Grave of the Fireflies
The story is set in 1945 in Japan during the final months of World War II. Seita (aged 14) and his younger sister Setsuko (aged 4), are children who temporarily have no parents, after their mother dies in the bombing of Kobe (the children survived the bombing), while their father is out serving the Japanese Imperial Navy during the war, and knows nothing about the situation of his family back home. Because of this, Seita and Setsuko move in with their aunt who lives in the nearby city of Nishinomiya. Their aunt seems kind at first, but later treats them badly. After repeated insults, the children pack up and leave their aunt's house and move into an abandoned bomb shelter, which is located on the banks of a nearby river. Seita and Setsuko are well-fed at first (by eating the food they brought with them) but that lasts only a short while. The two fall into hunger, and after a while, the hunger turns into starvation. Meanwhile, Seita begins stealing food, for which he is assaulted by a farmer and sent to the police. The police realizes that he is stealing out of starvation and releases him from the station. Shorlty after his release, Seita continues stealing food. The war ends with the surrender of the Japanese. All of the ships serving the Japanese Imperial Navy had been sunk, and Seita and Setsuko's father is most likely dead, thus making them possible orphans. Seita is distraught upon learning of this. By the time the war ends, Setsuko is very weak and she dies shortly after the war ends. After her death, Seita buys some charcoal and cremates her body. After the cremation, Seita decides to leave the bomb shelter and become homeless. He dies in a train station all alone from starvation, as people who pass by him, ignore him and pretend they don't notice him. Upon his death, Seita's spirit reunites with his sister Setsuko's spirit.