The Summer Hikaru Died is the most realistic portrayal of queer love in anime

The Summer Hikaru Died has been on everyone's lips, and it is not surprising. The Summer Hikaru Died is an anime that feels familiar and yet unfamiliar at the same time. The familiar elements are straightforward and are clearly borrowed from anime like Summer Rendering, Erased, and Banana Fish. However, the unfamiliar elements that show in The Summer Hikaru Died are its themes of queer romance.

While many want to disagree and say queer romance is familiar in anime, there is yet to be a proper queer romance that is mainstream. Most BL stories aren’t as mainstream as their heterosexual counterparts. The Summer Hikaru Died is changing that, as it is telling the unfiltered queer story.

While a great deal of queer stories have the two characters go at each other from the jump. The Summer Hikaru Died shows the consequences of queer people living in a heteronormative world. The two main characters have to stifle their obvious feelings and bury them around each other, while still remaining friends with one another.

Disclaimer: This article reflects the author’s views and may contain spoilers.

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How The Summer Hikaru Died captures queer yearning

Yoshiki loves Hikaru deeply, but never lets himself feel that love (Image via Cygames Pictures)

These days, queer romance is gaining popularity in fiction. Stories like Moonlight, Call Me By Your Name, and Queer have shown that there is an untapped goldmine in queer stories, and these stories can easily be mainstream. However, anime has not been so lucky when it comes to queer stories coming to the fore. This boils down mainly to the story's unrealism, as fans can’t relate to the romance.

The Summer Hikaru Died shows the true reality of queer romance, one filled with idealization, but never actualization. Hikaru and Yoshiki are best friends, but they’re best friends with a difference. One can see that there are sparks in the air whenever the two characters are in the room. They both love each other deeply, but there is an undertone of what society might think stopping them from acting on that romance.

Hikaru constantly teases Yoshiki about his feelings, and even tells Yoshiki that he likes him. When Hikaru is about to lose his life, he only thinks about one person, Yoshiki, and he regrets that he never shared his feelings with him. Yoshiki also wanted something more with Hikaru, and that’s the reason he doesn’t mind the fake Hikaru; this is a chance for Yoshiki to experience Hikaru more.

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Final thoughts

Many fans say that The Summer Hikaru Died is not romance; it just has queer themes. These queer themes are at the center of Yoshiki’s struggles. Yoshiki has to choose between outing the fake Hikaru or accepting the fake Hikaru and creating space for a potential relationship.

This struggle is seen in real-life queer couples, where they are stuck between similar choices. Either they bury any chance of a relationship, or they hang around in the space of uncertainty. Yoshiki comforts himself with the false Hikaru, and that is because he can't move on.

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