends and family of their opportunity to mourn him. It may have been what Hikaru wanted – indeed, Hikar2 believes that it amounted to a request, which he was obligated to grant – but in human terms it was something totally unnatural.
Hikar2’s instinct at this point is to return to the mountain. That’s the best he can do to rectify the harm he’s already caused, and the harm he might cause in future. And at the remove of distance, it’s hard to refute the logic of that. The problem is that for Yoshiki, none of this has anything to do with logic. He wants Hikaru in his life, however and in whatever form. Ultimately his acceptance of Hikar2 is a selfish act, and he’s fully aware of it. He’s not doing this because of what this being desires – he’s doing it because he doesn’t want to say goodbye to the only thing that ever meant anything to him (as his father apparently had to do).
As Yoshiki is suffering though another agonizing family gathering, Hikar2 comes to his rescue by inviting him to go somewhere together. At first it’s a shopping trip, to buy a new swimming ring for Kaoru (he settles on a giant salamander). But Hikaru2 suggests they go to the ocean, as he wants to see it at least once. And on the train ride over (a fascinating pastiche of animation and live action) – which is basically the OP sequence – Hikar2 makes an idiot of himself as any teenage boy might. It’s so easy to pretend that everything is normal. But that’s just it – for Yoshiki, nothing has ever been normal. Least of all himself.
What’s really notable in this ocean sequence is that it’s the first time we’ve seen Yoshiki be really honest – with himself, or with Hikaru. Hikar2’s desire to return to the mountain forces Yoshiki to confront the truth about himself – his entire life is a lie, and only Hikaru gives any meaning to it. He’s no monster of course, no matter what he says – but he is a lost soul. Hikar2 is a monster by any conventional definition, but for Yoshiki he’s a life preserver (or swim ring) as much as anything. As long as Hikaru is around in one form or another, Yoshiki can pretend that everything is all right. With him gone, he’ll have no choice but to confront the falsity of his own existence.
What does Hikar2 mean when he tells Yoshiki he loves him? It’s a fascinating question, as important as any Hikaru ga Shinda Natsu asks, but it’s impossible to answer with any confidence. Is he sincere? Undoubtedly – I don’t think Hikar2 is capable of lying to begin with. But even he doesn’t really know what he’s saying – he’s confident he doesn’t mean it in romantic or other human terms, but the mere fact that he can make such a statement means that’s not such a far-fetched notion. Yoshiki’s brutal honesty – at long last – breaks Hikar2 down. Ironically, it’s Yoshiki’s need for him that gives him a reason to live on, and in his current form.
Any story of this sort can be taken on a metaphorical level of course, but I don’t think it requires much of a stretch with this one. Adolescence is a lonely and terrifying time, most certainly for someone living with the secret Yoshiki carries. Everyone longs to belong – some people never find a place where they feel they do. This dynamic exists alongside the surface-level plot of Hikaru ga Shinda Natsu, and the two are inseparably linked. It’s a series that commanded attention and acclaim literally from its first chapter, and it’s easy to see why – for a debut series conceived when the writer was a high schooler, it’s remarkably coherent and nuanced. It deserves every bit of success it’s found, and I look forward to seeing how it answers the many profound questions it raises.
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