Hotarubi no Mori e (2011)

How about we see Hotarubi No Mori E (2002) from a different perspective?Hotaru is suffering from melancholia same as Ayanami from Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995). Ayanami Rei had no soul, thus she was sad without knowing why she was sad. Here, Hotaru is dejected, distanced from the real world without knowing why. She wants to understand the cause of her remoteness, why she wants to escape reality, why she wants to touch Gin. Gin is not a real person but a memory. Remember the two children who ran across them in the forest? Saw the similarity between them? The same mask. A mask that hides the identity. A touch that can erase an existence. The moment she understands the cause of her detachment from people, it will disappear. But in the end, it wasn't the touch but the original memory, that erased it. Those two children were them in the past. The forest here is her memory, perhaps on a deeper level even life. Just that instead of the sea of blood, there is a forest of fireflies (again, doesn't it remind of Hotaru No Haka (1988)?) The same boy and girl as The End of Evangelion. Here, the context is much deeper than it seems. Touching your dejection can cause it to disappear, but we don't want that. We don't want to know the cause of our origin, we want to escape reality as much as we can. The ageless love with melancholia. Obviously this film has several different perspectives, from feminism to fragility to desire, but this particular perspective arrested me and made me think how a simple film could be this deep. My original reaction to the film was:Gosh! What a beautiful, deep, resonant movie! Cherish every moment of it! <3Depth - 2/2Importance - 1/2Relevance - 2/2Artistry - 1/2Imagination - 2/2Total - 8/10And yes, it was most definitely tear-jerking, although I didn't really cry. Somewhat mesmerized by the sheer beauty of it. Definitely the most beautiful anime of all time. I was pretty much inclined to give it a 10/10 but then I realized I'm not supposed to let personal emotions in criticism. But seriously, whoever made it, kudos! Arigato for this gem! <3P.S.: If you wish to know more about the rating scheme above, check out my other review.

I don't understand why many people here seemingly disappointed with the simplicity of plot. 'Hotarubu no mori e' is one of those animes that gonna linger around in your head for while after watching. It's story of a little girl who gets into kinda of crush with a forest spirit. Beautiful soundtrack with breathtaking shots of forest and summer is delightful to watch. The story is simple with no major twists or heavy drama, most of expressions of simple and short which makes this too romantic. This is definitely a film that I would cherish and watch over and over. Nothing less to Ghibili studios'.

The spirit beloved by the young heroine is obliterated because he accidentally saves a stumbling boy from a fall, so all that remains for them a is one moment of bliss in a lethal embrace and then a lifetime of remembrance for the girl... What a sad ending... But that's just the surface. Even worse, it's missing the point!The girl truly loves the spirit. She apparently loves what is special about him: His gentleness, his calmness, his willingness to help, his touch with nature, his playfulness, his fidelity. She also genuinely cares about his well-being, for example worrying what he might do in winter, and she makes plans for becoming able to spend more time with him, planning her professional life accordingly. So far, so good.However, does the spirit love the girl? His apparent fidelity might make you think so. But think again. The other spirits reveal that he wanted to experience the embrace of a human for a long time. What exactly tells us it matters to him it's this specific girl? He might have taken anybody! But remember he can't just get *any* human because the people of the village nearby are scared by the spirits of the forest. And while the girl does occasionally show warm feelings with respect to him, he is just kind and protective with respect to her, but i didn't notice much expression of specific feelings, and i doubt that's just due to the mask.Does the spirit care about her well-being? It doesn't really look like that. He knows how much she likes him and how important he is for her; after all, she spent the best part of her childhood's holidays with him and clearly says that she wants to spend her life with him, making specific plans to that effect. He can't assume she will cope and just move on with life if he goes away; there is a real risk her heart might get shattered. He is to blame for that: Over the years, he did all to make sure she would love him. Now, he has the opportunity to spend a lifetime with her and decides against it. Can that be love? Hardly.The stupid tragedy he is playing at the end is completely threadbare. The boy he touches is running away from the forest after the festival, and they discussed before that there are often human children at the festivals, so it's completely obvious that this boy is likely human, running home. The spirit touches the human child on purpose to be obliterated, and thus to force the girl to embrace him in his death, which before she repeatedly rejected, because she loved him; now she can't reject, again precisely because she loves him... Forcing the most explicit sexual act one is capable of, against the will of the other person, that's plain and ugly rape; the only missing element is that he is incapable of physical violence: he can't possibly rape her by beating her with a stick... But he uses her own love instead to force her hand, which is little less ugly than physical violence.If he had really loved her, he would have grown old with her, and maybe embraced her on her deathbed. Maybe, if she would have been willing then.There is little to make us think this girl could be stupid; quite to the contrary, she's portrayed as courageous, inquisitive, sensitive, patient, and tenacious. Very likely, even if she doesn't understand in her grief on the spot, she will understand shortly thereafter that her love was cultivated for a decade, then used as a lever for rape on her, by the person she truly loved, that turned out not to be a person, but a spirit that apparently never truly loved her.I hope she will survive that; it will be a tough lesson to learn, and it will be even tougher to keep a kind heart after that.Other commentators say there is no moral in this. Well, there is: Be aware you may end up betrayed even by the one you loved most, all your life, no matter how sweet it all seems. Does this only apply to spirits? The film provides one glimpse that this is not so, that it actually wants to depict generic human behavior rather than indulge in ghost-bashing: The schoolboy at the girl's home town tricks her into taking his hand just as the spirit does, by pretending that she must take his hand in order to not slip on the icy road, even though that doesn't have consequences nearly as dire.What an abyssal, pitch-black morale to a seemingly innocuous, light-hearted story in the most beautiful pastel colors. There is some high art in hiding such a beastly wolf's heart in such a lovely sheepskin. Yet, i can't convince myself to like the film. This story has been shown too often already: A handsome man cold-bloodedly seducing a sensitive, loving, caring woman, using her for his personal climax, then abandoning her for eternity. Yikes.

"Hotarubi No Mori E" is yet another fine example of Japanese creativity and talent to make a heart warming story. Some might think that 40 minutes isn't all that long, but in this case, it was more than enough to tell a tale.A young girl named Hotaru gets lost in the woods during a summer vacation in her uncle's mountain lodge. Just when she starts to fear no one would find her, a young man with a mask covering his face appears and shows the way home. But there's something mysterious about Gin, and as it seems, he may even be a forest god in a human form. Hotaru is intrigued, and still, she cannot touch him. Years go by, with each new summer the girl returns to the same enchanted forest looking for this secretive boy. Hotaru feels closer to Gin as time passes, while she continues to grow up. Finally, she will unravel the secret behind mysterious Gin who doesn't seem to grow old, but things will never be same again for any of them."Hotarubi No Mori E" is a perfect exemplar why I like Japanese animation so much. Forest and it's spiritual surrounding represent an important part of Japanese culture, whereas this symbol can be found in many anime originated from Japan, but also in other Asian productions and traditions. An interesting and touching story is told without fireworks and big splashes. Maybe not the best but still solid animation, fairytale characters and a nice story make this anime more than worth watching.