Hotarubi no Mori e - Reviews

Omg this movie might be short but it took me on a roller coaster of emotions. I would be smiling one minute and another bawling eyes out. Overall it's a great short movie to watch. WARNING: Do not watch if you don't like sad stuff

I absolutely adore this anime. Although it's she short u can really get into it. The ending is so heartwarming that you will definitely cry.Why Gin Come Back to Me.

It's pretty common to get the sensation of feeling like you care for the characters in an anime spanning 20 episodes or more. It's rare to come across a 12 or 13 episode anime that gives you that sensation. It's possibly the rarest of them all to accomplish a liking and a genuine care for the characters in 45 minutes. Hotarubi no Mori e is that prized gemstone.

THE STORY IS: Hotaru is a 6 year old girl who gets lost in the forest and can't seem to find her way out. Curled up and crying, a strange voice comes out of nowhere to get her attention. This voice comes from Gin, a teenager living in the forest burdened by a curse that when touched by a human, he will disappear from the world. Gin leads Hotaru out of the forest, but she comes back everyday to see Gin. Every summer after that when Hotaru goes north to visit her Uncle in the countryside, she gets to see Gin. Though no physical contact can be had between the two, Hotaru is growing up and changing while Gin, ages much slower than a normal human, practically stays the same over time. Story begins.

At first, I didn't realize why this movie was ranked so high for being a 45 minute movie, until I watched it. The story is a simple developing romance. Nothing more, nothing less. Everything played out nicely. Honestly though, I will be the first to say this, the ending was kind of predictable. Not to say it wasn't good, I knew what was going to happen after finding out about Gin. It's not a secret or comes out like a huge plot twist...it's obvious. That does not stop it from achieving it's goal overall.

THE ANIMATION was very pretty and very smooth. Not a whole lot happens during the movie, so it does a great job at bringing out the colors and being fluent.

THE SOUND...the only reason why I gave it a 5/10 is because there really wasn't much sound to be had. The voice acting was very good, the sounds of the forest were great, but there wasn't a whole lot to really make a judgement. Not saying it's bland or dead, it's very mellow and relaxing.

THE CHARACTERS lured me in right after Gin and Hotaru's first meeting. After that, you could see the development in Hotaru. There is some growth in Gin, but you don't really see it that much because he doesn't age, so he is who he is and that is fine. Hotaru starts out 6 years old and grows into a high school student. Everybody else, literally, was just there for filler space. They had a purpose, but the main focus was Gin and Hotaru.

OVERALL I would really recommend this to anybody. This 45 minute movie got me to care more about the characters over most of the 25+ episode series' I have watched. I loved this little short movie, but I think this would've made for a great 12 episode series. Just to delve a little further into Gin and Hotaru's interactions with each other. If this 45 minute movie could be that powerful, imagine if they spanned it across 12 episodes...I would have loved for that, but this movie stole me. 

The story was amazing but it was too short and the ending leaves too many questions unanswered.

This is a bitter sweet short film about a coming of age love that was fated by sadness from the onset. Despit this the film portrays the love between Gin and Hotaru in an innocent and meaningful way. A great film if you want to feel the feels while also feeling warm and fuzzy.