Hoshigahara Ao Manjuu no Mori is a seinen manga, written and illustrated by Hisae Iwaoka (author of Yume no Soko and Saturn Apartments). The manga was serialized in Nemuki magazine from 2008 to 2015, and compiled into five volumes.
The story follows the inhabitants of Hoshigahara, a magical forest with the power to give anything that crosses its border a consciousness, and the struggles of its sole human inhabitant, Soichi, as he fights for a way to join his lover in the realm of spirits.
This manga provides examples of:
- Crapsaccharine World: Sure, the forest and its inhabitants look cute and harmless, but they wouldn't mind eating you alive if they had the chance and the occurrences of disappearances and deaths of human citizens is a common thing (hence why everyone stays away). A fact which hasn't improved with the recent presence of Nowaki
- Dark and Troubled Past: Many, if not all, characters have one of varying degrees. Soichi taking the top by horselengths.
- Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: Well... where to start? The main cast is made up of a human outcast with emotional issues, a middle-schooler, a hyperactive lily, a mood-swinging rooster, a book, a rock, a god...
