For anyone ignorant enough to still think animated films are “for kids“, Studio Ghibli set the record straight in 1988.

Grave of the Fireflies is one of the most devastating WWII films, a story told over 89 minutes from the perspective of two young siblings.

It’s since gone down in legend as one of the most potent anti-war texts from across the world, although achingly sad in its delivery to the point you’ll likely only ever watch it once.

The Stark Cost of War in Grave of the Fireflies

This was directed by Isao Takahata (1935-2018) as opposed to Studio Ghibli’s luminary Hayao Miyazaki.

The film reminds us of John Hershey’s book Hiroshima (1946), which explored the life of six survivors of the atomic bomb.

Amongst the carnage and fallout of the documented lives, individuals were trying to piece things back together. To find some sort of normality.

Grave of the Fireflies cuts back a little from that and places its lead characters in June of 1945. Adapted from the eponymous 1967 short story by Akiyuki Nosaka (1930-2015), the narrative follows two siblings as they desperately try to survive the final few months of WWII.

This is quite similar in structure to J.G. Ballard’s almighty Empire of the Sun (1984), which also follows a young boy and his efforts to survive.

But there’s no sense of triumph, unlike Ballard’s work (and Steven Spielberg’s 1987 film adaptation), as starvation and death haunt the story.

In reference again to Nosaka’s work, it was based on his wartime experiences. He lost a sister, his father, and an adopted sister to disease outbreaks and allied bombing.

He wrote the work as an apology to his adopted sister Keiko.

That sets the tone for what lies ahead in Grave of the Fireflies, which early on shows in unflinching honesty the results of war.

After American Boeing B-29 Superfortresses leave Kobe demolished, the siblings Seita and Setsuko Yokokawa somehow survive. But what they find left amongst the rubble leaves their future in serious doubt.

Seita discovers his mother has horrendous burns. With her fate obvious he returns to his sister and, living in a now almost lawless Japanese state, they begin their fight for basic survival.

This is a survival film. The narrative follows the siblings as they battle for food and a purpose amongst the carnage of Kobe.

The narrative isn’t overly complex, it’s just the day-to-day following of a situation that now seems so alien for modern viewers.

Living in an abandoned bomb shelter, one night the pair entertain themselves by releasing fireflies into their makeshift home.

Next morning young Setsuko is distressed to find they have all died. That leads her to bury them them whilst asking why they, and her mother, have passed on.

Seita attempts to manage this and battles to feed his sister, but with food so scarce she begins to suffer from malnutrition and grows weak.

During WWII this happened constantly every day, whether it was Anne Frank trapped in a concentration camp with her sister or near endless other stories. Disease, starvation, and death.

What Grave of the Fireflies does is depict such human suffering in stark and gut-wrenching fashion. Setsuko is one life, but a very young one—total innocence. Viewers must watch on as she starves to death.

Studio Ghibli didn’t shy away from the realities of war here.

As with other brutal animations such as Watership Down (1978) you’ve got a very real sense of harsh reality. One we’re often protected from in modern life, with occasional distant reminders such as the war in Ukraine.

Seita’s fate isn’t much better as he also succumbs to starvation.

Grave of the Fireflies is a brutal work, with one viewing enough to leave it seared into your memory. A bit like Son of Saul (2015) or Schindler’s List (1993). Some people may wonder why these films are made—is it entertainment?

We prefer to view them as crucial works that preserve a sense of reality for future generations. They’re now secured for posterity, with the hope of avoiding global conflicts.

But at the very least, they help viewers find a sense of humanity (as tragic as the stories are) in amongst the senseless chaos and loss of life.

Grave of the Fireflies manages that perfectly, even if it is mightily sad.

The Production of Grave of the Fireflies

Akiyuki Nosaka’s had received numerous requests for adapting his work, but the writer turned down the offers.

He felt it would be impossible to create the barren landscapes of war-stricken Japan (and for children actors to meet the demands of this) with conventional cinema.

Animation was the logical route and Isao Takahata convinced him with storyboarding the narrative could be successful.

Born in 1930, Takahata also lived through Japan’s wartime struggles so this production was a uniquely personal work for him. The pair was interviewed for Animerica magazine in 1994. That’s available on Animerica Interviews Isao Takahata and Akiyuki Nosaka. Takahata said:

“When I first read the novel, I felt the main character Seita was a unique wartime ninth grader. That’s what I found interesting. I thought boys back then had an iron will to live, that they had to develop stoicism to survive. I didn’t think that changed from wartime to the post-war recovery and the following period of high economic growth. Boys may have changed what they were doing, but their basic attitude didn’t change.

Seita is different. When he’s insulted by his aunt, he isn’t stoic but withdraws and goes away to do other things. He doesn’t endure it. I think Seita’s feelings, those king of feelings, are better understood by today’s children. It’s my generation that thinks he has to endure it. Today’s children have this phrase: ‘It pisses me off.’ [mukatsuku, from the mimetic Japanese word muka-muka; ‘be offended, get angry’]. They base their decisions on whether something is pleasant or not. That way of being and Seita’s activities have something in common. It’s not only the children… I think the times are becoming that way.”

The film was produced concurrently with Hayao Miyazaki’s My Neighbour Totoro. The reason for this was Miyazaki (not world famous at that point) could only get his project greenlit by pitching it as a double feature alongside Takahata’s work.

Grave of the Fireflies was only a modest hit, making ¥1.7 billion (just over £6 million) and only $516,962 for its US release. Although it was a time when Japanese cinema wasn’t popular in the West, so the US figure isn’t surprising.

Another aspect to the lack of success is attributed to the film being so bleak.

My Neighbour Totoro (a charming and upbeat film) ended up a smash hit and launched Miyazaki towards the creative figurehead for Studio Ghibli.

Isao Takahata later directed other Ghibli classics, including Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989) and the Oscar nominated The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013). The latter was his final directorial role as he retired thereafter.

However, he did work as artistic producer on 2016’s excellent The Red Turtle.