🎬 Movie Review: Into the Forest of Fireflies' Light (蛍火の杜へ)

This 45 minutes long anime starts with Hotaru, a young girl, crying in the middle of a forest because she's lost. Shortly after, she's rescued by Gin, a boy who's strangely wearing a fox mask.
Gin is actually a yōkai, a ghost to whom the mountain god cast a spell on and forbid to be touched by humans...if that happens, Gin will disappear.

The story takes place from their first encounter to the following years with a growing Hotaru that looks forward to visiting her uncle during the summer holidays. As Hotaru and Gin spend every minute possible together their initial friendship will develop into something more, but still without being able to do something as simple as holding each other's hand.

My Opinion👍👎

This touching and heartwarming anime is all about the importance of being mindful of others' needs and what might hurt them. At first, Hotaru, who's still a baby, doesn't understand why she shouldn't be touching Gin and forgets about numerous times, funnily hitting the ground every time. As she grows up, she starts to be more considerate of Gin's "condition" and that's when her feelings start to change as well.

The love portrayed in "Into the Forest of Fireflies' Light" is so pure it's uplifting and by the end of it I was left a bit disorientated, but I surely appreciated the whole concept.

The abandoned shrine in which most of the encounters between Hotaru and Gin take place is inspired by a real shrine located in Kumamoto Prefecture and named Kamishikimi Kumanoimasu Shrine...is now on my 'to visit' list next time I'll be in Japan!

You may be used to more 'elaborated' anime so this one might not be your cup of tea, but you'd still appreciate the setting and drawings.

There's also a fun scene of a summer matsuri taking place in the forest and crowded with all kinds of spirits and ghosts which is quite interesting and a turning point in the story...

Rating: 3/5


Ph: imdb.com, asianwiki.com & wikipedia.com