Nijiiro Hotaru: Eien no Natsuyasumi

Animated graduation work by Touko Yatabe from Musashino Art University. One day, Rintarou breaks the konoha fossil that his father cherished. Without being able to tell the truth, a feeling of guilt lingers. In the usual riverbank, where I was digging fossils, I met a strange boy, Toshi... A small fantasy of a summer woven by two boys and a stratum accumulates memories.

The story of Hotarubi no Mori e centers around Hotaru, a little girl who gets lost in an enchanted forest where apparitions reside. A young boy, Gin, appears before Hotaru, but she cannot touch him for fear of making him disappear.

Two best friends living in a rural Japanese village: Yoshiki and Hikaru. Growing up together, they were inseparable… until the day Hikaru came back from the mountains, and was no longer himself. “Something” has taken over Hikaru’s body, memories, feelings… and everything they know begins to unravel.

One summer in the third grade, a quiet boy named Tsubasa meets Kyotaro, a boy everyone in the class looked up to, and the two become close friends. Within their small world, they share irreplaceable moments—until a small incident suddenly tears them apart. Spanning more than thirty years, this gentle, contemplative story invites the audience to reflect on the meaning of life through the paths their lives take.