The film's original Japanese title is Hotaru no Haka, and it's a story set at the very tail-end of WWII in Kobe, Japan. We join a small family - mum, son and daughter - as they duck and dive into shelters with air-raid sirens blasting while wave after wave of American B-29 Superfortress bombers drop their payloads. The campaign targeted major Japanese industrial cities, including Tokyo, Kobe, Osaka and Nagoya, between March and August 1945. The family lives in a large residential district in houses made of wood and paper, making matters worse and the bombings ended up with over 100,000 people left homeless and thousands dead in a single day.
In actual fact, we need to step back a bit because the real opening scene of the film depicts tragedy in advance of our story. A teenage boy named Seita (the son) dies of starvation surrounded by indifferent passersby. A janitor clears Seita's belongings and throws away a rusty fruit-sweet tin. When it hits the ground, the spirit of Seita's four-year-old sister, Setsuko (the daughter), emerges alongside a cloud of fireflies. Reunited as spirits, they board a ghostly train, reflecting on the months leading up to their deaths. So there's the major spoiler to end all spoilers!
Anyway, back to June 1945 during these air raids: we see Seita bury some supplies in the very wet yard of their home while sending his mum ahead to the bomb shelter. The air raid destroys their home and neighbourhood. Afterward, Seita finds his mother at an emergency medical station, critically burned across her entire body. She dies shortly after, though Seita hides her death from Setsuko to shield her from grief. Seita is significantly older than Setsuko, so amid all this chaos, it's up to him to try and protect her as they slip into survival mode.
Incidentally, their dad is a sailor away serving in the Imperial Japanese Navy. With little choice, the siblings head for their aunt's house in Nishinomiya. At first, things are manageable, but as food shortages worsen, the aunt grows increasingly bitter and resentful. She criticises Seita for not working or contributing to the war effort and accuses both of them of eating food they didn't earn or deserve. She's a nasty piece of work when under pressure and eventually forces Seita to sell his mother’s silk kimonos to buy rice. When Setsuko tells Seita how unhappy she is there, they decide to leave. They make home in an abandoned, damp lakeside bomb shelter. Initially, life feels peaceful. They catch fireflies at night to illuminate their shelter. However, the next morning, Setsuko digs a small grave for the dead fireflies, revealing that she already knew their mum had died because their aunt told her.
As summer progresses, their food runs out completely. Seita starts stealing crops from local farmers and looting homes during air raids. When caught and beaten by a farmer, the local police release Seita, recognising his desperation. Setsuko's health severely deteriorates - she suffers from chronic diarrhoea, skin sores and even hallucinations caused by malnutrition. Desperate, Seita withdraws all the remaining money in his mother's bank account to buy food. While at the bank, he learns that Japan has surrendered unconditionally and the Imperial Navy fleet has been completely destroyed - meaning their father is almost certainly dead.
Seita returns to the shelter with food, only to find Setsuko hallucinating and trying to eat marbles and mud-cakes. He feeds her a small piece of watermelon. She thanks him, closes her eyes, and dies shortly after. This is clearly the scene in the film with the most emotional impact and, by this stage, the outcome that the uninformed viewer fears but hopes against. Seita uses the remaining money to buy coal and straw, cremating Setsuko's body on a hilltop inside a straw basket. He places her ashes into the Sakuma drops sweet tin. Alone and weakened by starvation, Seita wanders back to Kobe, where he dies at Sannomiya Station, as seen in the opening scene.
Directed by Isao Takahata (co-founder of Studio Ghibli alongside Hayao Miyazaki), the film was released in 1988 as a double feature alongside Miyazaki's My Neighbor Totoro. Studio Ghibli released them together to balance the heavy tragedy of Grave of the Fireflies with the lighthearted optimism of Totoro.
The movie is adapted from the 1967 semi-autobiographical novella by Akiyuki Nosaka. Nosaka survived the Kobe air raids as a child, but lost his adoptive father and his baby sister to malnutrition. Nosaka wrote the book as a personal apology to his deceased sister, feeling lifelong guilt that he had prioritised his own survival over hers.
While widely viewed internationally as an anti-war film, director Isao Takahata repeatedly stated that he did not intend it as a political critique of war. Instead, he meant it as a cautionary story about extreme social isolation and pride, showing how Seita's decision to cut ties with society rather than endure his aunt led directly to his sister's death.
It's clearly a deeply sad film, but in between the moving sadness, we spend time with the siblings during moments of happiness and hope. But there's no getting away from it: it's a harrowing tale which all but the most hard-nosed viewers will be reduced to shedding at least one tear over - especially when it is known that this was all based on the true life experience of the author. So be warned. But enjoy it for the usual amazing Studio Ghibli animation, characterisations and soundscape. It's a bittersweet experience, but well worth the viewing.
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