Grave of the Fireflies

Grave of the Fireflies (火垂るの墓 Hotaru no Haka) is an animated film written and directed by Isao Takahata, a colleague of Hayao Miyazaki at Studio Ghibli and produced by Toru Hara. It originally premiered on 16 April 1988, on a double-bill with My Neighbor Totoro. It was based on the semi-autobiagraphical novel of the same name, written by Akiyuki Nosaka, who described his work as "a personal apology to my sister."

It was later licensed by Central Park Media, with an English dub being released to widespread critical acclaim. To date, it remains the only anime title to feature on the Top 100 DVD Releases . Roger Ebert has referred to it as "the most realistic animated film I've ever seen".

Synopsis

As World War 2 draws to a close, American forces begin firebombing Japanese civilian targets in an attempt to reduce morale on the home front and thus hasten Japan's surrender. As a result of such an attack on the city of Kobe, 12-year-old Seita and his little sister, Setsuko, lose both their home and their mother and have to rely firstly on the charity of relatives, and later on their own wits, during a time where society is becoming increasing more focussed on survival and supporting those who work towards that goal. This is something that the two children cannot comprehend, leading to clashes with their relatives and resulting in Seita and Setsuko leaving, in order to go it alone.

At first Seita is confident they can survive on their own, but nobody could ever be prepared for the challenges of living in such uncertain times, especially those who are living outside the system. However, it is the two children's love for each other that provides shelter from the harsh reality that is closing in around them and is what makes this feature stand out.

With very few anime being set during World War 2 (Barefoot Gen and The Cockpit being other examples), Grave of the Fireflies is unique as it is made abundantly clear within the first five minutes of the film that neither of its two protagonists will survive until the end. Yet despite, this incredibly bleak premise, the film works for two main reasons.

Firstly, as with many Ghibli films, it does not chose sides, but concentrates simply on the story at hand. The American bombers are not portrayed as bad, nor are the Japanese portrayed as being good - everybody is simply doing what they must within the confines of the war.

Secondly, the film works because of the relationship between Seita and Setsuko. It is more about how they react and adapt to their hardships, rather than the hardships themselves. It is about how they remain together, until the tragic climax. We watch Seita performing acrobatic tricks to entertain and distract Setsuko, even though their mother lies dying in the makeshift hospital nearby; they play in the sea, despite their desperate circumstances and when they are reduced to living in an abandoned air raid shelter, they try to make it as comfortable as they can.

At the end of the day, Grave of the Fireflies is more about the bond between brother and sister, than war, and that bond is expressed so beautifully, that it makes the eventual tragedy all the more moving and meaningful.

Symbolism

It is interesting that the author chose the kanji 火垂る, instead of 蛍, which denotes a firefly (hotaru). The former, which translates as "dangling fire" can sybolise not only fireflies, but also family (dangling fire being a type of sparkler firework that families play with together) and possibly even the falling incendary bombs used by the attacking forces.

Cast

• Seita - Tsutomu Tatsumi (Japanese); J. Robert Spencer (English)
• Setsuko - Tsutomu Tatsumi (Japanese); Rhoda Chrosite (English)

Soundtrack

• Musical Score: Michio Mamiya
• Opening theme: "Setsuko and Seita" by Michio Mamiya
• Ending theme: "Futari" by Michio Mamiya

External Links

IMDB entry for Grave of the Fireflies