12017-07-03T14:30:38-07:00Grave of the Fireflies 『火垂るの墓』10plain2019-06-24T17:35:32-07:00Based upon the original 1967 novel written by Akiyuki Nosaka, Isao Takahata's 1988 masterpiece, Grave of the Fireflies, is the moving tale of a young boy and his infant sister as they attempt to survive during the latter half of World War II. Seita and Setsuko must deal with the trials and tragedies of the ongoing war as their father fights on the front lines and their mother is killed in a routine firebombing.
After being taken in by a distant relative, fourteen-year-old Seita learns that to be the man in the family comes with great responsibility. Though he works hard every day to shelter his young sister from the events going on around them, he quickly butts heads with his caretakers. Eventually, Seita makes the decision to move out of his distant aunt's home and into an abandoned bomb shelter in the countryside. There, along with the fireflies they catch to serve as their nightlight, Seita and Setsuko learn some hard lessons about life.
Animated by the famed Studio Ghibli, Grave of the Fireflies is a must-see film that has since been remade into two new live action versions. An interesting fact is that Grave of the Fireflies was released as a double feature with Studio Ghibli's My Neighbor Totoro. The topic and tone of the two films could not be more disparate!
Fun Fact: The Chinese characters used in the title of the film are interesting. The traditional character for firefly (蛍) has been replaced by 火垂る, which is read with the same pronunciation but uses the characters for "fire" and "to trickle down" in order to reference the firebombing.
Grave of the Fireflies can be purchased at retailers such as Amazon.com.
