If you enjoy summer romances and curses then this is the anime for you. Hotarubi no Mori E is a forty minute film which follows it’s shoujo manga to a T. The film follows a girl called Hotaru who as a young child gets lost in a forest thanks to an evil spirit when she is visiting her grandmother. Being too deep in the forest she cannot get out, and by chance she finds Gin. Gin is a supernatural spirt who despite having a human appearance has a curse that if he is touched by a human he will disappear. Despite saying this, Hotaru’s child mind decided she wants to play and try to catch him. Though he dodges each time and pokes her with a stick. After she is saved Hotaru promised that every summer she would visit him. And she did, we see her grow older each summer meanwhile Gin does not age one bit. The climax of the story happens when she physically becomes the same age as Gin. Throughout the whole film I was star stuck at their cute love for one another well Hotaru more so than Gin. The one thing I did enjoy about this film is the art work, it was smooth and seemed more so like the manga style. I’m not going to lie, this film may be a nice romance comedy, but I got very teary at the end. 40 minutes was not enough for me.

Gin, calm, nice, quiet, despite his cold attitude he seems to really care for humans. Gin’s main appearance follows him wearing a festival mask, we do not see his face for a while but it’s worth it. Gin is a very comical person, who often teases Hotaru. One of the cutest things he does is tie a ribbon on his arm and then to Hotarus to help her stay on the correct path. It is so cute.

Hotaru Takegawa, age 6 at start, is brash, cute and very childlike throughout the film. Hotaru found Gin very fascinating, especially when he is friends with the spirits in the forest. Hotaru, at first is just a child but as she grows she is seen as a beautiful young lady who even catches Gina eye. She become great friends with Gin after noticing he is lonely, and she also becomes great friends with the mountain spirits.

Bearer of mediocre news, there is a manga but the film follows it to a T, so while reading it will be nice, there is nothing new that is put into the story.