To expand on Eli Clare’s chapter about “Losing Home” as the previous post showcased, there was a connection that shares some sentiments with Eli Clare’s experience of feeling lost, which was a show on Netflix called “The Summer Hikaru Died.”
Using the discussions revolving around Eli Clare about complications about leaving their identity as well as using queer theory, the main character in “The Summer Hikaru Died” faces this similar dilemma as they had this ‘physical’ obstacle that is tying them down to their secluded town. Eli says, “I know that it is life-blood for me to live openly in relative safety as a dyke among dykes; to live thousands of miles away from the people who…[harmed] me as child…[but] I hate that cost” (Clare 46). Eli Clare talks about the life they had in their small urban home and how the dyke community was their safe space. Eli mentions how they wished there were ways to educate or support LGBTQ individuals to express themselves in small urban spaces. Yoshiki, the main character, suffers from a similar experience but instead of making the decision to leave the small town, they stay because of their love for Hikaru even after their death.
Yoshiki’s character in the show had them experience a ‘what-if’ situation in which Hikaru was still alive. In episode 1 of The Summer Hikaru Died, there’s a moment in which Yoshiki confronts Hikaru about his identity and Hikaru casually threatens Yoshiki to keep quiet by revealing his true form. In this shot as well, Hikaru can possibly signify the physical baggage that Yoshiki carries with them even after their crush’s death. This connection is likely what Eli Clare must have experienced along the way, although not physical, Eli expressed that memories tied them to their previous home which can be said about Yoshiki. Eli Clare says, “I didn’t know that in a middle-class town or neighborhood these things would have marked my family and me as something other than well-off” (Clare 38). Eli Clare comments on how class can vary depending on the size of the place, which is often overlooked if LGBTQ people have never lived in small towns. In this case, Yoshiki’s mother works in the city, already creating distances from other villagers as the town is wary of them. Eli Clare comments on this experience by calling out LGBTQ support groups to educate villagers on sexualities as well as individuals who are closeted.
“Replacement.” The Summer Hikaru Died, created by Mokumokuren, season 1, episode 1, CygamesPictures, 5 July 2025. Netflix app.
Clare, Eli. “Losing Home.” Exile and Pride: Disability, Queerness, Liberation, Duke University Press, Durham & London, 2015, pp. 31–49.
I really like how you point out how Hikaru clinging to Yoshiki symbolizes how he’s literally weighing Yoshiki down. That would’ve gone completely over my head. I’d say Clare’s ideas are visible in a lot of the work we consume in ways we don’t even notice. The Legend of Auntie Po, of course features Auntie Poe who, notably, has an enormous stature and frame which cannot be hurt and weighed down easily, calling back to Clare’s ideas of the body and how it holds scars. Mei is wishing for a body, a life, which does not scar easily.
woah! Another summer hikaru died entry! I really have to watch it now haha.