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      Grave of the Fireflies

      Released Oct 8, 1994 1 hr. 28 min. Drama War Anime TRAILER for Grave of the Fireflies: Trailer 1 List
      Reviews 90% Fewer than 50 Ratings Audience Score A devastating meditation on the human cost of war, this animated tale follows Seita (Tsutomu Tatsumi), a teenager charged with the care of his younger sister, Setsuko (Ayano Shiraishi), after an American firebombing during World War II separates the two children from their parents. Their tale of survival is as heartbreaking as it is true to life. The siblings rely completely on each other and struggle against all odds to stay together and stay alive. Read More Read Less

      Audience Reviews

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      Matthew B Isao Takahata's movie is not like many of the standard anime works that people know. For one thing, it is based on events that actually happened to the writer of the original short story, Akiyuki Nosaka, albeit rendered in fictional form. There is no fantasy in this story, except perhaps the comfort of an afterlife. To call Grave of the Fireflies a realistic work may be to overstate matters. No animation can be too real, and Fireflies does not even aspire to the faux-naturalism of a Pixar or Dreamworks film. It is not made in 3D. The facial features of the characters are exaggerated – tiny mouths that suddenly open wide enough to swallow up their faces. In that sense, Fireflies is cartoonish, and closer to a Disney film. The background is often static. We see clouds of smoke that do not move. Takahata is not afraid to include moments of stillness and silence, though this is less cartoonish, since most animation relies on constant movement and sound. The realism in Fireflies comes from its content – the subject matter and the genuine emotions shown on screen. Pixar and Dreamworks may deceive us with a facsimile of a real scene, but the stories are the familiar formulaic ones located in an unreal world. In Fireflies, we see no animated toys or kung fu pandas. We will not even see the talking animals of Disney. Frogs will behave like real frogs, and dragonflies will behave like real dragonflies. At the heart of the story are two children struggling through a situation that actually happened – the horrors and privation caused by an Allied napalm attack on the Japanese city of Kobe during World War 2 – which leaves them effectively (and perhaps actually) orphans. They experience genuine and relatable emotions – anger, fear and grief. Grief might be said to be an important theme in Fireflies. The children cry often, but tears seem understandable in the circumstances. Their struggle to survive is grim, but there is no excessive sentimentality, no attempt to constantly wring the heart, and no deus ex machina to reassure us at the end. Is Grave of the Fireflies an anti-war story? It could certainly be read that way, but I think this is a simplification of the story's meaning. Nosaka was writing about his own experiences during the war. He too had to struggle for survival, and he blamed himself for his sister's death. He wrote the story in order to help himself come to terms with his loss. We do not need to be too precise in our explanations of the meaning of Grave of the Fireflies however. Stories often have an ability to transcend the precise messages that we wish to assign them. Perhaps it is more important to enjoy the beauty of this wonderful movie, and to reach greater insight through the emotions that it evokes, rather than intellectually pinning down a firm meaning behind what we see. I wrote a longer appreciation of Grave of the Fireflies on my blog page if you would like to read more: https://themoviescreenscene.wordpress.com/2019/09/26/grave-of-the-fireflies-1988/ Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/24/23 Full Review Pax G Masterpiece. Cried like a bitch. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 07/07/23 Full Review Conta Um dos melhores filmes de todos os tempos! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 12/20/22 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Grave of the Fireflies

      Grave of the Fireflies: Trailer 1 Grave of the Fireflies: Trailer 1 1:42 Grave of the Fireflies: Fathom Events Trailer Grave of the Fireflies: Fathom Events Trailer 0:30 View more videos

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      Grave of the Fireflies

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      Movie Info

      Synopsis A devastating meditation on the human cost of war, this animated tale follows Seita (Tsutomu Tatsumi), a teenager charged with the care of his younger sister, Setsuko (Ayano Shiraishi), after an American firebombing during World War II separates the two children from their parents. Their tale of survival is as heartbreaking as it is true to life. The siblings rely completely on each other and struggle against all odds to stay together and stay alive.
      Director
      Isao Takahata
      Screenwriter
      Isao Takahata, Akiyuki Nosaka
      Production Co
      Studio Ghibli
      Genre
      Drama, War, Anime
      Original Language
      Japanese
      Release Date (Theaters)
      Oct 8, 1994, Original
      Release Date (Streaming)
      Feb 28, 2014
      Sound Mix
      Stereo