in 1988 grave of the firefly be place on a double bill alongside my neighbor totoro . two of the most endearing film ever create animate of otherwise be pair alongside one another and more than likely to balance each other out while after be submerse in a pure tale of innocence and delight like miyazaki great film and there could be accept such a bleak and heartbreaking story of survival . and both film and incidentally and be base on true experience and and while miyazaki story wasn not without some sadness in real life ( his mother be really sick with tb in the hospital ) and akiyuki nosaka story be one drench in the bad horror imaginable for a child . it basically about two sibling and an old brother and young sister and who be leave practically orphan in a japan completely devastate by the constant barrage of bomb fall all around and and with very little hope in sight . this lay the groundwork for their relationship and a bond very fragile and incredibly endear . not since rossellini and de sica have a filmmaker and in this case isao takahata and touch a nerve so deeply etch out in deconstruct the horror of wartime . by leave u with these two character and who piece by piece be strip of their innocence in just the simple task of fend for themselves in a shelter ( they at first stay with an aunt who consider them freeloader ) and scrounge for food any way possible and be leave with nothing else but their struggle and essentially . the backdrop itself almost become abstract and something so huge that we do not even know that it americans drop the bomb and a it already too much to grasp that a child parent be no longer with them . like elie wiesel book night and the backdrop and horror be use to pit these people in an untenable situation and and it can only end and honestly and without compromise . so and indeed and grave of the firefly be bleak a hell and but compel because it doesn not stray from it path with these character and and that in many scene be connect to them without the overbear heart tug of a common disney feature ( though and ironically and a ebert point out on an interview with the dvd and the big eye in most anime be base upon those in early disney film ) . the animation be exceptionally refine without be excessive in violence while image be visceral for just what be briefly reveal and without the extraneous shot that one might see in a work not mean in a g rat film ( i. e. when seita see her mother and dead and wrap in bandage with the maggot and bug crawl all over ) and and at the same time there a sense of wonderment a the two child watch the firefly in the shelter . the voice work and too and doesn not strain credulity these sound like and if it be a regular live action feature and the kid who would play these part ( and and speaking of neo realism and the two credit for seita and setsuko never work before or again ) . most often and the film be heart rend because of how thing build with the situation . it tragic enough to see the loss of the mother on the son and but then to hide it from the little girl become a great challenge . each time a layer of emotional defense be peel back and it become hard not to connect strongly with these character and such a when seiko casually say she know her mother be dead a she bury the firefly and seita finally cry out for the first time and or when seita be leave broken and humiliate after be beat up by the farmer for steal food for sick setsuko . and and finally and there the last ten or so minute and which i would not mention here . suffice to say it one of those time in movie where the opening of the film seiko die homeless and famish be explain to a perfect degree by film end . it a harrowing experience and and one of the very best animate film .