Grave of the Fireflies

1988

AnimationDramaWar

In the final months of World War II, 14-year-old Seita and his sister Setsuko are orphaned when their mother is killed during an air raid in Kobe, Japan. After a falling out with their aunt, they move into an abandoned bomb shelter. With no surviving relatives and their emergency rations depleted, Seita and Setsuko struggle to survive.

"Why do fireflies have to die so soon?"

Rating

8.5
5866 votes

Popularity

0.0088

Origin & Countries

JP | ja | Japan

Production

Studio Ghibli

Runtime

89 min.

Budget (M$)

0.5 / 3.7ROI 14%

Status

Released

Release: 4/16/1988

Credits

Grave of the Fireflies

Isao TakahataDirector

Grave of the Fireflies

Tsutomu TatsumiSeita (voice)

Grave of the Fireflies

Ayano ShiraishiSetsuko (voice)

Grave of the Fireflies

Yoshiko ShinoharaMother (voice)

Grave of the Fireflies

Akemi YamaguchiAuntie (voice)

More like this

The Tale of The Princess Kaguya
2013
Animation • Drama • Fantasy
8.1
4
My Neighbor Totoro
1988
Fantasy • Animation • Family
8.1
16
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
2006
Fantasy • Animation • Drama • Science Fiction
7.8
4
Pom Poko
1994
Adventure • Animation • Fantasy
7.2
3
Howl's Moving Castle
2004
Fantasy • Animation • Adventure
8.4
18

Reviews

Andres Gomez

1/4/2013

9 / 10

The terrible story of two orphaned Japanese kids during the ending of WWII. Incredibly well told and totally moving, without using clichés. A must seen in the anime arena.

sykobanana

5/17/2020

10 / 10

This was the first animated movie that made me cry as an adult. It still does. Two children are left as orphans in World War 2 and have to survive. Such a basic premise, but this shows intimately what the effects of war are on children (a topic not covered by other movies). And as it's about children, it has more of an emotional impact. Described as one of the greatest war movies of all time by Roger Ebert, the work of art will impact you like no other anime. Its interesting to note that this was released originally with My Neighbour Totoro. Both are films about childhood. But where Totoro is about innocence maintained and the joy of childhood, **Fireflies is innocence lost**, a light dimmed after a short period.

MOVIZZ - all rights reserved @ 2025

Made with themoviedb.org