Anime Club: Into the Forest of Firefly Light

Hello everybody! For this week’s anime club we have Into the Forest of Fireflies’ Light.

INTO THE FOREST OF FIREFLY LIGHT

CREATOR: Takahiro Omori

STARRING: Ayane Sakura, Koki Uchiyama, Shinpachi Tsuji, Izumi Sawada, Hayat Taya, Kanehira Yamamoto, Masanori Machida, Hiroki Goto, Asami Imai, Mami Uchida, Kumiko Tashiro

GENRE: Romance, Supernatural

YEAR: 2011

COUNTRY: Japan

The original Into the Forest Firefly Light manga and subsequent film tell the story of a six-year-old girl named Hotaru Takegawa, who gets lost in a forest inhabited by a yamagami, or mountain spirit, as well as yōkai (strange apparitions from Japanese folklore). She is found by a mask-wearing, human-like entity named Gin, who informs Hotaru that he will disappear forever if he is touched by a human. Gin then leads Hotaru out of the forest. Hotaru returns to visit Gin in the forest over the next few days and they become friends despite the limitations on their interactions. Although at summer’s end she must leave Gin to return to the city and her studies, Hotaru promises to return to visit him every summer holiday.

As the years go by, Gin hardly ages while Hotaru physically matures and grows closer to his apparent age. Upon reaching adolescence Hotaru begins to struggle with their budding romance and their uncertain future together, while Gin wishes he could touch and hold the young woman that Hotaru has become. When Hotaru reaches high school, Gin takes her on a date to a festival in the forest hosted by the spirits. The night ends in tragedy when Gin mistakenly touches a young boy who sneaked into the spirit festival, though before he disappears, he and Hotaru embrace and confess their love for one another. The story ends with Hotaru accepting her pain and moving on with her life. The 2011 anime film adaptation of the story follows all of the events from the manga, adding only a few additional scenes.

I heard a lot about Into the Forest Firefly Light  for its great story, despite it being so short (45 minutes). It was a movie that people deemed was almost equal to others like 5 Centimeters per Second. I finally watched it after my friend pushed and pushed me to see it and I was definitely not disappointed.

While being a bit draggy and short, Into the Forest Firefly Light was still a fantastic movie. I didn’t expect myself to be as drawn in as I was and the final impact of emotions at the end showed me how great of a movie it was. I will NOT forget what this movie did to me. It’s showings of innocent love touched me and I’ll definitely won’t forget it in the future. I recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys pure romance and won’t mind crying over a little heartbreak.

PROS:

•  Characters.
• Relationships.
• Comparative to 5 Centimeters Per Seconds.

CONS:

•  Overall themes.
• Sure, follow the spirit into the forest.
• Length.

SCORE: 7.0 / 10

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