Re: Hotarubi no Mori e: A Touch of Romance

(an attempt of essay writing after almost 10 months)

Something that disappears when touched... It's just like snow isn't it?

First of all apologies for any incoherence in this word vomit of emotions. How to eloquent? On to the review. Hotarubi no Mori e has always been one of those mangas that I feel like I should think twice/thrice before rereading due to the immense emotions it is capable of giving. One of the things that I really like about this story is how simple and subtle it is. I like boring things and this is just perfect. There are no unnecessary additional characters, set and over-the-top plot twist; even the art (which am going to elaborate much much more later on) is kept simple. The mangaka made it very clear of conflicts of the story from the very first time we were introduced to the characters and it sort of stayed like that. 

Am a spirit. You're a human. You touch, I die. 

Well, basically. Not that am complaining with the simple prompt. Not at all. It actually gives more room for the readers/viewers to see the interaction and growing relationship between these characters. The emphasis on physical contact, or lack thereof, actually helped shed more light on the little details between Gin and Hotaru's romance. Like I said, the strength of this story is its subtlety. The progress between Hotaru and Gin's romance isn't on big gestures like surprise hugs and kisses as what you would expect from the usual shoujo mangas because they couldn't afford the consequences that come after. Hotaru couldn't afford to lose Gin and Gin couldn't bear the fact of Hotaru blaming herself should he disappear. Cue sad, distressed fangirl mode.

No matter what, don't ever touch me okay?

The writing of this story is also very clever. There is a lot of mirroring going on in the story to show the contrast and development of Gin and Hotaru's relationship. 

   

 

I won't go in too deep about the whole dynamic between these two because I think Fairuz did a great job at  expressing it. So I'll leave it at that.

This is the part where I get scared to write and quite possibly be seen an shallow, but hell.

The art of the manga and anime is amazing. I was initially quite skeptical to watch the anime version out of fear that the production company would ruin the subtlety of the original art as what usually happens to animes, sadly. This is a huge deal for me because the art is the storytelling and that is what made the manga so good in the first place since the plot is relatively very simple. The panning, panel order, use of negative spaces, simple pen strokes - these are the small things that create the whole atmosphere of the story. And am very thankful that the production team of the anime kept that close in mind when designing the set (most probably because the anime is just 45-minute long so they can afford to be so keen on the details).

The colour gradient used was very calm (compared to K which has a lot more deep contrast going on) and there are a lot of soft light and bird-eye view going on which I think adds to the whole concept of "distance" going on in Hotaru and Gin's relationship. 

  

Considering that the entire anime and manga was set at the forest, am glad to see that the production company added A LOT of amazing scenery feast to create this whole soft, mythical image for the forest. 

so pretty my god

So yes, that concluded my somewhat brief (and sadly not as deep) review of this amazing story. I shall attempt a better review at later time orz

Hotarubi no Mori e: A Touch of Romance

So, while spending my lazy ass at Nadia's place throughout the whole of last week, we decided to go on a sadness spree and took a jab at every bittersweet movie we could get our hands on. Feeling particularly sappy (and taking Nadia's aversion to long animes into consideration), I recommended this, and we spent the next 40 minutes sprawled on the mattress with our eyes glued to the screen.

Cue very depressed ladies inwardly bawling their hearts out after the show.

But the best thing was: we watched it rather recently after watching several other Western movies, and as good as some of the movies may be (Looper, particularly, was a memorable watch), they also made the aspect of physical contact (or lack thereof) in Hotarubi no Mori e evermore profound.

Hotarubi no Mori e is undoubtedly a romance; no qualms there. But as compared to other romance mangas/animes--and trust me, I've read a lot of Shoujo titles XD--it has a poignant feel in its delivery, using small details, actions and imagery such as the seasons and differences in height to tell the full story rather than just presenting everything for the viewers to watch. I was surprised at how much more pleasant the movie is the second time around, and am of course very impressed with the amount of detail the studio put into the adaptation.

