Wonderful. SECOND VIEWING of this FILM--- very ESSENTIAL.

Rating: 10/10 (9 November 2010)

Wow. Wow. WOW. What an amazing-amazing movie, Ladies and Gentlemen. I'm overwhelmed in a positive way. I have to admit, I "dived" into this movie not knowing anything initially about it (didn't read the IMDb comments and reviews prior...)-- as a matter of fact, I simply found the poster of GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES (Hotaru no haka, original Japanese) intriguing and decided to check out the movie... (it is discern-able from the poster that it's about kids in a poverty background... and that made me wan't to check it out, as I'd never come across animation that dealt with the issue of poverty)."Diving" into 'Hotaru no haka' without any prior knowledge was both,with it's benefits and minuses.
First and foremost, I didn't notice / or understand the beginning sequence deeply (where the Loving spirit of Setsuko comes back to reunite with the spirit of her loving brother, Seita)-- and I started paying attention to the movie only when the flashback (showing the difficult lives of these adorable siblings began) with the US planes bombing Kobe. Looking back, you can guess what this "mistake" (of not paying attention in the beginning) did to me while I was watching the ending... When the words "She never woke up again." flashed in the subtitles, I was utterly DEVASTATED. No other word to describe it. I quietly went to the door of my private room, closed it-- (so as, not to have my parents hear...)-- and after that, let those tears flow free. There is absolutely nothing more difficult than trying to stifle or hold your tears (mainly) after what comes after that sentence in the subtitles, mentioned above. Setsuko is more than a character, as is her brother Seita. By the end of the movie, you know beyond knowing, that you recognize these characters as if they were your own kid sister or adolescent brother. That's the power of the story of "Hotaru no haka". That how well and thoroughly you fall in Love with these two wonderful siblings-- and later, that's how painfully you grieve and mourn for them...! I was freely crying as the end of the movie approached... I admit, I paused the movie when the scene in which the sombre and unspeakably painful task falls on Seita to burn the lifeless body of his once jovial and life-filled, lovely sister. I took a short break, and returned back to the movie to see the remainder...
NOW HERE'S THE THING: THANK GOD FOR IMDb! Why? Because a day after watching "Hotaru no haka" for this first time, I went online, on IMDb, and started reading the reviews and comments. I found out that Roger Ebert considered this the MOST PROFOUND AND TOUCHING ANTI-WAR movie ever made-- but more than anything else-- I came to the REVELATION/understanding that the end of this movie, in a totally non-linear way, is actually in the BEGINNING!!! Thanks to the reviewers who pointed this out for me... really. So (I dared and) watched GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES, again. This time around, noticing the beginning, understanding and making sense of it. And I was thrilled! In what I'd originally thought to be an effective but gloomy and sad movie-- I came to realize, upon and after the SECOND VIEWING-- that the heart-wrenching story of Setsuko and Seita ends in a hopeful and somewhat even a positive note!! Yes, they had a difficult and painful life. The pain (brother)Seita grows through having to live after the passing of (sister)Setsuko-- is something I don't think most people, even grown-ups, would have been able to live through (that's why Seita eventually simply succumbs to death and doesn't fight starvation in the beginning (and/or ending) of the movie. But-- but, in the end they, the adorable and lifeful Setsuko and Seita's spirits are re-united!! Yes, they leave their physical, worldly bodies behind-- but they are TOGETHER once more, and the pure Love of caring brother to sister and vice-versa reigns supreme once again, and this time, forever.
I'm surprised that some reviewers wrote that this movie ends sadly. If you'll notice correctly it actually ends in a positive and hopeful high note. Yes, it is a sad and heart-wrenching story nonetheless. But saying that it ends in a sad note is simply not correct. As a matter of fact, the opposite is true. The re-union of Love and hope, in the two forms of Setsuko and Sieta at the very beginning-- and subsequently at the very end of the movie-- are very-very positive and heart-warming.
I can honestly say: I'm (hopefully) a better person knowing the story of these two siblings who are full of heart and Love. I pray and hope to help any human or child in a situation similar to that of Setsuko and Seita, if ever life shows any such to me.
Hotaru no Haka-- is no mere movie. This movie is an EXPERIENCE. It's an experience which will crush your heart... but, in the process, you will discover (or re- discover) how much really your heart can actually feel-- and your heart will survive. And the re-discovering of your heart through this film is something that will be very good for you.
Thank you, Director Isao Takahata, for this story and this movie. Thank you, Novelist Akiyuki Nôsaka, for writing this story and sharing it with us all. One can say, one has seen a movie. But when it comes to GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES, one has to say that they had the PRIVILEGE of watching this movie, and it would be 100 percent true.