Grave of the Fireflies/YMMV

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • Alternative Character Interpretation: A mass scale example, as the screenplay author/director wanted the viewers to think that Seita was being an overly proud little boy for not simply apologizing to his Aunt and asking to move back in. The majority of the audience, needless to say, saw him as one of the biggest victims in cinematic history -- partially due to the lack of Jerkass moments compared to his Aunt.
    • The live action version in 2005 was told from the perspective of the Aunt's daughter, and was a study in how war could turn a loving mother into a cold-hearted witch.
  • Angst? What Angst?: It is rather incredible how much time Seita spends with a smile on his face. However, it's mainly for Setsuko's sake and it's quite fake.
    • The best example is when he starts doing gymnastics on a bar to try to distract Setsuko from the fact their mother just died, horribly. It doesn't work.
  • Harsher in Hindsight: The ending is meant to be at least somewhat uplifting, as a clean, happy Seita and Setsuko look down on the modern, rebuilt city of Kobe. The only problem is, this is the Kobe that existed before the Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake of 1995. The movie itself is tragic, but if you happen to have lived in the area when the earthquake happened (or lost a relative/loved one, which was not uncommon considering the number of deaths), that's an extra - albeit unintentional - punch to the gut.
  • Idiot Ball: As anyone who has watched the movie knows, Seita and Setsuko move out of their Aunt's place after one bit of slander too many. Now, they try to live on their own, which is respectable, but as it goes on, it just isn't really working, and this goes on until the end of the movie, when Seita and Setsuko die of starvation. However... more then once, someone gives Seita the bright, sane, and sensible idea of swallowing his pride, going back to his Aunt, and asking to stay again. Now, seeing as the sibling's attempts to live on their markedly continued to go wrong, you think they would have chosen survival over pride and stubbornness; instead, they reject every single shred of advice on that front, and continue to try to fend themselves... yet every few minutes, the conditions of the two of them continues to worsen, until, as previously said, they die. In other words, the whole last half hour of the movie could have been entirely avoided had Seita just listened to the sensible advice of the villagers, and gone back to his Aunt, especially when Setsuko started dying. Heck, even when she was dead, Seita could have still realized that it all went horribly wrong, and gone back to his Aunt so that at least he could survive, (unless he chose to just die, seeing as his sister, mother, and possibly his father as well were all gone; instead, right at the start of the movie, we see him die. To sum it all up, Seita may well be an idiot who was incapable of making a simple choice of survival, even when everything was crumbling around him.
  • Misaimed Fandom: This movie has been lauded by many as an anti-war film, and has gained fans in anti-war movements due to its unflinching depictions of the cruelty and barbarity of war. Isao Takahata explicitly mentioned on several occasions that the movie is in no way, shape or form intended to be, nor should it be take as, an anti-war film.
  • Misaimed Marketing: While they are Setsuko's favorite, it's still awfully jarring to see Setsuko's image on the packaging of certain Sakuma Fruit Drops tins -- especially considering how the tin gets used at the end. They're heartbreakingly delicious.
  • Scare'Em Straight: If you don't eat your vegetables you'll meet the same fate as Setsuko.
  • Some Anvils Need to Be Dropped: Oh, yes.
    • Takahata explicitly intended both of the immediate two tropes above. As mentioned on the main page for this film, juvenile deliquency was at an all-time high from the mid '70s until the 'mid-'90s. The intended audience Takahata explicitly pegged as Japanese teens -- whose parents had been of Seita and Setsuko's generation. The intent was really to say to them "look, you ungrateful little hellions, this is what your parents had to suffer so you could have your comfortable spoiled little lives."
  • Tear Jerker: Perhaps the best example in anime.
  • What Do You Mean It's Not for Kids?: Due to the Animation Age Ghetto and the fact that it was accompanied by My Neighbor Totoro, this has shown up in the kiddie section of video stores. Not good. This was also shown at the Chicago International Children's Film Festival.
    • On Netflix, this movie was listed in the "Kid's Anime" genre. Fortunately, this is no longer the case, and the description on the website even says "[Seita and Setsuko] come to the somber conclusion that they can neither escape the hardships of war nor find enough food to survive."
    • 'Suggested 3 Up' is on the back of the cover for at least one DVD edition. It also says "parental discretion advised," but that's rarely followed.
    • Averted in the case of the Australian DVD release, which is rated M: recommended for audiences 15 and up.
  • The Woobie: Poor, sweet, little Setsuko.
    • Stoic Woobie: Seita, who is proud, courageous, and remains impassive in all but the most despearate moments.
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