Grave of the Fireflies (1988)

Original title

火垂るの墓

Directed by

Isao Takahata

Genre

drama film, drama anime and manga, flashback film, anti-war film, ghost film, coming-of-age film

Country

Japan

Runtime

1h 33m

Rated

NR

Rating

8.4 of 10 from 6,605 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

Two young siblings try to survive on their own after their city is firebombed during World War II. They face hunger, illness, and the indifference of others as the war drags on.

tragicharrowingpoignantslow-pacedemotionaldevastatingintimatesobering

What happens

Grave of the Fireflies is a 1988 Japanese animated war film written and directed by Isao Takahata. It stars the voices of Tsutomu Tatsumi, Ayano Shiraishi, Yoshiko Shinohara, and Akemi Yamaguchi. Based on Akiyuki Nosaka's 1967 semi-autobiographical short story of the same name, the film is set in Kobe shortly after its bombing by the U.S. Army Air Forces, and follows two orphaned siblings who desperately struggle to survive during the final months of the Pacific War. Production began after Nosaka became interested in an animated adaptation of his book. It was animated by Studio Ghibli, marking Takahata's first film with the studio. Several critics considered it an anti-war film, but Takahata disagreed. The film was theatrically released in Japan by Toho on April 16, 1988, and was a modest success at the Japanese box office, grossing ¥1.7 billion. Its later international releases between 2018 and 2025 grossed $4.7 million overseas. It received universal acclaim and is considered by many to be Takahata's masterpiece, one of the greatest animated films of all time, and a major work of Japanese animation. It garnered particular praise for its emotional weight, and is often cited as one of the saddest films ever made. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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