Hotarubi no mori e

Really worth 45 mins of your time. The film may be short but by the end of it, you will definitely feel a variety mix of emotions.

Short, sweet & sentimental, To the Forest of Firefly Lights (Hotarubi no Mori e) is a simple yet moving coming-of-age story following a young child who is rescued by a spirit after she gets lost in an enchanted forest, and covers her decade-long friendship with the same entity despite the limitations of their interactions.

Directed by Takahiro Omori, the film addresses first love, memories & passage of time in an apt manner, and is as exquisitely animated as it is beautifully told. The story unfolds at a breezy pace, while the interaction between the two characters plus their growing intimacy for each other is sensibly handled & finely portrayed.

Overall, To the Forest of Firefly Lights would've sufficed as a short film instead of aiming for feature-length but it still makes fab use of its 45 mins runtime, taking viewers through plethora of emotions. The simple story, serene quality & magical vibe helps keep the interest alive while evoking feelings of nostalgia in surprising ways. Worth a shot.

"Into the Forest of the Fireflies' Light" is a sweet gentle tale about a spirit and a young girl and the close friendship they develop over the course of years. Their interactions are heart- warmingly sweet. The animation is neat and the background score is good. Though there is nothing much in the story, the serenity and magical vibe of this short film keeps one's interest alive. The main characters receive just enough characterization to make us feel slightly nostalgic by the end.

It is just a basically relaxing story which is recommended when you want to watch something peaceful.

This is one of those movies where you totally get into the life of characters, truly a magical movie.

The story focuses only on two characters Gin and Hotaru Takegawa with other characters just in the background of the things happening. Hotaru lost herself in the forest when she was 6 years old, lonely, and desperate for help. She finds help to lead the way out of this ancient forest by a masked man and this goes on to give a fantastical, lovely movie for us. Really great ending!

The directing, the animation, the soundtrack were top notch. Despite being a simple concept they pulled it off really well and though it was like 40 minutes movie, it felt like a proper 100-minute movie because of the dynamics between the characters. It's better for you to go watch this movie open-minded without reading the synopsis, really worth it. Highly recommended.

What a stunning beauty of an anime. The only shortcomming is that it is...right: short. I wished the beautifull moments, almost dreamlike, could be prolonged and extended. Now for this story itself it is just right I admit any longer and it would have destroyed the spirit of this movie. But simply I wish it was longer, I actually felt a bit sad when it was over so soon