They say that Hotaru is gothic.

They say it is because she's wearing a lot of black and reminds the darkness. Isn't she supposed to represent the light of rebirth? Because she has natural black hair? If every people on this world who has black hair turned goth, well! Think about the asians... 1/3 of the world would be goth???

I agree for some point. It is true that Hotaru has goth sides. She says in the mangas, when she shows her bedroom and her lamp collection to Chibi-Usa, that she prefer obscurity. This is a fact, we cannot deny it. But... This prooves anything, I mean, I prefer obscurity too, and I'm far from being goth (my eyes are more sensible to light then the average, but who cares? -_-; ).

This is my idea of goths (this is an opinion, based on my feelings about this subject): they are people that like the darkness for another reason than eyes sensibility. They sees in it a certain way of spirituality. They also like art with links with the death. I don't mean they are christians satanists, this is just an attirence for these subject. Goths are dark artists, in my opinion. It is a way like others to express ourselves as people who want to point light on the darkness.

Hotaru doesn't seem to be an artist. Well, I don't know, the only art I know she clearly know, it is music by her violin. And i've never seen a goth playing violin. I'm sure it exists, but it sounds rare, doesn't it?

Naoko Takeuchi may thought that including a goth in the story would be nice. Maybe she just had drawn skirts and shirts that matched with her hair... Is it a coincidence? Who knows? I think the only one who know is Naoko. I intend to mail a letter and simply ask the question. I know that it sounds silly, that I won't have answer, but if nobody try, we'll never know!

And in conclusion, I think we don't know exactly what is a goth. There's a lot of myths turning around that subject. We just cannot say she's goth because she's weak, she's pale, she's wearing black and has purple eyes. And if she is, well... Why not me too? ^_^

99/09/13: I did all I could to write in japanese: Is Hotaru goth? I intend to send my letter to Naoko Takeuchi soon (a letter with a sentence and a drawing... of course!). If I have any reply, I'll let you know. ^^