Road to Stardom & Marrying Mr. Superstar

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This is the most beautiful heartbreak I've ever encountered. Before I delve into details, I must warn readers that this review contains [spoilers]. First off, if you're looking to take a break from overly sugary shoujo mangas, I highly recommend this one. However, it's not for the faint of heart.

So, one day I was just relaxing, browsing through MyAnimeList, when I stumbled upon this manga. I thought to myself, "Oh, cool. They'll probably throw in a cliché at the end where she somehow still gets to touch him." Being someone who usually avoids tragedies, I wasn't prepared for what hit me. Let me tell you, I had five sleepless nights trying to process this manga! It was incredibly sorrowful! Every time I saw the title or the cover art, I still feel immense sympathy for Hotaru.

The narrative was breathtaking yet agonizing. As we journey through life, experiencing both joy and sadness, these moments eventually transform into memories. "Hotarubi no Mori e" delivers a profound message: we must cherish our memories, even if recalling them brings pain, because they are an integral part of who we are.

rant: BUT IT'S JUST TOO SADDDDDDDDDDD ;_; HOTARU MAY MOVE ON, BUT I CAN'T!!! ;_; Poor Hotaruuu...

Yeah, it's truly heartbreaking. I enjoyed it, but as someone who dislikes tragedies, it left a deep impact on me.

This manga is quite irregular, featuring four one-shots that vary in quality. The art isn't my favorite style, but it's acceptable.  

The second story, "Hotaru no mori e," stands out as one of the best one-shots I've ever read. It tells the tale of Hotaru, who gets lost in the forest and is helped by Gin, a spirit. They form a friendship, meeting every summer and growing closer with each passing year. However, she can't touch him or he'll vanish. It's a beautifully tragic narrative.  

An anime adaptation with the same name exists, and it's equally impressive, boasting stunning visuals and an evocative score. I highly recommend watching it. If it were solely for this story, I'd give it a perfect 10.  

The fourth story, "Deepening the Scar," is also excellent. It explores a realistic love story between siblings, steering clear of the clichéd "we're family but love conquers all" trope. It features strong character development and a satisfying, albeit sorrowful, conclusion. I'd rate this one-shot around a 9.  

The other two stories don't measure up as well. The first one lacks clarity—there are elements I didn't understand or that remained unexplained. It seems to be a ghost story, though I'm uncertain. If it had been longer, the plot might have been more fleshed out. The third story is mediocre, lacking any standout qualities typical of shoujo manga. While there are moments where deeper emotions shine through, it doesn't reach the heights of the first two standout stories. Still, I wouldn't call them "bad."  

Overall, I recommend picking up this manga. "Hotaru no mori e" and "Deepening the Scar" alone make it worthwhile.  

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Warning: There’s a major spoiler ahead, so proceed at your own risk.

I first discovered this manga when I unintentionally watched a fan-made music video of its film adaptation. As I've mentioned in some of my earlier reviews, I have a soft spot for heartbreaking stories, and when I learned that "Hotarubi no Mori e" falls into this category, I quickly added it to my TBR list.

I didn’t bother reading the synopsis when I added it to my list because, at the time, I didn't think it was necessary. I loved the graphics, and the story seemed emotionally charged—those factors were sufficient for me. So, imagine my shock when I realized this book is a collection of four one-shot stories. I was both surprised and slightly disappointed. The book consists of four distinct tales, each representing a season: summer, spring, fall, and winter. It makes sense to structure my review around each individual story.

Summer – Hotarubi no Mori e (Into the Forest of Fireflies’ Light)
The first story unfolds every summer. It revolves around Gin and Hotaru, characters who were familiar to me from the trailer.

The narrative begins when six-year-old Hotaru gets lost in the Yamagami Forest, reputedly inhabited by youkai (monsters). While crying, she encounters a teenage boy wearing a fox mask. Overjoyed, she runs toward him for a hug but ends up hurt as he dodges her embrace. She soon learns that he cannot be touched by a human or he will vanish forever. Following this initial meeting, they become close friends and meet every summer since Hotaru spends that season at her grandfather's house.

Being a one-shot story, I understand why there are numerous time jumps as Hotaru grows older while Gin remains unchanged. This is likely due to the spell keeping him alive. (Curious? I won’t elaborate further, haha, don’t want to spoil it too much *wink*) There are innocent yet sweet moments between them, along with some humorous ones, which made me grow fond of both main characters, especially Gin. His situation evokes sympathy, but it’s heartening to see how much the youkai (monsters) residing in the forest care for him. Meeting Hotaru brought a bit more vibrancy into his life.

Although I’ve already hinted at some spoilers above, I aim to avoid revealing too much (at least for this one-shot) because I want you to discover it yourself. The ending is genuinely heartbreaking. I’m uncertain about what Hotaru will do afterward. While it might seem predictable, I suspect you’ll ponder how events will unfold. It’s not particularly extraordinary; it’s just deeply sad.

Spring – Hanauta Nagaruru (Overhearing a Flower Song)
This story left me somewhat confused throughout most of the reading. I believe I was still reeling from the tragic conclusion of the first one-shot *wink*.

