*SPOILER WARNING* For something with a pretty basic romantic storyline, Hotarubi no Mori e pulled it off pretty well. It's easy to follow; a young girl gets lost in an enchanted forest, she meets a spirit, they become friends, they grow up together every summer, they fall in love, and then their love ends. Pretty basic, huh? That's what I loved about it. It was a comfortable watch, you didn't have to think about it too much, but all the emotion is still there. The script is well written, interspersed with the right amount of humour, with natural conversation flowing between the two main characters.It seems like a typical shoujo anime, heck it probably is your typical shoujo anime, but in the 45 minute runtime, you really see a relationship develop, with no unnecessary drama, following the two mains as they grow together and fall in love together.
Really, I think that's what makes it so damn sad at the end.
You watch it, accustomed with Hotaru and Gin being by each other's sides for most of the screentime. For the times when Hotaru is back at home for school, her longing for the summer and of Gin is heart-wrenching and a reminder of the feeling of falling in love slowly, with someone you've known your entire life. The development behind the characters themselves, Gin slowly becoming more open in the face of a human, when before he was guarded and distrusting of them, and Hotaru, maturing from a hyperactive young girl into a young woman who continues on without the being that she loved, is incredible, and again, one of the best parts of this film is watching the characters grow.
However, the film does not forget its subtle, but noticeable baseline that this good thing will end. From the beginning, you know that it will end in tragedy, with Gin's condition of being 'alive' as such dependent on a lack of physical human contact. This condition hangs like the sword of Damocles throughout the entire film, but when it finally falls, you don't expect it, and it's a real stab to the heart.
Again, the script remains triumphant through all of this. Romantic lines between Hotaru and Gin don't feel forced, nor do their actions and interactions. Hotaru's small monologue at the end was beautifully written, and the voice acting was brilliant; Ayane Sakura captures Hotaru's grief, but also her strength in knowing that she was loved, and she is forced to move on.
The animation is spot on, with the forest coming alive in vibrant greens and golds from the sunlight streaming through the leaves. When watching this, appreciate the background, because despite the beautiful character designs, the forest setting comes to life and draws you into the film and away from reality. The festival itself at the end is beautiful and vibrant, full of life and detail, whilst not overpowering what is the main focus of its scene; Hotaru and Gin's romance.
I loved it. I cried a lot. It was sort of bittersweet, and even though it was a simple story, a basic romance story, it was still hard-hitting at the end. The best thing about this film is its ability to connect you with the characters, and to experience what they are feeling as well.
Give this a watch, you won't regret it. But make sure you have a box of tissues at the ready, it's a real tearjerker.
Recommended
From the same mangaka that wrote Natsume Yuujinchou, being adapted by the same animation studio that brought you Natsume Yuujinchou, directed by the same man who directed Natsume Yuujinchou. Would you believe then, that this is nothing like Natsume Yuujinchou? That it is, in fact, a rip-roaring action-packed adventure flick as the main characters ride wave after wave of explosions and cynical social satire? Of course you wouldn't believe it because you're not gullible. This is just Natsume Yuujinchou the Rather Short Movie. The story is very simple, almost refreshingly so compared to the convoluted mess that sometimes invades blockbuster flicks. A little girl gets lostin a forest and befriends a yokai in there who helps her find her way out. From there they establish a friendship and she goes to visit him every summer. The main crux of the story is that this yokai is lonely and has learned to dislike humans, but this girl has eased his loneliness and taught him how to feel love. You know, the exact same story that every single episode of Natsume is based around?
It might sound like I don't like this movie, but that isn't the case. Like Natsume, the story is very capably told. It has a knack of hitting you with the emotional core of the story at the right parts, and does just enough characterisation of the lead two to make you care about them. It's a very short movie, only 45 minutes, so they wisely kept to only two characters. It's also got this neat way of not showing the characters faces at certain times so you've got to figure out for yourself what they're thinking. The yokai wears a mask throughout the film, but lifts it up every now and then and even puts it on the girl at one point, right at the moment when she (without spoiling) should have had a very...expressive face. It's a clever little move.
I think my biggest problem with it is I don't see why it had to be a full movie. The animation looks the exact same as Natsume. Same light toned colours on all the characters. Same watercolour backgrounds. Same bloody sound effects even. Not that it's a bad look, but it wasn't even particularly well animated. I'm used to the idea that studios splash out when they go to the big screen. I also didn't feel like it needed to be 45 minutes. Most of the film was spent on the kid and the yokai playing in the forest. Sure, it as fun to watch the kid being a kid, because there's something inherently infectious about children's joy in simply playing. And sure, it was cool to watch the kid grow up slowly over the course of the film from a small girl to a teenager. But you could have easily cut out half that film and it would have still hit the right emotional notes at the right times.
You know what? Take an episode of Natsume Yuujinchou. Have Natsume ask Nyanko has any stories of other yokais to tell him. Stick in a 20 minute version of this movie and have Nyanko occasionally narrate to imply he's the one telling the story, and it would fit perfectly. Same animation style, same music, same world setting, same essential moral to the story. Nobody watching would be able to tell the difference.
ThTheArchangel
February 29, 2012
Recommended
From the same creator of the ever calm "Natsume Yuujinchou" series comes "Hotarubi no Mori e," a tale of the developing friendship between a young girl, Hotaru, and her youkai companion, Gin. Through brief glimpses at their time spent together once a year in the summer, viewers witness the passage of time and the changing of seasons, and the growing bonds that develop as the young girl grows up, while her youkai companion remains relatively the same. Even though this difference in age is negligible in her younger days, it becomes an increasing problem as she grows older. Although this aging problem specifically deals withthe supernatural, a more realistic problem is: How do people deal with the passage of time and distance? Gin has been placed under a spell such that no human can ever touch him. Otherwise, he will disappear. Hotaru learns to deal with this as a child, but as she grows up and starts becoming more attached to Gin, she yearns to physically touch him and spend even more time with him. Gin, while ever friendly, always seems so distant in his speech, more so when Hotaru is a teenager. They are close emotionally, but the unreachable is always looming above them.
Through each stage of Hotaru's life, we see and hear her thoughts about Gin and the strange, magical world she has wandered into. Viewers see how a little girls childish affections of her savior develop into friendship and then finally love for him. The only obstacles are the magic that separates Hotaru and Gin, and time. These underlying problems are the force that develops the two characters until the long awaited Summer Festival, something the two will never forget.
On a technical level, the film has extremely crisp, clean, and detailed artwork that brings to life the lazy summers that Hotaru and Gin share, and the ordinary life Hotaru has outside of the youkai inhabited forest. It resembles a moving watercolor painting, with soft colors and colorful, blended backgrounds. Background music is minimal, but the silence adds to the nature that surrounds Hotaru and Gin.
"Hotarubi no Mori e" is a heartwarming story that shows the deepening bond between a young girl and her supernatural companion, and how there is always an unreachable desire that follows the two as Hotaru grows up, and as Gin remains ever the same. It is a fairy tale that is slow, calm, and relaxing. I enjoyed watching this short, thoughtful movie, and it was something that I have thought about since then. I think of this movie like this: Do things always go our way? No. But it doesn't mean we can't enjoy the time we spent trying to make it so.
And here, I'll end with a little something from a movie called "When Harry Met Sally..."
"...when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible."
