Hotaru no haka (Grave of the Fireflies) poster & wallpaper
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Tsutomu Tatsumi, Ayano Shiraishi

Grave of the Fireflies opens on an evening in 1945, after Japan's surrender at the end of World War II; and in a train station, the young Seita dies alone. The rest of the movie tells us, in flashback... read more read more..., how things have come to this. Seita and Setsuko are two young Japanese children growing up in the waning days of World War II. Much to Seita's pride, their father is in the Japanese navy, and they live fairly content lives in Kobe despite rationing and the other privations of war. When their mother dies from burns suffered during an American fire-bombing raid, a distant aunt takes them in -- and conflict eventually forces the children to try to survive on their own. At first, Seita and his little sister enjoy their idyllic lives in the country, but harsh reality eventually settles in as Seita begins to understand the difficulties of taking care of a young child when both food and compassion are scarce. ~ Emru Townsend, Rovi

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93% liked it

59,670 ratings

Critics

96% liked it

25 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 28 min.

Directed by: Isao Takahata

Release Date: January 1, 1988

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DVD Release Date: October 6, 1998

Stats: 5,474 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (5,474)

  • smith44
    April 2, 2012
    smith44
    Saddest film I have ever seen, and that's saying a lot. Winner of my Saddest Tearjerker Film.
  • fb1033186916
    March 2, 2012
    fb1033186916
    It's hard to believe that this was a Ghibli film considering that I grew up with the most acclaimed family animations coming from the studio. All of which were delightful and beautiful in their own way, but none of them carried a powerful impact like Grave of the Fireflies did. T... read morehis really got to me. It's beautiful in so many ways, but what clearly makes it unique is its haunting reality. No film, animation or live-action, out there has the simplicity of a thought yet the depth it made results to such a wide array of emotion that leaves you not questioning it but rather, trying to forget it.
  • axadntpron
    December 15, 2011
    axadntpron
    The guy from the video store is a dick, this movie wasn't the "laugh riot" he promised it would be.
  • SirPant
    September 23, 2011
    SirPant
    Picking a favourite Studio Ghibli film is near impossible for most fans. My Neighbour Totoro, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Ponyo and Porco Rosso come very close as personal favourites for me but I think Grave of the Fireflies is undoubtedly their greatest and most powerful a... read morechievement. It's rare that any film can have such an emotional impact as Grave of the Fireflies does, whether it's real or animation but rarely does an animated film provoke such feelings. Along with Watership Down, Grave of the Fireflies really did push the boundaries when it came to the power of cartoons and showed just how important animation is in cinema. A heartbreaking film, historically important, wonderfully executed and rightfully regarded as a masterpiece. Not a typical Studio Ghibli production but as brilliant as you'd expect from them.
  • fb1216165431
    September 10, 2011
    fb1216165431
    Grave Of The Fireflies is a Japanese animation triumph and Studio Ghibli's most powerful, profound, and haunting work. A tale of survival set World War II Japan of a young boy and his little sister. A certified tear-jerker. Very heavy on heart. Haunting.
  • JonathanHutchings
    September 10, 2011
    JonathanHutchings
    Ebert said it best: Grave of the Fireflies makes you rethink the possibilities of animated films. This isn't a pixie dust fantasy, or a heightened sc-fi anime, it's one of the most touching, poignant, and stark anti-war films ever made.

    But to call Grave of the Fireflies purely ... read morean anti-war film is perhaps too simplistic (director Isao Takahata dismisses that label entirely). This film is gentle and poetic, more than it is violent, and it's remarkably restrained in its anti-war message. There's very little in the way of moralizing or polemics (probably because the story doesn't need it).

    Perhaps best of all, Setsuko is one of the very, very few (if not the only) animated 4 year-olds who actually behaves like a four year old. I'm so sick of seeing preternaturally smart, sassy, sophisticated and precocious children in Hollywood movies. Setsuko's emotion and behaviors are EXACTLY right for a completely normal four year-old, and recognizing this goes a long way in cultivating a fully realized character. Similarly, Seita is a teenage boy who behaves with the sort of mixture of pride, compassion and hubris you'd expect of someone his age. He still believes that Japan will win the war. He thinks it's up to him to take care of his sister with their mother gone and father who knows where. This leads him to make mistakes: possibly the most obvious one being where he fails to take the farmer's advice, swallow his pride and ask his nasty aunt to take them back in again.

