24% Need For Speed Mar 14
—— The Single Moms' Club Mar 14
76% Veronica Mars Mar 14
78% Enemy Mar 14
73% Bad Words Mar 14

Top Box Office

42% 300: Rise of an Empire $45.0M
77% Mr. Peabody & Sherman $32.2M
60% Non-Stop $15.8M
96% The Lego Movie $10.9M
23% Son Of God $10.4M
33% The Monuments Men $3.1M
33% 3 Days To Kill $3.0M
89% Frozen $3.0M
96% 12 Years a Slave $2.1M
17% Ride Along $2.0M

Coming Soon

—— Divergent Mar 21
57% Muppets Most Wanted Mar 21
—— Noah Mar 28
—— Captain America: The Winter Soldier Apr 04

Hotaru no haka (Grave of the Fireflies) Reviews

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January 11, 2014
Really power and convincing, but also really sad at the same time
Seth S.
February 20, 2014
To be completely transparent, I can't say that I "enjoyed" watching Grave of the Fireflies. The first line in the movie spells out exactly what's going to happen. In World War II Japan, two gentle, sweet, and loving siblings are going to wind up dead. There isn't a second of hopeful yearning in the movie. We dread the eventual outcome from the very first scene. So, as I said, I didn't particularly enjoy myself while watching this movie. But there are some times when you don't watch a movie to be entertained. There are times when you watch a movie because it tells a story entirely worth telling. There are times when you appreciate a movie for every reason other than enjoyment. Grave of the Fireflies is just such a movie.

There's no real need to get into the story. I've already explained all you really need to know.

What makes the movie so brilliant is how incredibly well made it is. How unexpected it is. How heartbreakingly beautiful it is. It's like 90 minutes of "lows." Usually, a film travels through highs and lows, sometimes from scene to scene. Grave of the Fireflies can't help but exist in a state of constant dread. Sure there are joyful scenes, in fact, there are quite a few of them. But every time we're shown a scene of Seita and Setsuko being what they are, cheerful young children, we know that they will, eventually, die. There's no spoiler in writing that last sentence. Still, the movie does have it's moments of light. The film shows Seita and Setsuko living out substantial days ... pleasurable days. But at the end of the road, we know exactly where our two main characters will wind up. This makes every other scene that much more tragic. It's incredibly done.

Rarely do you see a movie deliver a message as powerfully as Grave of the Fireflies manages to deliver its own. The film shows a side of war that we never think of. Nowadays, next to no one in America is remotely proud of the fact that we spent parts of 1944 and 1945 dropping incendiary bombs on Japan. We aren't too fond of that fact, but then again, we don't really think about it much. Grave of the Fireflies shows you a snippet of that pain and suffering, and in its 90 minute run-time, sends an irrefutable antiwar message. But this isn't like a Miyazaki movie message. It isn't some fantasy world where the character tell us why war is so horrible. In fact, in Grave of the Fireflies, the filmmakers' never once utter an antiwar statement. But the film doesn't have to. It just shows us, with every frame, that war is undeniably awful.

And it does all this without ever pulling back from its core story. We never have to see the "big picture." The movie never shows us anything other than the story of our two main characters. And yet, the film is still able to be one of the most devastating war films ever. Because we know that Seita and Setsuko aren't the only young people in war-time to have gone through something as appalling. This movie does a cataclysmic job of reminding audiences of something they don't often/choose not to think about.

The two main characters are just a bit too upbeat to be true. That's one of my few nitpicks with this movie. Seita never breaks from being a perfectly pleasant young man. He's tragically gentle and kind. Setsuko does have moments that remind us that she's still a 4 year old. But for the most part, she is uncommonly happy. Still, it's only the slightest of flaws.

The animation isn't anything surprising or groundbreaking, per se. It is really touching and beautiful on multiple occasions. It's a movie about unspeakable tragedy that is as moving as you would expect it to be. The animation, like the movie, is very subtle and very lovely. It's odd, because the movie is set absolutely in the real world, but it does have moments that are strangely magical. It can't really be described, it has to be experienced.

Grave of the Fireflies does something that is absolutely never seen in the animation genre. It is a film that is in no way suitable for children. It's a story where every member of a tender-hearted family winds up dead. It's a movie where grief and tragedy are seamlessly intermingled with beauty and kindness. I can't say that I thoroughly enjoyed myself while watching this film. And if I were to rate this film on entertainment value, it probably wouldn't score higher than a 7.5/10. But this movie exists on a different level. It's a film that boasts a higher calling than to simply entertain you. With that in mind, it deserves nothing less than a perfect score.

"Why must fireflies die so young?" 10/10
August 27, 2011
Grave pays much tribute to the victims of the war by using traditional hand-drawn animation, which is greatly revered in Japan.
November 22, 2011
Carefully paced, haunting yet beautiful, and extremely aching to watch, Grave of the Fireflies is an overwhelmingly monumental masterpiece that is both moving and depressing, an experience that every person needs to see
February 24, 2014
I never cry for fictional charcaters but this scares me
February 24, 2014
Not my idea of film. It is beautifully realized, but the underlying 'truth' that people are terrible to each other and the wages of war is death - not just to combatants, but to innocents and innocence.
February 23, 2014
thank god this movie is only 90 minutes, it's painful to watch, in the best way.
Trading Card Tut
February 18, 2014
Well that was fuckin' depressing. Full review soon.
February 15, 2014
This movie made me cry like a baby back bitch. Five stars
February 13, 2014
Probably the most depressing thing that can be shown in animation.
February 12, 2014
This is definitely one of the saddest movies I have ever seen. Period.
Tikeswar Bariha
February 9, 2014
one of my favorite emotional .....
February 2, 2014
A movie I refuse to watch again. Not because it's fallacious but the sadness with which I would hardly bear.

Putting aside critics claim on antiwar, I think the message to honor those demised during WWII and togetherness during such hardship are more fathomable.
January 30, 2014
I'm going to be honest. There aren't a lot of films out there that can actually make me tear up. Not only did this film accomplish that, but it actually made me sniffle. This devastating but beautiful cartoon really illustrates the horrors of World War II.
February 2, 2014
No film has been more effective at showing the sadness of non-participants affected by war. It is one of the best war films ever made, certainly one of the best animated films ever made. If you can't feel for the two main characters- consider yourself a psycho.

This film is masterfully written, drawn, and acted. It is so convincing in the way it realizes these characters and the world they live in. It is one of the great moviegoing experiences I've ever had.
February 1, 2014
A shocking yet beautiful anti-war manifesto that never loses any of its urgency
January 29, 2014
January 27, 2014
A very depressing yet powerful tale showing the many hardships during war.
January 25, 2014
This is a beautiful, realistically animated film that strikes you where no animated movie may have struck before.
January 24, 2014
As both a film and anime fan, I love everything about Grave of the Fireflies, from its tragedy, to its heart, to its haunting beauty. A massive achievement by Studio Ghibli, as well as one for both film and anime.
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