It centers on a girl who stumbles upon a sweet melody outside an old abandoned building at her school. She then encounters a guy known for being violent and frequently getting into fights with other students. She overhears him humming the same melody she heard at the old building and assumes he’s the one playing the guitar. They grow closer, allowing her to see his better side.

This tale is quite clichéd—it resembles a scenario where a girl dates a gangster, though the guy here isn’t part of any gang. After a significant accident, he became more aggressive and started fighting with schoolmates. He bonds with the girl and gradually begins caring for her. The ending wasn’t very clear to me, possibly due to unclear drawings/sketches. This was undoubtedly my least favorite one-shot in the book.

Autumn – Kurukuru Ochiba (The Falling of Autumn Leaves)
This story involves a wealthy young man and a poor girl. Yes, quite clichéd, right? After saving the boy from an attempted abduction, the girl takes on the role of his protector. Over time, she fails to realize that her constant desire to be by his side stems from her growing feelings for him. I suspect the sentiment is mutual given the ending. The conflict arises because the girl’s protective nature makes the boy feel inadequate, yet he tolerates it because he fears she’ll leave once she realizes he can now fend for himself.

If you ask me, it’s rather corny, but it’s better than the second story.

Winter – Hibi, Fukaku (Deepening the Scar)
Unlike the previous three stories, this one doesn’t revolve around romance but focuses on the relationship between a sister and brother. They were once very close until their parents separated, after which her brother went to live with their father because he couldn’t leave him alone. Their only form of communication was through letters. After eight years, their parents reunite, and her brother returns home with their father. Both are grown-ups now, making their interactions somewhat awkward. Her brother is set to graduate from high school soon and informs her that he will leave again afterward.

The ending had me deeply contemplating. I kept rereading this part but always reached the same conclusion. What is it? I believe both siblings harbor romantic feelings for each other. Ridiculous, right? I hope I’m mistaken. Could it be the translation or unclear drawings?

***

In summary, it was a decent read despite the clichés. Among all four stories, the Summer one-shot is my favorite, followed closely by the Winter story.

The book concludes with a brief follow-up story of Hotaru and Gin before the pivotal disappearance scene, which was truly adorable. I also enjoyed the compilation of images, presumably taken from the movie. And speaking of the movie, I’ll definitely watch it soon *wink*.

Hi and welcome to another part of the "Is this actually good or is it highly rated just thanks to a more popular related work?" series.  

Hotarubi no Mori e is a collection of four stories. The famous and titular one that got adapted into a movie, and the other three that you probably never heard about. That is not surprising, as I have pretty much nothing to say about those first three. Uninteresting, of questionable purpose, and with way too little happening in them even for their short duration, there's not much for me to comment on in this review. Having gotten the insignificant ones out of the way, the further review will focus solely on the titular chapter alone – the chapter number two.  

My intro might lead you to think that this chapter is actually better than the rest of them. It’s not. It’s just bad in a more memorable way. Fair warning, beyond this point are spoilers, as one can't exactly describe the faults without describing the story. Hotarubi no Mori e is often lauded as a great and touching romance. Yet the characters and relationship are underdeveloped even by shoujo manga standards. Honestly, I wouldn’t even call the manga version a romance, that’s how non-existent the supposed romantic relationship is.  

I thought that the movie was short, but they really had to stretch it to get the few pages of the manga into what could technically be called a feature film. Kid gets lost in a forest, kid gets picked up by a stranger and gets told not to touch him, they meet up again, kid almost touches him, stranger keeps dodging the kid. Fast-forward in time because that’s easier than building up the relationship naturally, kid (now a bit grown up) and the stranger (now no longer a stranger) go to a festival, have fun for a few pages, the guy touches a different kid, disappears, the end. It’s not touching, it’s laughable.  

I’m sure a lot of people have already pointed it out about the plot, but yeah, it’s stupid. I understand that you can’t have a detailed setting for a one-shot, but maybe you shouldn’t build your whole plot around an event that could have been prevented if anyone involved was actually thinking, based on the info provided. It’s been shown that touching articles of clothing is okay when Hotaru took off Gin’s mask. Then tell me, is there any downside to wearing gloves and long trousers if that means you’re no longer constantly in danger of vanishing out of existence? Wouldn’t Gin develop the habit of touching people by clothes and not by their skin? Why would he pull the little kid by the kid’s arm instead of catching him by his t-shirt? Or just ignoring him because, unlike the accidental touch for Gin, a small fall like that on completely flat ground doesn’t pose any danger beyond a scraped knee. Was Gin supposed to be acting suicidal, or does this make as much sense as someone with a milk allergy rolling through a chocolate factory?  

To answer the initial question, as much as I would like to claim this manga has high ratings only thanks to the movie’s popularity, a research through Wayback Machine shows that it had high ratings even before the movie was screened. You win this time, manga. You're still bad, but at least you're not piggybacking on the success of a different work.

This book is good like tour others The Rebel &amp; To Betray the Mafia King
I don't like you book The Girl he Banished &amp; Death wolf. although you make good endings but Love shouldn't be poisonous
&amp; try to change the stories, I can see the similarities in ur books all the time

This has action & romance, someone tell me if our female mc is strong!

That's a fxxking awesome reply, man. 👏👏