Essential viewing for anime fans.

Rating: 9/10 (21 May 2002)

It's difficult to summarise the emotional impact of this movie suffice to say it's by far the most heart breakingly sad film I've ever seen yet it doesn't once come across as schmaltzy or contrived at any time.
The story revolves around a young Japanese boy who, with his younger sister, is orphaned in an American bombing raid during WW2 and their subsequent struggle to survive during times of hardship and rationing. To divulge more would be to spoil.
This is prime "thinking mans anime" and yet again proves the the genre has more to offer than big robots and dubious Hentai.