Hotarubi no Mori e [Movie]

[Smithsky]

What a beautiful short movie, totally loved the story, scenery and both characters, it's pretty much a given being huge fan of Natsume Yuujinchou.

Spoiler for ending spoiler:

Oh man, I cried like a little baby when Gin started disappearing, the way they bring out the story, it really hits the spot in me, god damn it, it's the same thing with Natsume, I shed a tear at almost every episode when it ends, sometimes for no real reason, there's some authors magic at work here. I hated the ending, but at the same time loved it, now I'm gonna go wash my face.

[Godspeed]

Everything was just stunning. I can't even begin to describe how absolutely beautiful this movie was. I just found this randomly on the home page of animeseason and tried watching it as a form of procrastination, but soon I was falling in love. The style of animation, the music, and the story came together wonderfully.

The only problem I have with this, and I know someone mentioned this earlier, is that the final scene was just so...I dunno...rushed?

Spoiler for scene:

I liked how Hotaru and Gin had a final excursion together and that indirect kiss, but then all of a sudden there were these kids that come out of nowhere and then gin starts dying. Nevertheless, I started sobbing uncontrollably when Hotaru ran to hug him....and I very rarely cry when I watch animes.

[Yuutsu]

Originally Posted by Godspeed

Spoiler for scene:

I liked how Hotaru and Gin had a final excursion together and that indirect kiss, but then all of a sudden there were these kids that come out of nowhere and then gin starts dying. Nevertheless, I started sobbing uncontrollably when Hotaru ran to hug him....and I very rarely cry when I watch animes.

I actually found that scene to be quite well done. As someone else has previously mentioned, it was initially surprising to see it end the way that it had - with no prelude, warning, or build-up (yes, I like to be redudant. : )).

Spoiler for Spoiler:

Oh hindsight, I realized that, sometimes, that's just how life is. In the times when you least expect it, you may lose a loved one in the most nonsensical matter. There's nothing to prepare you for it. You grieve, and then learn to move on with your life. His passing goes to show the frailty of not just human life, but all life - animal, spiritual, or otherwise. In other words, the classical Japanese rendition of mono no aware.

What I liked even more was that, while the pain of the departure was definitely there, IT DID NOT FEEL FORCED for the sake of drama. His 'death' happened unexpectedly, but paradoxically, it felt natural, too. Their final exchange was poignant and Hotaru demonstrated to us that she has felt the pain, feels the pain, but nevertheless remembers the warmth.

She's able to move on. To me, that speaks volumes. It is NOT an easy thing to accomplish (speaking from personal experience).

Hotarubi no Mori e was a short, but soothing film. It encompasses everything I love about Natsume Yuujinchou, and is a refreshing departure from the current glut of forgettable animation that plagues the Japanese market.

[mpt37]

Started watching this not knowing it was same staff as Natsume since I just read the plot summary. But the second I saw the character designs and heard the music I quickly realized it and was overjoyed. This movie definitely didn't disappoint.

I really love these slower paced peaceful animes. There's hardly any surprise with the story and not overly dramatic but they always feel so powerful after I finish watching them.

Hopefully we keep getting animes like this, Natsume and Aria.

[broken270]

I read the manga and cried. I watched this movie and cried even more. I am not disappointed with how this was animated and was not surprised that the movie was short, for the manga was not all that many pages either (I think it was just a chapter in the collection of short stories?). Like someone said previously, there was no prologue or epilogue in the manga, not that i remember/know of. The way they animated the ending was really beautiful. Definitely will not forget about this.

[Forsaken_Infinity]

Really lovely little movie. All there is to say. I am not fond of someone falling in love with a kid they saw grow up but this movie made me stomach even that.

[Dop]

Originally Posted by Yuutsu

Spoiler for Spoiler:

Oh hindsight, I realized that, sometimes, that's just how life is. In the times when you least expect it, you may lose a loved one in the most nonsensical matter. There's nothing to prepare you for it. You grieve, and then learn to move on with your life. His passing goes to show the frailty of not just human life, but all life - animal, spiritual, or otherwise. In other words, the classical Japanese rendition of mono no aware.

