Story (10):
Every summer, Hotaru heads over to her uncle's place in the mountains. There she hears her uncles stories of the mountain god and the yokai that live there. When she ventures into the mountain, she isn't able to find her way out. That is when she meets Gin, who is not a yokai, but is not a human either. Gin tells her that he cannot be touched as he will disappear. From then on, Hotaru comes to the mountain every summer. As Hotaru becomes older, they share experiences and moments together that eventually leads to love.
I would like to comment that the mask that Gin/Hotaru wears is such a great plot device. Whether the animators were too lazy to draw their expressions, or it was intentional, the mask made you guess what their emotions were. That made the movie all that more sincere, you knew what their emotions were, but not being able to see their expressions made you feel their emotions. (Hopefully you will understand after you watch)
The transition through Hotaru's life is very slow yet detailed. As she grows older she becomes more aware of how much she misses Gin while at school.
One of the best parts is that the beginning of the movie is of her looking back, and that truly made me feel relieved knowing that she was happy.
Art (10):
Art was very good, I love how they drew Gin. Everything was very colorful, and when we finally got to see Gin's true face, it was beautiful.
Character (9):
The reason why its 9 is because Gin wasn't expressed as much. You don't really get to see his change when he falls in love with Hotaru. However its a 9 because I know its from Hotaru's perspective that we are looking at. Overall, I fell in love with both characters very easily. You can relate to Hotaru, whether guy or girl.
Overall (10):
Its a 10/10 because of the ending scene. The shortest 45 minutes you will ever experience. This is a movie that leaves you thinking.
