Manga Review: Hotarubi no Mori e + Short Anime Review

Name:  Hotarubi no Mori e aka what fangurrrl tears are made of
Author & Artist: Midorikawa Yuki
Chapters: 1
Genres: Drama, One Shot, Romance, Shoujo, Supernatural, Tragedy
Plot:

 Hotarubi no Mori e tells the story of a young girl named Hotaru and her friendship with Gin, a strange young man wearing a mask, who she meets at the age of six in a mountain forest near her grandfather's country home. Hotaru learns that her friend is supernatural and that touching Gin will cause him to disappear forever. Hotaru returns every summer to spend time with Gin, and their relationship matures as both struggle with its limitations.

Review:
I was recently reminded about this gem of a manga while scrolling down my facebook newsfeed and went a long with fangirling about this manga since I don't have any friends that like manga.

It starts off with little girl meets masked boy in mysterious forest (who turns out to be a spirit btw) and start a friendship together.

Anyways, the basic premise is established in which they can continue with their friendship as they don't break a certain condition. The condition being they can't physically come into contact with each other. So in other words the mangaka says "Sorry, you guys can't fall in love or even be close friends since parting will hurt like throwing yourself into a chasm of broken glass or reading through a whole series of Shinjo Mayu smut mangas".

The story telling is beautiful and the art isn't anything solidly professional but has a quaint, sketchy feel that somehow capture the "rawness" of the story.

The tragic feeling slowly becomes more apparent towards the end and the ending is simply bittersweet. Though everyone wishes for non-tragic endings, it fits this storyline quite well and isn't all about the melodrama. It's not forced but more inenvitable and leaves a deep impact on you after reading it.

More Info:

This was also made into a short, film animation and I have to say, it's the first time I'd actually recommended watching the anime as opposed to reading the manga if you only had time for one. They expanded on the source material really well without altering too much and adding little things to make it more complete. I can't comment much on the quality of the animation since I don't watch enough anime or the pacing but as a general viewer, it's pretty well done. Also the guy looks quite attactive to say the least so that is always a plus. 

Spoiler: I had some qualms about him hitting the little girls at first as a comedic thing but then again, it's self preservation. If you disappeared with a simple touch than I guess I would be wacking people with stick too.

Watch the Anime below