Grave of the Fireflies


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Name:Grave of the Fireflies
Contains:
un-checked Comedyun-checked Mechschecked Drama
un-checked Violenceun-checked Shoujo 
un-checked Hentaiun-checked Explicit Sexun-checked Brief Nudity
Running Length:88 mins.
Description:

Vote Highlights Vote
Grave of the Fireflies
For a tale about young people Grave of the Fireflies is anything but cheery and childish. It pulls no punches in its depiction of life in Japan around the time of the end of the Second World War. Based on the novel, Hotaru no Haka by Akiyuki Nosaka, the story's main characters are Seita, a teenage boy, and his younger sister Setsuka. It is a story of human courage and struggle against the adversity of poverty and war.

I am not a person who generally gets a lot out of "War Films", but this is a film of human interest that just happens to be set in wartime. It has a civilian perspective so there is little violence and no tactical drama that other depictions of war often give. It is perhaps more similar to films like Empire of the Sun. There is little need for Bad Guys for the plot to have an antagonistic element. I think that people who appreciate a view of realism may like this more and as a result I think it may be more popular with older viewers.

This type of story is one that the Americans will have seldom seen before as non-comedy films with more adult characters, such as Ghost in the Shell or Perfect Blue, which might appeal to older audiences, are tempered with a fantastic unreality. Another reason that it may not be accepted well in America is that it is the Americans who are bombing the main characters. Thankfully emphasis is not put on "the evil people doing this" but more on the stresses that the poverty of war puts on normal every day people, and the evil of people under such stress.

Grave of the Fireflies tells of what can happen to real people caught in the crossfire of a war. As a result, otherwise light moments in the film, such as a little girl playing on a swing or making a flower garden, seem fragile and heart wrenching. The backgrounds are in some cases startlingly beautiful and serene in contrast with the woe that the characters face.

The animation is good. Simple movements such as a small child playing have been fully explored. A peculiarity I noticed in the opening frames (which is in fact mentioned in the production notes on the DVD) is that the lines are not the solid black lines most animé viewers will be used to, but softer brown lines with much more detail. This gives an added grittiness to the production lending realism while making the whole thing seem dirtier.

My personal preference is generally to watch animé in the original Japanese audio with subtitles. I started watching bits of this with the American dub, but something seriously grated as our main characters hid in a shelter from the American bombs while sounding like the enemy....

I don't think that the experience of watching this film was entirely enjoyable, but it certainly was believable. It is useful to occasionally watch films like this to bring our own lives back into perspective. It is humbling to realise that some people still have to fight for shelter and food. I think that unfortunately most of this will be lost on a young audience as it has little glamour and the emotional impact may be brushed of as sissy.

Show this one to your mother if she thinks that all animé consists of is Pokémon.

Overall Rating: 7
Animation:8 Plot:7 Humor:4 Sound Track:7
Weight: 40 (Reputable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=89236


Grave of the Fireflies
Grave of The Fireflies, a story of the trials and tribulations of two kids living in Japan during World War II.

Animation: Top notch! The Director Takahata is part of the Ghibli family, which demands on the best animation to be used. It is hard to find a non-Ghibli movie that can match its animation.

Plot: Simplistic and to the point. The fight for survival and the realization that everything around you is out of your hands. Very well done and straight to the point.

Humor: This is not supposed to be a humoristic movie and does not try to be. Do not watch this movie if you are looking for comedy!!!

Soundtrack: A very simple 10 piece soundtrack which is actually rather bland when you listen to it alone. The music does work well in the movie.

Overall: (10), very highly recomended!!! Make sure to bring tissue and an acceptance of a non-hollywood movie!!

