The European premiere of Hotarubi no Mori e was on October 8, 2011 at the Scotland Loves Animation festival, where it won the Jury Prize.

The film maintained a strong following for months in Japan after its opening on September 17, 2011. The film starred Japanese voice actors Ayane Sakura and Kōki Uchiyama, and its soundtrack included music by Makoto Yoshimori. Hotarubi no Mori e is considered a starting point for Midorikawa's best known work, Natsume's Book of Friends.Ī 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 inspiration to write the story came suddenly to Midorikawa, who immediately drew the manga-a process that went smoothly despite some initial conflicting elements. Hotaru returns every summer to spend time with Gin, and their relationship matures as both struggle with its limitations. Hotaru learns that her friend is supernatural and that touching Gin will cause him to disappear forever. 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. It was published in the July 2002 issue of LaLa DX in Japan, and in July 2003 it was reprinted in a tankōbon short story collection of the same name, which included four romantic one-shot stories written by Midorikawa. Into the Forest of Fireflies' Light) is a one-batzt shoujo manga written by Yuki Midorikawa.

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