Grave of the Fireflies is a Japanese animation, inspired by an
autobiographical novel, about two World War II victims. The movie is in
Japanese with English subtitles. I strongly suggest that you see it in
Japanese with the subtitles rather than the English-dubbed version.
Somehow, hearing English words takes away the realness and emotions of the
story.
A young teenage boy, Seita, and his 5-year-old sister Setsuko are made
homeless and orphans after an air-raid. Their father is in the Japanese
Navy and their mother is a bombing victim. The movie begins at the end of
the story, in a train station where Seita and other teenagers are dying
from hunger. Seita dies uttering his sister's name with his last
breath. When the scene goes red, you see him and his sister, as ghosts,
riding a train happily together. The movie then returns to the beginning
of the story and is told to us through the flashbacks of Seita's
ghost.
This is an incredible movie. It not only depicts the lives and
hardships of the two orphans, but also many other Japanese World War II
victims. A teenage boy, whose worries should have only been school and
maybe girls, is handed the responsibilities of an adult. He has to take
care of his little sister who is too young to really understand what is
going on. Throughout the movie you can see how deeply they love and care
for each other. You get caught up in all the emotions of the movie;
you share the emotions the characters experience. You feel wonderfully
happy when Setsuko smiles and grieve with them after their loses.
The drawings and animations of Grave of the Fireflies are
beautifully done. The characters are drawn in traditional anime with big
eyes and heads slightly too big for their childish bodies. The artist
makes Setsuko the CUTEST thing you have ever seen and she does the CUTEST
things too! Emotions are shown very well in the characters' faces and
actions. Even though the people and surroundings are animated, they still
seem so real. There are shots held in silence, allowing whatever that
is going on to really sink in.
I had heard that this movie was sad. I watched Grave of the
Fireflies at my "manly" boy cousins' house and I had
promised myself I wouldn't cry, but oh, did I cry! If they hadn't been
there I would have cried more. We were all overwhelmed with emotion
throughout the movie.
This movie is an amazing movie that everyone should see. It's the
greatest and most touching war movie I have ever seen. I'd say I'd watch
it over and over again, but I'd probably cry my eyes out.
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