[Anime] Grave of the Fireflies

Grave of the Fireflies is an old animated movie that was released in 1988. It was released before I came into this world, which means the technological advancement and the quality of video were not as good as they are now. I always felt it was weird to find this animated movie always takes place in the top 10 when I search for the best Anime movie. That's why I chose to see what it can offer.

I didn’t expect too much from this one, thinking that it was going to be something random and that people gave it a high rating, but I am simply impressed by how simply the impact of war can be represented through an anime. In this anime, there is no villain, and there is no hero, actually. It shows how the war situation can impact a family as well as the general people. The end of Seita and Setsuko is quite heartbreaking and shows how helpless humans are against poverty and the lack of resources as a result of war. The result of war is very cruel and disturbs people's lives badly. Let’s share the story.

! [⚠Spoiler alert⚠] Spoiler alert

The main characters of “Grave of the Fireflies” were siblings called “Seita” and “Setsuko,” and it’s pretty much clear from the start that neither of them survived till the end. And then it’s time for the flashback.

Seita and Setsuko and their mother were getting prepared to go to a shelter to protect themselves from Air bombing. Seita and Setsuko were a little bit late, and the air bombing started. Even if they were unharmed, they saw fire everywhere. The destruction was terrible. During the air bombing, their mother was injured badly and burned body badly, which led to her death later in a hospital. Their father was a navy officer and couldn’t be contacted during wartime. The siblings moved in with their aunt’s house.

She takes them in, but during the time of war, the shortages of food made things worse and made her hostile towards them. She criticized Seita for not contributing to the war, and they are consuming food without earning it. She was partially with them while she was giving good food to her family. Instead of it Seita and Setsuko try to find happiness in their own ways. It seemed like she was portrayed as an evil character, but it happened due to a lack of resources and food. She was also struggling in that kind of situation, and it can’t be blamed, but this kind of treatment pushed them to leave the house.

They started to live in an abandoned bomb shelter. For a few days, they felt freedom, and they tried to find happiness by catching butterflies during the time of chaotic war. But it was hard to maintain their life in that way because, in the first few days, they could enjoy by selling the instruments and clothes of their mother. When it ended, the lack of food made them suffer. One villager suggested Seita go back to his aunt's house, swallowing his pride, but he didn't want to be mistreated in his aunt's house.

He started to steal food and crops to survive. But he ended up getting caught and beaten hard by a person. Due to a lack of nutritious food, Setsuko became sick, and her condition became worse with time. Finally, when Seita went to the bank to get money l, he got the news of his father's death. He felt a little sad, but later he became happy to get the money from the bank as he could buy good food for his little sister. He returned with good food, but ig was too late. His sister didn't wake up again to taste the food. Later, he also died for lack of food in a train station, which was shown at the beginning.

Rating: 75/100