Alternative TitlesSynonyms: Hotaru No Haka, Tombstone for Fireflies Japanese: 火垂るの墓
Information
Type: Movie
Episodes: 1
Status: Finished Airing
Aired: Apr 15, 1988
Duration:
1 hr. 28 min. Rating:
PG-13 - Teens 13 or older
L represents licensing company
StatisticsScore: 8.611 (scored by 34250 users)
Ranked: #512
Popularity: #152
Members: 51,779
Favorites: 717 1 indicates a weighted score
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drama ghibli historical |
SynopsisIn the aftermath of a World War II bombing, two orphaned children struggle to survive in the Japanese countryside. To Seita and his four year old sister, the helplessness and indifference of their countrymen is even more painful than the enemy raids. Through desperation, hunger and grief, these children's lives are as heartbreakingly fragile as their spirit and love is inspiring.
(Source: Sentai Filmworks) |
Characters & Voice Actors
Staff
Reviews
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brand_182
16 of 24 people found this review helpful
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1 of 1 episodes seen
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| Overall |
8 |
| Story |
8 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Character |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
Set in World War II, Grave of the Fireflies follows the story of Seita and his little sister Setsuko as they attempt to survive in the aftermath of a bombing which has destroyed their home and killed their mother. With their father a naval officer away at war, they must travel the country looking for food and shelter.
Grave of the Fireflies serves primarily as an anti-war piece, illustrating the effects of war on an entire family. By focusing the narrative on two orphaned siblings, the film is able to uniquely touch on the issue of the lack of charity and concern for others during times of war and hardship. Seita and Setsuko suffer from this first hand, forced as mere children to find a way to survive while others often look upon their misfortune, unmoved and uninterested.
The film also focuses on the effects of the loss of family: frequently we see little Setsuko alone, looking at mothers and daughters and realizing her own loss. Seita too is shown in the film's opening scene, starving on the floor as he dies, alone in the world after Setsuko has passed away. The film's story is truly touching and perhaps one of the most powerful anti-war pieces ever produced. In animation and audio too, Studio Ghibil delivers a superb product. Though done in the late 80s, characters and settings are beautifully realistic and detailed, rivaling even many recent productions.
The soundtrack is wonderfully done: cute, but always a bit eery and unnerving, it captures the mood of the film perfectly. Voices (both Japanese and English) are well chosen for their parts and memorable. Little can be said against the film. It was disheartening to see Seita's pride play a role in bringing about such tragedy, and so if you're like me you may have been watching, saddened yet realistic to the degree of control each person has in determining his fortune. Overall, however, Grave of the Fireflies accomplishes its goal: viewers will be heartbroken by this tragic tale, questioning the merits of war and hopefully more concerned with its awful effects on those involved.
Overall Score: A
Find snapshots and a high quality download at my blog, http://animefiend.blogspot.com read more
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Venneh
96 of 149 people found this review helpful
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1 of 1 episodes seen
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| Overall |
10 |
| Story |
10 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Character |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
Title: Grave of the Fireflies
Novel, Anime: Grave of the Fireflies was originally a semi-autobiographical novel by Akiyuki Nosaka, written as an apology to his younger sister, who died during World War II. The novel was written and won the Naoki Prize in 1967.
Grave of the Fireflies was animated by Studio Ghibli (famous for Spirited Away and their recent adaptation of Howl's Moving Castle) and directed by Isao Takahata (famous for his work on Pom Poko). The film was released on April 16th, 1988 in Japanese theatres, and came Stateside courtesy of Central Park Media in 2002 (oddly enough, this movie wasn't picked up by Disney when they licensed the Ghibli movies).
Story: Grave of the Fireflies is about a dead brother and sister. It's not a spoiler for me to tell you this, because you see the older brother, Seiza, die in the first few minutes of the film. What this film centers around is the relationship between him and his little sister Setsuko, and the things they go through after they are orphaned, which includes, but is not limited to, cruel in-laws, famine, malnutrition, starvation, firebombing, living in a bunker by the river, and all sorts of other lovely things.
In case you haven't figured it out yet, this movie is depressing. It approaches and matches Saikano-esque levels of depression, but luckily, it doesn't go beyond it. Honestly, you will want to keep anything you can hurt yourself with out of reach when you're watching this. And you will cry. This is the first anime I've cried at in a very long time, let alone a movie. If you don't cry when Setsuko finally dies, you are a heartless bastard and then some.
