Anime Review #9

Grave Of The Fireflies (Hotaru no Haka)

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My friend asked me to watch it last 2 years saying that it was going to make me cry, and I was like “naah bro, not possible”. I certainly was confident that my eyes wasn’t going to leak but mehn was this anime made me teary on so many levels. I never knew I was going to be sad, if I remember vividly, my mood throughout that day wasn’t pleasant at all.

Genre: Historical, Tragedy, Drama

Type: Movie

Year: 1988

Duration: 1hr 38min

Aired: Apr 16, 1988

Status: Finished Airing

Studios: Studio Ghibli

Ratings: PG-13-Teens 13 or Older

Click here to watch online or download the movie

As World War II reaches its conclusion in 1945, Japan faces widespread destruction in the form of American bombings, devastating city after city. HOTARU NO HAKA, also known as GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES, is the story of Seita and his sister Setsuko, two Japanese children whose lives are ravaged by the brutal war. They have lost their mother, their father, their home, and the prospect of a bright future—all tragic consequences of the war.

Now orphaned and homeless, SEITA and SETSUKO have no choice but to drift across the countryside, beset by starvation and disease. Met with the apathy of adults along the way, they find that desperate circumstances can turn even the kindest of people cruel yet their youthful hope shines brightly in the face of unrelenting hardship, preventing the siblings from swiftly succumbing to an inevitable fate.

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But aside those tragedic events, as a movie it was a very good one with outstanding plot, and wonderfully created characters to suit the movie and talented voice actors to bring out the true form of the movie. I was really pissed at SEITA for the decisions he made for himself and his sister, I sincerely felt that if he had just sucked up to his Aunty, they probably wouldn’t have died but yeah I do get why he left but he should have stayed at least for his sister because the moment they left, their days were numbered because there’s no way they could have survived on their own. I really hate the effects of war, even people are still suffering from and have died from it.

Rating: 8/10

I gave it a solid 8 simply because of its wonderful storyline, amazing voice actors and not a 10 because it made me sad

😭