There's never been an animated movie so powerful, so gripping, so emotionally compelling that exalts in the level of Saving Private Ryan and other war opuses in history. While most war films talk about war itself, Grave of the Fireflies shows to us the real effects of war, shakes us open our eyes and see everything clealry that dispute in country could mark a terrible loss, mostly on the innocent ones. Imagine, a hard, biting truth - a stark reality - all told in a 2D Japanese animation. Well, you couldn't probably imagine until you see it with your own sight.
It devastates and moves us as well, and the emotional impact would surely hit even right from the very first scene where the brother suddenly whispers the name of her younger sister in utter hopelessness. Grave of the Fireflies focuses on the story of Seito and her younger sister for about 5-year old, Setsuko, trapped in a country torn in war, Japan. It did not try to delve into the political side of the story but more on the human side, and trust me, this is one of the most human cartoons I have ever seen. We are being presented with two protagonists, whose parents died due to war, and their struggle, their instinct to live and to survive between hardships, loss of food, becomes a cinematic feat that it becomes inevitable make the audience shed tears. Seita, a young teenager, battles everything, including to swallow his pride and even steal food just to feed his younger sister. Setsuko, a 5-year old girl, lives the days with her innocence becoming increasingly lost, due to the events that is happening around her. No one could protect the child from their lost of innocence and war opened their eyes, even in a very young age.
One could really speak that Grave of the Fireflies is made up of very simple animation. It does not boast the quality that animations have nowadays. It's not as visually stunning as Disney films, but it extracts its power from its simplicity, withholding that certain miraculous pedestal that even a modern animated movie can do. The film is filled with silence, but only in this silence that the characters seemed to express themselves, trying to evoke their own emotions, becoming transformed into the brave icons that we must become today. There are so many haunting images in the film, so devastating and heart-wrenching, especially that scene where Setsuko discovered her mother is suffering from a 3rd degree burn, and that Seita refused to tell her and break her innocence. The two of them sat in the sand as Setsuko cried silently. All Seita could do is to make a happy diversion by doing acrobatic tricks around a hanging steel bar. This scene alone gives us a mighty impact, a scene that defines what cinema is all about.
I must admit, it's hard not to shed tears in this film.

Rating: A+