But what made the anime more memorable for me, really, is the way it emphasized the importance of touch in a relationship. Physical contact is nearly always seen as something so small that it's usually taken for granted. It makes up the premise for a lot of shows--Western and Eastern alike--where the focus is usually on the emotions and feelings rather than contact. For instance, people being in a relationship and doing everything couples do but not feeling the spark until it's with 'The One'. Or new innocent couples going to the next step in their relationship by... holding hands, and feeling awed by how something so normal can feel so different when done with the significant other.

Touching is natural. It's a natural progression in a relationship which eventually will lead to other more important issues such as trust, or waning love. Rarely is it ever the defining point of a relationship. In fact, love and physical contact are so intertwined with each other that love is often related to the concept of warmth. Love is warm. It keeps you warm in the coldest winter nights... or does it?

Hotaru seems to imply that it doesn't in the scene where she holds a classmate's hand to avoid slipping on the ice. The act of her taking the offered hand is particularly significant: touch gives warmth, which in turn gives a sense of safety and security and of course love. But the giver of this warmth is not Gin; it will never be Gin, because they could never hold each other. Contrast this with the scene of Hotaru sleeping alone at night the day before with a melancholic expression on her face. In both scenes, Hotaru is undoubtedly thinking about Gin. But she doesn't relate it to warmth until she takes her classmate's hand.

The expression of Hotaru's face in the moment she holds her classmate's hand seems to show that she understands. She doesn't think of warmth when she thinks of Gin, but she knows she's supposed to. Because love, in many ways, is touch. It's not formed by it, no, but it's one of the best ways to express it. And it doesn't even have to be anything particularly intimate: a hand on your shoulder to comfort you when you're sad or even just a tap on your arm as a greeting when they see you... these are warmth. These are love. It is not exactly love that keeps you warm during cold night, but rather the memory of warmth, or to be more specific, of touch.

Hotaru has none of these, and perhaps it is then that she finally understands that her relationship with Gin is different and might never last.

"I want to see Gin."
Gin seems to realize this, as his words affirm when he tries to get Hotaru to forget about him.


"Hotaru, it's okay if you forget about me. A body that's maintained by magic is very weak. If it touches a real human body, the spell will break and the body will disappear. It's such a fragile thing. How long can you--"
What exactly was Gin trying to point out? Hotaru cut him off before he could explain thoroughly, but Gin seems to affirm what Hotaru has just realized for herself. Strong as their relationship may be, without any memory of physical contact, Hotaru was bound to eventually go to someone who will be able to give her warmth and reassurance.

But it's also at this time that she strengthens her resolve and thinks to herself that she wants to be with Gin for as long as the relationship can hold out.

"Gin, I thought of you during Winter. Even during Autumn and Spring. Gin, don't forget about me. Don't forget."

"Time might separate us one day. But, even still, until then, let's stay together."
It seems a very smart move for the studio to focus on the distance between the two when the second line is delivered. It seems to imply that their inability to hold each other will eventually lead to their separation, yet few people at this time seem to notice that the opposite is also true. Hotaru's act of touching Gin will also eventually lead to their parting. And just as how touch is used in other relationships as a form of strengthening their bond, in Hotaru and Gin's case it seems to act as an impenetrable wall... which makes Gin's words even more tragic:

"When you say things like that, it makes me want to glomp you."

"Do it. Seriously."
If they're going to part one way or another, Gin would rather choose to disappear after holding her than to never get the chance at all. But why has Gin never insisted on this? Probably because he doesn't want Hotaru to live with the fact that she had caused him to disappear. Because as opposed to Gin who will 'die' after the embrace, Hotaru will live on with both the memory and the guilt. Either thought is equally heartbreaking.

And though it seems horribly sad that their relationship had ended in such a way, it can also be said that this was probably the best outcome for them. With this, at least Gin wouldn't have to spend the rest of his days alone if Hotaru ever leaves, and Hotaru doesn't need to be weighed by the guilt that her yearning for warmth 'killed' Gin if they ever do decide that the circumstances were too much for them to live with.

All in all, Hotarubi no Mori e provides a very clear view of what a relationship would be like without one of its most basic elements, and the results are stunning, thought-provoking and above all just despairingly heart-wrenching.

I can probably drone on and on about the other aspects of the anime that I find well-executed, but this is probably enough word vomit for a first post! Will write more soon~