It's our first episode of 2025 and we're discussing a series that is due to get an anime adaptation later this year: The Summer Hikaru Died by Mokmok Len. This is the first series picked by the LostinAnime patrons, and it’s one we both mostly agree is pretty damn good.

Timestamps:

0:00 Introduction - Our first series voted by the LostinAnime patrons, an early sensation in Japan

8:04 Comparing our experiences of binging vs followed it as it’s published

11:04 Momok Len’s ‘slice of life’ approach to drama

16:35 Is Hikaru still Hikaru? Exploring the theme of performance between Hikaru and Yoshiki

20:53 What do we think of the relationship between Yoshiki and Hikaru before he died?

25:36 Momok Len’s favourite manga: Tokyo Ghoul

26:44 The anime adaptation and confirmation of the series being 10 volumes total

29:15 Spoiler discussion begins

29:57 How do we expect the series is going to play out in the second half?

35:04 The population decline of rural Japan and how it lends to this type of horror

35:53 Was Hikaru familiar with his family’s history before he died?

38:54 Could we get a flashback of the original Hikaru?

39:44 Was Kurabayashi wrong not to take out Hikaru when she had the chance?

42:27 Is this series science-fiction or fantasy? Aliens???

45:35 Where do we see the anime adapting up until?

49:21 Enzo’s Recommendation: Shiki by Fuyumi Ono and Ryu Fujisaki

52:11 Samu’s Recommendation: Stigmata + Stigmata -Love Bites- by Hidebu Takahashi

54:22 Overview and final scores