Grave Of The Fireflies is one of the very best anime films there is.

Rating: 10/10 (13 October 2010)

Grave Of The Fireflies (directed by Isao Takahata) is one of the true classics of anime. Along with Spirited Away it's my favourite film by Studio Ghibli. Even though the film is an anime it's different from anything that's typically associated with the medium. There is no "end of the world" scenario here, or characters with big eyes and coloured hair, or plenty of slapstick humour. Instead, what Grave Of The Fireflies offers is a believable drama set during the second World War. Near the end of the war a boy named Seita and his five-year-old sister Setsuko have been made homeless because their mother was killed and their house was burned down during the firebombing in Kobe. Their father is in service to the Japanese Imperial Navy, but he was probably killed in action. Eventually the children find themselves in a grim situation. They have to live outside, and food is very hard to come by as a result of the widespread famine. Seita tries everything he can to acquire food for himself and his little sister. We get to see their struggle, and how they try to stay positive during this difficult time. The story is focused on the two children. There's hardly any discussion about Japan's war with America. In fact, I think the Americans aren't even mentioned in the dialogue. As is to be expected from a Ghibli film the animation in Grave Of The Fireflies is top rate. The music is effective. It helps make some scenes very moving. Some famous baroque and classical pieces by composers like Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, Mozart and Boccherini were included too. Appropriately aged children were cast in the roles of Seita and Setsuko. Some anime reviewers have named Grave Of The Fireflies the greatest anime there is. Having seen the film I understand why they'd say that. Before watching the film I heard that it makes viewers cry because it's very moving. I didn't cry, but that's because I tried very hard not to. After that I still had to blow my nose. Film critic Roger Ebert considers Grave Of The Fireflies to be one of the most powerful anti-war movies ever made. He included the film in his Great Movies list. The AllMovie guide awarded the film a rating of 5 out of 5 stars. The only other anime films to earn the perfect rating are Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away and Akira. I don't really care about ratings, but this is one of the few anime films that deserves the hype.