Beautiful movie about a murder/suicide.

Rating: 4/10 (10 July 2006)

(Possible spoiler, though you know about a character(s) death in the 1st 15 seconds anyways)
This is NOT a story about 2 kids fighting for survival in war-torn Japan. This is not about kids begging for food. This is not about kids scrounging for food. This is not about kids staying with adults who feed them. This is not about kids who line up to get their rations. This is not about kids who go to an intact city with their money and buy food.
This is the story of a moron who unfortunately had the care of his kid sister. The social commentary here is that society was so broken down that it did not notice the brother abusing his little sister.
This got a 4 for story and animation. It did not get a higher rating because I really do not like stories about helpless morons who cannot do what it takes to survive but who refuse to see they are unable to care for anyone else. I also did not like that most of the reviews make the moron/murderer into a hero and seem to admire him. I felt deceived by the reviews as I was expecting a sad story of kids who TRY to survive but are unable to. I did not expect a story of a kid who refuses to survive except on his own terms and who makes his loved one live those same terms. He must have been a clueless elitist. Other Japanese were/ are quite good at survival.
Within about the 1st 15 minutes, you can tell Seita is a moron and too good to work. It just takes awhile to get to the murderer part. I should have followed my instinct to stop watching the movie when he puts his sister in danger gawking when planes are flying overhead. I really wanted to bash his head in at that moment --- Let me think: save sister vs shoes; save sister vs. watch planes, save sister vs talking to people...hmmm. Perhaps there is another statement in the movie -- that Japanese males were/are like this -- shoes before baby sister.
Mothers will starve for their children . . . why do so many reviews seem to admire Seita and call this a struggle to survive? I thought the movie was more a statement that in war, some people will always choose to die, re: Seita, but most of society moves on. Unfortunately, the deathwishers will also sometimes take other people with them, usually those they love the most. Ah...I finally figured this movie out -- this is a drawn out story of a murder/suicide.