Announced on Tuesday, GKIDS and Shout! Studios are planning the release of Studio Ghibli and Isao Takahata’s 1988 film Grave of the Fireflies on Blu-ray and DVD combo and a limited edition Steelbook on July 8th. These releases will include storyboards and interviews by film critic Roger Ebert and the late Isao Takahata. GKIDS, who gave the announcement, acquired the North American theatrical rights after Central Park Media, ADV Films, and later Sentai Filmworks released the film on North American home video.
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And for those who still wish to see the film via streaming, it has also been added to Netflix’s library since September 16th. But be warned, this animated historical drama isn’t for the faint of heart. While other films by Studio Ghibli tend to have an air of hopefulness and positive excitement, Grave of the Fireflies is not one of those films. Even so, it’s a film that still deserves to be seen at least once. Akin to Miyazaki’s tidbits of reminders in his own films of the dichotomy of his love for aircraft and hatred for war, so too does Takahata portray Grave of the Fireflies as an even more visceral reminder of the very real consequences of war.
A Hauntingly Beautiful Film That Deserves to be Seen at Least Once
1945 Kobe, Japan. After an air raid by the American B-29 Superfortress bombers firebombs their hometown, young 14-year-old Seita and his little 4-year-old sister Setsuko become separated from their mother while their father serves in the Japanese Imperial Navy. At first, the two siblings go to live with their distant aunt, who becomes increasingly resentful of having to care for them. As supplies dwindle and tensions grow, the children are left homeless after deciding that they’d rather fend for themselves. Living in an abandoned bomb shelter, Seito struggles to care for his younger sister amidst the devastation of the war. But with famine, disease, and the harsh reality of war, as the siblings struggle to stay together and survive, even the fireflies don’t live long.
Based on late author Akiyuki Nosaka’s semi-autobiographical novel of the same name, the original 1967 short story was based on Nosaka’s own personal experiences before, during, and after the 1945 firebombing of Kobe and, similar to the story, Nosaka had experienced the deaths of others close to him: of his own sister due so sickness, his adoptive father due to the firebombing, and his younger adoptive sister, Keiko, due to malnutrition and for whom the story is written to as an apology regarding her death. Although this film differs from Studio Ghibli’s typically more uplifting and hopeful films, Grave of the Fireflies still definitely deserves to be on everyone’s watchlist since it illustrates the harsh realities of war in this beautifully and hauntingly devastating masterpiece.
Since Takahata had worked on this project as Hayao Miyazaki was simultaneously creating My Neighbor Totoro, the two films had actually been released as a double-feature in theaters in 1988. Although a bit odd to think that these two films with drastically different themes had been released at the same time, perhaps moviegoers needed a hopeful emotional pick-me-up with My Neighbor Totoro after viewing the devastation shown in Grave of the Fireflies.
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