"September 21, 1945 ... that was the night I died."
This is how this movie begins, with a few words your skin bristles and sadness increases.
There is probably no sadder story than The Grave of the Fireflies (Hotaru no Haka). Even if you are looking for something that compares you will not find it. The film is based on the author's story Akiyuki Nosaka published in 1967, which, in turn, is based on Nosaka's own experiences during the war. He confessed that The Grave of the Fireflies is a "lie" (fiction) and that he was not as kind to his sister as Seita was to her. The Japanese author, in fact, blames himself for his death; In one of his autobiographies, he confessed that he ate the food he should have shared, that he hit Seita's head to stop her from crying, and that he wrote The Grave of the Fireflies to honor his little sister and face the tremendous feeling of guilt that he had as a survivor.
This movie is generally seen as an anti-war story, however Isao Takahata has denied it. According to his words, it is about the isolation of the two brothers and empathy towards youth. If it were against the war, many would think that war can only be avoided by showing the misfortunes caused, but the director does not think so.
Don't expect a happy ending movie because it's not.
from the first minute to the end you suffer.
the animation? it's excellent.
the plot? devastating.
This story, unlike American movies, doesn't show Japan's war side, a feature I like to highlight.
It is undoubtedly one of the saddest movies out there, but knowing that it has a real side is even more devastating. Wars have killed many innocents, including children.
The real events behind the film are the Kobe bombings.
I consider this film as a true masterpiece.
The feelings of the protagonists are transmitted perfectly, causing devastation, helplessness, pain, hatred and nostalgia.
The war leads Seita and Setsuko to create an autonomous world far from reality. One without electricity and full of black rains (the rains after nuclear bombs). And so the title; Like fireflies, the world that Seita and her sister Setsuko created is destined to shine and die.

It is certainly a work that collapses the belief that animated cinema is only for children.