Movie Information
Overall Rank: 209
Average Rating: 3.2/4
# of Ratings: 217
Theatrical Release Date: 04/16/1988
Language: Japanese
Genre: Anime, War
MPAA Rating: PG
Director: Isao Takahata
Actors: Rhoda Chrosite, J. Robert Spencer, Veronica Taylor, Amy Jones, Tsutomu Tatsumi, Ayano Shiraishi
Plot: During WWII, a brother and his young sister are forced to survive on their
own after their mother is killed in an air raid and they shun their other
relatives.
Quick Movie Reviews
Rating of
4/4
Logan D. McCoy - wrote on 06/01/2019
"Grave of the Fireflies" is the most devastating animated movie you will ever watch.
Rating of
4/4
Camper - wrote on 07/02/2013
So I remember watching this movie for the first time when I was nine....My dad just saw that it was animated and we all like Japanese films so he didn't take the time to read the back cover. It was pretty intense for a nine year old, the mother dies within the first half hour- you see her body covered in bandages and flies are circling around her, and the scenes toward the end are extremely depressing. It's not the sort of things that you would normally find in an animated film, but it all works very well.
Rating of
4/4
mitchellyoung - wrote on 08/02/2011
This may be my favorite Miyazaki film. It is a magical and visual film that, at the same time, is telling a very real and heartbreaking story of poverty during wartime. It's rare to find such insight and adult themes treated with such wisdom, especially in an animated film.
Full Movie Reviews
Rating of
4/4
Grave of the Fireflies (Hotaru no haka)
Daniel Corleone - wrote on 09/08/2012
Admittedly, this critic is not a huge fan of anime's so browsing for the best on this site is very helpful (just to avoid the bad ones). Truly a film that is even better than most drama/war films, it's impossible to not get emotional after viewing this. It's bountiful symbolisms and subjects represented is worth viewing. More about that throught this review. Victims of World War II 14-year-old Seita and his young 4-year-old sister Setsuko stay with their aunt. The pair experience the unfortunae events that befall them. Things worsen as the days go by for Setsuko and Seita when they leave their relative. They utilize fireflies for light when they transfer.
Gorgeous cinematography for its genre with a very dark yet realistic flick. Symbolisms of the fireflies onscreen was …
Rating of
4/4
Heartbreaking. An absolute masterpiece.
JTurner - wrote on 05/31/2009
Truly one of Studio Ghibli's greatest crowning achievements, GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES is a brilliant masterpiece fully deserving of a place in any of the best movies ever made. Directed by Isao Takahata, the film follows two Japanese children struggling to survive in the aftermath of World War II. Having lost their home and mother, they at first stay with a bitter, self-serving relative, but ultimately decide to run away to a cave. Both try by all means to live off of vegetables or whatever food they can afford to trade and/or steal, to no avail. Normally one would think of this subject as more appropriate for live-action, but GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES proves that it can be told through the art of animation as well. This is no mindless showcase of gorgeous visuals--although the artistic …
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Recent Movie Talk Posts
grave of the fireflies is really a good movie. it is just not any ani movie.
CJP - wrote on 2008-10-16 17:50
Grave of the Fireflies is a great movie. I'm glad Spirited Away shows up in the conversation also since it should have been nominated for a best picture Oscar, not just best aniumated, in 2003. Hopefully people will catch on though.
Chris Kavan - wrote on 2008-09-09 09:09
There is a small but very vocal group of people who won't shut up about how cool anime is.. to the point of embarrassment.  These uber-fans give anime a bad name and, unfortunately, are the ones most people associate the genre with.Anime, is simply animation that comes from Japan. It's not homogenized.  Studio Ghibli, the company behind Grave of the Fireflies, creates amazing films, mostly helmed by Hayao Miyazaki - perhaps you recall Spirited Away won best animated feature film in …
Gwynnderella - wrote on 2008-09-08 22:25
Why is it considered Anime then?  And what is the definition of Anime. I think most people don't like it because it is annoying as crap....and big dorks talk about it all the time.
Chris Kavan - wrote on 2008-09-08 21:45
Okay, I'm tired of seeing so many people who have Anime as their least favorite genre on here.For everyone who thinks that Anime is A) a bunch of people screaming and fighting for no reason B) adorable kiddie fare or C) sick, twisted pornography - I implore you - nay - I DEMAND you watch Grave of the Fireflies.This is completely human and achingly sad. Heck, this, for me, ranks near Schindler's List as one of the hardest movies to watch.  You will forget this is animated by the times it's …
