Why do fireflies have to die?

I just watched the most beautifully, sad anime film I have ever seen in my life. I watched Isao Takahata's Grave of the Fireflies.

With other great films from Studio Ghibli, especially from the great Hayao Miyazaki, Grave of the Fireflies is very underrated compared to the other works produced by Studio Ghibli. Which sucks because it really is a classic and one of the best anime films next to Spirited Away.

Grave of the Fireflies is an anti-war tragedy that follows two orphaned siblings, 14-year-old Seita and 4-year-old Setsuko, as they try to survive after the bombings of Kobe in the last months of World War II. They never experience the massive bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki but what they have to go through and the constant raids they're faced from American planes just really tears your heart up into tiny shreds.

The title of this post pretty much sums up the movie without giving away too many spoilers. Why do fireflies live such a short time before dying? Why do innocent people have to be killed? They did nothing but get in the way of bombers in a war. It really does reflect on the horrors and pain the Japanese were forced to endure while we Americans just dropped bombs on them because we couldn't just let Japan take us over that easily.

I like how this movie has a lot of moments where it's no dialogue or even music and it's just pure silence. It gives you time to just think that this is what was happening while we were trying to win a war. And we did win but at the cost of many innocent lives. We had no choice but to go to war, but it didn't change that many lives, even the lives of children, were lost.

The movie also takes those slow moments to build the bond between Seita and Setsuko. They're all they have after their mother died in the bombings and have to stay strong. Mostly Seita to keep up hope that his father will return home from the war and to keep his little sister alive. Yet he's still just a kid. He's a bit self-centered and impulsive, but he's still caring for Setsuko and will do anything to keep her healthy and happy. And this is a big shock for both of them because they lost their homes and are constantly raided on, yet somehow in this cruel world they're still able to find some amount of happiness. The dark and terrifying imagery on such a dark subject is contradicted with beautiful images of nature and memories of Seita and Setsuko full of bright colors.

This is truly a brilliant masterpiece by Studio Ghibli that I recommend highly. I've heard that the English isn't really that spectacular so definitely watch in its original Japanese format. Can't find a DVD, then it's available on YouTube.

“Life is difficult. Sometimes more for some than for others. But even when life is at it’s roughest, you must keep pushing forward for those you love. It will all be worth it in the end.”

- Grave of the Fireflies, Hayao Miyazaki