This document provides an overview of the 1988 Japanese animated film "Graves of the Fireflies" directed by Isao Takahata. It summarizes the film's plot, in which a 14-year-old boy must take care of his young sister during World War 2 in Japan after their mother dies. The document discusses the film's themes of war and family relationships. It also analyzes the film's animation style, cultural aspects portrayed, and the impact of the source novel's autobiographical nature.

1. Graves
of the
Fireflies
By: James Nguyen |Ralph
MallareKhanh Nguyen |
Benjamin Petrisor
Popular Culture
Bridging the East and the West

2. Overview
Our film topic was on the Japanese
animated drama film Grave of the
Fireflies. This film was made in 1988
and directed by Isao Takahata and
animated by the critically acclaimed
Studio Ghibli. This movie was based
on a 1967 semi-autobiographical novel
by Akiyuki Nosaka. This film is
considered to be many an anti-war
film, but our topic focuses not only on
the theme of anti-war, but also on other
themes that this powerful movie
portrays. Set in Japan during World
War II, this film shows the story of a
young boy named Seita who has to
take care of his younger sister Setsuko
alone when their mother dies.

3. Video Clip
In this intro scene for the movie, not only are we able to see
such a gloomy and surprising start to the movie, but this
scene helps provide the structure of the rest of this
film, seeing the main character Seita and his story and how it
led to this very scene.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWhu2vKEsro

4. Characters
Seita
He was a 14 years old, stubborn, tough and mature boy. While his
father is away in the Navy, he was the responsible member of the
household. During the air raid, he took care of his little sister while his
mother went to shelter first. He became very mature and responsible
after the death of his mother and became his sister only „‟parent‟‟. He
parented his sister and tried his best to keep her safe. He strongly
believed the Japanese army wouldn‟t lose the war.

5. Characters
Setsuko
She was 4 years old. She was
little, innocent and cheerful girl who
laughed a lot. She adores her older
brother Seita, and was eager to help him
whenever she could. At first, she seemed
not understand the war. However, when
she knew that her mother is dead, she
became aware so she cried a lot and
terrified of losing her brother, Seita.

6. Characters
The mother
She loved her children very much and well
controlled of her family while the husband was
away.

7. Characters
The aunt
She was very strict and somehow cruel. S
gave the children hard time for eating her
food and singing during the war. She
treasured hard work and gave the people
she thought who deserve to have.

8. Characters
The cousin
She was a nice, sympathetic and
thoughtful child. She helped Seita
sometimes during the film.

9. Characters
Fireflies
The actual fireflies dies and buried by the
children. It was indeed the symbol of the children
themselves, especially Setsuko, who die at a
young age. Fireflies play a role in a magical
scene of comfort and joy, but also serve to
remind us of the transience of life.

10. Storyline

11. Storyline

12. Storyline

13. Storyline

14. History of Film
The story is based on the semi-autobiographic novel by the same
name, whose author, Nosaka, lost his sister due to malnutrition in
1945 wartime Japan. He blamed himself for her death and wrote the
story so as to make amends to her and help him accept the tragedy.

15. Themes
d
As we mentioned before, we do not want to
focus too much on the theme of war. One
of the reasons why is because the film
focuses so little on the Americans (the
antagonists of the film). In a review done
by Roger Ebert, Roger talks about his
encounter with some Vietnamese
filmmakers right after the war in Vietnam.
They said in their films, they did not put
any focus on their enemies, because
they‟ve had so many. Instead they take an
“us vs them” approach when film making.
With this in mind, the theme of
relationships becomes so much
more powerful.

16. Themes ( Cont‟)
In Grave of the Fireflies, all of the focus on the war is taken away from
the enemy and instead focused on the bond between those who are
suffering in times of war. This is why the movie is so powerful compared
to other films about war. The theme is usually good guys against the
bad guys, but Grave of the Fireflies provides a more realistic approach
to what war is really like.

17. Animation
In Graves of the Fireflies, Isao Takahata used
a very ionic animation with realistic
backgrounds.
According to Scott McCloud, this masking
effect
helps to create a tangible world while also
having
relatable characters. Additionally, Takahata‟s
direction style is simple and straightforward,
but also very effective. By mixing limited
animation to lesser degree than most Anime
in this film, it gives the film a more realistic
feel about a tragedy event. The animated
landscape resembles the traditional
Japanese
woodblock prints where detail if often
balanced by empty space and simplicity.
Emphasize the slow and painful fight for

18. Animation
Combining with the moralistic and social
resonance the war had on Japan, Takahata was
able to deliver to the audience a truthful narrative
about World War II in Graves of the Fireflies.

19. Cultural Aspects
Grave of the Fireflies does not give too much attention to the
enemies. They did very little in labeling the enemy. This is
interesting in that it reflects how the Japanese look at their
enemies. When you compare this to how things actually were for
the Japanese in WW2, it gives some understanding as to how
the Japanese people were willing to put the war behind despite
Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Grave of the Fireflies does a lot to reflect the cultural
aspects of Japan. You see it in the food they eat, and the clothes
they wear. It even shows in their customs and behaviors when
they are with relatives. In Japan, fireflies are also symbol of the
human soul ("Hitodama"), which is depicted as a
floating, flickering fireball.Mature fireflies have extremely short
life spans of two to three weeks and are traditionally regarded as
a symbol of impermanence, which resonates with much of
classical Japanese tradition.During the war, Japanese oldest
sons and daughters are expected to help the family and take
care of the younger kids.

20. About us!
James Nguyen:
Technician,
Discussion Q‟s.
Animation,
Storyline.
Ralph Roy
Mallare:
Overview,
Intro,
Video.
Khanh Nguyen:
Characters,
Cultural
Aspects,
History.
Benjamin
Petrisor:
Cultural
Aspects,
Themes.

21. Work Cited
* Colcord, Marisa. „’Japanese Animation Film and Auteur Theory.‟‟ (2008).
Web.
27 May. 2013.
* Goldberg, Wendy. „’Transcending the Victim’s History: Takahata Isao’s
Graves
of the Fireflies.‟‟ Mechademia 4.1 (2009): 39-52. Project MUSE. Web. 27
May. 2013.
*„‟Graves of the Fireflies.‟‟ StudioGhbli. Studioghbli.wikia.com, n.d. Web. 1
June 2013.
* ‘’Graves of the Fireflies.‟‟Tvtropes. Tvtropes.com, n.d. Web. 1 June 2013.
* „‟Graves of the Fireflies." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 27 May 2013.