Hotarubi no Mori e - Reviews

This is such a beautiful story. Theres is a sculpture by Camille Claudel  called "The Waltz" it perfectly expressed the feeling of this story:  two persons, joined in a magical hug that fussed them into only one soul.

We have spirts, and tradicional summer's festivals, and magical creatures that live in the deep of the forest, all seen through the eyes of a small girl, that gets lost one night and is found by one of those creatures.

This is a must read manga, sweet, amazing and at the end I teared up a little.

I've watched the anime like 4x now and I just had to read the manga. I definitely adored both the anime and manga and definitely recommend both! They are both sweet and the type of heartwarming, heartbreaking, tear-bringing, beautifully ending romance that you just don't want to end but are actually pretty satisfied with the ending (somehow). The anime is definitely a good, family friendly anime to use to introduce anime to a person and the manga is also a good introduction manga. You'll love this story (including the anime), you'll just read it over and over and over and eventually, want to buy it. (If you're like me)

These are four standalone stories, with the above synopsis describing the second story. I think the art is attempting to be light and breezy, but it just looks sloppy to me. The faces don't convey emotions very well and are often off-center and the clothes look wrinkled when I think they're intended to look flowy. The backgrounds are generally well-drawn though.

The first story uses music and guitar-playing as the glue and tells the story of a girl breaking through a guy's rough exterior and finding feir vulnerable center. It's not all that great. Let's call this story a 3/10.

The second is a melancholy love story of two people who can never truly realize their love or have a full relationship. Because if the boy ever touches a human, fe'll disappear forever. And fe also doesn't age. (There's also an extra chapter at the end of the volume which shows some of the boy's interactions with the other monsters in the forest.) It's a good story. Let's call it a 9/10.

The third story tells of a boy and a girl who became and remained friends for over a decade despite there being a socioeconomic gap between their families. The girl aspires to be a ninja so fe can protect the boy, but does the boy need to be protected? It's cute and enjoyable. Probably another 9/10.

The fourth story is about two very close siblings who were separated because of their parents' divorce, and when they re-entered each others' lives again years later, the vibes they're feeling are less than platonic. It's meh, so a 5/10 feels right.

I've re-read this manga many times over the years and still cry like a baby every time