What I liked even more was that, while the pain of the departure was definitely there, IT DID NOT FEEL FORCED for the sake of drama. His 'death' happened unexpectedly, but paradoxically, it felt natural, too. Their final exchange was poignant and Hotaru demonstrated to us that she has felt the pain, feels the pain, but nevertheless remembers the warmth.

She's able to move on. To me, that speaks volumes. It is NOT an easy thing to accomplish (speaking from personal experience).

Spoiler for spoilers:

Exactly. Death can be sudden and unexpected, and the way things happened in this movie didn't seem forced or contrived at all, just an unexpected event. Sometimes life's just like that.

I loved the way the other youkai thanked Hotaru for making Gin's last wishes come true. It was so touching.

Damn. Just remembering the show while writing this comment brought tears to my eyes again.

[vansonbee]

Spoiler:

Just watch it, very sad and happy at the same time. She finally was able to touch Gin. I love Gin expression, when he was about to slowly witter away. He looks so happy to be able to touch her now.

I expected the heroine to grow older maybe in her late twenties and still be in love with Gin

[Kanon]

Forgive the bump, but I finally watched this.

I was really looking forward to it when it was initially announced, yet I somehow completed missed its release... Better late than never, I suppose. I would have hated to miss this wonderful movie.

Spoiler for Just in case:

Hotaru and Gin's story was so beautiful, yet so sad. I figured how it would end early, but that did not lessen the emotional impact of that scene one bit. I couldn't help but cry a bit when Hotaru hugged Gin, and that happened pretty rarely to me.

It's incredible how much emotions a 45 minutes story managed to evoke. I hadn't seen something like this since Kowarekake no Orgel.

[Tempester]

Oh man, this was fantastic. It wasn't too short, but it fortunately wasn't dragged out to meet a standard movie length. I'd easily recommend this to anyone.

[AnimeFangirl]

Finally got round to watching this. My reaction was this:

Originally Posted by Haak

It was really good but I was hoping there would be more to it than that. It had the potential to be so much more.

Plus this:

Originally Posted by hoshino_crimsonwings

It was very emotional, I failed to cry because it was pretty obvious, the whole foreshadowing about humans going into a crowded festival.

I was rooting for the romance all the way, but the signs were there from the start about how things would play out. I'm just glad

Spoiler:

It happened quickly while Hotaru was still young so she can now spend her life with people her own age and have a normal romance and normal friendships. And Gin got to touch people at last, just sorry one of them had to be some crummy kid from outta nowhere.

All's well that ends well!

[BPD Renegade]

Every time I see this thread bumped up a bit, I get this twinge of faint hope that it's been licensed, only to find that it's just someone new seeing it.

Realistically speaking, it's probably never going to be licensed, but still, I can imagine NIS America's beautiful premium edition for this...

[orion]

Originally Posted by BPD Renegade

Every time I see this thread bumped up a bit, I get this twinge of faint hope that it's been licensed, only to find that it's just someone new seeing it.

Realistically speaking, it's probably never going to be licensed, but still, I can imagine NIS America's beautiful premium edition for this...

I agree. It was a beautiful title. Unfortunately, the filmmaker chose to make a short film with a sad ending. That was 2 strikes against it imo.

[DragoonKain3]

To be honest, I've read the manga like years before the movie, as IIRC it was the scans that made me watch Pushing Daisies (which had a similar premise). While by the time the movie was released I've long since stopped reading manga, the movie still is a reminder why I force myself not to read source material or seek out spoilers... there's something magical seeing it first animated. Still I wonder if I would rate this as high as, say, 5cm/s if I didn't read the source as I remember I got absolutely REKT upon finishing the one-shot.

On the bright side, it was fun seeing the characters move and in colour. Seeing the climax in motion and hearing the MC after the hug is still HHNNNGGG inducing even now on my second viewing of the movie years later, though maybe my disposition towards childhood friends might be a huge contributing factor to that.