History Manga / HotarubiNoMoriE

* NightmareFetishist: Hotaru reacts with delight, rather than dread, when she learns that Gin is a monster, and she later gets excited when she encounters a [[{{Kitsune}} fox spirit]] that initially tries to scare her.

%% * {{Meganekko}}: Ritsu seems to occasionally wear glasses at school.

* AndNowForSomethingCompletelyDifferent: ''Overhearing a Flower Song'' and ''The Following of Autumn Leaves'' are both stories that end with {{Happy Ending}}s and {{Official Couple}}s. ''Deepening the Scar'' is an implied love story between siblings that [[BittersweetEnding doesn't end]] [[DownerEnding quite well]].
%% * BittersweetEnding[=/=]DownerEnding: ''Deepening the Scar'', a [[AndNowForSomethingCompletelyDifferent stark contrast]] from ''Overhearing a Flower Song'' and ''The Following of Autumn Leaves'', which end on [[HappyEnding happier notes]]. In ''Deepening the Scar'', siblings Sou and Ritsu Jinnai develop feelings for each other and are unable to return to the way things used to be between them as children after their eight year separation, so Sou leaves after graduating from high school, and Ritsu is left behind with all the letters she sent him when they were children, wondering if what she feels for Sou is love, if these feelings will ever disappear, and if he'll ever write to her again.

* AndNowForSomethingCompletelyDifferent: This is the only chapter in ''Hotarubi no Mori e'' that has {{fantasy}}/supernatural elements and is not a SliceOfLife.

%% * {{Megane}}: Sou while he's at home.

Six-year-old Hotaru Takegawa (''[[Manga/YumekuiMerry Ayane Sakura]]'') is visiting her grandfather's house over the summer when she gets lost in the Yamagami Forest and [[BoyMeetsGirl meets]] a {{youkai}} named Gin (''Creator/KoukiUchiyama''). Gin and Hotaru develop [[ForbiddenFriendship a]] [[IntergenerationalFriendship fast]] [[OddFriendship friendship]]--with Hotaru visiting Gin every summer from when she is a child to when she begins attending high school--and this friendship eventually blossoms into [[InterspeciesRomance lo]][[MayflyDecemberRomance ve]]. However, Hotaru is carefully reminded by Gin, as well as the other youkai that dwell in the forest, not to touch him because his [[BlessedWithSuck curse]]: if Gin is touched by a human, then he'll disappear forever.

* WifeHusbandry: Gin meets Hotaru when she is a child and (given their physical age difference) they have a relationship that's somewhere between [[IntergenerationalFriendship friendship]] and LikeBrotherAndSister, but as Hotaru [[SheIsAllGrownUp grows up]] and the gap between them lessens, they eventually fall in love with each other.

* HairDecorations: Once Hotaru begins attending high school, she starts wearing a hair clip in her hair.

* AuthorAppeal[=/=]SignatureStyle: Partially covered faces.

* BookEnds: Hotaru visiting her grandfather's house over the summer.
* BoyMeetsGirl
* ButterflyOfDeathAndRebirth
* CheerfulChild: Hotaru, when she was a child.
* CuddleBug[=/=]TheGlomp: Six-year-old Hotaru ''tries'' to be this towards Gin, but she only gets reprimanded by him in the process. By the time Hotaru enters high school, she doesn't try to hug Gin anymore, having already learned her lesson. However, there is an exchange between them where she playfully considers it. [[spoiler:And by the end of the film, they finally get that hug.]]

* CurtainsMatchTheWindow: Gin.
* DeadpanSnarker: Gin.
* [[DidNotGetTheGirl Did Not Get The Guy]]

* ForbiddenFriendship[=/=]IntergenerationalFriendship[=/=]OddFriendship: Hotaru's and Gin's friendship starts off as this...
** InterspeciesRomance[=/=]MayflyDecemberRomance: ... But ends up as this.

* GenkiGirl: Hotaru.
* GoOutWithASmile: [[spoiler:Gin.]]

* ManicPixieDreamGirl: Hotaru towards Gin.

* PluckyGirl: Hotaru.
* ThePollyanna: Hotaru.
* SavvyGuyEnergeticGirl: Gin and Hotaru.
* SheIsAllGrownUp: {{Averted}} and PlayedForLaughs at first, but eventually PlayedStraight in the end.

