(#58) To the Forest of Firefly Lights (2011) - [7.75/10]

A girl and a 'spirit boy' acquaint in a forest where they meet every year.

Hotaru is rescued by a spirit when she gets lost in a forest as a child. The two become friends, despite the spirit revealing that he will disappear if he is ever touched by a human.

How would I describe this film in one word?

Touching.

Note AJ recommended this to me and I thought I'd fulfill his wish birthday wish. The film's run-time was a contributing factor too. Haha. This is the third anime review I'm posting on here and the second to have a 45 minute run-time. I guess I never had the gumption to watch one out of my own volition even though, 'Your Name.', one of the first anime I watched still remains as one of my all-time favourite films. And every time I watch an anime, I'm genuinely interested and intrigued by it. It's probably just that I'm just more into Hollywood. I have no problem reading subtitles for every thing, I find myself watching Hindi and other foreign films from time to time without any issues. Anyways, I've dragged this long enough, let me jump into the review.

Review Touching. That's probably how I'd describe this film. Not as much as other films but I guess that was the most apt word to use to describe this one. It's a story about how a wee lamb of 6-years gets lost in a forest and gets found by 'spirit' in the form of a boy. The spirit boy cannot be touched by a human, or he would disappear. Yet, without touching each other, they quickly become acquainted and the girl visits the boy every year. It's a very simple story, and it should be. You don't want a 45 minute short film to have a dense and convoluted plot (a.k.a a MooMoo Production). It doesn't boast a marvelous gigantic world either, it's just a simple forest where two simple people try to maintain a relationship without touching each other. And we see that they do that. We see that you don't have to touch someone (physically), in order to touch (their heart) them. Or even see them (their face), in order to see their heart. And that's quite a nice, sweet message. One that doesn't require a 500-episode show, with dragons and mystical creatures and mega-cities. It's a gentle movie that doesn't force anything on you, except it touches your heart and may even break, just a little.

Having said this, it's not exactly without fault. Sure, it gets the excuse of being a short film, but you can't use that excuse to escape criticism. It kinda frustrated me how they couldn't touch each other for the entirety of the film, and so that ending was a kind of a let-down. It terms of content, it didn't provide too much either. Being only 45 minutes (with 5 minutes being the credits), it could've probably shaved off a bit more to not have the littlest feeling of drag. Nonetheless, it'll never feel like a waste of time, and a sweet little film to watch before moving on to your next YouTube video.

RATING: 7.75/10

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Director: Takahiro Omori Rated: G Runtime: 45 min Genre: Animation, Drama, Fantasy Starring: Koki Uchiyama, Ayane Sakura, Shinpachi Tsuji