Heartwrenching and perfect

Rating: 10/10 (30 April 2002)

If there is one film that can describe the brutality of war with the least amount of violence, it's this. Hotaru no Haka is one of the best animated films, even one of the best films i have ever seen.
The reason why this is not in the top 250 is a mystery.
It's one of the most powerful films along the lines of Rain Man. They have one thing in common: It works at putting you in the place of the troubled character (Rain Man/Raymond, Hotaru no Haka/Setsuko) and have the same exact feelings of the character.
This film has nothing objectionable to parents except for the intense thematic material, and I wouldn't call it a family film. In fact, if you are a parent and want your kids to see this, make sure they're READY. This is the only film i've ever cried through, and it's been two months since I saw it and i STILL have an impact from it.
If you liked this film, I'd recommend you to see Hadashi no Gen (its on sale at amazon) and, if you're an iMDB user, maybe even give it a vote.