Six months ago, Yoshiki Tsujinaka’s best friend Hikaru Indou went missing in the mountains only to return a week later with no memory of what happened. However, Yoshiki already knows that it was not Hikaru who came back, but something wearing his skin and pretending to be him.
When Yoshiki reveals this to Hikaru, the entity begs him to not reveal the truth—because he doesn’t want to have to kill him. While Yoshiki carefully observes the innocent child-like wonder of this new Hikaru, it’s presence is attracting other supernatural things to their small rural town.
There’s something sinister in them there hills. If you are looking for more anime recommendations like The Summer Hikaru Died, head on down below.
Anime Like The Summer Hikaru Died
For Fans of Rural Horror
Higurashi – When They Cry
Keiichi Maebara just moved from Tokyo with his family to the small town of Hinamizawa in the summer 1983.
As the town is so small, school children of all ages are lumped into one class. There he becomes fast friends with four girls where he spends his days after school idly playing games.
However, as the town’s annual festival approaches, he learns about a series of murders, disappearances, and other mysteries that surround it.
When he confronts his friends, he finds them mysteriously tight-lipped.
Similarities Between The Summer Hikaru Died and Higurashi
- Kids in the country, living life as ominous things happen
- The village has mystical legends that may, in fact, be real.
- Characters trying to figure out what is going on, characters trying to hide the truth
- Ominous, concerning atmosphere
Differences Between The Summer Hikaru Died and Higurashi
- Higurashi is more frequently gory and violent
- Higurashi has a sort of looping storyline where events will transpire and time will reset, which can make the story more difficult to grasp at first.
- The Summer Hikaru Died makes it clear what is happening. What is happening in Higurashi is part of the mystery, and it likes to keep you guessing.
Summertime Render
After his parents died, Shinpei went to live with the Kofune family on Hitogashima Island. After leaving for school in Tokyo he has not been back since, but after receiving word that one of the two Kofune daughters, Ushio, drown tragically, he returns for the funeral.
However, with bruises on her neck, there is some doubt if Ushio’s accident was truly an accident.
As he considers her death, strange things begin to take place on this island that forces Mio, Ushio’s sister, to recall an old tale about how seeing a person that looks just like yourself foretells your own death.
Similarities Between The Summer Hikaru Died and Summertime Render
- Kids in the country as ominous things start to happen
- The series kicks off with a death of an important person to the main character, but… the dead person is still, surprisingly, walking around.
- Spirits and local legends about the surrounding landscape
Differences Between The Summer Hikaru Died and Summertime Render
- Summertime Render has some time looping elements to it.
- The Summer Hikaru Died is pretty straightforward with what is happening while Summertime Render keeps what is happening as a mystery to be unraveled.
- Summertime Render can be more tense and has more action-adjacent thriller moments, though it is not an action series.
From The New World
After a small portion of humanity suddenly developed psychokinetic powers, the world underwent a rapid transformation. After 1,000 years of turbulent history where regular humans struggled against those with powers, we focus in on Kamisu 66, a small town where 12-year-old Saki Watanabe finally awakened her powers.
This awakening means she is finally able to join her friends at the Sage Academy. However, things in Saki’s life do not remain as simple as those precious days.
With missing children in the village, rebellious rumblings, and a world steeped in myth and mystery, Saki and her friends are about to face the shocking truths of their peaceful society.
Similarities Between The Summer Hikaru Died and From the New World
- Kids in the country as ominous things start to happen
- Local legends, spirits, and trying to tell kids not to go certain places
- Ominous, horror-adjacent coming of age
- Homoerotic / bisexual moments.
Differences Between The Summer Hikaru Died and From the New World
- From the New World is a post apocalyptic anime set in the far future
- Ominous mystery is but one element going on in From the New World. The story spans a longer time period and has moments of tense action throughout.
Housing Complex C
In the seaside town of Kurosaki, there stands a rundown old apartment block known as Housing Complex C. Young Kimi and many of the residents are excited for the new people from abroad that move in while they observe technical research in the area.
However, soon after these new residents move in, a number of horrific incidents begin to occur.
Similarities Between The Summer Hikaru Died and Housing Complex C
- Kids in the country where ominous things start to happen
- A close-knit community with local legends and local secrets
- Increasingly concerning behavior from one character
Differences Between The Summer Hikaru Died and Housing Complex C
- Housing Complex C tells a more compact horror story with less lingering slice of life
- Housing Complex C can be a bit more gruesome
Find Out Where to Continue The Summer Hikaru Died Story at Our Sibling Site:
For Fans of This Person Is Not Who I Think They Are
Shiki
The fifteen-year-old Megumi Shimizu dreamed of leaving her small country town behind for the big city, but those dreams died when she did.
It was her murder that kicked off a summer of blood and terror in this small town where a city boy and a country doctor try to stop the epidemic of death happening around them.
Similarities Between The Summer Hikaru Died and Shiki
- Ominous things start happening in a rural mountain village
- The dead are suddenly not dead and are walking around
- Local legends, people disappearing, and paranoia start to seep into a village
Differences Between The Summer Hikaru Died and Shiki
- The Summer Hikaru Died is more of a personal story for the main character while Shiki doesn’t have much of a main character. Instead, Shiki is more of a village-focused story about a larger ensemble cast.
