Anime: Hotarubi no Mori e

Story
The story for Hotarubi no Mori e is very simple and very powerful, and is balanced with a soothing atmosphere throughout. Pacing-wise it is perfect, it’s just the right sort of story for movie format. There are lots of directions this story could have gone, and information is given in such way that the viewer’s mind is able to explore the possibilities and pay attention to what’s happening at once. The ending chosen is perfect and really made the movie as a whole. It is difficult to say more than this without spoilers, but in short the story is phenomenal.

Characters
Hotarubi no Mori e is definitely a character driven anime. However, it is more about the emotions of the characters brought on by the situation and their relationship with each other than it is about the characters as individuals. They do go through develop with age and as their situation changes, and what happens between them is very moving. However, it may not really have mattered what little girl was helped in the forest in the beginning. Since the lack of individual personality development does not affect the anime I am only marking down slightly for this. If anything, the lack of individual character development makes this anime feel more universal. Background characters are only sketched out with broad strokes, and don’t really have any individuality or depth, which also brought the score down a bit. Despite the lack of depth in the characters the interaction between them is superb.

Art & Animation
Overall the art is good. The color palate of water colors goes perfectly with the soothing atmosphere of the movie. The detail given to the forest is beautiful, and the designs for the Yokai are intriguing. Character designs are attractive and each person looks different from the others, even for background characters. Scenes such as the Summer Festival have excellent attention to detail. The design of the Gin’s mask works well in all the scenes he is in. Frame rate is a bit choppy, but other than that this is a lovely animation package.

Sound
The voice acting is wonderful. The voices go well with the characters, and their acting is also good. The music goes perfectly with the scenes it goes in and furthers the gentle feel of the series. The ending song encapsulates the movie perfectly with its feel and its lyrics. And all of the music is beautifully written.

Value and Enjoyment
Hotarubi no More e is simply beautiful. It was wonderful to watch the first time and has high rewatch value, I doubt this will lose any impact no matter how many times it is watched. It could even gain impact once you’ve seen the ending and then watched it again. The mix of emotions I felt when this ended are indescribable. It has a very peaceful feel to it overall. If you liked Voices of a Distant Star and Studio Ghibli Movies you will almost certainly like this, as it is sort of a mix between them.