Why? Because it's so heartbreaking to watch as these children stick with each other through all they go through. It's hard to watch Seiza trying to keep the fact that their mother is dead from Setsuko. It's hard to watch Seiza do everything he can to keep Setsuko alive as she slowly starves to death. And it's even harder when you watch them just being kids, like your little siblings were when they were young, and so realistic, at that, in contrast to all the shit they go through.
Also, there is a lot of symbolism in this movie. At points, the symbolism will be so blunt that you will feel like you are being hit over the head with a hammer. But you won't mind it all that much.
Art: Yeah, it's fairly obvious that the animation for this is a bit dated. But when you look at anime that were released about the same time (Macross, Galaxy Express 999), it looks pretty damn good, for its time.
Music: I didn't really notice the music for this much. It doesn't particularly stand out, but then again, it's not bad, either. So, average.
Seiyuu: I really have to give them props here, because they went and cast a five-year-old as the seiyuu for Setsuko, and she gave a performance that reminded me of my little siblings when they were that age, which just makes the movie that much harder to watch through. All-around excellent performances.
Length: Perfect. Any longer and I would've killed myself, any shorter, and it just wouldn't have had the impact that it did.
Overall: An absolutely heartbreaking film, with perfect seiyuu, and pretty good animation, for the time.
Another one of my top picks. Go watch it. NOW. Just be sure you keep anything you can hurt yourself with out of your immediate grasp.
Story: 10/10
Art: 9/10
Music: 8/10
Seiyuu: 10/10
Length: 9/10
Overall: 46/50; 92% (A) read more
Recommendations
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Both are stories that deal catastrophes and it's effects in a realistic approach. Both have siblings as the main characters whom develop a strong bond through out.
There is this strange sense of realism and probability in these series that you might like if you liked either series. Also a sense of mature responsibility for ones' siblings. Not to mention the need for growing up quickly and taking charge of what is going on.
Both anime have a "Grave of the Fireflies effect" that use several ploys to tug at your heart and give a sad feeling. Both are a must watch.
Both of them involve tragedies which force the main characters to take care of themselves with every little thing they can get.
Both deal with real catastrophes, the provoked damages, the victims and the ruined lives of the remained people..
Both series have a great psychological drama impact, very well developed.
Also, another important thing to mention is that they both share a great sibling relationship as main factor of the story along all the plot.
Conclusion, if u've seen one of those, you can't miss the other one!
It's the realism that makes these two so similar. There is no similarities in plot, but you will sure to have the same feelings when you watch Grave of the Fireflies and Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 because both series try to cope with many things, like how to survive in a world where there's no one there for you but the company of each other (both series have the main characters as siblings).
what would a kid do after a catastrophe ?
both are a human story, so real
Both GOTF and TM8.0 deal with panic and crisis situations. The first centers in the WWII, and Tokyo Magnitude in an eventual earthquake that strikes Japan. Also, the drama, sadness, and death are very important parts to it, and both will bring tears to your eyes, although, being Grave Of The Fireflies a movie from 1988, you need to enjoy old anime to like this one.
Both are about two siblings hardships through a disaster.
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Both masterful examples of watching people suffering the life out of themselves for entertainment.
Both deal the gruesome truth about war; and the negative effects war has on society; especially children.
War, destruction, emotions, tears... both are masterpieces.
Loss and the betrayal of human decency are key themes in both of these productions. Persecution and inhumanity are portrayed in harsh and realistic ways. Both succeed in pulling the viewer into the middle of the conflict, with a keen sense of empathy for the characters. "What would I do if faced with this cruelty? Would my actions really be much different?"
Both have the same bleakness that never completely destroys the enjoyment factor but it doesn't allow viewers to drop their guard either. Both are all too true tales of war and the effects it has on poeple and children.
However, the war itself is not the primary focus. Rather, it depicts it's heroes' journeys to perservere through it all in search of hope. Both are powerfully emotional, expertly written, and are classics in anime.
Fireflies is a decade older than Now and Then, uses a real war, and is more likely to steal a few tears away from you.
Now and Then is a sci-fi series, has a more distinguished cast (which in turn creates more reason for sadness), ends slightly better but it's overall potency of a tearjerker remains.
-Passable animation of the same level.
-Characters with the same feel.
-Lot's of sufering for the sake of it.
Note: Out of the two Now and Then, Here and There is the better title.
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Opening Theme"Setsuko and Seita" by Michio Mamiya
Ending Theme"Futari" by Michio Mamiya
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