Along with Clannad After Story and Tokyo Magnitude 8.0, this one counts among the works of art after which I couldn’t watch anime for days. It hit that hard, I don’t think I could have stood getting right back to the usual slapstick fun most of nowadays’ anime focus on to some or another extent.


“Hotaru no Haka”, better known under its English title “Grave of the Fireflies”, is definitely Studio Ghibli’s saddest tale, even if not their oldest. And it stays true to what Ghibli is; slow but subtle, true to life, successfully realistic; and while most if not all Ghibli movies are touching to some or another extent, this one is absolutely heart-tearing.

Ghibli’s tendency to simple setups shows, of course. That doesn’t mean it can’t be down-to-earth, however. “Grave of the Fireflies” shows both the hardships of life and an individual tale, one probably symbolic for a larger number of kids during the war.

It goes without saying that it’s unique. Anime has rarely taken a similar approach, before or after. “Grave of the Fireflies” is more than that, however; it’s a work of sheer art. Encompassing, relatable, nothing short of beautiful, even more so in terms of story, characters, and emotion than in visual terms. Simply said, it drew me in and didn’t let go till it was through, and then for another while.

Of course, as in any Ghibli movie, the characters only help it along. They may be “only” kids, yet they’re engaging, lovable, and oddly relatable.

Where Ghibli’s usual focus with the characters is the simple innocence of children and young adults, that still-fresh take of the world so-to-speak, there’s less of all this to be found in here. It’s still there, but it takes a background seat compared to Miyazaki’s works. “Grave of the Fireflies” is a film that speaks more of troubled times, of tragedies, of personal regrets, of people being haunted by war, and so on. It may be more solemn than the usual Ghibli movie, but it excels at what it does; being down-to-earth, realistic, full of emotion, relatable, and all the more heart-tearing for all of it. It’s a film that’s coming alive as it is watched, characters and story both.

The dialogue is excellent no doubt. The script is Ghibli--it flows well and realistically, it gets the characters and their emotion across, and there’s no word too much in it. Also, the voice acting definitely doesn’t disappoint, especially the Japanese version.

The animation isn’t the 2012/13 look, of course. It is pretty realistic for such an old film, but still tends to look ragged here or there--of course it does. While that means I can’t give the animation an excellent mark quite yet, it doesn’t mean it can’t be good. I suppose the technical visual merits are about as good as anime looked back then; and the flaws get balanced out pretty well by the music and art.

The OST in this film is quite outstanding--it always manages to hit the right string, no matter for which kind of atmosphere or purpose. And the art is interesting to say the least, beautiful even in most moments. Studio Ghibli’s trademark character design (those who’ve seen even one Miyazaki movie before will know what I mean); pretty realistic background design; the colouring, outstanding especially whenever there’s fireflies around; and then, the line-art isn’t the classic black but brown, making for another odd but interesting effect.

“Grave of the Fireflies” doesn’t strive for mainstream appeal. It’s devoid of any action, or slapstick humour. It excels at what it does, though.

It’s heart-rending--but it’s beautiful all the same; not to mention down-to-earth, and oddly relatable, the combination of which is determined to touch even the most hardened of hearts. It’s simple on the surface, but it’s pretty sure to make people think; the storyline, and the main character’s actions, how perhaps he could have changed not the situation but the outcome of it; and last but not least of course the overall theme, how it’s always the children who end up on the losing end of any war.


“Grave of the Fireflies” is one of the few animes I’d state as a masterpiece, one of the true and undiscovered gems of the anime world. If you care about emotional movies at all, or those that really get the philosophic gears turning, consider--scratch that, go download this movie. But remember to prepare a tissue box nearby. (show less)