- The Summer Hikaru Died is upfront about what is happening. What is happening in Shiki is the mystery to be unraveled.
- Shiki features more frequent gruesome horror.
- The characters in Shiki are a bit more eccentric in their design.
Parasyte
One night, sixteen-year-old Shinichi Izumi was peacefully sleeping when a race of parasitic aliens descended on Earth.
One parasite infects Shinichi, trying to get to his brain to take over his body, but ends up getting stuck in his right hand. Unable to relocate to the brain, the alien, named Migi, now has no choice but to learn to coexist with Shinichi in his body in order to stay alive.
Unfortunately, the other parasitic aliens are not so friendly with humans or to parasites that failed to complete their mission.
Similarities Between The Summer Hikaru Died and Parasyte
- Something is snatching bodies and wearing faces
- Ominous moments between people who aren’t sure if each other is a threat
- The main character becomes a constant target due to the body snatcher
Differences Between The Summer Hikaru Died and Parasyte
- Parasyte is a sci-fi anime about parasitic aliens descending to earth and taking over bodies.
- Parasyte has more gory moments and is very much an action anime.
- The main character is fused with the entity, not just his friend like in The Summer Hikaru Died.
- As Parasyte is working with an alien race, there is an element of mistrust of others for the main character as anyone could be trying to kill him.
Sankarea
After his cat gets run over, Chihiro is convinced that he can make a potion to resurrect him. On his task to do so, he meets a wealthy girl from his school who comes to an abandon spot to yell in a well about her troubles every day.
The two bond and she encourages him to continue his resurrection potion creation. Eventually, he succeeds after adding poisonous hydrangea leaves.
Sanka, however, doesn’t know it has worked, and decided to kill herself with what should be a poisonous potion. Suddenly, Chihiro has a beautiful zombie on his hands.
Similarities Between The Summer Hikaru Died and Sankarea
- A person the main character knew has died—and now they’re back.
- Is it advisable to get close to a non-human thing in the shape of someone you loved?
- Slice of life, and vaguely ominous moments shared between two people
Differences Between The Summer Hikaru Died and Sankarea
- Sankarea is about a girl killing herself and being reanimated as a zombie.
- Sankarea is far more of an actual romance
- Sankarea, for as dark as it sounds, isn’t actually all that dark. It is more like a standard romance where the girl gets a bit terrifying at times.
For Fans of Spirits Around Us
Mushishi
In this world, there exist Mushi, spirits that often exist with no purpose. However, these Mushi can affect the physical world in countless forms from diseases to more pleasant phenomenon.
Why do these Mushi exist?
That is the question that Ginko the Mushi-shi, a researcher on the phenomenon, asks himself as he travels the land investigating Mushi-related incidents.
Similarities Between The Summer Hikaru Died and Mushishi
- Ominous, melancholy country vibes and setting
- Quiet main character who often observes
- Spirits and local legends are in them there hills
- Spirits are not always fully evil, and sometimes their very nature is misunderstood
Differences Between The Summer Hikaru Died and Mushishi
- Mushishi follows a main character that travels, observes and studies spirits called Mushi. He is not involved in any story of his own other than traveling.
- The spirits in Mushishi aren’t always harmful or dangerous.
- Mushishi isn’t a horror story, but it can have its moments.
Dark Gathering
Keitarou Gentouga is a college student who hates ghosts. Unfortunately, spirits have always been unnaturally attracted to him, so much so that he was previously a shut-in after causing his childhood friend, Eiko Houzuki, and himself to get cursed by a spirit.
However, Eiko helped him get back out into the world, and as part of his rehabilitation, he started tutoring Eiko’s young cousin, Yayoi.
It isn’t long before Keitarou finds that Yayoi actively seeks out dangerous spirits, using him and various other tools to capture them for a mysterious purpose that all stems back to the spirit that took Yayoi’s mother after her death.
Similarities Between The Summer Hikaru Died and Dark Gathering
- There are spirits around us and those that can see them
- A boy that didn’t want to be involved in a horror anime is dragged into one
- Deadly, interestingly designed spirits that legitimately terrify.
Differences Between The Summer Hikaru Died and Dark Gathering
- Dark Gathering is a ghost hunting anime. So they are actively looking for spirits.
- Dark Gathering features more ghost encounters and is, in general, the more high energy story. There is not as much atmospheric melancholy as there is in The Summer Hikaru Died.
Ghost Hound
In the small village of Suiten, three boys with traumatic pasts learn how to let their souls travel in between the world they know and the mysterious Unseen World.
The Unseen World is one of ghosts. However, the three boys aren’t the only things coming and going from this world. Ghosts are now also beginning to pass into the real world as well.
Similarities Between The Summer Hikaru Died and Ghost Hound
- Kids in the country where ominous things start happening
- Local legends and local spirits in the hills
- The barrier between reality and the spirit world seems to be weakening in this town.
- Traumatic incidents and how people deal with them.
Differences Between The Summer Hikaru Died and Ghost Hound
- Ghost Hound works with three major characters who each have their own trauma and story happening.
- Ghost Hound is a little less obvious with what is going on, making you wonder if it is supernatural or psychological.
- Ghost Hound is far more about the traumas than the spirits.
Do you have more anime recommendations like The Summer Hikaru Died? Let fans know in the comments section below.
