Grave of the Fireflies Review: ★ 4½ Quality & ☺3 Rewatchability (555 Ratings)

Grave of the Fireflies 1988

Isao Takahata

Tsutomu Tatsumi, Ayano Shiraishi, Yoshiko Shinohara, Akemi Yamaguchi

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Jennifer Pease 11 months ago

EVERYONE should watch this once. That's all you need though. Be prepared for heartache

Meghann Scarlett Hernandez almost 2 years ago

Huge heartache from begining to end. Overall really good.

Noah Rymer over 3 years ago

even as a fan of animation I didn't know a cartoon could make me feel this much.

Davis Keck over 3 years ago

Well now I just want to hold my son and cry.

Dónal Kennedy almost 4 years ago

As visceral and haunting a portrait of the war at home as you'll find.

Gabi Dincă almost 4 years ago

Prepare to cry...a lot!

lewwatt over 4 years ago

Severe and sincere all the same; it brings home in digestible form, the terror of war.

Griselda Luna over 4 years ago

indeed, the story is so sad and depressing, but it's so beautiful and outstanding.

Ryan Boucher over 4 years ago

Fuck. That was depressing.

William Fenton 5 years ago

An animated blow in the stomach, melancholy writ huge. You will cry.

Kittypuff over 5 years ago

This movie was a real tug on the heartstrings! Beautiful and melancholy

Asif F. over 5 years ago

the only cartoon that has ever made a grown man (me) cry.

Srungeer Simha almost 6 years ago

wonderfully done but also extremely sad. Excellent one time watch

Zach Sly almost 6 years ago

The saddest film I've seen. I never questioned the necessity of the atom bomb until this.

Alex almost 6 years ago

Love this movie. Rarely will a movie bring audiences to tears. This movie won't disappoint

Tim King almost 6 years ago

Amazing and a must watch but too depressing for me to watch a second time.

Heather Blacklock 6 years ago

Absolutely brilliant but too draining for me to watch repeatedly

Swapnil Nandeshwar 6 years ago

Never thought would cry after watching a animated movie.....never a movie soo good...

Meryovi 6 years ago

Sad but great movie. Almost all my friends cried.

Fernando Olivas over 6 years ago

If you don't shed a tear to this movie, you are rotten inside.

Grave of the Fireflies (火垂るの墓, Hotaru no Haka) is a 1988 Japanese animated war tragedy film written and directed by Isao Takahata. This is the first film produced by Shinchosha, who hired Studio Ghibli to do the animation production work. It is an adaptation of the semi-autobiographical novel of the same name by Akiyuki Nosaka, intended as a personal apology to the author's own sister. Roger Ebert considers it to be one of the most powerful war movies ever made. Taking place toward the end of World War II in Japan, Grave of the Fireflies is the tale of the relationship between two orphaned children, 14-year-old Seita (清太) and his young 4-year-old sister Setsuko (節子). The movie begins in Sannomiya Station and portrays Seita, in rags and dying of starvation. A janitor comes and digs through his possessions, and finds a candy tin containing ashes and bones. He throws it out, and from it springs the spirit of Setsuko, Seita, and a cloud of fireflies. The spirit of Seita continues to...