* ShoujoDemographic
* ShrinesAndTemples
* StarCrossedLovers: [[spoiler:Gin and Hotaru.]]
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Gin looks and sounds like [[Manga/NatsumesBookOfFriends Natsume]]. Possibly a ShoutOut to her series.
* {{Tearjerker}}

* WhiteMaskOfDoom: Averted with Gin's mask. It's rather cartoon-like and might only come off as a little creepy to readers/viewers at first. Gin explains to Hotaru that he only wears it so he'll look like a monster.

* {{Youkai}}

* AlliterativeName: Kaede Kirisato.

* BittersweetEnding[=/=]DownerEnding: ''Deepening the Scar'', a [[AndNowForSomethingCompletelyDifferent stark contrast]] from ''Overhearing a Flower Song'' and ''The Following of Autumn Leaves'', which end on [[HappyEnding happier notes]]. In ''Deepening the Scar'', siblings Sou and Ritsu Jinnai develop feelings for each other and are unable to return to the way things used to be between them as children after their eight year separation, so Sou leaves after graduating from high school, and Ritsu is left behind with all the letters she sent him when they were children, wondering if what she feels for Sou is love, if these feelings will ever disappear, and if he'll ever write to her again.
* BroodingBoyGentleGirl: Fujimura and Shima.
* BrotherSisterIncest[=/=]IncestSubtext: Between Sou and Ritsu, who develop an attraction towards each other and are unable to regain their sibling relationship after eight years of separation. Because of this, Sou decides to leave after he graduates.
* ChildhoodFriends:
** Fujimura and Mikako Noguchi in ''Overhearing a Flower Song''.
** Kaede Kirisato and Tsubaki Kemumaki in ''The Following of Autumn Leaves''.
* ChildhoodFriendRomance: Kaede and Tsubaki. Shima thinks there's something between Fujimura and Mikako, which [[{{Subtext}} may]] or [[ShipSinking may not]] be true (or at the very least is [[AllLoveIsUnrequited one-sided]] on Fujimura's part), but Mikako turns out to have a boyfriend.

* ForbiddenFriendship: Between Kaede and Tsubaki due to their different social classes.
* GenderBlenderName: Kaede.
* GenkiGirl: Tsubaki.

* HappyEnding: ''Overhearing a Flower Song'' and ''The Following of Autumn Leaves''.

* LoveAtFirstNote: Shima towards Fujimura.
* {{Megane}}: Sou while he's at home.
* {{Meganekko}}: Ritsu seems to occasionally wear glasses at school.
* MeaningfulName: Kaede means "maple."
* MementoMacGuffin[=/=]TragicKeepsake: The letters that Sou and Ritsu have written to each other as children. Sou and Ritsu both keep these letters and have a moment where they tease each other for writing corny things (e.g. ''"Onii-chan, I'm really lonely. Please come back soon."'' ''"Ritsu, even though it's really cold here, everyone is warm and kind."''). They eventually becomes a TragicKeepsake for Ritsu once Sou goes away after graduation and leaves behind the letters Ritsu had given him.
* NewTransferStudent: Ritsu's older brother Sou.

* OfficialCouple: Fujimura and Shima in ''Overhearing a Flower Song'', and Kaede and Tsubaki from ''The Following of Autumn Leaves''.
* OppositesAttract: Kaede and Tsubaki.
* SavvyGuyEnergeticGirl: Kaede and Tsubaki.
* ShoujoDemographic

* SliceOfLife

* TroubledButCute: Fujimura.
* UptownGirl: Reversed between Kaede (rich boy) and Tsubaki (poor girl).

* StarcrossedLovers: [[spoiler:Gin and Hotaru.]]

* CommonEyeColors:
** GrayEyes: Gin.
** InnocentBlueEyes: Hotaru.

* BlessedWithSuck: Gin reveals that he is not a {{youkai}} but was originally a human child [[ParentalAbandonment abandoned]] in the forest by his parents. He was found by Yamagami, whose magic keeps Gin alive when he should have died as a child. This magic, however, prevents him from going to Heaven or touching humans (in fear of disappearing), as well as keeping him stuck on Earth like a ghost.

* [[spoiler:[[DidNotGetTheGirl Did Not Get The Guy]]]]
* [[spoiler:DyingDeclarationOfLove: As his spirit fades away, Gin and Hotaru confess their love for each other.]]

* [[spoiler:GoOutWithASmile: Gin.]]

* [[spoiler:HerHeartWillGoOn: Hotaru. It is implied in the manga, but it is shown more explicitly in the anime film.]]

* [[spoiler:StarcrossedLovers: Gin and Hotaru.]]