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is a one-shot ''shōjo'' manga written by Yuki Midorikawa. It was published in the issue of ''LaLa DX'' in Japan, and in it was reprinted in a ''tankōbon'' short story collection of the same name, which included four romantic one-shot stories written by Midorikawa. ''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. The inspiration to write the story came suddenly to Midorikawa, who immediately drew the manga—a process that went smoothly despite some initial conflicting elements. ''Hotarubi no Mori e'' is considered a starting point for Midorikawa's best known work, ''Natsume's Book of Friends''. A 44-minute anime film with the same title was produced in 2011 at the anime studio Brain's Base and directed by Takahiro Omori. The film starred Japanese voice actors Ayane Sakura and Kōki Uchiyama, and its soundtrack included music by Makoto Yoshimori. The film maintained a strong following for months in Japan after its opening on . The European premiere of ''Hotarubi no Mori e'' was on at the Scotland Loves Animation festival, where it won the Jury Prize. It was screened at the Leeds International Film Festival, Anime Contents Expo and Anime Expo convention, and also won the Animation Film Award at the 66th Annual Mainichi Film Awards. The anime was released on Blu-ray Disc (BD) and DVD in Japan on . An additional story related to the original manga and anime film, titled , was released in a keepsake edition of the manga 12 days prior to the release of the anime. Both the keepsake edition manga and the limited edition BD ranked No. 13 on Japan's Oricon sales chart shortly after their release. Sakura reported experiencing a strong emotional reaction to the story while recording the voice of Hotaru, and Midorikawa acknowledged that the story had a positive impact on her career. Reviewers universally praised the anime film for its beauty, simplicity, and tenderness, likening it to the works of Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli and Makoto Shinkai. There were few criticisms, most commonly focusing on its short length. ==Plot== The original ''Hotarubi no Mori e'' ''shōjo'' manga and subsequent film tell the story of a six-year-old girl named Hotaru Takegawa, who gets lost in a forest inhabited by a ''yamagami'', or mountain spirit, as well as ''yōkai'' (strange apparitions from Japanese folklore). She is found by a mask-wearing, human-like entity named Gin, who informs Hotaru that he will disappear forever if he is touched by a human. Gin then leads Hotaru out of the forest. Hotaru returns to visit Gin in the forest over the next few days and they become friends despite the limitations on their interactions. Although at summer's end she must leave Gin to return to the city and her studies, Hotaru promises to return to visit him every summer holiday. As the years go by, Gin hardly ages while Hotaru physically matures and grows closer to his apparent age. Upon reaching adolescence Hotaru begins to struggle with their budding romance and their uncertain future together, while Gin wishes he could touch and hold the young woman that 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 when Gin mistakenly touches a young boy who sneaked into the spirit festival, though before he disappears, he and Hotaru embrace and confess their love for one another. The story ends with Hotaru accepting her pain and moving on with her life. The 2011 anime film adaptation of the story follows all of the events from the manga, adding only a few additional scenes. , published in 2011, expands on the original story with a short episode told from Gin's perspective. When Hotaru is a teenager, she shares some pudding with Gin before she leaves at the end of the summer. After Hotaru leaves, the ''yōkai'' attempt to cheer Gin up by bringing him a couple persimmons, one of the most prized treats on the mountain. Impressed with the taste, Gin thinks of sharing one of these persimmons with Hotaru next year. After discussing ways to preserve the persimmon with the ''yōkai'' and a spirit named Matsumino, Gin sets off to find ice on the highest mountain peak, but is disappointed to find none during the summer. When Gin returns scratched up from his fruitless search for ice, Matsumino feels sorry for him and offers to deliver the persimmon to Hotaru for him. However, not knowing where she lives, Matsumino gets lost and grows hungry. After he returns from his unsuccessful attempt to find Hotaru, Matsumino apologizes to Gin for eating the persimmon and Gin forgives him. The story concludes with Gin seeing Hotaru the following summer and wondering if he will be able to tell her about his feelings for her. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Hotarubi no Mori e」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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