Sound, Immersion... Chiaki Kobayashi, Shūichirō Umeda, and Chikahiro Kobayashi Enthusiastically Discuss Their Favorite Highlights of This Summer's Must-Watch Teen Horror Anime "The Summer Hikaru Died"!

■Chiaki Kobayashi Reveals Behind-the-Scenes Stories, Recounting How He Portrayed Protagonist Yoshiki as a “Down-to-Earth High Schooler”

The program also delved deeper into the characters’ charms. Shūichirō Umeda, who plays Hikaru, passionately described Hikaru’s allure—embodying both madness and innocence that exist in contrast within the character. As Tanaka’s voice actor, Chikahiro Kobayashi teased the audience, saying, “For now, just remember that Tanaka loves hamsters!” hinting at developments to come, as Tanaka’s full story has yet to be revealed.

Chiaki Kobayashi, in charge of Yoshiki Tsujinaka, shared his approach to creating the character. He described Yoshiki as “a very human character” and said, “When playing him, I focused on ensuring he wouldn’t become too dramatic. I portrayed him as a realistic, ordinary high schooler facing huge conflicts and struggles. That was my main focus in bringing him to life.”

More behind-the-scenes stories were shared throughout the program, such as the difficulty of recording lines in the Mie dialect, as all the characters speak it, and, given the horror genre, an episode about the cast actually attending a purification ritual. These stories sparked excitement and surprise among viewers.

Additionally, the original author, Mokumokuren, reportedly visited the recording studio, with Umeda recalling that he directly asked the creator for impressions of Hikaru to help with his character portrayal, which further enlivened the studio atmosphere.

Another segment featured the “Yoshiki & Hikaru Childhood Friend Synchro Challenge,” in which Chiaki Kobayashi and Umeda, playing childhood friends, were tested on how much they were in sync. The two often gave unexpected answers, prompting the quizmaster, Chikahiro Kobayashi, to exclaim, “Come on, synchronize already!”