Voice Actor Shūichirō Umeda, Who Plays Hikaru in the Anime "The Summer Hikaru Died," Makes an Appearance! What Are His Favorite Scenes and the Biggest Challenges During Recording? “ShibuAni” #60

On ABEMA, “SHIBUYA ANIME BASE” #ShibuAni (pronounced: ShibuAni) episode #60 was broadcast live on Friday, September 19, 2025, from 9:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. The episode featured voice actor Shūichirō Umeda as a guest, delivering a special feature on “The Summer Hikaru Died” just before the final episode.

“The Summer Hikaru Died” (abbreviated as “Hikanatsu”) is a coming-of-age horror manga created by Mokumokuren, serialized on the manga site “Young Ace UP” (KADOKAWA), depicting a blend of youthful restlessness and terror. The story follows Yoshiki, an ordinary high school boy, as he experiences a series of mysterious incidents around him, living with an enigmatic “something” that imitates his childhood friend Hikaru.

Shūichirō Umeda, this episode’s guest and the voice of Hikaru, shared, “The appeal comes from the relationship between Yoshiki and Hikaru. Yoshiki’s childhood friend Hikaru disappears one day, only to return as a different entity, and from there, their new life together begins. There’s a constant sense of unease, wondering if something dangerous might happen at any moment while living alongside this ambiguous being. I think that’s a fascinating aspect you can’t take your eyes off.”

Furthermore, Umeda cited his favorite scene as the moment in episode four when Yoshiki recalls the real, living Hikaru, saying, “It’s a scene that lets you feel the shifting dynamics and atmosphere between Hikaru and Yoshiki as they are now.” He also remarked, “I’d like viewers to pay attention to how I differentiate between the impostor Hikaru and the current Hikaru in my performance. I often have opportunities to talk about Hikaru, but Hikaru feels that Yoshiki is important and has affections for him—not in a romantic sense, but just as someone dear. Still, is that really the same as human emotion? That’s a very important theme. I don’t settle on a single answer for myself, because Hikaru perceives things with an instinct that’s almost animalistic. If something in front of him seems fun, he feels ‘That looks fun!’ If it’s red, he thinks ‘It’s something red.’ I focused on conveying that kind of emotional reaction, while still having Hikaru try to acquire a more human way of thinking—at least toward Yoshiki. It’s normal to think something is red if it is red, but what sort of feeling is it that makes Hikaru think ‘Yoshiki’ about Yoshiki? That’s something Hikaru keeps pondering. I constructed that as part of Hikaru’s inner conflict.”

Additionally, Umeda, who is from Chiba Prefecture, commented on the difficulty of recording in the Mie dialect, saying, “The Mie dialect is unique even within its region and differs from the Kansai dialect. It was chosen to help express the worldview of ‘Hikanatsu.’ I recorded my lines with stoic intensity under supervision.”