Hotaru no haka (1988)

Director:

Isao Takahata

Writers:

Akiyuki Nosaka (novel)
Isao Takahata (written by)

Release Date:

16 April 1988 (Japan)

Genre:

Animation | Drama | War

Plot:

A tragic film covering a young boy and his little sister's struggle to survive in Japan during World War II.

Plot Keywords:

Japan | Firefly | Food | Air Raid | Shelter

Awards:

3 wins

Cast

Tsutomu Tatsumi	...	Seita (voice)
Ayano Shiraishi	...	Setsuko (voice)
Yoshiko Shinohara	...	Mother (voice)
Akemi Yamaguchi	...	Aunt (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Rhoda Chrosite	...	Setsuko (voice: English version)
Shannon Conley	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Crispin Freeman	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Dan Green	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Amy Jones	...	Aunt (voice: English version)
George Leaver	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
J. Robert Spencer	...	Seita (voice: English version)
Nick Sullivan	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Veronica Taylor	...	Mother (voice: English version)

Directed by
Isao Takahata

Writing credits
Akiyuki Nosaka		(novel)
Isao Takahata		(written by)

Produced by
Tohru Hara	....	producer
Ryoichi Sato	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Michio Mamiya

Cinematography by
Nobuo Koyama		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Takeshi Seyama

Production Design by
Ryoichi Sato

Art Direction by
Nizou Yamamoto

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Norihiko Sudo	....	assistant director

Art Department
Katsu Hisamura	....	assistant art director
Yuriko Kashiwakura	....	assistant character color designer
Noriko Ogawa	....	assistant character color designer
Michiyo Yasuda	....	character color designer

Sound Department
Noriyoshi Oohira	....	sound effects
Hisanori Ooshiro	....	sound mixer
Yasuo Uragami	....	sound designer

Special Effects by
Kunji Tanifuji	....	special effects

Animation Department
Hideaki Anno	....	animator
Yoshiyuki Hane	....	animator
Kuniyuki Ishii	....	animator
Sodatsu Ishikuro	....	animator
Megumi Kagawa	....	animator
Hideo Kawauchi	....	animator
Masuji Kigami	....	animator
Yoshifumi Kondo	....	animation director
Yoshifumi Kondo	....	character designer
Kitaro Kosaka	....	key animator
Noriko Moritomo	....	animator
Hiroshi Ogawa	....	animator
Toshiyasu Okada	....	animator
Reiko Okuyama	....	animator
Atsuko Ôtani	....	animator
Noriko Ôzeki	....	animator
Shunji Saida	....	animator
Akio Sakai	....	animator
Michiyo Sakurai	....	animator
Noboru Takano	....	animator
Yasuomi Umetsu	....	animator
Shôjurô Yamauchi	....	animator

Other crew
Peter Bavaro	....	voice director

Production Companies

• Shinchosha Company
• Studio Ghibli

Distributors

• Toho Company (1988) (Japan) (theatrical)
• ADV Films (2009) (USA) (all media) (re-issue)
• Central Park Media Corporation (I) (II)
• JONU Media (2003) (Spain) (DVD)
• Optimum Releasing (2004) (UK) (DVD)
• Universe Laser & Video Co. Ltd. (2002) (Hong Kong) (DVD)

Other Companies

• APU Studio  sound recording studio
• Audio Planning U  post-production sound services
• Studio Angel  cooperation
• Tokyo Laboratory Co. Ltd.  film processing

Also Known As:

Grave of the Fireflies (UK) (USA)
Tombstone for Fireflies (USA)
Tombstone for the Fireflies (Australia) (dubbed version)
Das Grab der Leuchtkäfer (West Germany) [de]
Die letzten Glühwürmchen (Germany) (DVD title) [de]
Die letzten Leuchtkäfer (West Germany) [de]
Eldflugornas grav (Sweden) [sv]
Grobowiec swietlików (Poland) [pl]
Hrob svetlusek (Czech Republic) (festival title) [cs]
Jaanimardikate haud (Estonia) (festival title) [et]
La tumba de las luciérnagas (Spain) [es]
Le tombeau des lucioles (France) [fr]
O Túmulo dos Pirilampos (Portugal) [pt]
Túmulo dos Vagalumes (Brazil) [pt]
Tulikärpästen hauta (Finland) [fi]
Una tomba per le lucciole (Italy) [it]

