itarusaki

“No matter what, don’t ever touch me, okay?”

Hotarubi no Mori e is a short 40-minutes long Japanese animated movie that tells about the unlikely story between Gin, a human-turned-ghost/forest spirit, and Hotaru, a normal human girl. They meet each other when Hotaru’s six and gets lost in the woods outside of her uncle’s village during the summer. Hotaru learns that Gin was originally human, but the mountain god had granted him magic after he was abandoned in the forest by his birth parents. Gin is absolutely not allowed to touch any humans whatsoever, or else he’ll disappear from the world for good.

It’s obvious that this movie’s theme revolves around Japanese mythology, as the viewers are exposed to many mythical elements (i.e. mountain god, forest spirits, etc.). One of the main characters, Gin, is also a spirit, which further supports this theme. However, I do wish that more of it could’ve been explored as the world building felt too simple; it lacked depth. 

In regards to characters and the buildup of their relationship and traits, the two main characters are actually quite simple characters. Hotaru is a clumsy, curious, and pure-hearted human girl, while Gin is an immortal forest spirit who is very caring and careful. As the years continue to pass and the two continue to meet each other every summer, they gradually got closer and developed forbidden feelings for each other. Considering how long they’ve known each other, the movie must’ve built their relationship up well, right? Not really. I wasn’t able to feel the chemistry and bond between them as the plot felt extremely rushed, hindering good character and relationship building. Even at the ending, I felt as if they were just strangers to each other and not more than that. The characters felt too light with no ‘turning point’ whatsoever that could have led them to proper character development. I couldn’t understand why Hotaru liked Gin, and vice versa.

The plot at the beginning felt dragged, but at the end, it didn't feel enough. Just as I felt that the plot was going somewhere and the character building was about to start, Gin accidentally touches a human boy. There is no hint of surprise or plot twist. It was done so disappointingly sudden with no buildup of tension whatsoever. His death was anything but tragic to me.

To sum it up

Hotarubi no Mori e is a slow-paced romance movie with Japanese mythology as its main theme. It tells of a human, Hotaru, who develops feelings for a forest spirit, Gin, as they spend their summers together. The plot, theme, characters and world building felt too simple (there’s beauty in simplicity, definitely, but oversimplification is also an issue), which was what made me highly dislike this movie. The two main characters were bland; they were so boring. The plot was stale and too slow-paced for my liking, and not to mention predictable. To be honest, I had to force myself to keep watching as I got bored pretty quickly while watching it. I wasn’t able to connect with neither of the two main characters; both just annoyed me to death not even halfway through the movie.

Personally, I wouldn’t recommend this movie to anyone at all, especially if you’re looking for a heart-wrenching, angsty romance movie to watch and pour your feelings into.