Indeed, as we see how these events came to pass, we find ourselves rooting for Seita and Setsuko to find a way to stay alive, but alas, it is not to be, given Seita’s stubborn pride. The outcome of the story is actually showcased at the opening of the movie, where we see a ghostly specter of Seita watching a more malnourished version of himself die a painful, lonely death at a train station. Both try by all means to live off of vegetables or whatever food they can afford to trade and/or steal, to no avail….
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After butting heads with Auntie long enough, the children decide to run away, setting up home in an abandoned cave by the lake. Auntie, a cold, bitter, self-serving woman, has no patience with Seita or Setsuko, especially when they would rather chase after fireflies at moonlight, play by the beach, or lounge around the house instead of helping out. The children move to Nishinomiya to stay with their aunt. Mom is seriously wounded and found wrapped in bandages at a hospital, where she dies shortly after. Their fatal struggle for survival begins right at the start, when both are bombed out of house and home by American B-29s.
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Not just an astonishingly great (and, at the risk of coming off as clichperfect) work of art, this is a moving, thought-provoking, and ultimately heartbreaking tale about the loss of innocence and the tragedies of war.īased on an autobiography by Akiyuki Nosaka, the film, set during the bombing of Japan in –of all times– World War II, centers on Seita, a loving, headstrong Navy soldier’s son and his innocent little sister, Setsuko. The original dub was still included as a bonus feature for its historical significance, and the UK and Australian Blu-rays contain only the original dub.Truly one of Studio Ghibli’s greatest crowning achievements, GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES is a brilliant masterpiece fully deserving of a place in any of the best movies ever made. The new dub was produced due to the original sound elements for the original dub being lost and impossible to remix into 5.1 surround. A Blu-ray edition was released on 20 November 2012, featuring an all-new English dub produced by Seraphim Digital. Following the 1 September 2009 shutdown and re-branding of ADV, their successor, Sentai Filmworks, rescued the film and released a remastered DVD on 6 March 2012.
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The second disc contains a retrospective on the author of the original book, an interview with the director, and an interview with critic Roger Ebert, who has expressed his admiration for the film on several occasions, and ranked the film as one of the greatest of all time.įollowing the May 2009 bankruptcy and liquidation of Central Park Media, ADV Films acquired the rights and re-released it on DVD on 7 July 2009. They later released a two-disc DVD set which included the uncut film in both an English dub and the original Japanese with English subtitles as well as the film's storyboards.
The film was first dubbed by Skypilot Entertainment for Central Park Media and released on VHS and DVD on October 7, 1998. Grave of the Fireflies is the only theatrical Studio Ghibli feature film prior to From Up on Poppy Hill which Disney never had North American distribution rights, since it was not produced by Ghibli for parent company Tokuma Shoten but for Shinchosha, the publisher of the original short story.