Most heart-wrenching animated movie ever

Rating: 10/10 (29 April 2002)

"Grave of the Fireflies" is such a masterpiece, it's impossible for me to do it justice here. You just have to watch it. If you thought "Bambi" was sad, you'll be surprised with this movie. The story is of two siblings, Seita and his little sister Setsuko, and how their lives were affected during WWII. I think this movie will have a greater impact on younger viewers. My father, whose own father fought in WWII, didn't care for the movie and didn't get the message it was trying to get across. It doesn't focus on the war itself, but on two innocent children who are living in the midst of it.
This is a very tragic film, as the viewer will know from the beginning. The movie begins by showing the childrens' demise; Seita has just died on the floor of a train station. A worker spots his empty candy container and throws it outside, releasing Setsuko's ashes. Her spirit appears and as she's about to run towards Seita's body, his own spirit joins her and the two are together again. From there, the spirits lead us through a flashback of how they helped each other and later died. It's like watching "Titanic", you know the ship's going to sink, but we get to see the events leading up to it. Don't pass up this gem just because it's animated. Honestly, I forgot it was animated at times, the characters are so real and so is their story. I don't think I'll ever see a more emotional, intelligent animated movie than this. A must-see!