Grave of the Fireflies
Movie, 1988, The '80s, Set in Kobe, 1945
Grave of the Fireflies is #4 of 25 in release order and #4 of 25 in chronological order in the Studio Ghibli.
The story
In the final months of World War II, 14-year-old Seita and his sister Setsuko are orphaned when their mother is killed during an air raid in Kobe, Japan. After a falling out with their aunt, they move into an abandoned bomb shelter. With no surviving relatives and their emergency rations depleted, Seita and Setsuko struggle to survive.
Grave of the Fireflies recap
Grave of the Fireflies (1988) follows a teenage boy and his little sister trying to survive alone after the firebombing of Kobe in 1945. Isao Takahata wrote and directed his first Ghibli film from Akiyuki Nosaka's semi-autobiographical story. The opening shows Seita (Tsutomu Tatsumi) dying of hunger in a train station, then flashes back. Seita and four-year-old Setsuko (Ayano Shiraishi), children of a navy captain, lose their mother in a bombing raid, and Seita hides her death from his sister. They move in with an aunt who grows colder as rations shrink, so the pair leave for an abandoned bomb shelter by a pond. They light it with fireflies, which are dead by morning; Setsuko buries them and reveals she knows their mother is dead. Seita steals food, and Setsuko weakens from malnutrition.
Grave of the Fireflies ending explained
Grave of the Fireflies ends with Japan's surrender and Seita learning that the fleet, and probably his father, is gone. Setsuko dies of malnutrition, Seita cremates her and keeps her ashes in her fruit-drop tin, and he dies weeks later at Sannomiya station. A janitor throws the tin into a field, and the spirits of the siblings ride a ghostly train, ending on a hilltop bench above modern Kobe.
Post-credits scenes
No. Grave of the Fireflies has no mid- or post-credits scene.
Where to watch Grave of the Fireflies
Grave of the Fireflies is streaming on Netflix in the US. You can rent or buy it on Amazon.
Ratings
IMDb 8.5/10, Rotten Tomatoes 100%
Where it fits
- Release order: after My Neighbor Totoro, before Kiki's Delivery Service.
- Chronological order: after My Neighbor Totoro, before Kiki's Delivery Service.
Cast
- Tsutomu Tatsumi as Seita (voice)
- Ayano Shiraishi as Setsuko (voice)
- Yoshiko Shinohara as Mother (voice)
- Akemi Yamaguchi as Auntie (voice)
- Masayo Sakai as Woman who takes care of Setsuko (voice)
- Kozo Hashida as Obayashi Chairman (voice)
- Kazumi Nozaki as Cousin (voice)
- Yoshio Matsuoka as Gosaku (voice)
- Masahiro Kanetake as Aunt's House Guest (voice)
- Kiyoshi Yanagawa as Patrolman (voice)
- Hajime Maki as Man who arrests Seita (voice)
- Atsuo Omotem as Person in Bank (voice)
Directed by Isao Takahata.