Overall Rating: 10
Animation:10 Plot:10 Humor:0 Sound Track:6
Weight: 15 (Trustworthy Vote)
Date:
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=191883


Grave of the Fireflies
WARNING SPOILER AHEAD
This is my favorite anime movie of all time.
This very very emotional film has been the only movie that has suceeded to make me cry.
Though there arnt to many action scenes the animation was very good fitting to the actions that the did.
The music was very fitting to the plot as well. The music and characters seemed to connect, so everytime you heard a tune you would think of them.
The humor was very limited and that was a good thing in the case of this movie. The lack of humore contributed to seriousness of the plot.
The bit of humore that was there showed the babyishness and innocence of the little motherless girl, setsuko, makng the audience fall in love with her, and her heroic brother, seita. That is another reason that this movie was so very good.
Most of us Americans who see it dont think of the other side of war. We dont think of the children involved in the other side showing us what war really is about:death.
The audiances love for the characters helps the emotional impact of the movie at the end when
WARNING SPOILER!!!!

they die.


overall this was a good movie and if you watch it i recommed you have a box of tissues handy. really i do

Overall Rating: 10
Animation:10 Plot:10 Humor:3 Sound Track:10
Weight: 10 (Trustworthy Vote)
Date:
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=92817


Grave of the Fireflies
Whether you are an anime fan or not at all, you should watch this.

Overall Rating: 10
Animation:9 Plot:8 Humor:5
Weight: 5 (Veritable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=195786


Grave of the Fireflies
Even though this has already been pointed out, I should probably state that this film WAS NOT DONE BY MIYAZAKI. It was done by a colleague whose name escapes me at the moment. Nevertheless, I did not find this film to be so depressing and emotional as most people make it out to be. This is not really a film about 2 children caught in the storms of war, but rather, a story about a tragic protagonist whose own pride resulted in his own demise and that of his little sister. People may pity him for his struggles, but really they are his own fault in that he refuses to get a job and work for a living in that it would mean giving in to his aunt, whom he considers a bitch. He is not a victim of circumstance, but instead a victim of his own selfish pride, and it is in this manner that i did not find Grave of the Fireflies to be gutwrenching or touching. It is more of a story of maintaining one's ego and ending up dead because of that. Despite his love for his sister, the true victim of the story, I could not help but think that the boy was a complete moron and ultimately, the reason for the torture that his little sister had to endure until death. I'm sure that Studio Ghibli was not trying to achieve such a perspective in creating this film, but nonetheless I could not help but look down on the protagonist; the tragic hero of this ultimately untouching film.

Overall Rating: 7
Weight: 4 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=15951


Grave of the Fireflies
Overall a beautiful film, although i do not find it as touching as others may suggest. Oftentimes the sweetness of the relationship between the siblings seemed too artificial and perfect, yet it was disconcerting to see all the death and destruction, and ultimately, the death of the main characters, although the viewer knows of their fate from the very start. A touching film.

Overall Rating: 9
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=15947


Grave of the Fireflies
One of the best movies ever made!
it's done with so much love and feelings.
the movie seems very real and it has a
very good character design and story.
it's a sad movie, and it describes the losses
of the average people in a war.

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=15946


Grave of the Fireflies
this movie i could not control my emotions in...

Overall Rating: 10
Animation:10 Plot:10 Humor:2 Sound Track:10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=391481


Grave of the Fireflies
An interesting movie, it seems too short to discuss adequately what it does though. That it is told through the memories of one that is as they are after the events of the movie is uncommon if not unique; I am aware that this is complicated through it I attempt to be specific without being blunt and without revealing the ending to those who have not seen the movie. The beginning hints at the past, this past is what the story for the most part recounts, in a way that does not disturb the viewer. At least not until the ending is known and the situation shown in the beginning of the film is thought of by one who knows what led up to it.

Overall Rating: 9
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=15975


Grave of the Fireflies
Many reviewers here have criticized this movie because they disapproved of Seita's actions. Be aware that this is a TRUE story. The author of the book wrote it to help himself get over the loss of his sister. Incidentally, the author DID blame himself for his sister's death, and perhaps that is why he had himself "killed off" in his semi-autobiographical story.

Anyway, this movie should get a 10 if only for the detailed depiction of the food on the dishes. Interesting that a movie about being hungry would depict food with such tantalizing vividness.

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=15973

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