What if your first love was forbidden? 💔
In this edition of Things You Might Not Have Seen, I bring you Hotarubi no Mori. The english translation of the title is ‘Into the Forest of Fireflies’ Light’. This is an 2011 anime by Yuki Midorikawa of forbidden love between a human and a spirit.
Six-year-old girl Hotaru Takegawa gets lost in a forest inhabited by a yamagami, or mountain spirit. She is found by a mask-wearing, human-like entity named Gin, who leads her out of the forest. They form a special friendship, even though Hotaru tells her he will disappear forever if he is touched by a human. When summer ends, Hotaru returns to the city for her studies. She promises to return every summer holiday to visit Gin in the forest.
As the years go by, Gin hardly ages while Hotaru grows up, getting closer to Gin’s age.
Would it still be love if you cannot touch or hold each other? 💔
Hotaru struggles with her feelings for Gin. Gin wishes he could touch and hold the young woman 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, but I won’t give away the ending 😭
This anime asks, What is love to you? Is it physical? Is it spiritual? Is it something else?
The anime’s message is as beautiful as it is poignant. It is the nature of mortality and being humans… to savor our short time as we live, to mourn what is lost, and to remember what touches our heart.
I hope that you liked today’s blog post. Thank you for reading 😊 You can see the trailer for Hotarubi no Mori below, please check it out:
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