Runtime:

89 min | Germany:85 min (DVD version)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:G (Quebec) (video rating) (1994) | Canada:PG (Nova Scotia) (video rating) (2002) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) (video rating) (1993) | Canada:PG (Ontario) (video rating) (2005) | USA:Unrated | Finland:K-11 | Portugal:M/12 | USA:TV-14 (TV rating) | Chile:14 | South Korea:All | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | France:U | Hong Kong:IIA | New Zealand:M | Singapore:PG | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | West Germany:6

Company:

Shinchosha Company

Trivia:

NTV in Japan produced a live-action version of "Grave of the Fireflies" in celebration of the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II. The made-for-TV movie Hotaru no haka (2005) (TV) began airing on November 1, 2005, at 21:00 Japanese time. Like the animated version, the movie focuses on two siblings and their struggle to survive the final days of the war in Kobe, Japan. However, unlike the animated version, the movie tells the story from the point of view of their aunt, and it deals with the issue of how a wartime environment could change a kind woman into a cold-blooded demon. That version stars the famous Japanese celebrity and actress Nanako Matsushima as the aunt.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Seita: September 21, 1945... that was the night I died.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)

Soundtrack:

Home Sweet Home

Brutally honest and heartbreaking

Being my first Anime review I thought I'd start off with my one of my favourite pieces of work from who else but Studio Ghibli. Ghibli have rarely produced anime that doesn't fall short of great but Graveyard is something different indeed.

Set in the aftermath of World War II, Graveyard is focused on the lives of a caring brother and his young sister (Setsuko and Seita) and how they struggle against both the elements of wartime and a depreciating Japanese empire. The most striking thing about Graveyard is probably how real everything seems. The animation is very unconventional to the likes of say Spirited Away or Laputa but in a good way. The horror of war is beautifully realised through the animation, whether it be the American destruction being shown or the bleak outlook on peoples lives, namely the two main characters. Thankfully it earns every shred of emotion it conveys through these two sympathetic characters that only the coldest of hearts wouldn't warm up to.

Avoiding any Hollywood sentimentality, it is often a bleak and depressing perspective depicted but all the more brutally powerful in the process. With my eyes welling up through the duration of the film, it occured to me just how well the Director understands what raw heartfelt emotion is and how to play the audiences heart strings. Nevertheless nothing is shown in a heavy handed approach, no empthasis is put on the Americans nor is there any special attention taken to the war details. If anything the citizens of Japan are shown in the coldest light often giving little help to the plight of others, but demonstrating furthermore what desperate situation everyone is in.

Takahata instead decides to focus on the plight of it's title characters against the background of war. With the empire of Japan in crisis and food shortages everywhere it is heart breaking to see a brother struggle to meet ends meet for his sister. Due to the approach taken it borders on being horrifying but fortunately the tone is changed with the spirit put into Setsuko's character. Much like 'The Pianist' the issue is not the war but the struggle and will to survive in it. This is clearly displayed in a plot that revolves around the downward spiral Setsuko trying to feed himself and more importantly the younger and more vulnerable sister Seita. The animation though detailed and indeed beautiful in some sequences (namely relating to the title), is not by any means flashy but captures emotions and interactions between the characters perfectly. It's the perfect mixture of such animation, realistic and highly likeable characters that makes the whole film one tearful experience. Dealing with such difficult issues it's very hard to imagine this being a film and if it was I don't think it would of been done as well.

Part of the brilliance also comes from symbology and the association to many different worlds in such a understanding depiction. The child, Seita, is nothing short of perfection in child like behaviour happily oblivious to the desperate situation, amusing herself with simplicity and the quirks of nature and the outdoors. The older brother Setsuko who must carry the burdon of everything is also perfectly portrayed and to watch there decent is painful to say the least. To struggle is one thing but to have shock, shattered dreams and be depended on is something anyone can empthasise with.

There may be some people who will shy away from Anime, disregarding it as a mere cartoon. To those people and everyone else I recommend Graveyard as the tonic, which can be appreciated by anyone with a heart and soul. Among the finest pieces of Anime created and one of the most touching war films ever made.