    This film is pretty famous for making people cry. While I didn't have that strong of an emotional connection to it, I appreciated the beauty and honesty it displayed. This wasn't a glossy portrayal of anti-war political statements and heavy handed plot points, it was a simply about a brother and sister coping with the after effects of a city and family destroyed. The fact that Grave is a semi-autobiographical apology to Takahata's deceased sister makes it all the more powerful.
  • djdemersseman
    September 2, 2011
    djdemersseman
    A premise too risky for Hollywood but too necessary not to be made. Who better to make it, then, than the Japanese themselves? The film's greatest strength perhaps--it doesn't deviate much from its premise--is also its greatest weakness. It doesn't really delve into fantasy or fa... read morelse positivity but it also doesn't really explore clever dialogue or fancy visuals. Of course, everyone who recommended this film to me recommended it to me on the strength of its premise, which is why I came to watch it, and it certainly delivered. If you'd like to see World War II or, really, the world in general from a different perspective, here you can see the end of World War II through the eyes of two Japanese kids struggling to survive on every level.
  • 3niR
    November 8, 2010
    3niR
    It is not your regular imaginary animation. It's more about the reality that you can't ignore no matter how much you want or try. This is totally different.
    This was such a heart breaking movie that will show you what happens during the war. How much the war affects human's life.... read more I was moved. I felt bad. I literally cried. But that's it. Are we doing anything else rather than feeling bad and talking about it? This is not that type of movie that you'll want to watch it again and again. It's sad. And we always avoid that.
  • gor41
    September 11, 2010
    gor41
    Beguiling, charming look at the devastation of war from a child's perspective. Less fantastical than the more recent Ghibli output and all the more affecting for it.
  • FilmFanatik
    February 18, 2010
    FilmFanatik
    Beautiful film, but this is so utterly depressing that once is enough for me.

View All Hotaru no haka (Grave of the Fireflies) Reviews

Critic Reviews

J. R. Jones
July 14, 2002
J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader

Writer-director Isao Takahata, a frequent collaborator of Miyazaki's at Studio Ghibli, adapted a partly autobiographical novel by Akiyuki Nosaka, and his handling of the tragic story is masterfully un... Full Review

Roger Ebert
January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

An emotional experience so powerful that it forces a rethinking of animation. Full Review

Charles Cassady
December 15, 2010
Charles Cassady, Common Sense Media

Japanimation WWII tragedy the saddest. Cartoon. Ever. Full Review

Freda Freiberg
July 30, 2010
Freda Freiberg, Senses of Cinema

The ephemeral fireflies, which fascinate the children and accompany them everywhere, become a potent and lyrical symbol of the fragility, brevity and beauty of life. Full Review

Tim Brayton
May 5, 2010
Tim Brayton, Antagony & Ecstasy

Quivers with every kind of wracking emotion: rage, sorrow, despair, fatigue, and in the end, a tiny measure of hope that perhaps there's something better than this in the next world. Full Review

Felix Vasquez Jr.
April 29, 2009
Felix Vasquez Jr., Cinema Crazed

I didn't enjoy it at first, but it grows on you. A lot. It's one of those movies you scoff at, then end up watching again. Worth a look. Full Review

Robert Pardi
September 3, 2008
Robert Pardi, TV Guide's Movie Guide

Takahata's alternately sweeping and intimate animated feature is a moving depiction of the fates of cast-off children who become casualties of war. Full Review

Daniel Etherington
September 3, 2008
Daniel Etherington, Film4

Even though it's not exactly easy to watch the protracted deaths of two children, this is not only one of the greatest anime ever, but also an important (anti-) war film. A moving masterpiece. Full Review

Jeffrey M. Anderson
April 30, 2007
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid

Very simply the gentlest and most touching war-related film I've ever seen. Full Review

Pablo Villaca
July 9, 2006
Pablo Villaca, Cinema em Cena

Um retrato sem concessões do horror da guerra e de suas conseqüências não apenas sobre a sociedade, mas sobre indivíduos comuns. Emocionalmente devastador.

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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Facts

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    • Setsuko: I've been having diarrhea.
    • Seita: [about Setsuko] She never woke up again.
    • Setsuko: Why must firefiles die so young?
    • Setsuko: Why must fireflies die so young?
    • Seita: September 21, 1945... that was the night I died.
Submit a Fact | View All

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Hotaru no haka (Grave of the Fireflies) Trivia

Hotaru no haka (Grave of the Fire... Trivia

  • In the aftermath of a World War II bombing, two orphaned children struggle to survive in the Japanese countryside. Name the movie.  Answer »
  • Which Hayao Miyazaki film portrays two orphans living in Japan after the atom bomb?  Answer »
  • What 1988 film did film critic Robert Ebert declare, "the most powerful anti-war film ever created"?  Answer »
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