“Grave of the Fireflies”
Recently, I watched an animated film called “Grave of the Fireflies” (1988) set in Kobe, Japan toward the end of WWII. US bombers drop napalm canister bombs on Japan, bombs that set fires that destroy whole villages and cities. Seita, a 14-year-old teenager, is left to take care of his little sister, Setsuko. Their mother does not make it to the shelter when the air raid sirens go off and she dies in the hospital. Their father is on a Japanese navy ship that is destroyed as the war comes to a close. A distant aunt takes them in, but she begins to resent the expense of taking care of the two children in addition to her daughter and a worker. Even though Seita brings food that they had buried on their property and agrees to allow his aunt to sell his mother’s kimonos, their welcome is soon gone.
Seita and Setsuko leave their aunt’s home and live in an abandoned shelter. There are some beautiful scenes of the fireflies and the children use them to light their shelter. The next day, Setsuko finds that they are all dead and takes great care burying them, imagining her mother’s burial. The story is based on a semiautobiographical book by Nosaka Akiyuki whose sister died of starvation and whose life was shadowed by guilt. He states there were times when he ate first before giving his sister food.
There are many contrasts in the movie such as the innocence of children and the cruelty of adults in times of war. There are peaceful drawings of the countryside in Nishinomiya, where the aunt lives, and bombers in the background. Both children die of starvation. Animation is the right format for this movie as a live-action film would have required depictions of violence and use of special effects. The simplicity of anime makes the message of this incredibly sad story all the more poignant.